In Remembrance of Our Vietnam:
An Annotated Bibliography
Name: Ho Chi Minh
Brocheux, Pierre. Ho Chi Minh: a Biography. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Ho Chi Minh. Both despised by many as well as beloved by many, Ho Chi Minh has become a household name. Recognized as the Communist leader of North Vietnam during Vietnam’s civil war, Ho Chi Minh is a name that resonates among all Vietnamese people especially. I dare not mention his name near any of my grandparents nor any of my older relatives. For my family and many other South Vietnamese immigrants, Ho Chi Minh is regarded as the dictator who attacked their personal freedoms and waged war to gain political power. For many North Vietnamese citizens and other supporters of communist Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh was a war hero who helped Vietnam gain independence from French colonial rule and unified all of Vietnam under one government.
Pierre Brocheux’s “Ho Chi Minh: A Biography” presented a compilation of accounts from individuals who were affected by Ho Chi Minh. The book offers little about Ho Chi Minh’s private emotions and life and rather preserves Ho’s official image as “Uncle Ho,” a selfless national leader completely dedicated to the interests and well-being of his compatriots. The book also explains that Ho’s critics often viewed him as a brutal and power hungry dictator who would stop at nothing to achieve and impose Vietnamese unification under Communist rule. Brocheux cites directly from a former biographer of Ho Chi Minh, William Duiker, calling Ho Chi Minh “Half Lenin, half Gandhi.” Pierre explains that much like Gandhi, Ho fought for national independence from an imperial colonial power. He also goes on to compare Ho’s power seeking as similar to that of fellow Communist leader Vladamir Lenin.
Ho Chi Minh died in 1969 at the age of 79, and no matter your opinion of him it’s important to recognize that he left behind a grand legacy for himself. Revered as the leader of the revolution against France, he is credited with delivering independence to the nation of Vietnam. Th South Vietnamese will tell you he was a cruel monster and the North Vietnamese will tell you a totally different tale altogether. Ho Chi Minh, dead but far from forgotten.
“Fortunate Son”, A Protest to End Vietnam
Creedence Clearwater Revival. Fortunate Son, John Fogerty, 1969, 15 April, 2018.
In 1969, rock and roll band Creedence Clearwater Revival released “Fortunate Son”, which at first seemed to many as an everyday song, but many soon realized the song was an act of protest against the Vietnam War. While never once mentioning the Vietnam War by name the band references “the war” several times and after analyzing the lyrics it is clear to see that Creedence was not in favor of US involvement in Vietnam. “Fortunate Son” was one of the earliest acts of protests of the war. John Fogerty, the producer of the song, was asked about the importance of “Fortunate Son” to the views of the average American. Fogerty replied, “in 1969, the majority of the country thought morale was great among the troops, and like 80% of them were in favor of the war. But to some of us who were watching closely, we just knew we were headed for trouble.”
Creedence Clearwater Revival while not intentionally unpatriotic, did not support the war and the draft system while seemingly having a cynical view of the government and its motives for involving the country in the Vietnam War.
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh they’re red, white and blue
And when the band plays Hail to the Chief
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, “How much should we give?”
Ooh, they only answer More, more, more!
These lyrics from “Fortunate Son” provide support of American distrust in government and the growing distaste for American involvement. Government spending on the war and military drafting seems to be the main issue for Creedence. “Fortunate Son” grew in popularity as American protests of the war began. “I ain’t no military son”, described the rising feelings of American citizens sick of paying for and sending troops into a war halfway across the globe.
Growing anti-war sentiment pressured Nixon and other government officials to push for the withdrawal from the Vietnam War. Without the support of the American Public it was difficult for the US to continue to support the South Vietnamese in their war effort and eventually the government received so much backlash from the American public that on March 29, 1973 the US withdrew their troops from Vietnam all together. While very grateful for US help in the war effort, my grandpa had once expressed to my dad that he believed had the US fully committed to the war the South could’ve won. It saddened the country of South Vietnam to lose the support of its strongest ally, and ultimately this led to the downfall of the South Vietnam Republic.
Santa Ana aka Little Saigon
Dang, Thuy Vo, et al. Vietnamese in Orange County. Arcadia Publishing, 2015.
The city of Santa Ana in Orange County, California is home to 24,000 Vietnamese people. Nicknamed “Little Saigon”, once a city founded from a Spanish expedition, Santa Ana is now a hearth for Vietnamese food and culture. I can remember as a child driving up from San Diego, where I lived for the first half of my life, to visit family, and friends of family. San Diego had a large population of Vietnamese people, but Santa Ana was a whole city where Vietnamese was a majority. Stepping into the city was like stepping into Vietnam, hence the nickname I suppose. There are other cities like Santa Ana around the world, maybe not as big, but these places exist. Congregations of Vietnamese populations outside of Vietnam, often times strictly South Vietnamese peoples exist everywhere. It’s an encouraging sight to see these communities because it allows Vietnamese people to encounter Vietnamese culture.
Vietnamese in Orange County is a photo album of the growing and surprising presence of Vietnamese people in Orange County specifically the city of Santa Ana. Thuy Vo Dang is credited for taking these pictures and in her own words writes, “Vietnamese in Orange County captures snapshots of Vietnamese life in Orange County over the span of 40+ years and shows a dynamic, vibrant community that is revitalizing the region.”
I showed these photos to my grandma, bà nội, and she instantly recognized the town. My whole family has either lived in or visited Santa Ana. Orange County’s large population of Vietnamese people have influenced Californian politics in recent years and are even doing so today. Democratic Californians are currently hoping to sway the large Vietnamese Asian American population to vote Democratic to flip the district from red to blue. It’s interesting to witness the effect Santa Ana is having culturally for Vietnamese peoples as well as the political effect it has in the district. Maybe South Vietnam is no longer their home, but for many Vietnamese people now Santa Ana is their home.
The Breakout of War
Gillie, Rebecca. “How Did the Vietnam War Start?” The Week UK, The Week UK, 30 Apr. 2018
My grandpa fought in the war. He served as a soldier and as a medic for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Born and raised in the city of Can Tho, my grandpa grew up in the South and when it became time to fight he fought for the South. He’d never held a gun before, but my grandpa like many other able men living in Vietnam at the time enlisted to fight out of pure patriotism and nationalism.
In her article, “How Did the Vietnam War Start?”, Gillie dives into the key factors that led to the breakout of the war. The US became involved in the Vietnam War in 1963, but it was 1955 when the war first began. Conflict between the North and South Vietnamese began long before war had broken out. The conflict began in the 1940s as the struggle to become free from French colonial rule began. In 1945 revolutionists led by Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese independence which was met by 9 years of French attempts to reestablish its Indochinese colony. As this was occurring, growing anti-communist sentiment grew among the Vietnamese living in areas with strong French colonial presence. The South which was largely colonized by the French opposed Ho Chi Minh’s aggressive and Communist ideals. In 1954 Ho Chi Minh and the revolutionists defeated France in the First IndoChina War, but bloodshed was far from over in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh seized power in Vietnam and proclaimed himself leader of Vietnam while putting Communist politicians in places of power within his government. The South refused to recognize Ho as their leader and called for a democratic election to determine their new leader. A year after national independence war broke out once more, this time between the North Vietnamese Communist Party and the South Vietnamese Republic of Vietnam.
It is important to understand the motives of both sides in every war. Knowing how and why war broke out is essential to understanding the motives of each side. The South believed that a Communist government would infringe on their freedoms and preferred to have a democratic system of government be set in place. The North led by Ho Chi Minh did most of the heavy lifting in gaining independence from the French and they felt their Communist ideals were to be put in place. This war had become a war over control and power of the government. Not too long after the US, other foreign countries such as China became involved and escalated the war to a feat never seen before by many Vietnamese citizens.
Paris by Night. The Remembrance of a “Lost” Country by an “Unlost” Community.
Kornhaber, Spencer. “We’ll Always Have ‘Paris by Night.’” SF Weekly, SF Weekly, Web. 1 Oct. 2018
My bà nội owns nearly the entire series of Paris by Night, which is now 126 episodes long with many more to come. I always admired the many bookshelves of cassette tapes I saw with 100+ Paris by Night episodes. Paris by Night wasn’t just for the older generation; my dad and his siblings grew up watching these shows, and they still watch them today. The series showcases aspects of South Vietnamese culture and includes both new and old music from South Vietnamese peoples as well as comedies and sketches created by South Vietnamese actors and comedians. Paris by Night is a way for the community of South Vietnamese people to reconnect with and remember the country they once knew and loved. That’s what it was for my dad and his family; it was a reminder of what their home was like. A reminder of what Vietnam was like.
In his article on San Francisco Weekly entitled “We’ll Always Have ‘Paris by Night’”, Spencer Kornhaber discusses the series’ 100th episode and the possible ending of the show while he reflects on the success and growth of the show since its original airing. Kornhaber highlights the show’s significance for South Vietnamese immigrants who’ve relocated to other countries, noting that the show itself unifies a community of South Vietnamese people. He warns of the possibility of the 100th episode airing in Las Vegas being the finals to the show (which turns out to be incorrect considering we are now 126 episodes in).
Paris by Night aired its first show in 1983 in Paris, France. The show got instant appraisal from the rather large population of Vietnamese immigrants living in France at the time. The show quickly caught traction and saw its sale in digital copies rise tremendously. With an increasing budget as a result of the shows surprising success, Paris by Night became a spectacle drawing and creating Vietnamese pop stars and actors who perform on the show. Produced by Thúy Nga Productions, the series featuring Vietnamese-language musical variety shows is widely known and watched around the world. Each episode ranges between 4–5 hours of run time. Tickets to attend these live shows aren’t cheap, but Paris by Night always sells out all their tickets no matter the venue. The continued airing of the series is responsible for the continued existence of South Vietnamese culture as it serves as a common ground for South Vietnamese people, actors, singers, and performers to gather and put on a cultural display. “ Paris by Night” has been pivotal for the survival of the South Vietnamese culture sustaining long after the downfall of the South Vietnamese Republic.
The Things They Carried
Natchez, Jon, and Sarah Robbins. The Things They Carried: Tim O’Brien. Spark Pub., 2003.
In 9th grade I read “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and it was the first book other I’d ever read that included the Vietnam War in it. O’Brien did more than simply include the Vietnam War; he set the majority of the plot in Vietnam itself and centered the story around American soldiers fighting in the war. I remember enjoying reading this book and i enjoyed rereading it recently because of O’Brien’s ability to tell stories that instantly became painted in your mind as you read them. TTTC also drew me in as a result of my personal connection to Vietnam, as I would read the novel wanting to learn more about Vietnam’s terrain, people, and war.
Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” follows O’Brien’s character as himself and the rest of his platoon as they venture through Vietnam eliminating North Vietnamese threats. O’Brien’s character kills a young North Vietnamese soldier who couldn’t have been old enough to fight yet but still did. The scene is somber and reflective as the soldiers begin thinking of their own families and many of their younger relatives. While sad to see and hear young boys not of age to fight enlisting and still going to war was common on both sides of the war. My grandpa once told my dad he had fought with a South Vietnamese soldier who couldn’t have been more than 15. Later in the novel the platoon is shot at by a sniper in a near village and airstrike is called in to eliminate the sniper. The soldiers find the body of a North Vietnamese soldier and mock the dead soldier as he lies dead in the mud. The casualties of the Vietnam War are highlighted throughout the novel as much of O’Brien’s platoon perishes during the course of the war.
O’Brien’s book is praised by many for its many personal accounts from American soldiers who fought in the hearth of Vietnam during the prime of war. A book assigned for school became a personal mission for me to inform myself better about the Vietnam War and Vietnam as a whole. After completing my reading I continued to read up more on the Vietnam War and began questioning my parents about the war as well. Much of what I know about the Vietnam War I learned in 9th grade as I strived to become a scholar of the Vietnam War.
The Drastically Different North and South Today
Pike, Matthew. “15 Ways Northern and Southern Vietnam Are Different.” Culture Trip, 27 Sept. 2017
My grandpa once told my Aunt Nam about one of his uncles who had lived in the North prior to the war beginning. Grandpa told her he lost contact with his uncle once the war had begun and wasn’t able to make contact with him for over 20 years after the war’s end. Grandpa told my Aunt Nam that his uncle was too old to fight in the war and subsequently watched the war unfold from the Northern end of Vietnam. My great-great uncle didn’t hold strong views against the South, but I was told he did support Ho Chi Minh. My great-great uncle supposedly viewed Ho Chi Minh as a war hero who helped Vietnam gain independence from French colonial rule. Despite their differing beliefs my grandpa and his uncle were able to talk about life in Vietnam post war. Grandpa then told his family about how their great uncle has been in Vietnam and how Vietnam has changed since they last saw it. A few years back my Aunt Nam told me that story and now I’m finding it quite ironic that my grandmother is in Vietnam right now on vacation with her church group.
Matthew Pike is the author of an article on CultureTrip.com about the many differences between visiting North and South Vietnam today. He shares his opinions about life and travel in Vietnam, highlighting the drastic differences of the North and South. Mainly written for tourists, the article still manages to analyze the cultures of these two very different regions within this small culturally divided nation. Even though the article is not written by a historian nor a scholar, I believe the effectiveness and unbias truth of the article is enhanced because it is written by an ordinary tourist. Matthew Pike presents an outsiders view and interpretation of the two regions and as a writer for a travelling information website he showcases modern Vietnam in an intriguing way as to draw tourists rather than inform scholars of Vietnamese history.
In the article Pike writes that their is still a cultural language barrier between the North and the South. It is often difficult to learn Vietnamese in the South and then move to the North or vice versa because of the differing dialect. The slang and phrases used in both regions differ greatly, some to the point which it becomes hard to understand each other. The government has decreed that it shall be the North Vietnamese dialect that will be taught in schools. Also in the article Pike writes that Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon and renamed after the war) is the hearth of fashion and commerce in Vietnam. The article states there are countless boutique shops and foreign brands bringing and creating fashion styles in Vietnam as well as many businesses and economic powerhouses locating themselves near or in Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi however is still the institutional bureaucratic capital of Vietnam, where all the politicians and party leaders reside. The South has been flooded with Việt Kiều (overseas-Vietnamese) in recent years. These are foreign Vietnamese peoples who are children and decendants of the generation who fled the south post war. 40 years later these decendants of Vietnamese refugess are back in Vietnam and experiencing their ancestral homeland. My grandma, a refugee who fled from Vietnam in 1974 with my grandpa and his family, is currently enjoying her month long vacation in Vietnam. It’s amazing how much the country has changed and how people like my grandma are able to return to their motherland and see Vietnam again.
North and South Vietnamese Propaganda
Pitzker. “We Stand Ready to Fight by Our Vietnamese Friends!” American Revolutionary War | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago, 2018
Chúng tôi sẵn sàng chiến đấu bên các bạn- We are ready to fight beside you. This North Vietnamese poster entitled Hunting Charlie was made by the Communist government during the war to excite North Vietnamese citizens and gain support for the war effort. The flags of China, Poland, Cuba, and other countries in support of North Vietnam are shown in the background. “Hunting Charlie” refers to the Communist goals to expel Vietnam of the American invaders.
đây thiên đường cộng sản- This is a Communist paradise
Tự do ngôn luận- Freedom of Speech.
Two simple phrases with a powerful message. Depicted is a Vietnamese man with a cover over his mouth preventing him from speaking. Held from speaking by the Communists that also threaten his well being, the man is forced to give up his freedom of speech. This propaganda was made by the Republic of Vietnam’s government to gain support for the war effort against the oppressive North Vietnamese government. With their freedom of speech threatened by a cruel Communist leader, the South mobilized and prepared to fight for their country.
Both sides produced propaganda to fire up its citizens and gain support for the war effort. The North used the fear of invading Americans to enrage its citizens while the South used the fear of the cruel and brutal Communists invading their cities and taking away their freedoms to do the same. Propaganda was used by both sides to give themselves the moral high ground and to invoke nationalism among its citizens. Ultimately the North’s stubbornness and familiarity with the battlegrounds was too much to overcome for the South Vietnamese and they ended up losing not long after the US pulled out of Vietnam.
Christians in Vietnam
Stiller, Brian C. “Vietnam: A Land of Great Food, but Extraordinary Christian Faith by Brian C. Stiller.” Christian History | Learn the History of Christianity & the Church, Christianity Today, 2018
My grandpa was brought to Christ by American missionaries when he was a young man. Fast forward 50 years to his funeral, which was attended by hundreds of people from the church he had founded and people whom my grandpa had saved while living and fulfilling God’s mission for him. Grandpa wanted to spread the word of God to all, but he knew he couldn’t do that in Vietnam if the Communists took over. Seeking religious freedoms and opportunity my grandpa was forced to gather his family and immigrate to a country that provided religious freedoms.
In his article for Christians Today, Brian Stiller writes about Vietnam’s long history with Christianity. He notes that Vietnam today is moving towards more and more religious freedoms for all of its citizens. In 1954 the Geneva Accords became enacted allowing for migration between the North and South. Thousands of Christians, especially Catholics, took the opportunity and fled into the south, fearing rightly that the north would suppress faith. For years after the North’s victory over the South all religion was oppressed and many faced persecution for their religious beliefs. Stiller writes, “Persecution came in different forms: Official harassment, shutting down churches, restrictions of pastoral training, imprisonment, the loss of life, and social pressure by family and community.”
Communist Vietnam today remains burdened by an ideology which requires the state to carefully watch and manage religion. The Vietnamese government however has allowed for religion to grow with a big thanks to the Revival in 1988 which brought religion to the forefront of Vietnamese society, particularly Catholicism. For years Vietnamese citizens had been forced to practice their religions in solitude, but with the turn of the century came greater religious freedoms for the previously oppressed. Brian Stiller end his article perfectly writing, “Not unlike the sons of Issachar, the Vietnamese Christians have a unique understanding of their world with courage to do what needs doing (1 Chron. 12:32).”
What’s Left Behind and What’s to Come
Uong, Minh. “How I Escaped Vietnam.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2015
Minh Uong, a writer for the New York Times, reflects on his experiences immediately following the end of the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon. The youngest of 8 children, 10 years old at the time, he and his other siblings were told to get on their bikes and go as far away as possible from Saigon. Instructed to only return once the siege had stopped, Minh and his siblings continued to flee from the danger not knowing it’d be 14 years before they saw their parents again. Minh recalls boat hopping with 25 other individuals, jumping into bigger boats as the engine of the smaller boats broke and they were forced to drift until aid arrived. Minh goes on to explain how his boat of now 59 people was picked up by a merchant’s ship headed for Taiwan. A grateful to be alive Minh writes, “But I was one of the lucky ones. Anywhere from 200,000 to 400,000 people who tried to flee Vietnam by boat never made it to safety.” Eventually the Red Cross sponsored Minh Uong and his sibling and transported them to Massachusetts; the beginning of a new life for the Uong siblings.
To leave behind the only place you’ve ever known has to be a heartbreaking and difficult thing to do. To leave behind all your belongings and to start anew with nearly nothing seems like a near impossible task. While inconvenient and risky, many preferred this route as opposed to staying and enduring oppression under the North Vietnamese Communist regime. Those who were gifted the opportunity to make this tough decision did so knowing either way their life was going to change drastically. For those not fortunate enough to even have the choice to flee, it was time for them to accept their new situation and prepare for the Communist takeover. Minh Uong recalls the exact moment he found out the war was over writing, “We heard that the Vietcong had taken over the capital. Saigon was now under the Communists’ rule. We saw some locals begin to take down the South Vietnamese flag from the front of their houses and replace it with the Communist one.”
This article is important to my research because much like my dad’s family, Minh Uong and his siblings were forced to flee the country and become “Boat People.” Minh’s experiences run parallel with those of my dad and his siblings. My grandpa and grandma were among those fortunate to choose to leave and were gifted the opportunity to escape the country prior to the Fall of Saigon. Grateful to have his entire family together my grandpa put on a brave face and ensured his family of a good life ahead of them. Eventually after years of country hopping my grandpa, much like Minh Uong found a sponsor to help bring him and his family to the States, choosing to settle in California. My dad tells me of the house they left behind, of the friends they never got to see again, of the country they left behind. Nearly half a century later my grandma accompanied by two of my aunts returned to Vietnam for the first time since they were forced to flee. While the loss has more than healed for my family, it’s still a sore subject to speak of the war to the older generation. Most have seemed to make peace with it. Some never will.
The Vietnamese Boat People
Vo, Nghia M. The Vietnamese Boat People, 1954 and 1975–1992. McFarland & Company, 2006
“To those who survived the diaspora. And in memory of those who lost their lives searching for freedom.”
Nghia M. Vo’s book starts with an epigraph and it’s an appropriate message to begin his book. He addresses the subjects he’s writing about and pays his respects to those that fled and never made it to their destination. Vo of course is speaking of the immigration of South Vietnamese people out of newly Communist controlled Vietnam. Many of the South Vietnamese left their homes, left their cities, and left their old lives behind to seek refuge from the incoming North Vietnamese. The most common and readily available form of transport out of Vietnam was by boat. Vo highlights the desperation of the Vietnamese refugees to escape the country writing, “If they had money, they would buy a good, functioning boat and start practicing with it. If not, they could build their own boat out of scrap like Phong’s.”
Following the Fall of Saigon, the spirit of the South Vietnamese people had finally been crushed. There was no longer any war, no longer any plan of action, it was time for them to stay and face what the North had planned for them or immigrate elsewhere in search of a new life. For many the choice was simple: oppression or freedom. That was the choice my grandfather made in 1974, deciding to relocate his family to America. My grandfather was able to secure seats on a boat out of Vietnam and headed to Malaysia. Vo’s book is pivotal for my research because the very exact people he writes about, “The Vietnamese Boat People”, are my family.
Vo writes about the immigration to other countries by many South Vietnamese people. He mentions that so many immigrants were entering nearby Asian countries that, “Faced with an inflow of refugees, these countries became reluctant to grant asylum to newcomers for fear they would permanently settle in the area.” My grandfather struggled for years to find a safe, permanent place for his family to settle. Turned away or granted only temporary stay by many Asian countries, my grandfather set his eyes towards a new destination, one that promised freedom and opportunity for all.
Perspectives of the Vietnam War
Ward, Geoffrey C. The Vietnam War: an Intimate History. Ebury, 2018.
Geoffrey C Ward and Ken Burns aimed to present the readers with an unbiased compilation of personal accounts and perspectives from people with varying levels of involvement in the Vietnam War. Ward and Burns emphasized the accounts of the “ordinary” by including accounts from “grunts and officers in the Army and Marines, prisoners of war, a fighter pilot and a helicopter crew chief … a nurse, college students, reporters.” This tactic proves effective in presenting the audience with the general opinion of the common body during the war while drawing from the viewpoints of several varying occupations important to the war. The book offers the views of former North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers and both American anti-war protesters and Vietnam veterans. While present in the book, it was clear that the South Vietnamese accounts were not a focal point of the book, and there was a sense of anti-war sentiment despite the authors deciding to remain unbiased.
This source greatly expanded my view of the Vietnam War and made me question the extent of my knowledge of this war. I’d learned, more like absorbed, the information about the war from my family and from what I had learned in school, but Ward and Burns presented accounts from perspectives I’d never considered. The account of a Viet Cong soldier, living in secrecy in South Vietnam was an interesting read for sure. After reading letters from soldier on both sides of the war I have begun to better understand the motives of North Vietnamese soldiers and discern the growing resentment for the war by Americans during this time. Hearing the accounts in opposition to the South allowed me to draw sympathy for the North.
Ward writes, “Many veterans believed in the war, many volunteered to serve in Vietnam, and many Vietnam veterans are proud of their service. Many Americans, then and now, believe we should have gone all out to win the war. Certainly, the many South Vietnamese murdered and imprisoned by the Communists after the fall of the South, and the many Vietnamese “boat people” who endured hardships and sacrifices to escape the Communists, wish we had stayed the course.” Maybe in an attempt to shift the possible bias away from North Vietnamese and anti-war sentiments Ward included this excerpt at the end to focus on those that believed in the war. My grandpa, as a South Vietnamese soldier, believed in the war. My dad’s family as South Vietnamese citizens believed in the war. Many veterans living now and even those who’ve payed the ultimate price for freedom believed in the war, many perishing because of this belief.
