Cao's

Cao's commitment to a religious career further weakened a few years later as a Jesuit seminarian at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

The next few weeks will determine whether Cao's congressional career, one of the most unusual in modern history, will also be one of its shortest.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

Cao's brother went with their aunt to Georgia, his sister to a foster family in Florida.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

Cao's wife, Kate, a pharmacist who worked at a nearby Walgreens until he was elected to Congress, is asleep inside with their two young daughters.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

Some of them, as might be expected, are within a few miles of Cao's house.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

Indeed, much of Cao's day will be devoted to the latest catastrophe to strike his district: a hellhole in the bottom of the gulf that's been disgorging petroleum into local waters since the BP drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded in April.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

Cao's father, a South Vietnamese army officer, was away, as he had been for most of Cao's childhood.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

Enemy forces began to pour through the streets; Cao's school was struck by mortar fire.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

Cao's mother heard about the bombing but not the flight that made it out.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010

It just seems right that the street in front of Anh "Joseph" Cao's house is always flooded.

Joseph Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans Steve Hendrix 2010