Scholarship set up in memory of slain deputy
High school classmates of Vu Nguyen, whose friendship with the fallen Sacramento Sheriff’s Deputy was cemented with a cross-country road trip as teenagers, have organized a scholarship fund in his name.
“He was a person full of integrity and honesty,” said longtime friend Mike Henderson. “We did not want him to die in vain — to not have something to keep his memory alive.”
Henderson is helping to organize the Vu Nguyen Memorial Scholarship for Modesto High School students.
Nguyen, who was killed in the line of duty Dec. 19, graduated from Modesto High School in 1989. Henderson is now principal of La Loma Junior High School in Modesto.
The effort to honor the deputy started at Nguyen’s funeral, eventually centering on raising money for a scholarship and selecting a deserving student.
Henderson said the organizers are seeking donations to honor Nguyen’s memory. Scholarships will be granted to one or several Modesto High students who want to pursuit a college education that would lead to a career in law enforcement or other service-oriented career.
Henderson said Nguyen and his family were some of the last to be airlifted from the American Embassy in 1975 with the fall of Saigon.
“It was the image of the uniformed American GIs helping his family that planted the seed for him to want to pursue a life devoted to helping the country that helped him out,” said Henderson.
A couple of years after high school, Nguyen, Henderson and five other buddies took a Volkswagon van across country.
A month’s worth of traveling in a van that overheated in the South in July made for memories and strong friendships, said Henderson.
Nguyen went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Sacramento.
He worked in probation, then as a deputy with the sheriff’s department, where he eventually joined a gang task force.
Nguyen, 37, was on patrol when he was killed.
Nguyen and his partner were contacting suspected gang members in south Sacramento when they spotted a suspicious-looking young man near 42nd Avenue and 37th Street, sheriff’s officials said. The young man, later identified as Jimmy Siackasorn, suddenly ran into a backyard and Nguyen followed.
Seconds later, Nguyen’s partner heard multiple gunshots. He hopped a fence and discovered his partner suffering from a fatal gunshot wound to his neck.
Siackasorn, 16, has been charged as an adult in Nguyen’s death.
Checks can be made payable to Modesto High School with “Vu Nguyen Scholarship” written in the notes section of the check.
Donations can be sent to the attention of bookkeeper Diana Scott at Modesto High School, Bookkeeper Diana Scott, 18 H St., Modesto, CA 95351.
