Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, Vietnam.

The anniversary is a good time to reflect on the journey of refugees, like the Vietnamese, becoming new Americans, Dennis Romboy writes.

One such woman is Naja Pham Lockwood. She escaped with her family on the last South Vietnamese ship to leave Vietnam as Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese.

“It just really shows that refugees and immigrants are part of the fabric of what makes America. It is the fabric of America. Refugees do make America great,” Lockwood said. “I don’t identify as a Vietnamese. I am an American with Vietnamese roots. I feel as though this is my home. I don’t think of Vietnam as my home.”

Lockwood now lives in Park City and is the director of "On Healing Lands, Birds Chirp," a short documentary exploring the lasting trauma of the Vietnam War.

The documentary features interviews with the people connected to the iconic photo "Saigon Execution."

On Feb. 1, 1968, Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams captured the national police chief of South Vietnam, Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, shooting Nguyen Van Lem, a Vietcong officer, in the head point-blank, two days after the Tet Offensive. Lem was believed to have murdered the wife and six children of one of Loan’s deputies, Romboy reported.

“That photo was always in my mind all throughout my life. I thought about the victims involved. I thought about the story behind Eddie Adams’ photo,” Lockwood said. “That photo haunted me as a child and I wanted to just make peace with that photo by telling the story.”

Utah Valley University’s high return on investment for students of all backgrounds earning national salutes

Utah Valley University earned the designation of an "Opportunity College and University" by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

Only 16% of the nations colleges and universities received a similar designation.

What does the classification mean?

The new classification assesses how well institutions create opportunities for student success by measuring whether they enroll students who reflect the communities they serve and by comparing the graduates’ earnings to their peers in the same areas, Jason Swensen reported.

“As an open-access institution, UVU encourages students to ‘come as you are’ and provides a high-quality education with seamless pathways to a degree, whether through vocational/community college offerings or four-year and master’s programs,” said UVU Acting President Jim Mortensen.

“This innovative model has resulted in strong job placement and competitive wages for our graduates, who consistently earn above the national median."

UVU graduates

UVU reports almost 75% of its graduates securing “high-wage, high-demand” jobs with 4- or 5-star ratings by the Utah Department of Workforce Services in a variety of fields — including nursing, elementary education, engineering, computer science, finance and marriage and family therapy, Swensen writes.

Read more about UVU.

Utah

Warm spring, early summer and looming fire risk in the West (Deseret News)

Orem man charged with 75 felonies after police find cache of homemade bombs (KSL.com)

I-15 facing more closures this week in Davis County for construction project (KSL.com)

Utahns have $11M in student debt, and government loan collections are restarting (KUER 90.1)

Q&A: Carin Crowe on 15 years of building homes and futures (Utah Business)

Utah employers increasingly require AI skills (Axios)

‘Active shooter in the building’: Southern Utah students, first responders train for mass casualty events (St George News)

'Absolutely beautiful': St. George Episcopal church exhibits historic stained-glass artwork (St George News)

Alpine School District Superintendent Shane Farnsworth to step down for new role at BYU (Daily Herald)

Health

Heavy cannabis use linked to worse colon cancer outcomes (Deseret News)

7 nutrition tips for older adults (Deseret News)

Premature death linked to certain type of food, study reveals (Fox News)

Faith

The first-of-its-kind religious school exposing First Amendment tension (Deseret News)

Salt Lake Temple renovation shifts into decoration stage (Deseret News)

Soccer connects refugee girls to new communities through She Belongs (Church News)

Politics

Congress passes bill to criminalize revenge porn, including AI-generated ‘deepfakes’ (Deseret News)

Did Trump help Canadian Liberals avoid election disaster? (Deseret News)

Gov. Cox convenes ‘Built here’ nuclear energy summit in Utah (Deseret News)

More than 200 lawsuits mark Trump’s turbulent first months in office (Deseret News)

The Nation and the World

Amazon clarifies new tariff charge price listings after White House hits back (Deseret News)

Don’t get grounded with new Real ID rules. Here’s what you should know about traveling (Deseret News)

Florida is poised to ban fluoride from public water systems (ABC News)

Sports

BYU football: BYU was shut out of the NFL draft, despite an 11-2 record in 2024; Will next year be better? (Deseret News)

University of Utah is eliminating its beach volleyball program. Here’s why (Deseret News)

2 paths, 1 goal: Where would Michael Kesselring be if he had stayed in Edmonton? (Deseret News)