-
7. With the Vietnamese People in Quang Tri: May 1968–April 1969
- The University Press of Kentucky
- Chapter
- Additional Information
105 7 With the Vietnamese People in Quang Tri May 1968–April 1969 I have elected to place this chapter of the story here, as the security of the people of South Vietnam was at the core of the conflict. They were a central element of my experience while in the country, and I judged that the people aspect be presented now, rather than later. Our advisory team role was to do our best to help provide the people of Quang Tri with opportunities for a better life. My first encounter with a large number of Vietnamese people was at a Sunday morning Mass in Quang Tri City. A children’s dialogue Mass was being celebrated, with the boys sitting in the right-hand pews and the girls on the other side. It was pleasant to listen to sung responses by the youngsters, all in the Vietnamese language. As an observer, I felt there must have been a lot of sadness within families, but it was not obvious. The children appeared to be like those of their own age the world over. The people on the whole were well dressed and there was no shortage of food, thanks to the generous supplementation by the U.S. agencies, USAID , and Caritas. My recorded impressions of the local people in the first month in Quang Tri reflected the impact on me of the local culture and customs. Clearly life for a mother and wife was tough. The women had big families and their work was hard. I saw women carrying heavy loads of rice and water for kilometers. Some women in the rural areas had black teeth. I was to learn later that their teeth were made dark from a three-day process of “nhom rang.”1 A lunch meal in a hamlet was a new experience. The hospitality was welcoming. Chicken, pork, rice, red peppers, corn, and salad were served, with 106 TEAM 19 IN VIETNAM tea at the end. Chopsticks were no problem when used the Vietnamese way, as a type of spoon with the bowl resting against the chin. I had a very pleasing morning in a village named Van Van to the east of the city. The farming land was rich and fertile. This village was a very attractive place, with bamboo avenues and plenty of trees. The people were strongly anti-VC, and their local security force, a platoon of PF, were good fighters and had had many clashes with the VC. I sat through the lunch, not eating, as I was unwell. All the food presented was from the locality, except for the spaghetti. Food served from the house included fish, meat, vegetables, rice, peppers, and dressings. Family life was very important to the Vietnamese. In fact, their main concerns were for the safety of the family. Each dwelling had a bunker, a necessity for protection from bullets and mortar fragments . One had to admire their attitude toward family planning; large families could be explained as a guarantee that the parents would be cared for in their old age. A person’s age commenced at the date of conception. Why is it westerners do not look upon the life of a person in this way? I discovered friendship could be manifested in many ways when I saw three women hunkered in a row taking lice from each other’s hair, in turn. The industrious types carried on with light industry enterprises in their homes and backyards. With scraps of timber, tin, ammunition casings, and the like they patiently made beds, containers, cabinets, and pots. The low-skilled workers employed in the MACV compound smuggled remainders out by placing them in CORDS vehicles and collecting the items later when the vehicles were parked at the various villas in Quang Tri City. Then there were the struggling rice growers, without buffalo, who placed their harvested rice stalks on footpaths so that pedestrians passing by did their part of the threshing job for them. While the conflict continued, so did the education of the youth. I was invited to the local elementary school prize giving. The province chief was the guest of honor. There were fifteen hundred students at the school. I had the privilege of giving out two of the fifty prizes. I felt as though I had been embraced by the school, such was the friendliness. Some of my American colleagues had a view that the Vietnamese in the South may have been short of talent. There...