The untold history of Vietnam (Khue's essay)

The Untold History of Viet Nam

            I am an international student who is studying in America. I come from Viet Nam and I have lived in my country for 18 years. In the eyes of foreigners, Viet Nam is known as a country that has been no stranger with wars. The history of Viet Nam is a long story. In   feudal times, the Vietnamese people had to wage several wars against the Chinese to protect its territory from  Chinese invasion.  In more recent times, there were the war against  the French colonists in the 19^th century, and later the long and well-known war with the United States (known as the Viet Nam War by Americans).

             I have learned History for 10 years, from grade 3 to grade 12. For me, History is really an interesting subject because it helps me discover what happened in the past. Every nation has a  unique history which every citizen can be proud of. As a Vietnamese citizen I want to understand Vietnam’s  history and be proud to tell it to others. However, the more grown up I become,  the more I realize  that the history I learned in school   is incomprehensible,  especially  the war with the United States, known in America as the Vietnam War. I feel that some stories that happened in this period are hidden or ignored by the Vietnamese government. In this essay, I will narrate what I have learned about the Viet Nam War in my textbooks with other stories outside, the process of my self-awareness of the nature of this war, and my friend’s unanswered  questions  in the History and Civic Education classes.

            The Viet Nam War started in November  1955 and ended in April 1975, lasting  for about 20 years. It is said that the Viet Nam War is nearly similar to the Korean War which happened in the same period, both of which receiving the involvement of the United States. The Viet Nam War has been taught repetitively three times in the History curriculum in Vietnam: at grade 5, grade 9, and grade 12. What I have learned about the Viet Nam War is that it is the war against the invasion of Vietnam by American imperialists after the withdrawal of the French colonists. America occupied South Viet Nam, and the Vietnamese people had to stand up to liberate the South to unify their    nation. Moreover, the government of South Vietnam (officially known as the Republic of Vietnam, shortened as RVN) is referred to in our History textbooks as  “Nguyquan – Nguyquyen” (puppet army – puppet government) – a scornful name for    government of RVN” which  America helped set up. When I was in elementary and junior high schools, I used to totally believe in what I learned about this war. I used to think that America is Vietnam’s most sinister enemy. I was very proud of my country’s history because there were many glorious victories. A poor and small country as Vietnam is, we  courageously fought against and defeated the world’s most powerful country, America. Not until when  I was in grade 5 that I started to recognize something was wrong in what I was taught about the Viet Nam War. At that time, I had to learn by heart all the details in the Viet Nam War to pass the final exam in History, and I asked my mother to check that if I had  memorized everything. I noticed that  my mother seemed to be bothered  or even hated what I was telling to her. I could not explain my mother’s behavior;  I just guessed  that she did not want me to learn History by memorizing without real understanding.

            When I grew up, I began to hear some stories outside my textbooks about the Viet Nam War. I heard them from my mother, my father and other elders about the many people who left their motherland at any cost to live in other countries after the Viet Nam War; these people were called the Boat People. The Boat People used a small and primitive boat to go through ocean, and many people died for starving, shark attacks, and pirates. Furthermore, I continuously heard about the re-education camps where officersand soldiers who worked under for the army and the government of the Republic of Viet Nam had to join in after the war ended. Some people went to the re-education camp and never came back; they had died in the camp for various reasons, sometimes  mysteriously. It is said that the re-education camp is similar to a prison. These camps were to   punish those people who were considered the losers. However, these stories which I heard from people around me cannot be found  in my textbook or in any official sources. Moreover, I was told stories from my mother about our family. My family lived in Sai Gon under the Republic of Viet Nam. My grandfather was an officer who worked for the RVN government. My mother told me that after April 30^th 1975, my grandfather lost his job, and my mother and other members in the family had difficulty in being admitted  into  universities because of the family’s background. Right before the fall of Saigon,  the United States had a policy to evacuate some Southern Vietnamese people who worked for the government to runaway as  political refugees, and two members in my family left Viet Nam at  the age of 20s to live in America. Since that time, I was aware that my family belongs to  the  losing side. I even understood why my mother was irritated when listening to what I was taught  and  believed in about the Viet Nam War. The reason is that in the textbook the Republic of Viet Nam is depicted as really barbarous and treasonable, America was crafty, and the only judicious side was the Northern Vietnamese government.

            Then one time, I saw a photo album of Sai Gon before 1975. The old Sai Gon was a combination of vintage and modern beauty: many English nameplates and automobiles in the downtown area, a bunch of tamarind trees along the streets… Vietnamese women wore a glamourous traditional costume – “ao dai”, while army officers and the government officials wore elegant western suits. In this album I was impressed by a photo of a traffic jam in downtown Sai Gon. There was no chaos  but a queue of vehicles  awaiting their turn to move.This is really different from Sai Gon nowadays. I really like this album and became attracted with the worth of the old Sai Gon. Even more, I also watched a cultural exchange talk show between southern Vietnamese artists and  Americans. They communicated with each other in a friendly and respectful way. Besides, I learned that the Republic of Viet Nam  was a really developed region in South East Asia  in many aspects, from food production to education and sports, especially soccer. Many images and information that I learned about Sai Gon contrasted with the image in my textbook. Gradually, I began to asked myself  if the Republic of Viet Nam and the Americans were really as  bad and as crafty as  I was taught. Also I began to find  out that the Viet Nam War is not just a war against the colonialism and imperialism, and the Vietnamese government seems to distort the history.

            Indeed, I really opened my eyes to the nature of the Viet Nam War when I was in senior high school. This time I was in grade 10 and I had to learn about World History. My History teacher was a middle-aged woman so there were not many activities during class time. Therefore, I and other students usually felt sleepy whenever the History class was coming. I was taught so many things about  World History but I  only remember World War I,  World War II, the industrial revolution in England, the Renaissance, and the reason why the Soviet Union disbanded. I have not been able to remember the advent of the Communist International, the movement of labor, the Russian October Revolution, and so forth. Actually, I did not deliberately forget these historical details but the method to study History by memorizing in Viet Nam just created a short-term memory that I could use to tackle the exam and then the knowledge was all gone. I memorized the knowledge mechanically even when I did not understand it. The History class in grade 10 was a nightmare to me. 

            However, the only thing that I always remembered about this class was the unanswered  questions by a friend of mine. He was a kind of clever person and good at English. Once, during a History class, my teacher mentioned the topics of communism and the Viet Nam War, and my friend asked: “Dear Teacher, let’s suppose that the Republic of Viet Nam was not defeated by the North Viet Nam. So what would happen  with Viet Nam nowadays?” “Will Viet Nam become a divided country, the same as Korea or will Viet Nam will become a capitalist country?” In addition, in Civic Education class, I also learned about communism and capitalism and my teacher always said that communism was the best ideology. Then my friend also asked the question that had similar idea with the question in History class. He said: “If  communism is the best ideology then why are there  just only four countries that chose  communism in the world today?” He wanted to know  whether there were other options for the political system in Viet Nam except communism, and why Viet Nam cannot have many political parties  like America or other countries. This was really an interesting question. He was the only student who doughtily spoke his mind   in public. Both of my friend’s questions in the History and Civic Education classes were not answered  honestly. These  teachers tried to vindicate the government system and considered his questions as rebellious and not patriotic . But  my friend’s questions helped me figure out that the history  I have learned is not clear and not totally true. There are many stories outside textbooks which have evidence but cannot be found  in textbooks or ever mentioned  by the government. There are questions that are not responded to and even not encouraged to ask. Why does the Vietnamese government try  to keep silent about these stories and seem to tell lies  to  young generations? 

            I consider myself really lucky to be able to study abroad in America. I have more opportunities to research information to find  the truth about  the Viet Nam War, which I can never do in Viet Nam because many websites and news broadcasts from overseas are not accessible, due to the tight control of information by the government. In the previous semester, I learned about the history of America after 1877 and it contained details of the Viet Nam War. After 10 years I believe I can understand the nature of the Viet Nam War more thoroughly. This war happened during the Cold War era, a bad consequence of World War II. The Cold War era divided the world into two zones - capitalism and communism, each of which was led by a then superpower:  America and the Soviet Union.  There were three countries where both of those two opposing ideologies existed: East and West Germany, North and South Korea, and North and South Viet Nam. Therefore, the Viet Nam War is not simply the war against colonialism and imperialism as  what the Vietnamese government tells their people,  but it is actually  the war between two ideologies which caused  the Cold War. The involvement of America in the Viet Nam War is not as an imperialist but as an ally who supported for the freedom and independence of the Republic of Viet Nam. The Vietnamese people are always told  that  Americans were cruel, they bombed the North Viet Nam, and caused the Agent Orange syndrome. However, we  need to understand that the nature of war is violent. If we consider the American perspective, we  will see that  the United States had to waste a lot of money, and American soldiers had to fight and sacrifice in a strange country  far away from their motherland. And the profit that America could gain, if any, is really as little  as nothing. 

            Napoleon Bonaparte once said “History is a set of lies agreed upon”. And Winston Churchill  stated that “History is written by the victors”. I wanted to know if the history of Viet Nam records true stories or just artificial stories made by the government. I do not know why the Vietnamese government or Vietnamese people hide the true fact of the Viet Nam War even though they know it. Are Vietnamese people  afraid to say it to the young generations or afraid that other people in other countries know what really happened? What is the real meaning of history and the method of learning and teaching this subject? Those are questions that haunt me now, and I know I will try my best to dig out the truth to have those questions answered.