Honor

to the US. Veterans of the Vietnam War.

                                                     

        Preface:

      After I read the confidences of veterans of Vietnam War on the ’’Vietnam magazine’’; they dared not confirm that they just returned from Vietnam when they were in front of their people, in the meantime. I emotionally feel bad for their humiliations and their shames; therefore I’m writing this article to console them, and to tell American people that the American youths who fought in Vietnam War deserved to be honored and grateful from the American people because they fought for the United States nation and for the pride of the American people

            Dêlô Cao-câp.

 

If we compare the lifestyle of Southern Vietnamese people before the year 1975, and the years after 1975, we will see the difference very clearly. This difference determines that the American troops fighting in Vietnam were righteous. They’ve deserved to be honored. Their fight brought the pride to the American people, and to the United States. They made the people in the world respect their nation and their people.

 

Before 1975, the lifestyle of the people in southern Vietnam got all the essential rights of a human being sufficiently. They could express their thoughts: the writers could use their pen to dispatch their confident opinions. The sentiments originating from their heart could thrive out to papers freely. Nobody could thwart their heartfelt emotions. Nobody could order them to write this or to write that. The media could present their policies; they also had Editorial License to criticize Authorities and Policies of Government. The citizens could choose wherever they want to live; nobody could force them to live here or to live there. When a citizen wanted to go somewhere within their country, he didn’t need asking for the permission from anyone. The religions could evolve their believes, the believers could celebrate their spiritual ceremonies freely.

 

For substances, one person worked, he could raise his whole family comprised of one wife and three children easily. The southern Vietnam people didn’t worry much for their clothing and food. While their husband went out to work, the Vietnamese women would stay home to prepare the meals for their husband and their children. Due to that, Vietnamese had much time to educate their children. All Vietnamese children could go to school regardless of social classes, religion, or politics; if they were brilliant, they could receive the same benefit. The crime from youths was very little when the Government of the Republic of Vietnam administrated the country. Up till 1975, motorcycles were more than bicycles on the roads. One of fifty families had one TV set. The lifestyle of southern Vietnamese people was high then. In the meantime, Northern communists told their people that southern people were so poor that they didn’t have enough money to buy the bowls for taking rice, while the poorest southern people already had the model bowls for their meals. After the communists occupied the South, their officials brought stone bowls to their relatives who have had lived in the south as gifts; but after they figured out that their leaders have lain to them; the gifts were secretly thrown away to the trash bins by givers.

 

We want to speak out the truth of the substances and the spirit of people of southern Vietnam under the administration of the Republic government to make one comparison with their lifestyle under the control of Communist; and we want to let the people in the world understand why the South Vietnamese youths sacrificed their lives regardless of danger for the struggle against the North communists who invaded their homeland in the South, and we want to let everybody knows the fighting of the US. Armed Forces in Vietnam is righteous and respectful.

 

After 1975, the communists have ruled with a stern administration, and unfair to the southern people, especially to the families of those who had served the South Vietnamese government, and those who fought the communists to protect the freedom and the richness of people in the South. They endured the cruel and discriminated treatments from the communists. The communists imprisoned them, forced them to work very hard yet gave them very little food. They scorned at those who could not accomplish the goals they wanted them to achieve; they beat them for this reason sometimes! Starvation killed many prisoners during their sentence.

 

How have the communists treated the normal citizens?

 

According to the statistic of the United Nations: Vietnam is a poor nation among the poorest nations in the world under the communism. The lifestyle of Vietnamese people under the communist rules is very bad. They are a people who suffer from the Government’s explicit action. The Communist Party has confiscated all the people’s wealth to the budget of the Party to feed their leaders, their lower comrades, and their families. To control the citizens easily, communists execute the‘’ handling the people’s stomach’’ method. Communists in the world never want their people rich, or have enough money to buy the food for life, and health. To perform the ‘’ handling the stomach of people’’ policy, communists force their people to pay very high taxes. The labors get a very little wage. Their citizens, except leaders + high rank Communists, have to work without salary, sometimes; they call it as: ‘’working for Socialism’’. Citizens cannot do any kind of marketing; they cannot manage factories. Citizens in communist countries cannot own the land. The communists say:’’ the land is belong to Government that means it’s belong to the Communist Party. The worker get a wage so little that he can’t feed himself, under the Communism; with a salary as little as that how can he help the others in his family!?  He cannot of course! There are Union in communist countries also; but it works for Government not for labors. It protects the benefits of the Communist Party, not employees’ ones. Besides, to make the citizens get poorer and poorer, the communist allowed their communist authorities corrupt, and bribe. If you arrive at a Vietnamese airport such as Hanoi, Tan-Son-Nhat, Danang or using the public transportations, you would see those things (corruption and bribe) very clearly. There is not right of labor or other human rights of citizens in the communist countries, such as freedom of dwelling, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of studying, etc....

 

A citizen wants to go to somewhere in the case of emergency, he has to ask for permission from local administrators; if they refused, he must stay in his home village absolutely. Because the condition of his life at his current village is turning worse, he wants to move to another place to live, he has to ask his local officials for the permission to leave the village, and he also has to ask the officials at the village where he want to move in for the permission to reside there; if there is one of these two denies him, he cannot move anyway.

 

Sometimes, Government enforces the citizens to live here or to live there (Designed dwelling) because of the security, or of the economic reasons. Communists believe in Materialism, not in the GOD; therefore they oblige their people follow what they do, if there anybody opposes them, they would imprison him. If the believers continue to keep their religion energetically, the communists would arrest their religious leaders, and they would confiscate their temples or their churches; the believers could not celebrate their religious ceremonies freely.

 

There are not private newspapers in the country. All the newspapers belong to the Government. The mission of newspapers is to carry out propaganda corresponding to the Government policies or to the Communist doctrine. One of the policies that the Communist Government wants newspapers to perform is: “dulling citizens”. Newspapers must hide all the deleterious news to the Communist Party or to the policies of Government. In former communist countries, the “dulling citizens” policy of the Communist Parties has caused difficulties to their people, and their countries after the collapse of Communism.  The citizens could not study what would enlighten them to receive useful knowledge for the development of themselves; the communist education system just teaches their citizens what can profit the communist leaders’ over ambitious goals, in the communist countries. The effect of the “dulling citizens” policy conduces the most important thing that is the retarded technology.  That is the reason why the technical productions in former communist countries are very bad. Obviously, the aftereffect of former communist countries is that their citizens have endured the political, and economical chaos, despite the help of capital countries.

 

In democracy, and freedom countries, children of all citizens are encouraged, and helped going to school to get the knowledge to be useful for their country, and fro their people in the future; while the communists just allow their citizens go to school to learn the literacy to know how to read the propagandas of the Communist Party, and of the Government. There are a few children of the communist comrades can go to the special school to study some certain branches at higher level; but those are authentic careers.  The students do not know anything else beside their learning career. The writers cannot write what they want to write, to contrary, the re-education camps are waiting for them!

 

The comparison on the lifestyle of people in South Vietnam before 1975 and after showed us the fight of the Armed Forces of Republic of Vietnam, and their people against communists was a just cause, and the American troops participated in the Vietnam War was righteous. They came to Vietnam to help one people who were struggling for their freedom and their democracy; they came to Vietnam because Vietnam was the last outpost of the Freedom World, of which the United States was the leader then. The ARVN got the responsibility to thwart the expansion of the Communism to the Southeast Asia. The participation of allied countries such as Australia, Republic of China, South Korean, NewZeland, Philippine, Thailand ect...spoke out the good reason why the US. fighting in Vietnam. They’ve been righteous, and humanitarian. They were not fighting alone.

 

To implement the expended policy of the International Communist Party who plot reddening Southeast of Asia with the strategy of  “Spilling out the oil drop”, the Vietnamese Communist Party set up the so-called “The south Vietnam Liberation Front” as one instrument to provoke war against South Vietnam nation, and afterward they invaded the South with weapons of communist countries. They critically violated the Geneva 1954 convention.

 

The US. troops had to be in Vietnam because the worldwide communist countries supplied model weapons to Vietcong, while the ARVN equipped with old weapons from the WWII. To executive the role of leader of the Freedom World, the United States had to fight beside its allied forces to help the South Vietnamese people protecting their freedom and their democracy; that fight made the worldwide people respect the United States, and its people. The American youths who were fighting in Vietnam at that time brought the respectful pride to their nation and their people. They also made the United States to be the worthy leader of Freedom World.

 

Unfortunately, because of the political reasons, the American media misrepresented the war in the meantime. They stained the honor of the American soldiers who were sacrificing their blood, and lives on the battlefields to escalate the respect from other people in the world to their nation and their people. Indeed, the America soldiers were worthy to be grateful, and honor by their dedications.  Those who opposed the war in the meantime committed the ingratitude to their nation, their people, and their friends. (The people who was fighting beside the US troops)

 

The US. Government build a monument to commemorate the soldiers who dedicated their lives to their country in Vietnam War, almost 20 years later; although this work was too late, but it’s been better than none. (“No healing, no apologies, no memorials, nothing can possibly compensate for the damage done inflicted.... The only thing can possible to do, 20 years too late, is to try, and tell the truth” ; Historian Eric Bergerud, UC Beerkly).

 

There were many people among the betrayers are remorseful of their past bad works, such as Jane Fonda, Do Luce, Eddie Adam, and so..on.., after they have been figuring out how the communism is. Especially, Mr. Eddie Adam who took a picture in which one Vietnamese general was executing one savage Vietcong. This VC. has had killed many Vietnamese women, and children. This picture made the photographer getting the Pulitzer award, and dishonored one respectful general of Armed Forces of Republic of Vietnam. He is a person who loves his country, and his people so much. During the funeral of the late Brigadier General Nguyen-Ngoc-Loan, 30 years after the picture was taken, Mr. Eddie Adam expressed: “The General Loan’s reaction was misunderstood because of this picture. He was one hero that the United States must lament. The VC whom General Loan shot at was worthy to be executed for his crime. General Loan was reasonable when he executed a savage guy.”

 

Despite the excuses of Mr. Eddie Adam, were too late, but they could reflect the reason why the US troops engaged in Vietnam War. The acknowledgement of former false (they have lain, and stabbed at the back of US soldiers) made them does not violate the honesty, and it also made their shame a little softer. In the past, their brutal works to the US troops were betrayed, and ungrateful. Nowadays, everything is disclosed, we do not hesitate to honor the brave US soldiers who fought in Vietnam War. They deserve to be called HERO of the United Sates. They deserve to receive the respect from every ones in the world.

                

Seattle, Mid Autumn 1998.

Dêlô Cao-câp.