Saturday, May 30, 2015

"I would rather feed you to the sharks than live under the communists"

Via Sister Anne

 
 The' N. Pham, a TNTT (a religious affiliate like 4H or Boy Scouts) leader, judges the foods from each team during camping around his church in Dong Xuyen Villeage in Vietnam in late 1974 before the fall of Saigon. The' is the leader of the youth group and also a Boy Scout leader in his pack.

My last days in Vietnam


Rory Kennedy's Oscar-nominated documentary "Last Days in Vietnam" is a striking, honest look at the turmoil, anxiety and confusion surrounding the fall of Saigon - now Ho Chi Minh City - on April 30, 1975. Watching the film, which was recently released on Blu-ray, can be troubling or emotional at times. Especially for those who were involved. It takes me back to the chaos of that time, when my own family worked to flee South Vietnam, after the North Vietnamese army ignored the Paris Peace Accords and began taking over the South. Born and raised in South Vietnam, I was 16 when the city fell on that hot and muggy April day.

At the time, I was confused and unsure about what was happening around me. I did not understand why we had to leave Đông Xuyên, the little town that had been the center of our world. We had to abandon our dog, the little sandy road leading to our home, the soccer field that we played on daily and afternoons plunging into the river to cool off from the summer heat.

Most people had left by boat. We would do the same, soon. I knew my mother was nervous and worried to death. My dad was calm. Still, I was able to detect the sadness in his eyes. This wasn't the first time the threat of communism had forced him to uproot his family.

More @ Hampton Roads

 https://iwansuwandy.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/pleiku-to-refugees_danang.jpg?w=640&h=494
Some 400,000 civilians, 60,000 ARVN, and 7,000 Rangers began the attempted escape to the sea.

By the time that the last straggling men, women, and children had reached Tuy Hoa on the coast; 300,000 civilians, 40,000 ARVN, and 6,300 Rangers were missing, never to be accounted for.

8 comments:

  1. They knew about Communism and the desperate flight for freedom. But what they
    didn't know was the Communist subversion within the military.
    Brock, what is your opinion on what happened to the missing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I assume they were all killed though some may have escaped into the mountains. Retreat is the most difficult of all military maneuvers and to attempt it taking along 400,000 civilians was insane, though initially it went well with bridges blown up behind them, but once the communists started targeting the civilians, mayhem reined.

      "the leading part of our convoy got through the ambush point under a screen of supporting fire. But the tail end had to leave the road and pass through the jungle. I was in the tail end. Rebel mountain tribesmen armed with our [American] weapons and Communist B-41 rockets and AK-47 rifles shot into the convoy, while Communist artillery struck from all directions. Many trucks were hit by shells and burst into flames and exploded. The trucks were crammed with soldiers, children, and old people. They fell everywhere. Those who walked fell to machine gun bullets. Their blood flowed in tiny streams. The roaring artillery, crackling small arms, screams of the dying and crying of the children combined into a single voice from hell.

      Delete
  2. Poor people. Thanks for your insight. They did not give up but bravely tolled onward
    for some escape.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. April 30th was the saddest day of my life, but this story would run second. As I mentioned, I have two of the three pages written by a Vietnamese reporter who was accompanying them. Heart rendering, to say the least. I had all three when I was evacuated, but the final one disappeared. I ought to at least post the first two I guess, because the other one is gone forever I'm afraid. All you need to know about Communism is below.

      Many trucks were hit by shells and burst into flames and exploded. The trucks were crammed with soldiers, children, women and old people. They fell everywhere. Those who walked fell to machine gun bullets. Their blood flowed in tiny streams. The roaring artillery, crackling small arms, screams of the dying and crying of the children combined into a single voice from hell.

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  3. I can visually imagine. I have read of such atrocities thru out perpetrated by
    privileged governments such as the US who use the word of media to justify
    their massacres. These desperate people were sacrifices for politics and
    monetary gain.
    How did the third page get separated from the other two?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lord, only knows and I just searched again. Every-time I think of it, I search hoping someone put it on line.

      Fare Thee Well! And If Forever 'Still, Forever Fare Thee Well!
      Chinh Luan (Newspaper) Nguyen Tu (Correspondent)
      Cung Son, March 23 (1975)
      Nguyen Tu who accompanied the huge exodus column from the Central Highlands describes his emotions in Tuy Hoa, where local scenes evoked memories of the allied forces who fought alongside the Vietnamese combatants. - EDITORS.

      Might be of interest.
      http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=274&highlight=evacuation

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  4. Thanks. Might be of consideration:
    "In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in order to mobilize us.": Thich Nhat Hanh - Vietnamese monk, activist and writer.

    ReplyDelete