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More than 130,000 South Vietnamese fled their homeland at the end
of the Vietnam War. Tens of thousands landed on the island of Guam
on their way to the U.S. Many remained there. Guamanians and U.S.
military personnel welcomed them. Funded by a $405 million
Congressional appropriation, Operation New Life was among the most
intensive humanitarian efforts ever accomplished by the U.S.
government, with the help of the people of Guam. Without it, many
evacuees would have died somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. This book
chronicles a part of the first mass migration of Vietnamese "boat
people," before and after the fall of Saigon in April 1975-a story
still unfolding almost half a century later.
Beginning with the withdrawal of French forces from South Vietnam
in 1955, the U.S. took an ever-widening role in defending the
country against invasion by North Vietnam. By 1965, the U.S. had
"Americanized" the war, relegating the Army of the Republic of
Vietnam (ARVN) to a supporting role. While the U.S. won many
tactical victories, it had difficulty controlling the territory it
fought for. As the war grew increasingly unpopular with the
American public, the North Vietnamese launched two large-scale
invasions in 1968 and 1972-both tactical defeats but strategic
victories for the North that precipitated the U.S. policy of
"Vietnamization," the drawdown of American forces that left the
ARVN to fight alone. This book examines the maturation of the ARVN,
and the major battles it fought from 1963 to its demise in 1975.
Despite its flaws, the ARVN was a well-organized and disciplined
force with an independent spirit and contributed enormously to the
war effort. Had the U.S. "Vietnamized" the war earlier, it might
have been won in 1967-1968.
This comprehensive review of the gulag system instituted in
communist Vietnam explores the three-pronged approach that was used
to convert the rebellious South into a full-fledged communist
country after 1975. This book attempts to retrace the path of these
imprisoned people from the last months of the war to their escape
from Vietnam and explores the emotions that gripped them throughout
their stay in the camps. Individual reactions to the camps varied
depending on philosophical, emotional and moral beliefs. This
reconstruction of those years serves as a memoir for all who were
incarcerated in the bamboo gulags.
The Battle of An Loc was one of the bloodiest battles in the
Vietnam War and a defining moment in the history of the Republic of
South Vietnam. A few square blocks tucked among vast rubber tree
plantations, the provincial town was thought to be of little
strategic value to the North Vietnamese. Yet for 66 days in 1972,
it was the scene of savage house-to-house street fighting as
artillery and mortar fire pounded the town daily until almost
nothing was left standing. Facing three North Vietnamese infantry
divisions, General Le Van Hyng defended the town with 7,500 men,
vowing to "die with An Loc". A decisive victory for the South
Vietnamese, the battle came at a time when the United States had
begun pulling out of Vietnam and few American troops were on the
ground. No foreign reporters were on hand and the action was
ignored or misreported by the world press. This book tells the
story of An Loc from the unique perspective of an officer who
shared a bunker with the general during the fight.
Throughout its 300-year modern history, Saigon has remained the
unknown city of the Mekong Delta. This historical text examines the
development of the city from 1698 to 2010, from the years as a
Khmer village in the swampy and lush lands of the delta through its
evolution into a huge, industrialized city. The book examines in
detail the numerous political and cutltural transitions through the
hands of the Chams, Khmers, Vietnamese, Chinese, French, Japanese,
Americans, nationalists and communists. By way of Saigon's story,
the story of the South Vietnamese is also told.
The biggest diaspora in Vietnamese history occurred between 1975
and 1992, when more than two million people fled by boat to escape
North Vietnam's oppressive communist regime. Before this well-known
exodus from Vietnam's shores, however, there was a massive
population shift within the country. In 1954, one million fled from
north to south to escape war, famine, and the communist land reform
campaign. Many of these refugees went on to flee Vietnam altogether
in the 1970s and 1980s, and the experiences of 1954 influenced the
later diaspora in other ways as well. This book reassesses the
causes and dynamics of the 1975-92 diaspora. It begins with a
discussion of Vietnam from 1939 to 1954, then looks closely at the
1954 ""Operation Exodus"" and the subsequent resettlements. From
here the focus turns to the later events that drove hundreds of
thousands of Vietnamese to flee their homeland in 1975 and the
years that followed. Planning for escape, choosing routes, facing
pirates at sea, and surviving the refugee camps are among the many
topics covered. Stories of individual escapees are provided
throughout. The book closes with a look at the struggles and
achievements of the resettled Vietnamese.
The field of legends has long been neglected by serious
intellectual minds who have considered it to belong to the realm of
children's literature. Legends, however, are a mirror of the
culture that creates them, a revealing lens through which to
observe society, religion, history, and traditions. This volume
explores Vietnamese legends from 1321 to today--tales of gods,
spirits, ghosts, giants, extraordinary individuals, heroes, common
people, and animals; legends that have delighted both young and old
for centuries. It explains the mores, thought processes, and
religions that formed the genesis of Vietnamese legends, traces the
development of legends through time and space, and highlights the
historical and social differences between northern and southern
legends. Over time, this work shows, Vietnamese legends have
evolved from a 14th century means of government propaganda to
become a form of news, entertainment, and thought for the masses.
The fall of Saigon in 1975 triggered an exodus of 2 million persons
in search of freedom. "The Vietnamese Mayflowers of 1975" tells the
experiences of a group of professionals who left their homeland
under dire situations. Now well adjusted within a diverse American
society, they identify themselves with the Mayflower pilgrims as
they too crossed the seas in search of freedom. For anyone with an
interest in Vietnam and her people, this book will be a source of
information and inspirations. "The Vietnamese Mayflowers of 1975"is
about growing up within a culturally vibrant South Vietnamese
society, about a uniquely enriching wartime medical education,
about losing the only world and life that one ever knew, about
surviving the rigors of reeducation camps, about embarking onto
dangerous odysseys, and about the poignant rebuilding of
professional lives. Written by people who actually lived the
events, this historic documentary is complemented with synopses of
Vietnamese culture and history, descriptions of a peaceful way of
life before the winds of war, and recollections of an American
Professor assisting medical education in Saigon. The book also
contains emotional accounts of the younger Vietnamese-Americans to
define their lives and rediscover their roots. Striving to maintain
the book's uniqueness and preserve its veracity by avoiding strong
political overtones, the Editors hope that the book will entertain,
inform and inspire.
Our life is a reflection of the times we lived in. "The Vietnamese
Mayflowers" is about growing up within a culturally and spiritually
vibrant South Vietnamese society, about a uniquely challenging and
enriching wartime medical education, about losing the only world
and life that one ever knew, about surviving the rigors and
humiliation of reeducation camps, about embarking onto dangerous
and unpredictable odysseys, and most importantly about the poignant
rebuilding of personal and professional lives. Humbled by chains of
events beyond human comprehension, many referred to fate,
providence, luck, karma, destiny, fortune, miracle, grace or God in
their accounts. This endeavor is designed to provide a historic
document written by people who actually lived the events for future
reference. Included are reviews of Vietnamese history and culture,
descriptions of a peaceful way of life in the South before the
winds of war, recollections of an American Professor assisting
medical education in Saigon, as well as emotional accounts of the
younger generations to define and preserve their roots. The Editors
attempted to maintain the book's uniqueness and preserve its
veracity by using a trilingual approach and avoiding strong
political overtones. The Editors hope that the book will entertain,
inform and inspire, and that it will grow to become a written
memorial to the largest maritime diaspora to occur in human
history.
Vietnamese make up one of the largest refugee populations in the
United States, some arriving by boat in 1975 after the fall of
Saigon and others coming in the 1990s. This collection of 22 essays
by 14 authors illuminates Vietnamese-American culture, views of
freedom and oppression, and the issues of relocation, assimilation
and transition for two million people. It contains personal
experiences of the Vietnam War, life under Communist rule, and
escape to America.
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