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Show The Salt Laltf Trlhunc, Sunday, April 10. 1977 - Battle for BenStory of a - 4-Year-- Boy Old 'Ey Victonu Graham recites poetry. She would like to take her family to the country, she says, but sometimes the big city covers my emptiness " "I want our two families to be like one," says Miss Anh who sends occasional cards and lct- tors Nelsons. They were very good to my Iniy They come out here and visit But she is not without bitterness over the custody fight, the rcimrts she had many husbands e and the shouting before Ben left the Nelsons Nelsons still like a shadow, she once said Why dont they let us Associated Press Writer CHEAT FALLS, Mont. Doan Van Binh doesnt talk so much anymore about his American mommie and daddy. And he doesnt cry for them at night. Sometimes his eyes dart to their picture on the dresser. Sometimes he just stares. Binh, who is known as Ben," clings to his Vietnamese mother and sleeps snugly beside her. lie plays with his four brothers and sisters. He is showered with kisses and candy and egg rolls. Most people say he is adjusting very well for a last-minut- k AV has wrenched from child who Uk it go -- been country to country and family to fandly. Ben doesnt say much, and what he thinks Is tucked somewhere behind black eyes and enigmatic dimples. Ben was one of the last -- Jlhtea.' OS :sJLA Vietnamese children evacuated from Saigon during In Operation 1975. He April Babylift was placed for adoption with Johnny and Bonnie Nelson of Forest City, Iowa. But his natural mother, Doan Thi Hoang Anh, known as Miss Anh, found her way to the United States and demanded her baby. She began to collect the six children she had placed in an orphanage. After a long legal battle, the Iowa Supreme Court ordered Ben returned to Miss Anh. She still is seeking a son in France. Last Oct. 19, she reclaimed Ben from the Doan Thi Hoang Anh waters plant at home, as son, now' known as Ben, watches. Bens mother, now living in Great Falls, Mont., won court battle to gain custody of son. Nelsons. children. "He be like a baby eagle," she said. He not need anything but his mother. "Ben is a very resilient little boy, said Gary Perrin, a social worker who saw Ben in low'a and watched his farewell to the Nelsons. "With two opposing forces, these situations have the potential for tragic conflict, Perrin said. But I think it will work out nicely. His mother was very loving In Vietnam. The Nelsons were very loving And he is being loved again Perrin said Ben displayed none of the usual Bobby. signs of disturbed adopted children, like extreme withdrawal or disruptive behavior "If he was deeply it didnt show on the surface," Perrin snid "When he was handed to his mother, he seemed to go happily But you always wonder whats going on m his head " Social workers in at Falls have not had extensive contact with Ben. the custody battle is over, and Ben is hack home But there still are So ardent and unrelinquished claims on his heart. The celebrity i laid among relugee children is caught in a cross fire of endearment "Its not the Nelsons versus the Doans Weic all rooting for Ben," Nel son said m a telephone hiterv iew one way we know the break has to be made, he said "But in another way, wed like to jump out to Montana and give Ben a big hug and kiss So the Nelsons send him letters about loving and missing him At Christmas they sent "111 a letter saying brother would trade all his toys for Christmas to have you here. They sent toys, farmer overalls and a map "lhat shows that Montana and Iowa arent that far away. They sent the clothes he wore in Iowa. They sent the picture showing Ben with the Nelsons and their natural Julie and Vietnamese New Years and has an exotic air of carnival and perpetual parties And they plan to visit Ben lor his fifth birthday on May 19 and hope they can stay with Miss Anh By then, Mrs Nelson will It is decorated with soda cans wrapped in colored paper. Plants trail thickly from checked and polka-dhangers made by Miss Anh from have had a baby More than miles sepa rate the Nelson family from the Doan family Nelson, is 34, public-relation- ot east-ofs director at a small Lutheran college Their home is neat, simple, American They are deeply religious and Christianity is a dinner table topic Miss Anh, ,!t trained as a nurse S aide, is unemployed and liv mg on welfare and fond stamps with her foul other children- Maggie. 11, Kip, s. David. 7. and Donna. Her . f made clothing She a chandelier of from egg cartons and chicken pack aging Every three days or so, she says, the house does not seem new anymore " So she shifts the furniture and living arrangements A Buddhist who was baptized a Methodist eut-ou- ts Miss Anh carries with her the lore of jungle animals and wind gods She reads palms and She says the Nelsons have telephoned Ben and told him secrets. They deny talking to him At first I dont want to put their picture out, she says. Rut then 1 think leave it out so it Is not new. Let Ben see it every day, and it will be easier for him. I do this for my boy. And I let him keep their name. Not for them, but for him. And I tell him call them mommie and daddy. "Ben will decide if he wants to stop. Miss Anh reads the Nelsons letters to Ben hut admits: "I change the words when I think it will make him too sad. Miss Anh takes care of Ben all day. She cuddles and teases him, and he giggles and teases her back. He asks what he was like as a baby, and she says he was like a He laughs. bit poppy "He asks me it was like in Vietnam. 1 tell him about a farm and chickens and pigs and how we used sticks to keep animals out of the vegetables. " Together she and Ben water the towering sweet potato plant in the middle of the television room .ind the ginger plant she grows lor cooking He listens to Vietnamese fairy tales about the mosquito, the lizard, the rabbit and turtle, all bearing lessons of loyalty. generosity and want to make 1 e h i I d renb my minds straight," Miss Anh says, tell them not to listen lo wh.it everyone tells you You ask mommie Do not copy other people. L-- t your prayers tie your i tells them: She Oriental way is never let other people know what is in your mind. Also in the Oriental way, Ben tags along with his brothers, sisters and Anh for Kung-f- u lessons at the YMCA. At night he demonstrates his kicks and jabs. Some-timethey gather around a childs organ while Miss Doan Van Binh, left foreground, appears with his former adopted family, John, I am the satisfaction, king. You are the queen. At first he refused to eat Vietnamese food lie. speaks little Vietnamese, telling his mother, Talk English " No" is a favorite reI sponse, along with dont want to" and hate that. Very gently she chides s Anh, like an mother, painstakingly plays 1 Dream of Jeannie." Sometimes she is strict, splitting the air with a stream of Vietnamese. And they are still. But with Ben she is gentle Maybe I spoil I be him, she says gentle now. Later I be tough I dont want my baby to come home and think I am mean And Ben is sly and shy and insouciant, outgoing and clinging, often and imperious. Clearly he know s he is a special child. When Miss Anh told him a story about a king and queen, Ben, sitting in her lap, observed with stul-bor- V' V 1 him Teachers at a day care center that Ben briefly attended were deeply concerned about the child they saw' last fall Ben was frightened, fearful, frustrated and confused," said Linda Gohrick, director of the White House Day Care Center that Ben attended sporadically for less than a month Sometimes he would come and sometimes he n JO Nelson and children, Julie and He is now with natural mother. Bonnie Bobby. wouldnt and nobody told us anything, said Mrs Gohrick "At the door step, if he didnt want to come, his sister would take hime home or he would throw a tantrum He is a very bright little boy and knows what he can get away with. she said "lbs favorite word was no, but he obviously didnt learn it just when he came to Montana didnt do what he thought they should But Ben was quite shy and sometimes just sat alone Sometimes he just put Ins hands up and wanted to lie held trip to the park. saw a car like Nelsons On a Ben Theres my daddy, he said excitedly. "No," said the teacher Your daddys m Iowa." When he first arrived, talked a lot about the Nelsons, "my daddy "1 miss my daddy," Ben said "I want my lie esK-ciall- daddy. Ben kicked a little girl to get a doll he wanted, and pushed a iioy off a swing because he wanted to use it, teachers said Ben was a definite problem when it came to said Wava discipline, Smith, a teacher's aide He had the tendency to liecome very violent if things did not go his W'ay. He would kick, bite, scratch andor pinch a teacher or child if they NOTICE FREE AMPLIFIER Seurs carries a complete stock of Hearing Aid Batteries to fit all types and models of Hearing Aids, Prices reduced the entire month of April, so CLINIC stop in today N. pre-amplifi- I VE 100 Directional hearing aid Bring your amplifier, or receiver to our free clinic. While you watch, it will be tested for its power and performance by McIntosh engineers on over $5,000 worth of laboratory test equipment. er, SEE IF YOURE STILL GETTING WHAT YOU PAID FOR! 1 he Model 80(35 is one of the most beautiful and slimmest Eyeglass Hearing Aids ever designed and will operate for 300 hours on a tiny mercury 32 battery. Regular $329.00 MONDAY, April 11, 1977, Noon Till 8:00 P.M. TUESDAY, April 12, 1977, Noon Till 6:00 P.M. Hearing Aid Ad Effective Thru Apnl 26tti AT SALT LAKES BEST HI FI STORE - I UJintertonV Audio 2166 Highland Drive Salt Lake City, Utah 84106 .n - I..I-.- 751 I'ay 5 ill He t l.m I t 321-100- 1 iik-ii- Lake South State Sears-Sal- Mt Sunla. ( JiD-t'- nil Mill own t $ 2U0-- a - m uii t h apartment is still decked out for Christmas and (oast Guard Seizes Soviet Ship YOU'RE INVITED TO SEE UTAH'S NEWEST OPERATING i3 4 $1 NEW YORK (API -The Coast Guard seized a Soviet fishing vessel Saturduy night for allegedly catching too man) fish inside the United States new fishing boundaries It was the first impoundment under the 5 week-old- . limit e hi the la .1 two weeks the federal government refused to let the Coast Guard seize three Soviet fishing ships for alleged violations Some congressmen and fishing especially m the Northeast where fishing is a major economic forie, had feared the new extended bound aries would be under mined by those refusals The ship seized Satur. day night w as the 27r foot Tat as Shevchenko The Coast Guard said the ship allegedly took river herring alnive its authorized (junta The vessel carrying a crew of 91 is Ling escorted to Boston, where the Coast Guard said it would be turned over in the U S attorney III State Department spokesman said the .ciuic had been cleai ed. 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