In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

151 To Be a Soldier The Military Academy As my father had been a public servant and had died in the communist prison camp,andIwasmymother’sonlyson,Iwasexemptedbyconscriptionlawfrom the military draft. If I had applied for a scholarship abroad, I would have been on the priority list. My mother and my aunt hated the idea that I would be in the military. They wanted me to be a doctor or an engineer. Someofmyfriendsthoughtthatweshouldnotjointhearmybecauseitwas spoiled by corruption and had too many incapable officers who impeded the army’s progress and spoiled the young officers’ efforts to improve the organization . My friends thought that young men with above-average intelligence, like some in our group, would be better able to help the country if they became doctorsoracademics.Besides,thesalaryofarmedforcesofficerswasratherlow. Other friends had a different opinion. They said in a world where the conflict between communist powers—especially China—and the free world was becomingmoreandmoreserious,anotherwarinViệtNamwouldbeinevitable in the next few years. In such a situation, we should be serving in the army to defend our stronghold of freedom. Another argument was that in almost all small, underdeveloped countries, militaryleadersheldrulingpowerbecausetheyhaddisciplineandcouldperform theirtasksmuchmoreeffectivelythancivilianpoliticians.Therefore,thebestpath for a patriot like me would be to serve the country as an army officer. To my question about corruption and ineffectiveness in the army, some of my friends contended that because of such shortcomings, we young patriots should be in the army to clean it up and to build it to defend South Việt Nam and to liberate North Việt Nam some day. This argument was the most twelve • 152 · The Cogwheel persuasive to me. Furthermore, I knew I was a lazy boy. I believed that I could besuccessfulifIservedunderanykindofdisciplinethatcompelledmetofulfill my duty. And so army life would be better for me, I thought. When there was an announcement that the Joint General Staff was recruiting cadets for Class 12 of the Đà Lạt Inter-Arms Military School, I decided to enroll. I talked to my mother and my aunt for hours before they reluctantly accepted my idea. As I was under twenty-one, my mother had to consent to my application before the military could accept it. My aunt never wanted me to leave home, especially to be in the military. ShehadremindedmemanytimesthatIwastheonlysonofherbrotherandalso the only great-grandson of her grandfather. She couldn’t bear the thought that I would be sent into battle, even as an officer, and she cried a lot at that. My mother only said that she didn’t like the idea either. But she assured my aunt that if I really wanted to join the army, she would let me go because “everyonehashisowndestiny .”Sheremindedmyauntofthefortunetellerwholooked into my horoscope one day in 1945 and said that I would be in the military. She also repeated what my father told me when I visited him the last time at a prison camp: I should become either an engineer or an army officer. I barely passed the entry examination, ranking 108 of the 110 eligible candidates from the First Military Region (South Việt Nam territory including Sài Gòn). The result disappointed me, but my friends encouraged me to go on. So on October 5, 1955, I said good-bye to my mother, my aunt, whom I loved most, and my two sisters before boarding the morning train to Đà Lạt. The Cadet’s Life No soldier ever forgets the first days in military life. There were a lot of things to be done from early morning reveille until 9 pm taps, much more than I had expected. But everyone was happy. My classmates were mostly from middleclassfamilieswhosharedwithmealmostthesameopinionaboutwhywechose a military career. Half of my platoon members were from cities and provinces north of the 17th parallel. All had high morale. On October 23, 1955, a referendum was held in which people were asked to voteeitherforKingBảoĐạiorforPremierNgôĐìnhDiệmtobethechiefofstate. We cadets were sent to hang banderoles and posters on streets and public sites to encourage people to vote. Influenced by my Việt Quốc Party leaders, I didn’t like Diệm. However, between the two, I surely preferred him to Bảo Đại. We witnessed some tricks by government and military officials in an attempt to bring Diệm the largest number of votes. I felt rather bad about the tricks, as did many of my classmates. We knew that Ngô Đình Diệm would win withagreatmajorityinanyfairelection.Mostpeoplewerefedupwiththeking. Why did the government have to rely on such dishonest practices? [18.226.166.114] Project MUSE (2024...

Share