This story was updated to correct details of David Luu’s escape from Vietnam.
Growing up in Vietnam, owning a business in the U.S. was a far-fetched daydream for Lee and David Luu. But on March 29, the couple will celebrate 35 years of owning Springfield’s Cashew Station Drive-Thru.
The local Chinese food spot at 620 E. Battlefield Road serves Springfield’s classic cashew chicken and is known for its crab rangoon. The restaurant has grown and evolved through the past 35 years, but it had a humble beginning.
Owners left Vietnam, found new home in Springfield
Lee and David Luu, both of southern Chinese descent, grew up in Vietnam and escaped the country after the Vietnam War ended with North Vietnamese forces quickly taking over and forming the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Lee Luu left Vietnam in 1981 alongside her parents and sister at the age of 14, traveling by boat for three days and two nights and landing first at a refugee camp in Thailand and then one in the Philippines. Her time living in camps was relatively short as the family was able to come to the U.S. just a few months later, in 1982…