Article about life in Hanoi

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363-07872 to 363-07875.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-07872 to 363-07875

Title

Article about life in Hanoi

Description

Article draft about an interview with a visitor who just returned from Hanoi, for the Associated Press

Transcript

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- Page 1
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Beverly Deepe
%Associated Press
Rue Pasteru 158 D/3
Saigon, Viet Nam
SAIGON, SOUTH VIET NAM-A six-day visitor to North Vietnam said the
austerity in the Communist-blic country was "so depressing I felt like getting
drunk when I returned to Saigon."
The visitor, who requested his identity and occupation not be revealed,
traveled to the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on the French-owned and
operated airways, Aigle Azure Extreme Orient, the only means of transport in the
It also makes intermediate
world a connecting North and South Viet Nam.
stops in Vientiane, Laos, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, under contract to the
International Control Commission, a fact-finding body set up under the 1954
Geneva Agreements@
"The entire atmosphere in the North (Viet Nam) is impersonal and
distressing," the highly informed source said. "You feel a sense of pity for
the people and what they're in for. What life affords me, they can never
They have no say in their own lives.
"There was not a smile on the face of anyone," he continued.
have.
"It seems
as though they are going on in a machine-like manner-like you oÃ¥l a machine
and it works, but without human variations."
(More)
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Deepe
Page 2
Hanoi, the lively political and intellectual capital of Viet Nam under
the French, was famous for its night spots and cultural attractions. "You should
see the beautiful French buildings now," the informant said. "They're in
terrible shape, having never been whitewashed.
And in the old French villas, one
whole family lives, eats and sleeps in only one room.
"On the streets, not one person was dressed in rich clothes," he
said, "but not one was in
TRAVELER
tatters either."
North
The usually reliable source reported he counted only five cars in Viet Nam
during his six-day stay. "You could sleep right in the middle of the street without
fear of being disturbed," he said. "Busses, trams, bicycles and walking are the
people's transport. There were no motorcycles and no cyclos . Here in Saigon
you can't even sliep in your own room without hearing all the traffic below."
He said he saw a few stray military vehicles, but no convoys, which
he was told moved at night.
Aid
WALKED
The informant told of he and his friend walking for an hour to find a
small restaurant. "We finally found a small shop that was probably an elegant French
restaurant in the old days," he said. "It was a very austere place with small
wooden benches and stools, but it had Vietnamese music. The waitresses, who spoke
French, put on four or five records for us of old French tunes and fast
American music of the 1920's.f
"We ordered cafe au lait, the most expensive drink listed, for seven-tenths
of a dong (20 South Vietnamese piastres or about threef cents U. S.). Tipping
is not allowed, but I slipped one dong under the ashtray. The two waitresses
who saw me giggled and held a conference in the back to decide if they should
accept it. They did. And when we left, you should have seen the smile of
gratification on their faces--all for one dong."
He said the girls who used to work in Hanoi's bars and night clubs
"are now in the coal mines. You wouldn't dare try to make love fer to a woman
for the night in North Viet Nam. She'd just disappear. You would not ask what
happened to her for you would go to the same place she did."
(More)
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Deepe
Page 3
He said the women in the northern half of the former French colony
were all dressed in black trousers and white blouses. They wore no cosmetics or
on the Saigon woman-on-the-street. "I saw
fingernail polish, as is often seen
only one woman in a dress," he said, "and she was the wife of a government
But the dress was very ordinary."
employee at an official social function.
He described it as similar to the South Vietnamese female attire of
long white pantallons covered by a flowing silk over-dress. He said he was told
each North Vietnamese is issued only six meters of clothing material a year.
Despite the grimness, he reported, Hanoi still had me
a little
romance left in it. "I was surprised to find lovers sittene pe sitting on park
benches late at night," he said. "It was rare, but it was there."
He told of the long working hours and rigid discipline of the North
VietamVietnamese, which he attributed to fear. Factory and office personnel
begin work at 5:30 a.m. and stop at 7 p.m., with a lunch break from 11:30 to
one each day, he said.
"The first day I was in Hanoi, I woke up at eight with shouts of
MOT, HAI, BA.
(one, two, three) coming over the loudspeaker. Everyone was
lining up.
He asked his friend, "What is this--a rally?"
"No," his companion laughed. "It's physical training. They have it
every morning.
"
The informant said "a common sight at any time of the day or night"
was one to four young soldiers or students marching along the streets in
khaki-colored cotton uniforms, wearing packs on their backs, but without
He noticed this about six times a day, he said.
weapons.
Ha Theonly Chinese influence in the country he observed was that the
the Style
North Vietnamese military uniforms of light-colored khaki resembled those of
Communist China. He said he was told Soviet aid was being used to help build facto
factories and that one of the two main hotels in Hanoi was completely booked for
Russian technicians.
(More)
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Deepe
Page 4
Little industrialization was noticed as he drove through the
countryside from Hanoi to Haiphong, he said, except a "full-blooming cement
factory in Haiphong" and some construction in Hanoi's suburbs, including
"mass housing colonies."
In the 65-mile drive from Hanoi to Haiphong, he said "there were
fields as far as I could see with lots of people working. But only human transport
was used for getting the produce to market."
North
He said he caught a glimpse of the Vietnamese
President
9
Ho Chi Minh, who is reportedly a "very sick man, probably suffering from
tuberculosis." The informant attributed the poor health of the head of
state not only to his
years of age, but also to having lived with
for four years in a cave when he was leading a resistance movement
THE EARLY
1940's.
in 1941-1944 before escaping to China.
He described Ho Chi Minh as a "very simple, thin, sickly and extremely
EB
austere man. He said he was told the North Vietnamese lead was paid from
250 to 300 dongs a month, or about U. S. $60 to $80. He said the Ho
is reportedly living in a small cottage within a well-protected compound near a
palace used by former high French officials.
He said he believed the people of North Vietnam were convinced the
division with the southern portion of the country was only temporary.
"At an official social gatherning gathering, one North Vietnamese
told me her mother and sister were in Saigon, but that she never heard from them.
Said to me
"The lady told me calming calmy calmly: I don't know what's
happened to them. But when we take Saigon, I'll see them again."
-30-

Date

1962

Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Vietnam (Democratic Republic); Hanoi (Vietnam)--History; Civilians in war; Vietnam (Democratic Republic)--Politics and government

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Size

20 x 26 cm

Container

B1, F5

Format

dispatches

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Collector

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English

Item