Preface

Dear readers, Essays Related to The Viet-Nam War (Bilingual) tries to analyze the truth of some past periods. It consisted of both successes and mistakes. People of good-will admit the truth to improve their successes and correct their mistakes. These works can be considered as a documents.

I appreciate all authors of the valued books, songs, poems, and photos; they consist of precious documents that I consult for this book. Please, consider my references as the presentations of the truth that you witnessed and cited. Your works will live along with histories of the world. I thank for your generosity. The unique aim of this book is to reseach the historical truth.           

Historians and media of the world divide The Vietnam War from 1945 to 1975 into two parts. Part I: 1945 – 1954, Part II: 1954 – 1975. In the first part, the consecutive US governments involved mainly in politic and diplomatic fields; their military involvement was a minor one. In the second part, their successors deeply involved in the war in all fields; especially, they sent many units of their Arm-Forces fighting in parallel with the Vietnam Arm-Forces of South-Vietnam (VNAF) longer than a decade. (Australia, South-Korea, and Thailand also sent their some military units helping VNAF, but they withdrew after a pair of years.)

The Non-Triumphant War is my created title to name the Part II of the war.

           After the Non-Triumphant War, South Vietnam is under the powers of the stringent communists. Thus, the Vietnamese fled from their country in many waves. About 50 countries have opened its generous arms receiving hundred-thousands of Vietnamese families as refugees and helping them to rebuild their wholesome lives. With thriving efforts, many refugee individuals and families have obtained substantial successes in different fields. The United States of America have received the majority of Vietnamese refugees.

           Members of my families are among these refugees. With heartfelt sincerity, all of us appreciate the United States of America giving us citizenship to have all the rights and duties like other Americans as well as opportunities to thrive our futures.

           In my personal case, the United States of America gives me opportunities and freedom to write books. After two books on literature and history in Vietnamese tongue, three books in English tongue are published by an American publisher:

The Clan Divided (Novel): It reminds and warns utopian or gullible persons about cunning and clever sophistries of greedy hypocrites or impostors who camouflage as admirable persons to deceive people.

Women Victims of Wars (Novellas): They focus on how women are viewed for their physical charm, and how a part of them is abused. They bring to new heights social awareness and respect for women.

Solving the Adversities (Short stories): The stories in this book cite many helpful ways of solving several adversities and sufferings of victims during and after The Non-Triumphant War (The Unpopular War).

Dear readers, hopefully I will dedicate you more writing works.

Dear readers, even though I deeply appreciate the United States as I sincerely express above, I am impelled to write the truth on the history of Vietnam, and The Vietnam War is the central issue of this book. Each chapter was a separate essay and written in different occasion for some magazines or periodicals. Therefore, after the collection those writings in this book, some details in one chapter appear again in another. Please, sympathize with the necessity to fulfill the complete meanings of every chapter.  

           In the history of the United States, it fought against the troops from England to have independence; there was only one single war and the independence exists forever. In the history of Vietnam, it has to repel troops from China in many wars to regain its independence since China has invaded Vietnam many times again and again within four millennia; now, preparations for another invasion is much more sophisticated and dangerous. (There is one chapter: “A Survey of the History of China” in this book to make the issue easier to understand.)

          China completely annexed Manchuria as one of its province in 1920. China invaded Tibet in 1959; then it has implemented a similar plan in this occupied country.

On the fate of Vietnam, China has already carried out some steps to annex Vietnam in the near future as its province. Experienced with its past unsuccessful invasions, for this time, China has prepared and implemented very sophisticated cunnings in all fields: militaries, politics, scripts, history, language, culture, literature, bribing top-leaders of Vietnamese governments, immigration, infiltrating into Vietnamese governments, and so forth; they scheme to make Vietnemese people lose their identities.

In the histories of the past, the USA fought against England for independence. Now the two countries have amity.

I crave for China and Vietnam having a similar amity and respecting each other’s independence. 

Because of the helps of the US to Viet-Minh in 1945 since its leader and his disciples perfectly concealed his communist identities and promised to fight the Japanese militarists in Vietnam; but Viet-Minh did not keep its promise. It became the strongest force among several other ones which also struggled against the French colonists. It eliminated other forces before it fought the French in the Vietnam War Part I. Then the leader became the president of North-Vietnam until his death in 1969. He has arrayed and commanded the invasion to South-Vietnam in the Vietnam War Part II. All means in North-VN had to extol him as a great living saint with ideal virtues. One of his deceiving slogan, “Nothing is more precious than Independence and Freedom” is well known; it was praised by many guys included several so-called intellectuals in the world; they advocated the invasion. So many gullible Vietnamese believed him and his disciples; the deceived fought in the Vietnam War Part I and II like mayflies. (Impacted by the extolling acts, after this man’s death, some places have his statues or pictures to adore him as a bodhisattva.)

Dear readers, in the Vietnam War (Part I and part II), (1) numeous Vietnamese nationalists trusted and risked their lives for international communist deceivers; (2) so many families had siblings in both sides: some in Republic-of-VN-Arms-Forces or government-organizations, others in the Army or cadres of the Vietnamese-Communists; several families had even high officers or high officials in both sides.

To Americans, this The Vietnam War part II is The Non-Triumphant War, but to the patriotic Vietnamese, this is The Lost-Everything War. Americans feel annoyed and fretful; patriotic Vietnamese feel anguish and painful. Therefore, they criticize or reproach to one another.    In truth, there are many complicated causes from both sides. Therefore, several details in this book could hurt feelings of my some compatriots; others could hurt feelings of some Americans. Although nothing stinks like the truth, it should be written for future generations.

Trần Đức Hân