We gain a true understanding of how important family can be when NBC’s “Dateline: Father’s Day” explores the story of army veteran Jim Heintz and his Vietnamese daughter Ling Thach. After all, he didn’t think twice before conducting some genealogy research, adopting her as his own, despite the fact that the former had no knowledge the latter even existed until 2017. We have the information for you if you just want to know more about the latter, with an emphasis on her past, her pursuit of this adulation, and her current position.
Who is Linh Thach?
When Linh was born to Thanh Thach in what appeared to be 1972 in a small village in southern Vietnam, her grandmother later claimed they had adopted her after discovering her abandoned on the streets. She so grew up with no knowledge of her parentage, especially because her mother tragically died a mere four years later and the family was preoccupied with dealing with their extreme poverty. The discrimination was perhaps the hardest part, though, as it was obvious from her appearance that she was Asian, making her a constant subject of intense mockery for years on end.
Growing up being a half-American was really difficult, especially after the war ended [in 1975], according to Linh. “I experienced bullying and violence at school from other children who despised me for having an American father. Instead of playing outside with everyone at school, I would always hide in the classroom with my teachers out of fear that they would hit me. I had to quit attending to school because I became too afraid at one point. At the time, I had not yet completed second grade. In truth, the child was truly concerned that she would perish at the hands of her peers.
But once Linh fell in love with her good-natured, understanding neighbour Ky, and the two of them made the decision to start a coffee business, things started to change for Linh. The pair actually got married before the early 1990s, gradually gave everything they had to the neighborhood’s establishment, and even had a daughter named Nhu in 2000. The former, however, still didn’t feel quite at home, which led her to push her search for her birth parents hard, only for her grandma to come clean about everything years later (around the 2010s).
At that time, Linh underwent some DNA testing with the assistance of a charity called Asians Without Borders (AWB), and in 2012, she registered the results with Family Tree in the hopes of receiving any hits. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until 2017 that she discovered her father through her half-sister Mikal and that she also has two step-sisters, two additional half-sisters, and a mother figure in his second wife Jeri. The Heintzs decided it was time for their Vietnamese family to emigrate to the US since they were all able to instantly connect despite the language barrier.
Where is Linh Thach Now?
Linh, Ky, and Nhu were allowed to come to the US permanently within a year after meeting their family, something they’d been looking forward to since 1991, thanks to their past DNA testing and consulates. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that they are still living in the Heintz family home on the outskirts of Yakima, Washington, with Jim and Jeri, an older couple, and in close proximity to practically all of their siblings. More importantly, the trio has succeeded in creating a good life for themselves here, especially with the married couple working at her father’s cattle ranch, which he intends to pass on to them, and Nhu having just received her Radiologic Technologist degree from Yakima Valley College.
It’s also important to mention that Linh, who previously had no English proficiency, is now fluent after completing the English Language Acquisition (ELA) programme at Yakima Valley College for three quarters. She previously said, “The first thing I need to do is learn English.” The sky is the limit for her today because “I never imagined going back to school at this age but this programme helped me so much in improving my English.”
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