Wayne Alberts, MD.

I came up here and all of a sudden I realized that we're all saying the same thing about Dai Vinh, and the reason that is, is Dai Vinh was real. He was genuine. He was the same thing to everyone, and everyone recognized the man that he was for that.

We've assembled to honor and recognize a very good friend, a great surgeon, mentor of many, and also a man who cared so much about everything: his friends, his colleagues, his family, and coworkers. But, we're mainly here to celebrate the privilege of knowing Dai Vinh.

In this time of war in Ukraine, we reflect on the fact that Dai Vinh grew up during a war. He could have become bitter, angry. The things that he saw could have made him a different man, but they didn't. Instead, he embraced three things. They were strength, gentleness, and intelligence. Despite all the things he saw, he overcame them. You have heard from everyone that he was a great mentor to medical students and residents. He was one of the surgeons that all of the students wanted to be on his service. They wanted to learned surgery from him.

He was a superb technician. He had what we call golden hands. I don't know if they used that term anymore. As a technical surgeon, he was exquisite. One thing he didn't tolerate was laziness in a student, and he gently told them in the strongest of terms that it was their responsibility to be ever learning and ever caring, or leave surgery. Dai Vinh was the last of the surgeons who knew how to do it all and do it all well. There was nothing he couldn't do.

But, being a good surgeon isn't just golden hands. Dai had the greatest judgment of a surgeon I've ever known, and what procedure to do at what time. His best attribute was that he absolutely cared about the patients. They were his dedicated responsibility.

Dai Vinh, and some of the other people who are here today, were in a surgical group of eight surgeons. Every Friday morning, we had a meeting to talk about who was going to cover the weekend and how they were going to care for the patients. Dai was a fountain of knowledge at the Friday morning meetings. Even though it was a weekend and somebody else was on call, guess who made rounds on every Saturday and every Sunday? It was Dai Vinh. They were his patients. If you decided to change anything on one of his patients, you had certainly better call him up, because he knew they were his personal responsibility.

He brought so much to his friends as well. On a very personal note, one evening, one very hot summer evening in 1995, I had a huge surgical problem. Both of my surgeons are here today, Dr. Dino Nonas sitting down there and Dr. Dai Vinh in my heart. I went to the operating room that night without any fear knowing I had the two very best surgeons caring for me that I have ever known. By the way, we were all military surgeons in the air force to serve the country, and then working with Dai after that was a great pleasure. He was gentle and strong, always.

As a friend, Dai was there when you needed him. As a surgeon and human, we all have problems. We all have disappointments and stresses in our life. Dai was a great listener. He was strong in every way as a friend. He was strong enough to tell you to reconsider your choices, be it as a person or as a surgeon. At the same time, he was gentle, supportive, and always your friend. We laughed a lot. We did a lot of things together. We gambled a lot until I learned I would always lose, and we just had a wonderful time together.

What was most important to Dai Vinh? I'm looking at them. They were his family, Hoa, Trân, and her family and all his extended family. They were his life pride. Thank Hoa and Trân for allowing me to visit Dai in the last days to hold that golden hand one more time and say, Vinh Dai, thank you for being in my life and making my life better. Thank you.

- Dr. Wayne Alberts