(singers singing in foreign language) - [Hoa] For Michigan, in total, we have about 23, 24,000 Vietnamese, and then about 10% of all the total Vietnamese population here in United States.

I'm really excited and love about this because I have an opportunity for me to share my migration story to everybody.

You don't have that kind of opportunity, often.

- [Announcer] More stories of people coming to Southeastern Michigan, part of Detroit PBS's Destination Detroit project.

The Vietnamese journey, for most, began 50 years ago.

- [Hoa] This is the photo of my family back in 1984.

- The reason we left Vietnam, which is where I was born in 1975, because of the war, we left on a boat, stranded on sea, not sure where we're gonna be.

We landed in Thailand and then after that, we got sponsored from a church in Lansing, Michigan.

We came in the winter with flip flops, no coats.

Yeah, I was only five years old at the time.

- [Announcer] Hua Dinh wouldn't arrive 'til 1982.

His father worked with the US military, who was evacuated and settled in the Detroit area in 1975, unknown to Hua and the rest of his family.

- My mom was so happy, and she was just going crazy because, you know, for seven years, not knowing that your husband exists, right?

- Hua went to college, now a retired Ford motor company engineer.

The grand opening of a very large Vietnamese grocery store in Madison Heights, run by another family that made its way here.

(upbeat music) (people cheering) - [Hang] I thought there would be people but I didn't expect it to be this.

I'm overwhelmed.

It's my mom and I that owns the business, but it's a family that basically all works together.

This was a dream of ours ever since, you know, we took over in 2007 to have something bigger, more efficient.

Our old space was so small.

Our dream was always, one day, we're gonna go big and, you know, we're gonna give the city, the state, something that they needed.

We're from Colorado, so we're used to bigger stores.

We're used to like, bigger Asian stores.

When we came here, we knew there was a need for it.

It was just, we had to find the right place and the right time.

And I guess now is it.

It brings home to them.

They can't go home, but they can make food from home.

- [Hua] This year is 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.

Because of that war that had torn so many family apart, so much pain and so much hurt that everybody had to endure.

We want our story to be heard and we want people to know that for whatever we went through, everybody can do it.

Everybody can make a new life in the new country that gives you freedom.