thing in the whole world. she built up my confidence that i could do anything. >> jonathan: you know, we learned how to speak spanish first before we learned how to speak english. >> anthony: of course. so you came over in '78, did you say? >> jonathan: late '77. i was 10 years old. and we literally left on -- i wouldn't call it a boat, it was more like a raft. >> anthony: a raft. >> jonathan: there was a hole in the boat. we sat in water the entire time, just sitting soaked in water. they let us come here as refugees to the united states. we lived in the government housing projects. me, my sister and my brother all were placed in the same category for esl. firswaves boat people the rettment of houston. >> anthony: now what was the urgency to take such a tremendous risk? >>im: parents felte needed to take a chance on freedom and opportunity than to live under communist rule. ♪ >> anthony: ain't nothing more american than viet bayou-style