In 1967, an American pilot met a Vietnamese woman in Nha Trang. He returned to the United States without knowing she was pregnant. More than 50 years later, their daughter, Julie, was still searching for him. Born as Phan Thi Kim Thanh in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa province, in April 1967, Julie grew up knowing she was different from the children around her.
She was an Amerasian child, born to a Vietnamese mother and an American father she had never met. Her childhood was difficult. She spent much of her early life with her grandmother and relatives, and attended a boarding school for a time. Because many girls did not want to play with her, she often befriended boys instead.
At home, she faced another painful reality. Her mother feared what people would say about having an Amerasian daughter. Julie was not allowed to call her mother “Mom. ” She had to call her “aunt.
” She watched her younger siblings grow up enjoying the family bonds she longed for—they could call their mother “Mom” and their grandmother “Grandma. ”
Then one day, her younger siblings’ grandmother told Julie, “I am not your grandmother. Do not call me that anymore. ” Those words stayed with her.
Julie began thinking more seriously about the father she had never known. She wanted to understand her origins and, if possible, meet him one day. After the war, her mother burned photographs and belongings related to Julie’s father. Fortunately, an old photo album of Julie’s survived.
Her mother told her that if her father ever saw those photos, he might recognize her. Julie kept the album carefully. In 1983, when Julie was 13 and living with her aunt and uncle in Dong Nai province, her mother suddenly called for her. Documents needed to be prepared for a possible move to the United States.
Julie was excited, believing America might finally give her a chance to find her father. She returned to Nha Trang and began preparing the paperwork. But after months of waiting, the Amerasian resettlement program was closed. Her dream seemed to fade.
Julie eventually married at 18 and had a daughter at 19. In 1989, the Amerasian program reopened. This time, she applied again. Her application was approved after two months.
Julie left Vietnam with her husband and daughter, spending six months in the Philippines before the family was sponsored to move to the United States. Before leaving Vietnam, Julie asked her mother what she knew about her father. His first name was Harry, though his last name was uncertain. Her mother thought he had trained as an aircraft mechanic or engineer and remembered seeing him in khaki uniform.
That was almost all Julie had, but she carried those few details with her to America, along with a few photos that survived the war. Moving to the United States did not make finding her father easier. She asked a charity for help, but there was not enough reliable information to identify him. His first name was possibly Harry, his last name unknown, and even his occupation uncertain.
Julie had to build her life while carrying that unanswered question. In 1990, she gave birth to a son. Life in America was hard, especially because few Vietnamese lived in her area. Finding childcare was a challenge, and Julie needed a steady income to support her children and help relatives back in Vietnam.
She eventually left her factory job and became a nail technician, a career that allowed her to better support her family and improve her English. Julie often told her customers about her search. Some had husbands who served in Vietnam, and a few tried to help her search through outdated records. One lead suggested her father may have worked in aviation in San Francisco.
Customers looked for a man named Henry connected to that work between 1965 and 1967. Nothing matched. Eventually, Julie heard that a man named Henry had been there during that period, but he had already died. It was another disappointment, but Julie refused to give up entirely.
Even if her father had passed away, she wanted to find his relatives and get a photo of him. After so many years of wondering what he looked like, just seeing his face would mean a great deal. In 2017, DNA testing gave Julie a new possibility. She registered with AncestryDNA after previously participating in a 23andMe test for her daughter.
The results showed many relatives and DNA matches, but nothing immediately identified her father. However, there was an important discovery: Julie learned the correct spelling of her father’s last name—Harvey. In December 2017, she noticed a DNA match for a person named Harry Harvey. The connection seemed significant, so she sent him a message.
He never replied. Julie contacted other people who matched her results, asking whether they knew a man named Henry who served in Vietnam. Some responded, but none could identify him. The search quieted again.
Julie waited another five years. Then, in early 2023, a routine visit to her new salon brought her closer to an answer than ever before. A regular customer named Susan Crowley came in with two other women. During conversation, Julie learned that Susan had helped people find missing relatives through DNA.
Julie immediately showed her the names that appeared in her DNA results. When Susan saw the match with Harry Harvey, she was intrigued. The connection was much stronger than Julie had realized. Susan began investigating that same day.
For Julie, it was another lead. She had followed many leads before, and they always faded. This time, however, Susan promised to return the next day with what she found. On Valentine’s Day 2023, Susan returned to Julie’s nail salon with a large paper.
She had traced Julie’s family tree through DNA matches and identified her paternal grandparents. The family had six children, including four sons. One of the sons had died just two weeks earlier. Susan pointed to photos of three men and asked Julie to look carefully.
Julie studied the photos. None of the men was named Henry, the name her mother had given her, yet one photo immediately caught her attention. She pointed to the man and said she believed he was her father. His name was Lowell Harvey.
For decades, Julie had searched for a man named Harry or Henry. Now she was looking at a photo of a man with a completely different first name. Still, something about his face felt familiar. In a photo of Lowell with his daughter, Julie saw a resemblance she could not ignore.
Susan found Lowell’s Facebook account and gave it to Julie. Julie browsed his profile that evening and discovered that Lowell had recently changed his phone number after losing contacts on his old phone. He had posted the new number publicly so his customers could reach him. Julie wrote it down.
She asked Susan whether she could call or message him. Susan advised her to approach him carefully because the news might be hard for Lowell to accept. Julie decided to write. She explained that a DNA test had linked her to his family and that she had spent her entire life searching for her biological father.
She asked whether he knew any family member who had served in Vietnam. She also sent photos of herself and her mother. Just 13 minutes later, Lowell replied. At first, he was cautious.
He asked Julie who she was and whether she was trying to deceive him. It was understandable—she was a stranger claiming to be his daughter. Julie answered his questions and provided details about her birth in Vietnam and her arrival in the United States. Lowell verified the information with the help of a friend who was a police officer.
Several hours later, he returned with an answer. Everything Julie had told him was true. Lowell was her biological father. He was the only son in his family who had served in Vietnam.
Most importantly, he had never known Julie existed. Lowell explained what had happened decades earlier. Before going to Vietnam, he had been stationed in France. He later volunteered for service and was sent to Nha Trang, where he met Julie’s mother.
They spent several months together before Lowell was transferred to Kon Tum. There, he was seriously wounded and sent to Japan for treatment. He was later moved to South Korea before returning to the United States. He never returned to Vietnam.
He never knew that Julie’s mother was pregnant. When Julie spoke with her half-sister on her mother’s side in Vietnam, she learned that Lowell’s account matched what their uncle had told the family. Julie’s mother discovered she was pregnant after Lowell left for Kon Tum and waited for him to return, but he never did. For the first time, Julie understood why her father never came looking for her.
He did not know she existed. After more than five decades of searching, Julie finally had an answer to the question that had accompanied her since childhood. But one step remained. She had found her father.
Now she had to meet him.