Honoring Soldiers who Fought for Vietnam

April 30 is approaching fast. This is the day Viet Nam war ended. South Viet Nam lost the war to North Viet Nam. My people lost our freedom, we became a communist country. I guess the war ended. Viet Nam will have peace, no more gun fires, no more families separated from their loved ones because of the war. But it was not so. This day marked a new Viet Nam. The North did not bring peace and happiness to my people like they said. Quite contrary, they brought more sorrows, heartache, and more separations between families in many different ways.

It is true, we have no more war on our motherland. But learning what happened to my people after April 30, 1975 I would rather the war continued. At least we lived during the war but our lives were much better than in peace time with the North Viet Nam government.

Our soldiers wanted to continue fighting for our freedom, their heart and souls did not want to surrender. We all wanted peace, but not the kind of peace we have.

If I could turn back time, I wish to live and grow up in my country during war time. I wish I would have a chance to know and be a part of a soldier's life. I would want to be a soldier's girlfriend or wife and live the life of a Vietnamese woman who has a man in their life who was a courageous soldier willing to die for Viet Nam.

I understand that being a soldier's wife during Viet Nam war time you had to sacrifice and suffer, even during and after war time. But I am sorry, I did not have a chance to be THAT Vietnamese woman. I salute them!

by Thai Le

I met a man from Vietnam in Texas two weeks ago. He had just moved here a couple of years ago. He left after the second imprisonment of his father, a South supporter and patriot, who was harassed repeatedly and imprisoned for years at a time for unfair charges of being unpatriotic. It was because he was an activist for the South and was being punished for trying to help the South Vietnamese win the war against the North. They didn't get out in 1975 like Thai Le and her family did, so the man's dad lost several years of his life in prison for fighting for his freedom and his country. Thai le is right. Their promises were worthless. Show me one Communist country with a healthy government and a happy people. That's what I thought.

Amanda Griffith