In 1978, my mother took my sister and me to escape Vietnam to Songkhla, Thailand. We arrived in San Antonio, Texas, nine months later, in July 1979. It was here that I began my “American” education. It is this educational system and the Public Service Broadcasting (PBS), through the medium called "television", that has brought me into the spotlight as I realize that what happened to my home country is not Wasn't my own people's fault. Unfortunately, growing up in “America” as a foreign child, barely speaking English, moving from town to town and changing schools every year is not easy. In a flash, the awareness of what is happening to my country vanished because it is a means of survival. I'm alone in this strange country and society, and I have to do what I do to get by at the age of twelve. Memories of my beautiful country, my home, my schools and my friends appeared in my mind from time to time, however I had no time to think about them. The questions of why we left our country and came to such a faraway place called the “United States of America” never get a “real” answer. So far, July 9, 2011, I am participating in History Class 21, led by Professor Toshio Whelchel. Thirty-two years later, I was asked to write an essay for my midterm title: “Modern American History: From the Overthrow of Hawaii to the Philippine War.” The anxiety in my stomach churns and my eyes start to water, not because it's "midterm" homework, not because I forget how to write, not because lettering is my weakness…but the memories. On April 30, 1975, the reverberation of bullets piercing the night, the dark stench of smoking corpses, as bombs rained down on us and guns fired at innocents...... middle of paper...... Unfortunately for the Philippines and Hawaii, their resources and people are targets of Western imperialism, capitalism, racism, industrialization and military might in the name of “democracy.” Against their will, these people must endure imposed Western ideology and sacrifice their lives in the struggle for self-government. On the other hand, those who came armed with intentions would use any means possible to obtain what they sought. For some conniving characters who seek their fortune and protect their own interests, they walk a delicate line of morality. Where they cannot apply their forces, propaganda is their powerful ally. It is a never-ending cycle of the rise and fall of an empire. What remains in history for future generations are the doctrines of why and how to go about obtaining the resources that enable a nation to rise or fall..