Nghi Nguyen fled Vietnam for the United States days before the fall of Saigon, climbing aboard a military plane with almost nothing but his wife and two young children.

"My children didn't even have shoes," he said.

Mai Nguyen, the son of an American soldier, came to the states in 1991 as a 19-year-old who couldn't speak English.

"It's like 180 degrees, completely different," he said of the transition into American culture. "You have to start from scratch."

And Huong Thu Earl moved to Pittsburgh in 2006 to marry an American man, Michael, leaving her relatives in Vietnam.

Theirs are among the diverse experiences known to Pittsburgh's small but vibrant Vietnamese community, which gathered yesterday to celebrate its heritage and mark a milestone: the 30th anniversary of the Vietnamese Association of Pittsburgh.

Separated from their native country, Mrs. Earl and Nghi Nguyen say they have found a sense of community and a piece of home in the nonprofit organization, which, among other aims, works to unite the city's scattered Vietnamese population.

At the Frick Fine Arts building in Oakland, about 100 people sang traditional songs, paused to mourn those who died in the Vietnam War, honored King Hung, the country's founding father, and sang the national anthems of both Vietnam and the United States. Longtime friends embraced and chatted in the hallways while others watched a stage show in the building's auditorium.

Nghi Nguyen, chairman of the board of the association, said it's important for second and third generations to remember their roots.

"We value the Vietnamese culture and we like to get together to socialize among ourselves and keep our traditional values," he said.

There are about 1,500 Vietnamese people and 400 families living in Pittsburgh, he said, a drop from about 3,000 who lived here in late 1970s, drawn to the city's steel mills. When the association formed as a nonprofit in 1979, many refugees turned to it for help with everything from lodging to crash courses in English language and American culture.

The population is much smaller now, but the group's aims remain unchanged. It offers translation services, helps raise money to be sent to people in Vietnam and also plans several cultural heritage events, Nghi Nguyen said. The association is also encouraging American families who have adopted Vietnamese children to attend its festivities for a glimpse into the culture, said Michael Earl, the group's vice president.

"Everyone is spread throughout the city," he said. "This brings everyone together."