Should Vietnamese Americans in the U.S. erase their bitterness and help the current state of Vietnam improve?

Show all answers

It was a bitter civil war that left indelible scars on combattants and civilians alike on both sides.

We Americans also spent millions of dollars on psychological warfare, much of it was devoted to convincing the Vietnamese who lived South of the 17th parallell that their fellow citizens who lived across the Ben Hai River were their evil enemies and that we were their friends.

This, despite the fact that we were systematically destroying their entire country, North and South alike and killed two to three millions of their fellow compatriots and wounded many more. There are people living in Vietnam today, especially in the South, that are still suffering from the effects of our chemical warfare (Agent Orange in particular); children have been born deformed and people are dying still due to this chemical.

After the war, many South Vietnamese men who served as senior officers or in the military or senior officials in the defunct government were required to go through the "re-education" camps. The duration can be from a few months to many years (I've known people who spent 5 to 10 years there). Conditions were very harsh in these camps and their families were left to fend for themselves on the outside with much hardship as well.

Even though conditions were bad in those camps. they were no worse than the prisoner-of-war camps set up by the South Vietnamese government and the US during the war. Those who served in the re-education camps were later released and many of them were even allowed to come to the US with their families.

Rather than being thankful they they are kept alive and well enough enough to come to America with their families, they and their families carry a grudge against the new government of unified Vietnam. Some of their children, now in their 20's and 30's, are particularly vicious against their former country, having been over-indoctrinated by their parents.

We, the US, are now cultivating a close relationship with Vietnam. It's the only country in SE Asia without a sizable Muslim population and that's strong enough to keep the terrorists out. It's also the only SE Asian nation strong and confident enough to stand up to China.

Unfortunately, the servants we over- indoctrinated in the old South Vietnam that are now in this country may spoil the deal for us. These people did not realize that we had used them against their own people only because of Cold War necessities of the time. The situation has changed and we now need Vietnam in our new global chess game (we are manoevering to have Vietnam elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in the UN later this year). Those former South Vietnamese that we've allowed to live here had better wise up and behave. Or else!

ong jon

what makes you think they dont help ? yes many viet namese who now live in american [ and i guess many other countries] continue to hate the communists and above all ho chi minh , but these same people send MANY us dollars back to their families in vn. many return to buy land and open buisnesses... in fact [ i dont know exact figures] my guess would be if the "viet kieu" [ vietnamese living out of viet nam] never sent any money there or never did buissness there that country would be living as it did i the early 1900's . the "viet kieu" ARE the driving force of viet nams new economy. they love and miss their home, but they do hate the commies...
i believe in the not too distant furture , as the vn government continues to reform [ it presently , and openly recognizes the need to deal with coruption] many viet kieu will return to live in their beloved homeland...

rick m

To look on their side, they lost everything they owned when they escaped from Vn. I never served over there so I didn't know anyone who died during the war, but every Viet house I visit, in Vn and America, has fading photographs of relatives who were killed.
That tends to make people bitter, but bitterness is a poison that only makes a person miserable. Being bitter won't bring back loved ones or lost property. The past can't be changed.
My wife's uncle was "re-educated" and he has such a good attitude. He told me that being bitter crowds the love out of his heart. He's been living in America for twenty years and still can't wait to go back home to see the country and family that he loves.

Amazing, it's 8 hours later and my uncle stopped by my house for help getting a car part from the junkyard in my town. We had a truly great time hanging out together.
Buddha, Jesus, Allah, whomever,,, works in mysterious ways!

cantcu

After the NVA slaughtered a million or more innocent people, including the grandparents of many of these people you want them to get over it!

I Left Vietnam in 1968 after a combat tour there and I am not going to forget about it!

While I agree that the Vietnamese are of"high intelligence and rich in culture", is not the reason you want people to get over it!

Just because this countries wealthy manufacturers want cheap labor is not a reason "to get over it"!

If you had of been in Vietnam as a combat medic, do you think you would be over it? Guess we'll never know as I am positive you were never there!

Rabbityama

Many Koreans and Chinese still hate Japan from its agression in the early 1900s, so the Vietnam War is actually quite recent. Many of the people alive today actually remember being there, and outsiders have no way of knowing what it was like, what things they saw, and what things they personally experienced during the war. Vietnamese-American youth tend not to resent America, because they did not experience the war.

Also, the news about Agent Orange still affecting people in modern Vietnam has reminded the Vietnamese people of the horrible things that America did to their country.

It's difficult to compare the two "wrongs" you are referring to, because the "wrong" of the United States was that they invaded Vietnam, killed a lot people, and abandoned it when they were defeated, while the "wrong" of Vietnamese-Americans is that they simply have a difficult time coming to terms with the past. These wrongs are on a very uneven scale, because Vietnamese-Americans are not hostile, while America's invasion was DEFINITELY violent and deadly.

I think the best thing to do is to sympathize with them and listen to their stories. It will help you to understand their perspective and why they feel the way they do.

(as a sidenote, Vietnam is actually improving, and Vietnamese-Americans certainly support this)

Mardy

It might help if the Vietnamese government acknowledges the rough treatment it melted out to those who fled. Even a mere "sorry" could address a lot of bitterness.

Thanh

I am vietnamese and my entire family are kind at mad at North Vietnam after wat they done. They hated VC, NVA and others type of North Vietnamese communism.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: