A Vietcong Memior

A Vietcong Memoir The book A Vietcong Memoir by Truong Nhu Tang gives a first person account of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a Vietnamese revolutionary. Tang tells of how he was a pharmaceutics student in Paris and was inspired to join the nationalist movement when he met Ho Chi Minh. This newfound pride in his country led Tang to become the Minister of Justice for the Vietcong. His story revolves around the themes of nationalism and sacrifice. In the years leading up to and during the Vietnam War, feelings of nationalism were strong throughout the country. Vietnam’s victory over France gave the Vietnamese a sense of unity and pride in their country. They had finally dispelled their French oppressors and declared their independence. But, shortly after gaining freedom from French colonial rule, the country was split in half by the Geneva Accords. Sentiment for reunification was strong throughout Vietnam. The Vietnamese people were furious that their country had been cut in half, even if it was only temporary. It went against their sense of national pride. Tang was willing to accept Ho Chi Minh’s northern government even though it was communist. He, along with many others, believed national unification was more important than political ideologies. Furthermore, Ho Chi Minh was viewed as a national hero in both North Vietnam and South Vietnam which made people more accepting of his leftist ideologies. But when Ngo Dinh Diem was named Prime Minister in South Vietnam reunification became impossible.
Diem not only refused to take part in a national election, but he also used unscrupulous method to secure over ninety-eight percent of the votes in South Vietnam. Unfortunately the new President of South Vietnam was not a benevolent ruler. “It was quickly becoming evident to me that Diem had an instinct for isolation and autocratic control and that he could only hope to make this approach to government work through brute force” (38-39). He arrested thousands of dissenters and accused them of being communists or sympathizers.
Diem’s alienation of the Vietnamese people only helped to strengthen nationalist movements throughout the South. He viewed the former anti-French guerrilla fighters as a threat to his power and had many of them arrested. Hunting down the people who helped free Vietnam from French rule did not endear Diem to the Vietnamese. The network of people who opposed this despotic ruler and supported the government in the North would eventually form the NLF, the National Liberation Front.
Along with the National Liberation Front, there were several other groups that opposed the government imposed on South Vietnam. The elite, students, and newspapers all greatly disliked Diem because of his restrictiveness and use of force. The Buddhists even went so far as to set themselves on fire in protest. Many people did not join the National Liberation Front because of its communist affiliations, but later on joined groups that made up the Third Force. This Third Force was a nationalist group that worked for South Vietnamese independence after 1968.
Tang, who was completely dedicated to the national unity of Vietnam, was a key figure in organizing many of these nationalist groups. He helped form the Self-Determination Movement, the Committee to Defend the Peace, and the Young People’s Association of South Vietnam. He was imprisoned twice for his interference with South Vietnam’s government and he was tortured. But, Tang’s dedication to his country never wavered.
Tang sacrificed many things for the sake of his country. His first wife, who was six months pregnant at the time, was forced to leave him because her parents did not approve of Tang’s political activities. Tang’s family would not contact him for over a year because they disapproved of him as well. His second wife, who could not bear him staying away for so long, divorced him and moved to the United States.
When Tang became a leading member of the National Liberation Front, he was arrested twice. The first arrest resulted in a prison sentence of two years. The second arrest had much greater consequences. Tang was taken by the secret police and tortured for information on the NLF and for a confession to being a communist. After giving a false confession to stop the torture, Tang was transferred to the National Police Headquarters. There he was put in solitary confinement and had to endure sensory deprivation. After a few months, Tang stopped looking forward to visitors and was on the brink of insanity. He was saved from losing his mind when another inmate was put into his cell. After he was released, Tang joined the guerrillas in the jungles of Vietnam.
The conditions the guerillas had to face were harsh. There was never enough food to eat, they lived in fear of being bombed, and many people became ill with malaria or suffered from snake bites. Meat was not often included in their rations, so they were forced to hunt. They ate many unusual things such as elephants, tigers, moths, dogs, and monkeys. These soldiers sacrificed their wellbeing for the sake of their country. Tang did not fare well in the jungles. He caught malaria and was malnourished.
Truong Nhu Tang and many other revolutionaries made great sacrifices for their country. They had to stay away from their families for long periods of time, were imprisoned, tortured, and exiled. They hid in the jungles, never had enough to eat, and caught malaria. Some, such as Albert Pham Ngoc Thao, sacrificed their lives for the cause. Others, like Vo Van Kiet and Madame Liem, lost their families. The end of the war and the reunification of Vietnam was what these revolutionaries dreamed of. But what happed after the reunification, none of them could have predicted. While Vietnam ultimately was reunified, the aftermath of the war was nothing like Tang thought it would be. He believed that after the war was over, a slow unification process would begin. Tang believed the North and the South would negotiate terms for a peaceful unification. If this had happened, all of Tang’s sacrifice would have been worth something. But, North Vietnam was not interested in negotiating with the South. The communists quickly took over the positions of power. They then imprisoned all those who were associated with the Saigon government. Two of Tang’s brothers were imprisoned, but he was only able to get one of them released. The stigma of being involved with the government was near unbearable, so Tang and his third wife moved to the country. Eventually they were able to escape Vietnam by boat. After all he had sacrificed for his country, Tang was forced to abandon it. He returned to Paris, disgusted by what was happening in Vietnam. But, Tang did not give up hope that they may have planted the seed that will eventually bear fruit, democracy fruit. A Vietcong Memoir displays the struggles faced by those trying to reunify a broken country. This unique perspective of the Vietnam War is seldom heard by those living in the United States. The nationalism of Tang and his collogues led them to make many sacrifices to try and improve their country. But, ultimately, the revolutionaries of South Vietnam failed. They were unable to foresee the consequences of uniting with the communist North. They could not imagine fellow Vietnamese being so cruel to their own people. Perhaps if Ho Chi Minh had lived until the reunification of North and South Vietnam, things would have been more peaceful, more like Tang envisioned. But the successors of Ho Chi Minh wanted to be in complete control of the country and did not want to negotiate a peaceful reunion with the South. Tang and his fellow revolutionaries sacrificed so much to liberate their country from the oppression of the Saigon regime and foreigners only to deliver it into the hands of a government just as unjust.