Following the US withdrawal of soldiers from Vietnam in the early 1970s, both were “rescued” from orphanages in Saigon.
While thousands of kids were placed in new homes around the US, Barton and Andy found up on the Scottish island of Lewis.
In 2021, while Barton was filming a surfing movie on the island, the two happened to cross paths.
Having grown up as Asian kids in mostly white neighborhoods, they had no recollections or understanding of Vietnam.
“It’s not every day you meet another Vietnam orphan,” Andy responds.
It’s similar to meeting a blood brother who is also your twin.
Precious Cargo, a theater production that tells the stories of the Vietnamese orphans at the Edinburgh Fringe, has brought the friendship between the two guys to life on stage.
The program examines each person’s unique experience as well as their common sense of dislocation.
Barton remarks, “Andy has lived almost a repeat life to mine, but in Scotland,” with a thick Australian accent.
