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Chapter 4: Communist Regulars from the North
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Chapter 4 Communist Regulars from the North Although I met many parents from overseas on American college campuses , I have seen few grandparents from Asian countries. As a grandfather , Sgt. Tran Thanh traveled all the way from Hanoi to Florida to attend his granddaughter’s graduation commencement at the university. “My son and daughter-in-law work in the government, so they can’t take off from their office,” Sergeant Thanh told me. I knew that many Vietnamese officials could only come to America for official business, not for a family visit. Complacent and affable, Sergeant Thanh was very glad to see me and talk about his family story and service in the North Vietnamese Army.1 He did not mind going into detail on the Communist Party organization, political propaganda, mass mobilization, NVA guerrilla tactics, and battles against American soldiers. “I told American friends my story,” he said. “They should know more about Vietnam.” The Vietnamese Communist force was founded on December 22, 1944, during World War II, with a total of five thousand men. In November 1946, North Vietnam, then the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), passed its first constitution and established its Defense Ministry with Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap as its first defense minister and commander-in-chief of the North Vietnamese forces. In 1950, they were reorganized and renamed as the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN, or NVA, commonly known as the Viet Minhs during the French Indochina War), with 50,000 troops. By the end of the French Indochina War in 1954, the Viet Minhs totaled 120,000 regulars. In May 1955, the NVA established its navy, followed by its air force in September 1956. After 1958, it formed its armored, antichemical, radar, engineering, 40 A Country Divided and other special forces. The NVA had 380,000 troops in 1964, and 1 million men by 1972.2 Tran Thanh was drafted into the NVA like all the adult males between eighteen and forty-five in the North. He received formal infantry training and learned how to use Russian- and Chinese-made weapons.3 From the early 1960s, North Vietnam sent its NVA regulars to the South to train and support Southern Communist troops, the People’s Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF), to fight the ARVN and the U.S. forces in guerrilla operations. From 1964, Hanoi infiltrated an annual average of 100,000 troops, including some of the best units, through the Ho Chi Minh Trail to South Vietnam. The NVA actually provided the main force of the Communist insurgency in the South. In the spring of 1965, Sergeant Thanh’s company was sent to South Vietnam . From April to November, he fought in several battles around the Central Highlands and the surrounding mountainous areas. By the 1968 Tet Offensive, the NVA/PLAF in the South reached a total strength of 400,000 troops. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the NVA/PLAF expanded its operations into Cambodia and Laos. From January 1961 to January 1973, the NVA/PLAF suffered 851,000 military deaths.4 It is interesting to see Sergeant Thanh’s views on his South Vietnamese Communist allies, ARVN opponents, and the Americans then and now. His story about life in the NVA is valuable because there is little information on the North Vietnamese Communist forces in English. Sgt. Tran Thanh Third Company, 174th Regiment, 316th Division, NVA (North Vietnamese Army) I love Connie, my granddaughter. Her parents sent her to study in America four years ago. Now I traveled all the way from Hanoi to Florida, attending Connie’s graduation commencement in Tampa, and helping her move to New Orleans, Louisiana. This is my first trip to America. Among other things, I like southern weather, seafood, and local Vietnamese restaurants along the gulf coast. Not many complaints, but, as a smoker, it is hard for me to find a “smoking area” by guessing the signs in English and Spanish. Connie loves Florida, too. Active and dynamic, she participated in many international student activities on campus and didn’t miss a local Asian community celebration. But she couldn’t attend any Vietnamese [3.91.8.23] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 17:06 GMT) Communist Regulars from the North 41 Society (Cong Dong Viet Nam) gatherings in the Tampa Bay area, because she is from North Vietnam, or Communist Vietnam, now officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. I couldn’t believe it when Connie told me what happened to her. There are...