FRANK A. ROSE
In an era when immigration policy is often reduced to threats and responses, we would do well to remember the story of Nguyet Anh Duong, a retired U.S. civil servant and one of the quiet heroes behind a vital piece of modern American military capability.Duong, a Vietnamese immigrant who fled to the United States after the fall of Saigon in 1975, went on to become a leading weapons scientist at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head, Md. There, she played a pivotal role in developing “bunker buster” bombs that eventually led to the weapons used in the recent U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. For her ingenuity and dedication, she earned the nickname “the Bomb Lady.”
Her story is remarkable not only because of what she achieved, but because of what it symbolizes: the extraordinary, often overlooked contributions that immigrants make to American national security and technological innovation. In the current debates over immigration, we rarely hear about people like Anh Duong—but we should.Duong’s journey from refugee to weapons designer encapsulates what has long made the United States exceptional: not just its material wealth or military strength, but its ability to attract, absorb, and empower global talent, especially during moments of national crisis. She is not an outlier. Immigrants have been critical to nearly every major scientific and technological breakthrough in modern American history, from the Manhattan Project to Silicon Valley.
In his 2017 book Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War, historian Paul Kennedy explores how the Allied victory was shaped not only by battlefield heroism, but by the ingenuity of engineers and scientists who solved daunting operational problems. From designing better radar and long-range aircraft to developing amphibious landing craft and cracking German codes, it was technological adaptation, fueled by open societies and free inquiry, that gave the Allies the edge.
As Evan Thomas wrote in his review of the book, “Culture, as much as material strength, played a critical role in the Allied victory.” The Allies thrived not because they had the most tanks or ships, but because their societies—unlike their fascist adversaries—fostered experimentation, welcomed dissent, and valued creative problem-solving. The United States, in particular, benefited from a wave of scientists and engineers who had fled authoritarian regimes in Europe. In many ways, America’s openness was its ultimate asymmetric advantage.
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