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 19th
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 30th 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.
