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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-05756 to 363-05763.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-05756 to 363-05763
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Title
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Article about village peasants in the Vietnam War
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Description
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Original title: "The Plight of the Peasant", Keever's title: "Villagers describe the Communists as 'Mr.Liberators' in interview with U.S. Correspondent", article about an interview with a villiage peasant who has been caught in the middle of the war in South Vietnam
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AI Usage Disclosure
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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
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Transcript
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- Page 1
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steepe
peasant article 3 of 8-article series
page 1
THE PLIGHT OF THE PEASANT
HOA NINH (HARMONIOUS SECURITY), SOUTH VIET NAM This is the story of
a village peasant who has been caught in the middle of the war in South
The Marke
As the 60-year-old war x non-Catholic war refugee explained, in 1962,
Five
the Vietnamese government forced him and the ohe other nine members of his family
to move to a strategic hamlet, three kilometers from his hono. Then, in April,
1964, the Viet Cong a tteoked and conquered the strategic hamlet.
months later, the Viet Cong ordered him and his family to return to his home
village.
To the village peasant there wasn't much difference between living
under the Vietnamese government in the strategio hamlet and living with the
Viot Cobg Cong Communists in their oomba t hamlet.
Throughout the interview,
he used the Communist terminology of oso ong giai phong-which means Mfr.
Liberator to desbr se describe the Viet Cong Communists.
(More)
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deepe
peas ant-article 3 of 80article cories
page 2
To the 60-year-old peasant, there wasn't much difference between the
American Marines patrolling near his village and the French Army two
decades ago or the Vietnamese national army during recent years.
"We are caught between two different 85ou groups," he explained,
Pointing up the xe dusty red caly clay road leading tw towards the mountains,
he said, "Up there are the Liberation Forces (the Communist Viet Cong); down
the road is the government district council and the Americans.
in the middle. "
He set on the footsteps of a Catholic Church between the
We are here
Viet Cong-controlled mountainous areas and the territory constantly patrolled
by American Marines as they attempted to defend the Danang airbase miles
awayy.
8 we yo
"If we live or if we die it is the will of the gods," the peasant
villager eisini
explained.
He said that for two generations his family had lived in the hamlet of
Hoa Try Trung (Harmonious Middle), where he owned two hectares of riceland
plus an orchard of fruit trees and tea plants.
"All of thepeopre people had enough to eat," he explained, "and
He said about 200 families ad
some of villagers even had more than enough."
had lived the hamlota number of small hamlets comprise a Vietnamese village
which is the lowest government administrative unit, issuing birth certificiates
etc. How he said a few of the families had come to the Catholic Church as
refugees he implied, but was afraid to say openly, that most of the villagers
had left for the mountains to join Mr. Liberator.
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deepe
pea sent article 3 of 8-article series
page 3
Then three years ago, the Vietnamese government regrouped the
people of his village with other villagers into a strategio hamlet, where the
villagers had no land.
"We stayed in more than two years in the strategio hamlet," he explained,
"and life was very hard. We had nothing to eats we had no water-even the
children had no water to drink. We had no water to wash ourselves. The soil
was poor-only sand.
He was asked how his family managed to live.
"We took some things to the strategic hamlet, but we left out houses in the
old village," he explained. "Sometimes we went back to the old village in
the morning and returned to the strategie hamlet in the afternoon. We collected
fruits and tea and harvested rice from our old village. If we couldn't go
back to the old place, we went into the forst to out wood.
"The hamlet council gave us no rice or food-nothing in mome When-two years.
Sometimes when we as ked permission to back to our old hamlet to harvest rice---
if they didn't want us to go, they'd simply close the village gate.
had money we would go to the city and pay
"When we were sick, if we
100 piastres (81.25) a dat for a hospital room. If we didn't have money,
collect medical herb leaves, boil them and drink the ji juice. If we live or
if we die-it is the will of the gods."
We'd
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deepe
peasant article 3 of 8-article is series
page 4
Then, in April, 1964, the Viet Cong guerrilla s attacked the strategic
hamlet,
"On that day we got permission to go out to colb ct tea leaves, which
was our main source of income. At 4:30 in the afternoon the shooting
bega ne
"We didn't know it was a Viet Cong attack. We thought the Vietnamese
army people were just shooting. They used to shoot alot of times. Only
the the strategio hamlt hamlet was captured by the Mr. Liberators did we
know it. The fight was very short. Only one Vietnamese government
militiaman was killed and another was wounded. The governman had a
40-man unit of irregular troops in the village.
"Wen the Mr. Liberators attacked they captured one half of the
platoon and the other half half fled. Five days later, the Mr. Liberators
released all the government rroops and they went back to the district
The Mr. Liberators killed two members of the village
headquarters.
council,
"When we
returned to the strategio hamlet, it was all over.
The Mr.
Liberators had troops on the road between the rice fields and the strategic
hamlet gate. We waited for the government troops to come to give us
security, but they didn't come.
#
(More)
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deepe
peasant article 3 of 8-article series
page 5
"Then the Mr. Liberators told us to dig trenches and to fix bamboo spikes
for them and to make what they called a combat village.
"The defense was the same in the (Communist) combat village and the
(Vietnamese government) strateig strategic hamlet. the only difference was
the Mr. Liberators had only one line of defense-behind that line the
population lived and behind the population was the mountains. And the line of
defense was for the purpose of fighting the government troops who would come.
"The fence of the (Communist) combat hamlet was bamboo and barbed wire; in
front of the fonce there are trenches and in the trenches we put the bamboo
stakes.
"We saw the Mr. Liberators with guns and rifles--they were running overywhere
but we didn't dare ask questions. We, the people, could at goe
but we couldn't ask questions.
If we did, we'd be a rrested.
everything,
If we
"From time to time xm Mr. Liberators told us we would have to get
together for a meeting and they would tell us to to increase production.
were lazy, they said, we would be hungry and so we must increase the production.
"We lived with and x around the Mr. Liberators for five months--then in
October, 1964, they gave the order for the people to disperse and go back to their
former places. And they took away all our houses.
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deepe
peasant article 3 of 8-article series
page 6
"So we returned to our former village and lived there from October to
a month ago.
The Mr. Liberators didn't want us to leave our old village, but
we escaped un-noticed. They told us to stay in the village and not to be lazy or
we would be hungry, They said if we went to the government-controlled
areas, we would be hungry.
"Now, all our hamlot is dosented;
some people went with the Mr.
Liberators a small group of us came to this Church. Our hamlet is destroyed;
our hamlet council now lives in a government-secured hamlet. The council
told us that if we must come to this church or else the hamlet would be bombed
and shelled and we would be killed. If we were killed or wounded, T7O
had no right to protest because we had been warned. So, we were afraid
of being killed and a month ago we came to this church.
"We stayed at this church and would walk back to our old villa e to
collect fruits and tea leaves. My house was still in my old village until
the Americans came and burned it about ten days ago.
"One day after the operation we returned to the village and saw the
house burned and 11 the fruit trees destroyed;
and some mandoo was destroyed.
somo of corn, sweet potatoes
So we returned to this village and asked the
village council about that. The council said you know what is the army. It's
impossible for us to intervene with the army in your favor.
"When the Americans had the operation,
we were at the church. After the
opera tion, we went back. We know the operation was over when we saw the troops
This was about 10 days ago the operation was with only American tre
return.
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deepe
peasant article 3 of 8-article series
page 7
Another villager x from the samo area said the one house was burned by
bombing and shelling.
He was asked what he thought of the Americans,
"This is the first time we saw the Americans.
We aren't afraid of them.
The stop us and check our
But, well, the/mericans don't understand.
(government) identity papers. They can arrest us.
arrested;
We aren't afraid of being
be the Americans take us to the village council and they let us free.
But we lose one day of work end that's very precious to us. The Americans
can't read our papers; they see only the picture of us on the identy identity
card. They don't do any harm to us, but the whole day is lost.
"Went When the Americans see anything they don't understand, usually they
take it away--like our big knives to out grass. Maybe they want to play with
it or confiscate it--or take it back to their fort to throw away.
"We have lived two generations in this place. It was the same thing
under the French. The French had many troops in many places.
go in and come out like the Americans do now.
Their troops
But there are more Americans
here than French troops,
The Americans and the French look alike, except the
Negroese didn't see any Negroestmong the French troops.
"We are caught by different groups-up there are the Liberation Forces
(Communist) and down on this side is the district council and the Americans.
There are only two groups-one up there and one down here--we are here in the
middle.
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deepe
peasant-article 3 of 8-article series
"Now, we have written a letter of application to our hamlet council
for permission to move into the next village. They have sont for approval
of the higher authorities, but haven't yet received the permission. We must
even got a letter of permission from the hamlet council to go to the market to
buy things if we have no paper we can't go to the markets even if we
have the paper, we can't buy too much. We can't buy enough rice, salt
and shrimp paste for us to eat. The hamlet council says we will supply
the Viet Cong, but this isn't correct because we have the U. S. Army
up there.
"Now, we just wait here ath at the church; we haven't received any
money or rice from the hamlet council-not one single grain of rice.
haven't even received any promises."
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TOMORROW: THE WORLD OF THE SNUFFIES.
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Date
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1965, Aug.
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Civilians in war; Villages--Vietnam (Republic)
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Location
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Ninh Hòa, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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12.4865; 109.1346
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B187, F5
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
