Republished from: “Chicago Tribune:”  (I’m not trying to promote McDonald’s here, but it’s such a great story: Boy flees Vietnam, grows up in Chicago, works at McDonald’s as a teen, returns to Vietnam to open the country’s first McDonald’s restaurant. – J.L.)

McDonald’s is opening its first restaurant in Vietnam today with a partner with strong ties to the Chicago area: Henry Nguyen, a private equity investor with a medical degree and MBA from Northwestern University.

Nguyen, who worked at the world’s largest hamburger chain as a teenager, was born in Vietnam and fled with his family as a toddler just before Saigon fell. He returned to the country more than 12 years ago and is a highly visible entrepreneur whose father-in-law, Nguyen Tan Dung, is the country’s prime minister.

Oak Brook-based McDonald’s already operates in 118 countries — 10,000 locations across Asia and Africa alone — but getting to Vietnam has taken a little more time.

The restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City will launch the McPork line of burgers, created to reflect local Vietnamese tastes.

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