Story of a 'Have-Not' Exploited by the Reds

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363-04825.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-04825

Title

Story of a 'Have-Not' Exploited by the Reds

Description

Article published in the New York Herald Tribune about the experiences of Phan Thi Thanh, an unwilling Vice-Chair of the Viá»‡t Cá»™ng's Women's Association, page 6

Date

1964, Oct. 27

Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, Vietnamese (Republic); Women in war; Máº·t tráºn dÃ¢n tá»™c giáº£i phÃ³ng miá»n nam Viá»‡t Nam; Defectors--Vietnam

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Container

B4, F6

Format

newspaper clippings

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

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

extracted text

.Viet Nam a Year Later

Story of a 'Have-Not'
Exploited by the -Reds
South Viet Nam, going through its fifth change of g~vernment in the year since the
ove1·throw of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime had. a new chief of state yesterday-Phan Khac Suu
a civilian. In his first day, he asked the resigning strongman Premier, Nguyen Khanh, to stay_
in office a few more days until a new Premier is named.
As if internal turmoil weren't enough, Viet Nam's relations with neighboring Cambodia
worsened. The Cambodians claimed they shot down a Vietnamese plane that crossed into their
territory, and indications were that it may have been the C-123 transport that crashed Saturday
near Cambodia, killing eight Americans. If "attacks" continue, Cambodia warned, it will
be forced to go to war-with Red China's help. Yesterday another U. S. service manthe 217th-was. k,illed when his Skyraider crashed near Saigon.
These are merely the latest developments in the struggle for order in Viet Nam. In tl~e
background, the Communist Viet Cong push continues. This third of seven articles describes
how the Viet Cong seek to win pop'/Xlar suppor:t.
By Beverly Deepe
Of The Herald Tribune Stat!

SAIGON.

Phan Thi Thanh had the misfortune to be "elected" •
a local Communist official.
She was born 25 years ago in the small village of
Huynh Lion, 400 miles north of Saigon and 25 miles west;
of the old imperial capital of Hue. Her mother died when
she was 16. Her two older brothers went to North Viet
Nam with the Communist guerrillas at the close of the
French Indochina war in 1954. She lived with her deaf,
blind 78-year-old father.
Thanh cultivated an acre and a half of riceland, exchanging labor with the neighbors, and two and a h~lf
acre., of garden, raising fruits, v~getables, pigs and
chickens. "Many m,en intended to marry me,'' she confessed, "but· .t:bey couldn't live with my father. He's a
burden."
She said the Communist guerrillas during the Indochina war taught her to read and write, "but I read the
newspapers slowly and my writing is of the popular level,"
she explained, cupping her :fingers around a hand-rolled
cigarette.
She told the story of her unhappy election:'
"One night, 30 Viet Cong guerrillas came to our
village with rl:fles and grenades. They asked the people
to assemble. There are &Jbout 80 to 90 adults in the
hamlet; about 60 to 70 of these are women. The women
are two-thirds of the population because the men are
in the army or elsewhere.
'"The people told the Viet Cong: 'If you come hexe
the national army will come and kill us.'
"The Viet Cong replied: 'Don't be afraid; .
have
soldiers to protect you.'
1
"Then, when the people were assembled, tbey asked
us to make demonstrations. We demonstrated for four
consecutive nights-in the daytimes we were busy destroying the government strategic hamlet <the fortified
hamlets established by the government, supposedly the
keystone of the pacification effort). We were busy during
the day tearing down the bamboo fences and the Viet
, Cong rolled up the barbed-wire fences. The people told
the Viet Cong: 'If we destroy this, the national army
will come,' but they replied that the army would not kill
the people.''

HAMLET DECAYS
The strategic hamlet had been set up near by two
years ago, and Thanh had helped work on it,· digging ,
trenches a~id building the lb'amboo fences, for a total of
six cents. Then it decayed. The hamlet chief quit under
Communist threats, and the Viet Cong kidnaped his assistant. Thanh went on:
"We used to have combat youth too, trained by the
government for one month and given rifles and a radio
to defend the hamlet. However, a few months before, they
were dissolved, so they gave their rifles and radio back
to the v1Ilage council. When the Viet Cong came to the
hamlet, they asked three combat youths to join them and
gave them weapons. These were later killed in the big
battle.
"While the Viet Cong stayed in the hamlet for four
days, I cooked rice for them twice, but they gave me
the rice.
,
"The Viet Cong called the people to meetings which
were generally held in the -open yard under the sky. Only
one Viet .Cong did the speaking, while two others sat and
listened. The one who did the talking was strong, healthy,
a little fat, in fact.
"Sometime I understood and sometimes I didn't; but
even when the people did not understand, no one dared
to ask questions. He asked the population to volunteer
for various jobs-like destroying the strategic hamlet.
"Then one night, the Viet Cong asked me to round
up the women to come to a meeting. There are about 60
women in the hamlet, but only 30 came to the meetingthe others were busy with their children.
"At the beginning of the meeting, the cadre spokesmansaid that with the revolution the Viet Cong must liberate he .
women so they would have their deserved place. He saJr,j
,Ll:J

they would organize a committee of women in order to guide
the women and lead their activities.
"He asked who would be elected and suggested two
capable persons. One is named Huong and the other was
me. The women said they didn't know if they could elect
me because I had served on the women's committee under
the government too. But the cadre spokesman replied that
they could elect anyone who was capable and could look
after their interests.
"Then the women replied they did not know who to
elect and suggested the Viet Cong appoint someone. So he
appointed Huong as chairman and me as vice-chairman.
He asked the women if they accepted and they said yes.
"I was not very happy or proud. I said I didn't want
to accept. It would be dangerous. The national army could
come and beat me. But he said I should take charge of
the women because I have the past experience.
· "Then one day the .government troops came. Cannon
shells fell on the hamlet. No one was killed, but everyone
was terrified. When the Viet Cong fled, I asked them to
take me along. They were not very happy to take me
but didn't force me to stay. I told them I wanted to g~
because I was elected vice-chairman of the women's association and if I stayed the government would arrest
me and torture me.
"The Viet Cong fled toward the river, and the national
army was coming from the other side. There was a lot
of shooting. Eight Viet Cong were killed. I was shot in
the finger and captured.
"The government said I was a Viet Cong and was
feeding them and acting as a liaison agent for them."
A high-ranking military officer said she would be
executed.

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