Navy veteran's mom twice denied visa to attend son's funeral in Arkansas

An Arkansas Navy veteran's mother was not allowed to attend her son's funeral after her visa request was rejected.

Ngoc Truong, a four-year U.S. Navy veteran, died Dec. 17 from leukemia at the age of 22, but his mother missed his burial, reported WREG-TV.

The late serviceman's Vietnamese mother applied twice for a visa to come to the U.S. for the funeral but was denied by government officials.

"That's what made me fuming mad -- fuming," said his father, Hung Truong. "Why?"

Truong left the Navy in October and planned to study graphic design, but he died shortly after he was diagnosed with leukemia.

The veteran's father said his son was inspired by John F. Kennedy's exhortation: "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."

But Trung's father felt the United States had not held up its responsibility to the Navy veteran.

"He's already done for this country, but what has this country done for him?" said Truong, a jewelry shop owner. "What did this country do for him?"

The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the visa requests.