Don Duong

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Don Duong (born August 27, 1957) is a film actor who had been well known in Vietnam long before his first film was even seen in the United States.

Don Duong's first appearance in a U.S. film was in 1999, with the release of Three Seasons, an award-winning film directed by his nephew Tony Bui and shot in Vietnam.

In Green Dragon (2001), a film directed by Tony Bui's brother Timothy Linh Bui and starring Patrick Swayze and Forest Whitaker, Don Duong played a Vietnamese refugee who assisted Swayze's character.

In We Were Soldiers (2002), Don Duong played the communist colonel who fought against the forces led by Mel Gibson's character.

Upon his return to Vietnam, Don Duong was subjected to severe criticism by the government for his involvement in these two projects. Some government officials accused Don Duong of treason, a crime punishable by death under Vietnamese laws. The Vietnamese actors' association expelled him, he was banned from working in Vietnam and his passport was confiscated. Don Duong wrote a letter to his sons, reflecting upon his ordeal and stating that they "can know the truth, to affirm that I am always and forever not a traitor." The letter was released to the public and published in the Los Angeles Times.

As the filmmaking community in the U.S. and elsewhere spoke out against the government's treatment of Don Duong, the Vietnamese government relented and allowed him and his family to emigrate to the United States.

As of 2006, Don Duong lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.