American wife fulfills dream of deceased Vietnamese husband

HAWAII- Over the past 5 years, Kira and her son have traveled to Vietnam many times to buy "national dogs" as her husband had dreamed of when he was still alive.

On a late October afternoon, Kira Hoang and her American friends visited a dog farm in Gia Lam ( Hanoi ). As soon as she saw the Mong Coc , Bac Ha and Phu Quoc dogs, she immediately sat down to pet and play with them. "I love Vietnamese native dogs, especially Phu Quoc dogs," said Kira Hoang, 31, from Hawaii (USA).

Kira’s love for Vietnamese dogs stems from her late husband, Hoang Van Hieu. Although he is Vietnamese and grew up in America since childhood, the man still misses his homeland so much that he often shares with his wife about Vietnamese culture and cuisine , especially about the Phu Quoc dog breed - a native dog originating from Phu Quoc Island with a whorl of hair growing in reverse on its back, and very good at swimming.

While he was alive, Mr. Hieu planned to visit Vietnam in 2020, take a photo album to celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary, then move to Hawaii to buy a house and raise four dogs in the group of "four great national dogs" (Phu Quoc, Lai dog (Thanh Hoa), Mong Coc dog and Bac Ha - Lao Cai ) of Vietnam.

"He had this vision of one day having a brindle in the house, sitting behind him while he drove his sidecar around Waikiki (Hawaii)," Kira said.

*Kira Hoang with her husband and son, also named Hoang Van Hieu, during Tet 2017, in Mississippi. Photo: Family provided*

But one afternoon before Thanksgiving 2018, Hieu suddenly felt tired. Kira lay next to him and noticed his unusual breathing. As a nurse, she knew he was in critical condition, so she immediately called an ambulance and performed CPR. But the 911 that arrived shortly after was still unable to save him.

The sudden loss of her husband made life hell for the young wife and her young child. Missing her husband, Kira decided to adopt a Phu Quoc dog, the dog that Hieu had admired when he was alive.

In the summer of 2019, Kira moved from Mississippi to Hawaii, where her husband had lived for more than a decade. There were many Vietnamese people here, so the mother and daughter had more opportunities to connect with her husband’s roots. Kira adopted more dogs and joined the Phu Quoc Ridgeback Association in the United States.

As president of the association, she and other members collect information about the Phu Quoc dog breed through documents and breeders in Vietnam to build a set of Phu Quoc dog breed standards in the US. The goal is to help the community keep Phu Quoc dogs from crossbreeding and preserve the breed.

Kira also spent a lot of time convincing two testing centers in the US, Wisdom Panel and Embark, to sponsor the collection of DNA samples of Vietnamese native dog breeds, an important task to ensure the accuracy of breed records.

*Kira with four Phu Quoc dogs adopted in 2019, 2020 and 2023, in her home in Hawaii, May 2023. Photo: Character provided*

In January 2023, Kira and her son returned to her husband's hometown for the first time. They celebrated Tet with his family members in Ho Chi Minh City and Hue. This was a trip that Hieu had been looking forward to all his life but had not been able to make. "I felt like he was following our journey," she shared.

After Tet, Kira and her son began their journey to collect DNA samples from dog breeds. They traveled extensively and continuously, visiting many dog breeding farms from the South to the North to collect 100 DNA samples from the "four great national dogs of Vietnam" and 15 samples of local dogs.

After that trip, Kira returned in April to welcome two more Phu Quoc dogs to join her family. On her third trip in late October, she brought back two more Phu Quoc dogs and two Mong Coc dogs. "Thanks to the dogs, my son and I have the opportunity to return to Vietnam and connect more deeply with my husband's motherland," she shared.

Le Ha , a Phu Quoc dog enthusiast in Hanoi, said Kira shared her plans to develop the breed in the US and made an appointment to return to connect with the community of breeders of native dogs in Vietnam. "When we learned that what she did was to fulfill her deceased husband's wish, we were deeply moved," Le Ha said.

Kira (far right) and two Vietnamese-American friends during a visit to the dog farm of Le Ha and her husband in Gia Lam, Hanoi, on the afternoon of October 27. Photo: Phan Duong — *Kira (far right) and two companions returning from the US during a visit to the dog farm of Le Ha and his wife in Gia Lam, Hanoi, on the afternoon of October 25. Photo: Phan Duong*

Being a single mother and having to do a lot of community work, life is not easy for Kira. To have money to go back to Vietnam, she has to work overtime and save for a long time. The cost of bringing a qualified Vietnamese dog to Hawaii is also 1,500-2,000 USD per dog.

But the biggest difficulty for her is that her son Hieu inherited all the good traits from his father, being a good student, affectionate and responsible. "Seeing my son resemble his father sometimes makes it hard for me to accept this life without him," she shared.

But remembering her husband's words "life is short, do what you are passionate about", Kira has the strength to do things she never thought she could do. Now, she no longer feels lost or in pain, but feels at peace.

"He is a man who came to America with nothing, and started over even without the language. I am doing these things with love and pride for him - a man who is always extremely kind in any situation," said his American wife.

See more photos of Kira's journey with Vietnamese native dogs:

Kira and her son visit Lai Song Ma dog farm in Thanh Hoa, January 2023.

Kira took DNA from a breed in Bac Ha (Lao Cai), January 2023.

Kira returned to Vietnam in October and visited the places she had been to before.

Kira caresses a Phu Quoc dog, at a farm in Hanoi, on the afternoon of October 25.

Kira and her two Phu Quoc dogs before boarding the flight back to the US on the night of October 27. This time she brought back four Vietnamese native dogs to the US, including two Mong Coc dogs that she had asked friends to bring back in advance. She also recently founded a Mong Coc dog club in the US.