HO CHI MINH POSTER, FLAG UPSET VALLEY COMMUNITY.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

The protest over the display of a Communist flag and a Ho Chi Minh poster in an Orange County video store resonates among Vietnamese-Americans who have created new lives in the San Fernando Valley since fleeing their homeland.

``It brings back bad memories. If we did support the Communists, we wouldn't be here in the first place,'' said Jackie Nguyen, whose family runs a successful restaurant in Canoga Park.

Tony and Hao Ng Nguyen took their family out of Vietnam in 1978 and landed in Redding, Calif. Two years later they moved into the Vietnamese-American community that has taken root in Canoga Park and Reseda.

While more than two decades have passed, the painful memories linger. Tony Nguyen said the poster and flag memorialize a leader who left him afraid for his family's safety and his children's future.

``I would react exactly like the other people do,'' he said.

For more than a month, angry demonstrators have protested against a Little Saigon video store owner in Westminster who wants to display a Communist flag and a Ho Chi Minh poster.

A judge has ruled that Truong Van Tran has the free-speech right to display the flag and poster, but Tran collapsed in a confrontation with protesters before he could put the displays back up.

Vietnamese-Americans at a community center in Winnetka said they respect the freedoms of their adopted nation, including free speech. But they contend that also gives their countrymen the right to demonstrate against Tran.

``We don't fight with the American law. We fight with him. Hopefully the American people will understand,'' said Tuc Tram, chairman of the board for the Vietnamese Association of the San Fernando Valley. ``This brings back the trauma of the Viet Cong.''

Ngoc Dinh, the association's president, said he was angered that Tran would take advantage of freedoms in this country that were not possible in Vietnam.

``Under the Communist regime we had no human rights, no freedoms. Ho Chi Minh killed a lot of Vietnamese people,'' Dinh said.

Both Tram and Dinh said they believe that Tran's actions are backed by the Communist Party in Vietnam and that strong protests are needed.

``He's nothing, but we must react to the Communists behind him,'' Tram said.

``They used him to test the reaction of the Vietnamese community over here. If we don't have any reaction, they may do it again and again. Maybe there will be 10 more or 100,'' Dinh said.

In the younger generation, many who were only children when their families left Vietnam say they appreciate their older relatives' anger.

``I didn't suffer, but I understand,'' said David La, who was 4 when his parents moved to Mexico, Mo., in 1979. ``People made lots of sacrifices. They left Vietnam to get away from the Communists and this guy is putting it in their face.''

La's family, now living in West Hills, manages a restaurant that his family opened last year. While the family has regained a measure of the comfort and happiness they enjoyed living near Saigon, La said even younger Vietnamese-Americans can't forget the past.

``You try to move on. It was a long time ago, but it's still there. When someone touches that nerve, you're asking for trouble,'' he explained.