Can I get some help please...

Your friend needs to talk to his father (if he's still alive and in the picture) or family members on his mother's side. If there are none, then he needs to speak with anyone at their wedding. If none, then expand the search to anyone who knew them as a couple, at any time.

Ask these people: did she ever talk about family or where she was from or how and where she and the father met? These will provide clues as to where to look in Vietnam.

If none of these people can be found, then the next step is the consulate for your country in Vietnam. Give them every clue.

Prepare for this to take money and years. The less information you have, and the more remote the connection, the more expensive and longer it will take--- if it can ever be successful.

And BTW if the consulate is no help then the final step is taking photos, going to Vietnam with an interpreter if you need one, and manually checking records that have only a slim chance of having been scanned. I hope you like boring slogs through big, dusty old books, because it may come down to that.

Good luck.

Another thought that jespah has not given - I am assuming you know where your friend and his mother lived when he was young and she was around especially around the time she left. Is there a Vietnamese community there? If so, you could reach out to the community, there may be a community center, a church, etc. Probably would be better for you friend to do there - I am not sure if they would be suspicious of you or not depending on the reason his mother left -- I think he might have better success than you would fitting in with the community/cultural. They may of even helped her arrange to have left.

The Salvation Army also helps locate lost people but they will need some information as mentioned by others. I know someone who they helped locate her father.

My friend has little information and from what I gather he was taken away from his mother and never saw her again. Its a painful subject and I don't think his father will give him any info from what I've been told. He almost knows nothing about his mother at all. But I will ask him for more info.

I do know I think where he grew up I would have to confirm it. I myself am not in his country of birth currently.

My friend has little information and from what I gather he was taken away from his mother and never saw her again. Its a painful subject and I don't think his father will give him any info from what I've been told. He almost knows nothing about his mother at all. But I will ask him for more info.
I do know I think where he grew up I would have to confirm it. I myself am not in his country of birth currently.