Week 2_Raymond Trinh_ASA 150

Raymond Trinh

Prof. Valverde

ASA 150

In South Vietnamese Soldier; Memories of the Vietnam War and After, the author Chau Nguyen explores further on America’s perspective of South Vietnamese solider’s experiences during and post Vietnam War. Both North and South Vietnam fought the war with the aid of their allies. While North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China and their satellite states, South Vietnam had the backing of the United States and its allies. 

However, many American’s post Vietnam War did not recognize the difficulties and sacrifices that South Vietnamese soldiers had to encountered due to the lack of their stories and experiences being heard. Furthermore, post Vietnam War, South Vietnamese soldiers when in America has forgotten the individuals that have supported them during the Vietnam War due to their quickly time of deaths. Despite the scales of deaths, the service of South Vietnamese soldiers has not only been erased from national memory in postwar Vietnam but also suppressed in the wider historiography of the war. As a Vietnamese/Chinese American, I would like to hear more stories about the South Vietnamese soldiers and refugees experiences. Throughout the past few decades, I believe the history of the Vietnam War is recreated and retold by the wrong individuals. 

How can we shine the light on South Vietnamese soldiers and refugee experiences and stories? 

Nguyen, Chau Huynh Nathalie. South Vietnamese Soldiers: Memories of Vietnam War and After. 2016.