Trần Mộng Lâm.

Tôi nhận được thư của Giáo Sư Trần Thủy Tiên, hiện đang dạy học tại một community college ở Dallas, khuyên tôi nên viết cho các em sinh viên trẻ, về văn hóa, lịch sử Việt Nam, nhất là Sự Thực, vắn tắt nhưng dễ hiểu, viết bằng English, về cuộc chiến tranhVN, miền Nam chống lại miền Bắc, chứ không phải là cuộc chiến chống Mỹ, đế quốc xâm lược, như CSBV đã đầu độc các em từ nhỏ tại VN. Các em từ VN thì bị dạy từ nhỏ, các em ở hải ngoại thì cha mẹ thờ ơ, các cháu chỉ lo học, sau đó kiếm tiền, không được biết sự thực.
CS Việt Nam rất sợ các Tượng Đài Chiến Sĩ VNCH ở hải ngoại và cờ vàng.
Chúng không thể giải thích được những người lính này là ai, và tại sao được người Việt hải ngoại tôn kính đến thế. Cho nên chỗ nào dự định xây tượng đài chiến sĩ VNCH, là y như chỗ đó bị phá bằng mọi cách.
Lá thư này làm tôi suy nghĩ rất nhiều.
Quả đúng như vậy. Các con tôi không được dạy dỗ nên không biết gì về cuộc chiến VN. Chúng sinh ra tại hải ngoại, khả năng tiếngViệt chỉ đủ để nói những chuyện rất đơn giản, còn về Việt Ngữ, thì trình độ chỉ đủ để đọc các món ăn trong các tiệm ăn Việt Nam. Làm sao hiểu được lý do tại sao có những người Việt sống lưu đầy tại Pháp, Úc, Mỹ hay Canada....
Làm sao nó hiểu được cha mẹ chúng vất vả chỉ vì MR Đàm qua Canada hát vớ vẩn, lăng nhăng mấy bài nhạc sến.
Bởi vậy tôi đành phải bỏ công viết một bài ngắn để tóm tắt một chút lịch sử Việt Nam, sao cho các em không viết và đọc được tiếng Việt một cách thành thạo, có thể có một cái khái niệm về cuộc chiến này, tại sao VN có 2 lá cờ, và chúng phải chọn lá cờ nào.
Một chút lòng thành như vậy, chứ không phải vì một dụng ý nào khác, mong quý vị rộng lượng.

Once Upon a Time, Vietnam
(Letter to my children)

Trần Mộng Lâm

This text is addressed to my children, but also to all the young Vietnamese born after 1975 to help them understand why almost 3 million Vietnamese know have to live in exile all over the world. It is the story of my life, but it is also the story of a whole generation of Vietnamese born after the Second World War: the Vietnamese baby-boomers.

Vietnam is a magnificent country with a surface area of 326,000 km2 and a population of almost 90 million people. Vietnam was founded in 2879 b.c. Until the 10th century, Vietnam has lived under Chinese domination with brief periods of independence. It became an independent country in 939. Unfortunately, in 1858, a French fleet conducted by Admiral Rigault de Genouilly took control of Da Nang bay, which was subsequently named Tourane. It was the beginning of the French colonisation, which would last until 1945. During that time, France annexed Vietnam to its colonial empire. Ever since the arrival of the French, the Vietnamese people continuously revolted against the colonial hold, each in its own way, with the means that they had. Amongst these people, one must cite Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chau Trinh, Emperor Duy Tan, Nguyen Sinh Cung and Nguyen Thai Hoc. The latter founded the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang party, composed of “Nationalists” close to the Guomindang, the Chinese Nationalist Party.

In 1930, the Communist Indochinese party was founded by Nguyen Sinh Cung, who would later be known as Nguyen Tat Thang, Nguyen Ai Quoc and finally Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh’s ultimate goal was not the independence of Vietnam but rather to take over the power that would allow him to add this small country to the international communist world (along with Cambodia and Laos). Many Vietnamese who loved their country did not share his opinion and the Vietnamese people have been divided ever since.

In 1932, Vietnam was under the rule of Emperor Bao Dai. Emperor Bao Dai had studied in France. He established a constitutional monarchy under the French protectorate. In reality, it was the French who were in control. The emperor was now only a symbol.

The Second World War
The Second World War began in 1939. In 1939, the Japanese empire invaded French Indochina. The French were tolerated by the Japanese occupiers because Japan only used Indochina as a transit site for its soldiers. Also, France with Petain for president was still officially neutral at that time.
In 1941, the Indochinese Communist Party creates the Viet Minh line, led by Ho Chi Minh.
In 1945, a famine wreaks havoc in the north of Vietnam. Taking advantage of the situation, the Viet Minh gains in popularity.
On March 9th 1945, fearing an incursion from the allied forces in Indochina, the Japanese attack the French armed forces by surprise. The French are either imprisoned or slaughtered.
On March 11th 1945, Bao Dai, while collaborating with the Japanese, declares the independence of Vietnam. The Vietnamese government is formed on April 17th 1945 with Tran Trong Kim as its prime minister. This government was dissolved on August 8th 1945. The communists have never recognized Bao Dai and his government.
On august 15th 1945, after the bombardment of Hiroshima with the atomic bomb, Japan announced its surrender.
On august 17th 1945, the Viet Minh takes over the power in Hanoi. This is known as the “August Revolution”.
On September 2nd 1945, in Ba Dinh square, Ho Chi Minh proclaims the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Bao Dai abdicates and becomes a “special consultant”.
In October 1945, the French troops reinvest Indochina.
In December 1945, France occupies Hanoi. Bao Dai is recognized by France as the head of state of unified Vietnam.
It is the beginning of the Indochina War.

The Indochina War
On one side, the Viet Minh has the support of the Soviet Union and the Popular Republic of China. On the other side, the Vietnamese Nationalists-Anticommunists, with Emperor Bao Dai, receive help from the French army to fight the communist expansion.
On May 7th 1954, with the help of the Russians and mostly the Chinese, the communists win the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
The Geneva agreements are signed by Pierre Mandès France and Pham Van Dong, respectively the prime ministers of France and of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam is divided into two: the North goes to the communists and the South to the Nationalists-Anticommunists.
Vietnamese from the South who are partisans of communism have to move to the North. The Nationalists-Anticommunists from the North have to move to the South.
One million North-Vietnamese had to make a painful decision of leaving their homes and all their belongings behind for a simple reason: they did not accept to live under a communist regime.

My family was part of that community of North-Vietnamese Nationalists. That is why I was born in the North, but was raised in the South. I still consider myself as a South-Vietnamese.