Dead Navy Veteran's Mother Wasn't Given Visa To Attend His Funeral

A navy veteran’s mother could not attend her son’s funeral after her request for visa was denied twice by the United States government. Arkansas resident Ngoc Truong, who served in the United States Navy for four years, died of leukemia on Dec. 17 at the age of 22.

Truong’s father, Hung Truong, a jewelry store owner from Blytheville, Arkansas, said his wife, who was from Vietnam, had applied for the visa twice, but her requests were rejected, due to which she could not attend her son’s funeral.

According to a report in the CBS affiliated television station WREG TV, Hung said, “That’s what made me fuming mad. Fuming. Why?”

After quitting the navy in October, Truong planned to study graphic design at a school in Florida. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with leukemia soon after and succumbed to the illness.

Hung said his son always thought along the lines of “don't ask what your country did for you, but ask what you did for your country.”

“He’s already done for this country, but what has this country done for him? What did this country do for him?” Hung added.

Truong’s father also stressed he had no idea as to why his ex-wife’s visa request was rejected twice by the government. He said, when asked, the State Department also did not provide any clear answer to this.

When approached for a comment by the WREG-TV, a State Department official sent an email to the news organization, which said, “Visa records are confidential under U.S. law. We are unable to discuss specific visa cases.”