Call Me an American : Refugee to Patriot: Lessons Learned for a Strong America

Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. After a few years in West Africa, Hung moved to Virginia as a child and is a proud member of the inaugural graduating class of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria. He was commissioned as a Special Operations Officer (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Deep Sea Diving) from the United States Naval Academy, and served with special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Hung's non-combat assignments included balancing the Navy's $140 billion budget at the Pentagon, working with Homeland Security, and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Hung received his Masters degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, and fellowships at MIT and Harvard. He and his wife April are the parents of five beautiful children. After their thirteenth move across the United States, and around the world, Hung and April moved their family home to Purcellville, Virginia where they have been active in their community and church. Hung ran for Congress from Virginia's 10th District in 2022, and is presently a candidate for the United States Senate from Virginia.
 

April Lakata Cao was born and raised in Northern Virginia. As a writer, she has devoted herself to encouraging families in faith as they strive daily to strengthen their relationships in parenthood and marriage. April was a proud contributing author to the award-winning book, Faith Deployed…Again (Green, J., Moody) and has been published in Focus on the Family's Thriving Family Magazine along with numerous popular online publications. April has been a ghost writer for several Op-Eds published in the Washington Post and Washington Times. April finds great joy in being a wife to Hung and mother to five beautiful children.