Author: Kathleen Kennedy
Company: Department of Veterans Affairs

Orange County Register - October 1, 1999
Trinh is taking blame for his own misdeeds 
As I read through the article about Dung Trinh, the man who did the shooting rampage at West Anaheim Hospital, killing three innocent persons because he was fed up with the way the hospital's personnel treated his mother, I felt sorry for the guy ["Trinh details center killings," Front Page, Sept. 25]. I am definitely against the killing; however, I am convinced that Dung Trinh is a man with dignity. He didn't have any past criminal record. He didn't claim he was insane (as some have) to avoid the death penalty. He had the guts to face and accept the capital punishment for what he had done wrong. 
One of Trinh's statements in the article that touched me personally and the Vietnamese community as a whole was that he is only himself and does not represent anyone in the Vietnamese community. This came from from a guy who did not even finish eighth grade, but he strongly defended his community from his bad action. 

Kim Thoa Pham
Garden Grove