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Old 05-21-2010, 03:45 PM   #13
HavelockV
 
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 340
Quote:
Originally Posted by CptSternn View Post
It bothers me they portray the 'fall' of Saigon to the end of the world, when the reality is the country unified itself without the interference o outside nations.
You speak of "unification" as if it were a peaceful, bloodless process. How many supporters of the Southern Vietnamese government were cast into prison for years, if not decades, just for being on the losing side? How many thousands if not tens and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees died while fleeing South Vietnam? How many lost everything they had; money, possesions, homes, families? How many had to take whatever ship they could come across, not knowing where they would end up?

As a first generation Vietnamese American I can tell you that my family has made certain that I never confuse "unification" with "peace". My uncles, who worked as support for the South Vietnamese military, were imprisoned for several years after the war. My father, who was born and raised in Saigon and was a fighter pilot in the South Vietnamese Air Force only barely managed to escape pursuing Viet Cong as they invaded his air base when Saigon fell. My aunt watched her best friend get ***** right in front of her eyes by Tonkin Pirates. My grandmother and grandfather had no choice by to separate their children, some to France, some to America, not knowing if or when they'd ever be together again.

It is too easy for you to sit there across the Atlantic and make judgments on the actions of people whose personal motivations you cannot know, and whose situations you did not experience. For my part, I thank God for people like the good Ms. Tisdale. If so many Vietnamese risked their lives escaping a corrupt communist government, why should she be blamed for wanting to do the same for helpless, family-less children?
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