THUY Williams

Thuy Williams was born in Ho Chi Minh in 1970. Her family was able to get her on the first flight out of Operation Babylift. Her mom walked her up the steps of the plane then left the airport. That plane crashed and her mom was told she died in the crash. Unknown to her, Thuy had been taken off the plane because it was too full and put on the plane the next day. She made it safely to Portland, OR where she was adopted and grew up.

Thuy knew that her father had been a GI and so to honor all those that served, she joined the Army. After an 8-year stint, she came home to the US. She is now a coach of soccer, track and lacrosse and spends her time traveling the world using sports to bridge the gap with traumatized people in refugee camps in third world countries. She helps kids process trauma by using sports as a way to create friendships and smiles. She is also a business owner and works from Portland.

She is on the board of two other nonprofits: Breaking Boundaries which takes kids from the US to do community service projects in third world countries and Haven Homes which has two houses for those in addiction recovery. She is also an ambassador for US Amputee Football Federation which brings amputee soccer to those around the world.

She was able to find her mom in Vietnam in 2001 and has been back many times to see her. In 2018, she found a sister on her father’s side of the family and has now met 5 of her 9 half-sisters.