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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

KPCC Archive

Orange County's popular Vietnamese radio host Viet Dzung dies

File: Vietnamese civilians to be evacuated watch helicopters arriving at an American camp in Plei Me, south Vietnam, Nov. 1, 1965.
File: Vietnamese civilians to be evacuated watch helicopters arriving at an American camp in Plei Me, south Vietnam, Nov. 1, 1965.
(
AFP/Getty Images
)

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A popular Vietnamese radio host in Orange County's Little Saigon, Viet Dzung, has died. He was 55.

Dzung was known for his show on Radio Bolsa. The show reaches the Vietnamese community around the world.  

Dzung was born in 1958 in Saigon, according to Los Angeles Times reporter Anh Do. Dzung then came to the United States as a young man.

"He was afflicted with polio as a child, so you would see him perform or take the stage all around town — up and down California in fact — leaning on his crutches, but always with a smile on his face, joking, with an underlying serious message," Do said.

Dzung's radio career spanned two decades. He spoke out about the Vietnamese government's humans rights violations and railed against communism. 

Dzung had a full performing schedule up until the time of his death. 

He died at a hospital in Fountain Valley on Friday of heart disease.

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