A bronze statue depicting an American soldier stood alone Monday at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden after its companion – a South Vietnamese soldier – was stolen over the weekend and then recovered by San Jose police hours after it was reported missing.
Although it remains unclear exactly when that half of the monument was taken, authorities were notified of the theft just before 2 p.m. Sunday. Officers found the 9-foot-tall, 1,500-pound bronze figure about a mile away, near the intersection of Coyote Creek and Five Wounds Trail – around the Jungle, which was once the city’s largest homeless encampment.
Members of the local Vietnamese community grew emotional Monday as they gathered to hear city leaders detail plans to restore the monument and hold the suspects accountable.
The installation holds profound meaning for San Jose’s 140,000-member Vietnamese community – the largest diaspora population of any city outside of Vietnam, many of whom arrived as refugees. The monument honors the cooperation between American and South Vietnamese soldiers and the millions of lives lost in the war.
Queenie Ngo, who works part-time for District 7 on Vietnamese community outreach, said news of the vandalism abruptly ended her weekend.
“We were at the beach – it ruined my whole day. We were crying the whole time, so we rushed back,” Ngo said. “We have the flag raising here every first Saturday of the month. And Vietnamese community members from other parts of the country, like Boston and Texas, come here to honor our history.”
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who attended the unveiling of the public installation in 2024, recognized the importance of the monument to the community during a press conference Monday.
“I am just completely outraged to see this monument, a symbol of struggle for freedom and partnership between the Vietnamese community and our country, defaced,” Mahan said. “Our city and our police department know just how important the Vietnamese Heritage Garden and this monument are to the community, which is why we immediately jumped on it.”
Mahan vowed the city would track down the suspects responsible for the vandalism and “ensure accountability.”
“We will make investments over time to better secure the garden because this is unacceptable,” Mahan said. “In this community, no one should be harmed or terrorized by acts like this.”
The monument, titled “Thank You America” by artist Tuan Nguyen, was unveiled in 2024 as a tribute to the community. A standalone sign to the side of the installation, next to the now-lone American soldier, reads in part: “…People who understand the meaning of duty, honor and country need to look no further than those who fight for freedom and democracy.”
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Councilmember Bien Doan, who represents District 7 – the heart of the city’s Vietnamese community – said the act was about more than just damage to property.
“It was damage to a symbol of sacrifice, gratitude, freedom and remembrance for the Vietnamese community in San Jose,” Doan said. “This carries deep meaning, as many of us came here to the city as refugees after the fall of Saigon.”
Doan was referring to the 1975 collapse of South Vietnam to northern communist forces, which triggered a massive refugee crisis and drew hundreds of thousands of displaced people to the United States, including San Jose.
“San Jose gave us a chance to rebuild. America gave us a chance to live free and the Vietnamese community gave everything we had back to this city,” Doan said.
He told this news organization that the city must still evaluate the damage before it knows the cost to restore and potentially remount the figure, as well as what security measures will be put in place to ensure it does not happen again. Doan said once an assessment is made, he would push the city to “make an effort to put it back up – and quickly.”
San Jose has faced similar challenges with public art thefts and vandalism in recent years.
In 2023, a 440-pound bronze statue of an Indian ruler was stolen from Guadalupe River Park, which served as a significant cultural monument for the city’s Indian community. A reporter formerly with this news organization found that artwork shortly after, sitting next to a soda machine in the lobby of a North San Jose metal scrapyard.
Authorities have not connected the two incidents. Doan said the “Thank You America” monument had been previously vandalized as recently as March.
Thien Huynh, a San Jose resident who has called the United States home for over 40 years, said he was shocked when he heard of the vandalized monument, noting how quickly something can be damaged after taking years of planning.
“The statue was built by our community dreamers over 10 years,” Huynh said. “We built the statues to say thanks to American soldiers who sacrificed and fought for freedom in Vietnam. To me, America is freedom. It allowed us to build a better life, and it is important for us to be a part of the community here.”
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