This year marks a half-century since the end of the Vietnam War. A well-known memorial in Washington, DC, pays tribute to the US service members who lost their lives in that war, but few memorials honor the Vietnamese who fought alongside them, or the hundreds of thousands who came to the US in subsequent years.

Pieces of a community’s collective memory filled a high school in Dorchester on a recent afternoon. Specifically, stories of war, trauma and resilience of Vietnamese refugees following the Vietnam War, which ended 50 years ago. Built as a makeshift gallery space, each corridor offered a place to reflect on the legacy of the diaspora.

Black April – a term used by many Vietnamese émigrés to describe the fall of Saigon fifty years ago this week– is a date frozen in time for those who experienced the trauma of war, imprisonment, and displacement from their homeland in Southeast Asia.

April 30, 1975, is known around the world as the day North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon and the Vietnam War ended.

But in parts of Dorchester, the war never ended.

For Ngoc-Tran Vu, the fall of Saigon, the pivotal event, concluding on April 30, 1975, that finally marked the end of the bloody quagmire that was the Vietnam War, is more than just history.

It’s her family’s story.

Vietnamese community organizations are organizing the largest commemoration in Boston for the 50th anniversary of what has become known as “Black April” while continuing their push for a permanent memorial in Dorchester to uplift their voices in presenting Vietnam War narratives.

About 200 people attended an appreciation dinner hosted by the Vietnamese community’s 1975 Memorial Project at the Saigon Seafood Restaurant in Fields Corner last Saturday evening. The event, which included performances and a speaking program, sought to mobilize support for a permanent memorial installation dedicated to the Vietnamese diaspora at the committee’s preferred location – inside Town Field off Dorchester Avenue at Park Street.

Last month, we shared the modified design of the “1975: A Vietnamese Diaspora Memorial” at Phở Quê restaurant. The response was heartening, one of understanding, support, and a shared vision for what this memorial represents.

Growing up, Ngoc-Tran Vu watched her father and his South Vietnamese veteran friends gather every year to commemorate Black April.

An art project by a group of Vietnamese Americans in Dorchester will complement a proposed Vietnamese diaspora memorial and aim to become a permanent presence in Boston, say organizers.

Nestled along the streets of Dorchester, numerous public art installations reveal the rich culture of its Vietnamese community.

Project to establish a permanent marker that honors the Vietnamese experience is underway in Boston Little Saigon...

Artist Ngọc-Trân Vũ is leading a project that will honor the perspectives of local Fields Corner residents.

Finally, April 30, known as “ Black April,” is a day to lament and reflect upon the fall of Saigon and of South Vietnam, in 1975...

The yellow-and-red-striped South Vietnamese flag flew alongside the U.S. and Massachusetts flags...

On April 20, the Vietnamese community of Dorchester gathered at the Intergenerational Cultural Commemoration Event in Dorchester’s VietAID Community Center, hosted by the 1975: A Vietnamese Diaspora Commemoration Initiative

The VietAID Community Center in Dorchester on April 20 hosted the “Intergenerational Cultural Commemoration Event”...

The 1975 Vietnamese Diaspora Commemoration Initiative is hosting an "Intergenerational Cultural Commemoration Event" in Fields Corner on Saturday, April 20.

A grassroots group that plans to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the War in Vietnam in 2025 will convene its first public meeting about their ideas on Saturday, Dec. 16 at the VietAID Community Center on Charles Street. The meeting, which will take place at noon, will include a discussion about an proposed art installation located in Fields Corner.