Bài phát biểu của cô Phan Đình Bảo Kim
(Con gái của Thiếu Tướng Lam Sơn Phan Đình Thứ, Cựu Tư Lệnh Phó Quân
Đoàn II) trong cuộc triển lãm đánh dấu 50 năm Úc tham chiến tại Việt Nam
tại Swanton Town Hall, Melbourne.
Good afternoon everyone,
My father was one of thousands young people in French Colonial period who did not have a choice but joining the French Army – since they did not want to go with the Communist.
1941: he volunteered to join the French Army.
1942: he graduated the Army school in North Africa. He was one of a very rare Vietnamese joining the World War II, in Tunisia and Algeria.
1944-1945: he served the British-French Inter-Military.
1947: as Lieutenant, he commanded a group of special Airborne intruding to Paxan– Laos to rescue the Japanese Army.
1949: he has been transferred to the Vietnamese Army as Captain.
1954: he has been promoted to Major.
1955: Lieutenant Colonel.
1956: Colonel.
1969: Brigadier General.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, I am honored to be here to talk about my father. But actually, I have nothing to talk about his victories, because I strongly believe that the victories came from the sacrifice of the soldiers and I am so proud of them. I would like to express my gratitude for the soldiers who have sacrificed their youth and their lives, especially the Australian soldiers who have died for our democracy - you are always our heroes! Lest we forget!
After the fall of Saigon, my father has been jailed for 13 and half years by the communist. Like all other families of ARVN, my siblings and I have been terribly mistreated. We could not go to university and we could not find any job. Our lives were like hell and we have been living in fear every single day with the Communist.
After my father being released from jail, The French Government has sponsored him and the rest of my family to France in 1989.
I was so lucky to come to Australia having a good life. I could forget the past and enjoy life in my second country, but the spirit of my father and the immortal heroism of our soldiers have urged me to do something since the communist keep mistreating our people. With the help from the Vietnamese Veterans Association – Victoria branch, I have built up a team called Descendant of ARVN gathering the children and relatives of the Vietnamese Veterans. We would love to visit the Vietnamese Veterans also the Australian Vietnam Veterans at their old age. We want to look after the Invalid Veterans who are struggling with life in VN. We want to continue our parents’ mission to keep fighting for the freedom and democracy. As you know, today we don’t fight with guns but we ask and force the communist to respect the human rights, build up a democracy in VN, give our people a good life,
and protect our lands. If they cannot do it to our people, they must go! And we will be fighting until the communist no longer exist in our country!
Please always be by our side. Thank you Australia!
Kính chào quý vị,
Cha tôi là một trong số hàng ngàn thanh niên thời Pháp thuộc đã không có sự lựa chọn mà phải gia nhập Quân Đội Pháp – nếu họ không muốn đi theo Cộng Sản.
1941: ông tình nguyện gia nhập Quân Đội Pháp.
1942: ông tốt nghiệp trường Quân Đội tại Nam Phi. Ông là một trong số rất ít người Việt Nam tham chiến trong Thế Chiến thứ II tại Tunisie và Algérie.
1944-1945: ông phục vụ trong Quân Đội Liên Minh Anh-Pháp.
1947: là Trung Uùy, ông chỉ huy một toán Biệt Kích nhảy dù xuống vùng Pắcxan – Lào để giải giới cho Quân Đội Nhật Bản.
1949: ông chuyển sang Quân Đội Quốc Gia với cấp bậc Đại Uý.
1954: ông được vinh thăng Thiếu Tá.
1955: thăng cấp Trung Tá.
1956: thăng cấp Đại Tá
1969-1973: vinh thăng Chuẩn Tướng.
Kính thưa quý vị,
Hôm nay tôi rất vinh dự được đứng đây nói chuyện với quý vị về cha của tôi, nhưng thật sự, tôi không có gì để nói về những chiến công của ông, vì tôi cho rằng tất cả những chiến công đều từ sự hy sinh của những chiến sĩ, và tôi vô cùng hãnh diện về họ. Tôi xin được nói lên lòng biết ơn đối với những người lính đã hy sinh tuổi trẻ và sinh mạng của họ, nhất là những chiến sĩ người Uùc đã tử trận vì tranh đấu cho nền dân chủ tại VN. Các vị luôn luôn là những anh hùng của chúng tôi! Chúng tôi sẽ không bao giờ quên!
Sau khi Saigon bị sụp đổ, Cha tôi đã bị tù đày trong ngục tù Cộng Sản 13 năm rưởi. Giống như tất cả các gia đình QLVNCH, tôi và các anh em tôi đã bị ngược đãi một cách thảm thiết. Chúng tôi đã không được vào Đại Học, chúng tôi không thể có được bất cứ việc làm nào. Cuộc sống của chúng tôi giống như địa ngục và chúng tôi đã sống trong sự nơm nớp lo sợ hằng ngày dưới chế độ Cộng Sản. Sau khi Cha tôi được thả khỏi ngục tù, Chính phủ Pháp đã bảo trợ cho ông và những người còn lại trong gia đình tôi được sinh sống tại Pháp vào năm 1989.
Tôi đã được may mắn đến nước Uùc và có một cuộc sống tốt. Tôi có thể quên đi quá khứ và hưởng thụ cuộc sống nơi quê hương thứ hai này. Nhưng tinh thần của Cha tôi và lòng anh dũng bất diệt của các chiến sĩ, đã thôi thúc tôi phải làm điều gì đó khi mà Cộng Sản vẫn còn đang ngược đãi dân tộc tôi tại quê nhà. Với sự giúp đở của Hội Cựu Quân Nhân QLVNCH – tiểu bang Victoria, tôi đã tập hợp các con em của Cựu Quân Nhân và chúng tôi đã thành lập ra Đội Hậu Duệ QLVNCH. Chúng tôi muốn được thăm viếng các Cựu Chiến Binh Úc – Việt đã đến tuổi già yếu. Chúng tôi muốn được chăm sóc cho các Thương Phế Binh còn đang sống vất vả lầm than tại quê nhà. Chúng tôi muốn được tiếp nối công việc của Cha Anh tiếp tục chiến đấu cho tự do và dân chủ. Như quý vị đều biết, ngày nay, chúng ta không chiến đấu bằng súng đạn, nhưng chúng ta yêu cầu và đòi hỏi Cộng Sản phải tôn trọng nhân quyền, phải xây dựng một nền dân chủ, phải tạo cho người dân một cuộc sống tốt đẹp, và phải gìn giữ toàn vẹn lãnh thổ VN. Nếu Cộng Sản không làm được như vậy cho đồng bào, thì họ phải rút lui! Và chúng tôi sẽ còn tiếp tục chiến đấu cho đến khi không còn Cộng Sản ở Việt Nam! Xin nước Úc hãy luôn sát cánh với chúng tôi. Xin cám ơn nước Úc!
Phan Đình Bảo Kim
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Bài phát biểu của Châu Xuân Hùng (Con
của ông Châu Xuân Minh, Cựu Y Tá Trưởng Bệnh Viện Đỗ Vinh, Sư Đoàn Nhảy
Dù) trong cuộc triển lãm đánh dấu 50 năm Úc tham chiến tại Việt Nam tại
Swanton Town Hall, Melbourne.
Preface
I have no experience in the military, however, as a son of a former soldier of the Army of Republic of VN I'd like to share with you some of my childhood time, the life in VN during the war, and the two projects that I'm currently involved with.
Early childhood
My father was in the army before I was born. I was born in South VN 2 years after my family migrated from the North to the South after the Geneva Convention in 1954.
Our family was living inside the army camp, in the defence home areas, which housed hundreds of family of the soldiers like us. My father was often away from home, sometime a few weeks, sometime a few months, he was required to be with his unit in the battle fields.
The defence homes were quite small, 4, 5 people would live in a compact areas not more than, roughly about, 30 m2, consist of mainly 2 rooms, kitchen with a small bath areas, and a combined living, dinning, sleeping area. However, all the family there were very closed to each other, perhaps because of we were sharing the same way of life, the head of the family away from home, fighting in the battlefields, the soldiers' wife would share the story about a certain battlefields, about how the kids performing at school, we the kids of the soldiers were having a special bond, because all of our father were served in the same unit. Until now we still keep in touch with others.
We worked hard to make ends meet but we all were allowed to go to school. I still remember every Monday morning I asked my mother to take me to the area near the army headquarter so that I could see the soldiers stand nicely in front of the flag pole and singing the National Anthem.
When my father came back from the battlefield, he was allowed to stay home sometime for a few weeks, sometime for 1, 2 months; it was the party time for the kids. Our fathers would take us to downtown for a little treat, an ice cream on the way to a park for a bit of running around.
I can still remember the early years of my life in Saigon, a peaceful city.
But the peaceful life did not last long when the Communist violated the Geneva Convention. In early 1960, the Northern communist started sending their troops into the South.
Whatever happened to the nation, I was still happy with my fellows in the neighbourhood, we played cricket fights, spinning top, shooting marbles. I never knew what happened to my country. I was only a child!
Teenage
When I was in my early year at high school, life in VN became increasingly tense, day by day, and night by night. Everyday there were news about a certain battles far away from Saigon, a name of a location that I had ever heard of. On television you would see reports about the war.
1968 Tet offensive
On the night of 31st January 1968, on the first day of New Year, which had previously been observed with a cease-fire, around 70,000 North Vietnamese soldiers together with the Vietcong troops attacked five of South Vietnam's cities, most of its provincial and district capitals, and about 50 hamlets.
I was 12 years old when this happened, I still remember in Saigon, the Viet Cong attacked the presidential palace, the airport, the ARVN headquarters, and fought their way onto the U.S. Embassy grounds. The U.S. and ARVN forces quickly responded and within a week had recouped most of the lost territory.
When this was over, we all heard news about Hue (in the central of VN), Hue was a different story, however, by the time the city was re-taken on February 24 1968, the historic city had been all but levelled. Thousands of civilians were executed and 100,000 residents had lost their homes. It became known as the “Massacre at Hue.”
There are many people from foreign countries who are shedding tears over the slaying at My Lai where American GI and his platoon killed from 300 to 500 Vietnamese civilians. But they are not saying a word about the many thousand Vietnamese souls perished under the gunpoint of the Communist troops in mass graves and on many other streets in Hue during the New Year season in 1968.
This battle shifts the war for the first time from its rural base into the new arena of South Vietnam.
Thanks to the brave soldiers who fought hard against the Northern Communist troops in the jungle so that the people back home can live, although not quite peaceful as before, but was still quite good. I pressed-on with my high school study.
Late teen
In my late teen, I started to realise that our country was under attacked by the Northern Communist troops.
I started to comprehend the life of the soldiers. Someday my father would get home late, his face, you could tell, was look sad, because he just witnessed others soldiers died on his arm, he was in-charge of the nursing unit, sometime he came hone and felt hopeless because he could not do anything to save the life of the injured soldiers.
Summer of 1972: The Street of Horror
May 1, 1972 will never be forgotten by people in Quang Tri, not because it is the International Labor Day, but because the horrible carnage on the Vietnam Highway 1 about ten kilometers south of Quang Tri City. Thousands of civilians, mostly the elders, women, children and scores of soldiers were killed by artillery and infantry weapons in hours of shooting.
Since the 1968 Tet Offensive, Hue people have had another month of sorrow. An estimate of 3,000 to 7,000 civilians including a small number of non–combat soldiers and a lot of students from high schools and the Hue University were slain by Communist troops.
They were executed by guns, machetes, bayonets or simply wooden clubs in strings of about ten victims tied by each rope or electric wire. In one of the largest mass graves, many in the thousand of victims were found dead after being buried alive.
The last column of the war refugees got stuck at one of the bridge on Highway No 1, chaos occurred when enemy artillery began a rain of many hundreds shells from their 130mm guns on the refugees. A moment later, Communist foot soldiers attacked the crowd with infantry weapons that included mortars and grenade launchers.
As a result of this brutal attack, a thousand of bodies laying on the Highway No 1, later on the media named it "The Street of Horror".
It was obvious that Communist commanders had deliberately ordered the attack when they must have known well that 90 percent of people moving south along the highway were civilians.
There are many people from foreign countries who are shedding tears over the photo of Kim Phuc Nguyen, the Vietnamese girl who was running naked on a high way. But they are not saying a word about the many thousand bodies of the victims were burn black and rotten under the scorching sun of early summer. Many women lied hugging their babies whose tiny skeletons look like toys made of white plastic.
Last year in High School - 1973 Paris Peace Accords
Then came the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973. The peace accords called a ceasefire and put in place provisions for the protection of the freedom of South Vietnam. The terms of the accords called for a complete ceasefire in South Vietnam, released US prisoners of war, and called for both sides to find a peaceful solution to cease the conflict. Additionally it provided that if the North violated any of these agreements, U.S. troops would return to the aid of the South Vietnamese
We were very pleased that finally, there is no war.
However, with US and the allied forces gone from the country, South Vietnam stood alone. The situation worsened in December 1974, when US Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act of 1974, cutting off all military aid. This act removed the threat of air strikes should North Vietnam break the terms of the accords. Shortly after the act’s passage, North Vietnam began a limited offensive in some Provinces in South VN to test Saigon’s resolve. The provinces fell quickly and Hanoi pressed the attack. With the military aids received from the China, the Russian and the Eastern Communist bloc, the North Vietnamese stormed through the south, finally capturing Saigon on April 30, 1975.
Casualties
Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976. Ho Chi Minh once said “You can kill 10 of my men for every one we kill of yours,”, “but even at those odds, you will lose and we will win.” What he said in-deed is very true.
As the result of Ho Chi Minh's conquering the South VN and to put the whole country under the Communist regime, it was estimated that some two million Vietnamese were killed, three million wounded, and hundreds of thousands of children orphaned.
U.S. casualties totalled 57,685 killed and 153,303 wounded. At the time of the ceasefire, there were 587 U.S. military and civilian prisoners of war, all of whom were subsequently freed, the last one on March 30, 1973.
Australian casualties totalled 521 killed and some 3000 wounded.
Life after 30 April 1975
I remembered well, on the 30 April 1975, my father came home around lunch time, he was exhausted, his eyes were red, his face tells all: like the sun has changed its colour and concealed itself in the dark. Words cannot describe his feeling, agony, pain, sadness, disappointed, he just like a dead man walking on the street.
April 30, 1975, it was the day of an end and of a beginning.
The war ended. A hard life begins under the Communist regime.
I, like many of my friends, whose fathers were served under the ARVN, were not allowed to undertake the course at University that we'd like to, like medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, because these places were reserved for those who were consider "pure", i.e. the family that has nothing to connect with the old regime.
In the years after the war, the young people were denied a basic education at home because their father had served the South Vietnamese Government, at the same time, their fathers were sent to the so-called ‘‘re-education camp’’, the mother became the head of the family look-after the children and had no job.
Many other unfortunate families were forced to leave their home and to live in the areas so-call "the new economic zones", living in a miserable life abounded with all kind of hardships.
Life was like living in hell during those years.
Look forward
In the last few years we have heard about the bodies of our fallen soldiers have been found in the jungle in VN and these soldiers were brought home to have a proper burial here, more importantly, after so many years, finally they are home with their beloved families. We all glad the Australian soldiers have found closure.
I hope families of thousands of South Vietnamese soldiers who died in the so-called re-education camps are also given the same care from the authorities to search for their remains and give them a proper burial.
Currently, I'm involved in the projects of finding and bringing our fallen soldiers home, to be with their families.
The invalid former ARVN soldiers were not spared from the North Communist force. When the communist came, many wounded soldiers were immediately thrown out of hospital while the wounds still fresh. Many turn into homeless, beggars and died slowly in vain. Until now, their son and daughter are still being treated badly by the Vietnamese authority.
Currently, I am also involved in a not-for-profit organisation in providing financial support to the invalid veterans in VN.
Conclude
We should learn the lesson from our VN war.
And we should never forget the ultimate sacrifice of 521 Australian soldiers who served their country in standing side-by-side with the people Republic of VN.
Lest We Forget. Thank You for listening.
Châu Xuân Hùng
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