A single light flickered in the pitch-black of Thursday morning.
The two traversing the wet grass of Mile Square Park said later that lighting the first luminary made them feel as if they were standing on the precipice of something big. Tam Nguyen said he thought of his parents. Johnny Ngo thought of his. Both of their families came to the U.S. from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
It was 3:47 a.m. in Fountain Valley when that first luminary was placed. They watched until it was time for them to leave, then extinguished it. It was the first of many that would be lit there later the same day.