Gwinnett County Chief Deputy Clerk of Court Ruth McMullin was an infant in 1975 when her family evacuated from Saigon, South Vietnam’s capital. Reflecting on that time, McMullin describes how, from the day she was born, her parents listened to the radio intently as the first South Vietnamese military bases were overtaken by the People’s Army of Vietnam. The Republic of Vietnam, having been a separate state from North Vietnam since 1955, would soon fall to North Vietnamese forces, altering her family’s future.

“They didn't know at that moment that it was going to be so severe,” McMullin recalled, “but within the following weeks, more of the southern occupied bases were being taken over, and the evacuation order came. All the Americans and their families had to leave.”

Following the reunification of both Vietnam states under communist control, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, as it’s called today. McMullin’s family had intended to stay in Vietnam, but instead, they all found a new life in Alabama, where McMullin would ultimately develop her passion for criminal justice.

“Growing up in rural Alabama, we were still a sight to behold. There were no biracial kids,” McMullin shared. “There were no other Asian kids, no Asian stores. And so, my mother had to adapt to be there and to raise us in Alabama.”

Overcoming these challenges led McMullin to be the first in many significant life achievements. After completing her studies in Criminal Justice and Psychology in Jacksonville, Florida, she graduated from Emory University’s law school in Atlanta, a journey that would ultimately lead her to Gwinnett County. McMullin began her legal career as an assistant public defender in DeKalb County with a strong focus on post-conviction advocacy in the Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court.

Making history as Gwinnett’s first Vietnamese judge, McMullin has become an integral part of one of Georgia’s most diverse counties. Serving alongside her on the bench is Magistrate Court Senior Judge James R. Argo, a former Marine Corps Reserve Colonel. McMullin says their shared histories have brought about an unexpected bond.

“I shared with him that my father also served in Vietnam, so we started comparing notes,” McMullin said. “That's when I realized that he and my father had been in Vietnam helping with the evacuations when my family and I were being evacuated.”

“I was a pilot flying off the USS Okinawa,” Argo recounted. “We were there to do an evacuation in the event that Tan Son Nhut Air Base­ — the major air base in Saigon — shut down. And it did shut down. It was shelled by the North Vietnamese army. No more aircraft coming in or going out.” Argo said the Marine Corps and the Air Force were able to evacuate essential personnel along with thousands of others in humanitarian efforts.

April 30, 2025, will mark the 50^th anniversary of Black April, a poignant reminder of the day that reshaped the lives of families in South Vietnam. For McMullin, memories of isolation during her childhood are transformed into a feeling of solidarity with her colleague — their shared history forming a meaningful connection.

“I was in diapers, and he was flying a fighter plane. Who would have thought we would become colleagues sharing a similar experience?” McMullin reflected.

Argo noted the significance of saving lives through evacuations and the contributions those individuals have made to the United States.

“One of the most remarkable things,” he said of evacuees, “is that some of those first-generation children went to the Naval Academy, became officers in the Navy and the Marine Corps, and later went on to take political jobs. They came in, they melded with the United States and became good citizens of this country.”