#i knew what lunar new year was but not viet new year

[yourheartinyourmouth]

thank you for telling us this op~

a friendly reminder from your local korean blogger that “lunar new year” is inclusive of the many cultures who celebrate, and “chinese new year” should be used only if you’re referring to specifically chinese cultural practices of the new year. thank you!!!

[jennasvietnameselitblog]

Week #4 Blog

Where the Ashes Are: The Odyssey of a Vietnamese Family 

Author: Nguyen Qui Duc

Pages Read: 1-30

Word Count: 430

Summary:

In 1968, Nguyen Qui Duc and his sisters, Dieu Ha  and Dieu Quynh, were rushed out of bed on Lunar New Years, or Tet, while on vacation at their guest house in Hue. His dad, a high ranking civil servant, was taken by the Viet Cong and forced to be “reeducated” and was separated from the rest of the family. Not long after, the American soldiers had came to rescue them and dropped them off at his uncle’s clinic to find shelter for the time being. Eventually, the military governor sent a helicopter to try and rescue Qui Duc’s father, who was unfortunately gone, but ended up saving their whole family and flying them back to their home in Da Nang. As news spread and no progress of his father’s location, his family could only fight to survive and work around the times of war. 

Critical Analysis:

The most obvious thematic idea being explored is, war. Nguyen explained the franticness his family felt as they were supposedly on vacation. During this time, everyone was reassuring themselves that despite it being wartime, both sides had agreed on a seize fire for Tet. This, however, was not the case. Nguyen revealed “No one knew that along with the Year of The Monkey, the dreaded Viet Cong soldiers had also arrived,” (page 2) no one would have every thought that they would attack on such a widely celebrated and festive day. The festivities would eventually be covered it sounds of gun fire, explosions, and screams, as the people fled Hue. When his family heard knocks at the door, they thought it was the southern soldiers coming to save them, but in actuality these were the Viet Cong on their way to capture victims and hostages. Right from the beginning, Nguyen shares his story and experience during war and the feelings of experiencing it first hand.

Personal Response:

I honestly was not expecting the story the author had shared. I’ve always heard stories of war, especially coming from refugee parents, but both of my parents had come from poor or middle class families. Nguyen had come from that it seems a high class family, and had a lot of resources and people helping him in the beginning, like Governor Lam who helped send a rescue helicopter. I’ve never really heard of war experiences from someone of higher class or closely related to the government, so it was really different to see what he went through. It was also odd seeing how his family still lived life around the war, while waiting for news on his father.

[my-tas-modern-world-history-blog]

“Episode 6: Things Fall Apart” review

So we watched episode 6. Lots of things were going on in the documentary. America was going through many assassinations, rebels for civil rights, and was still in the illusion of winning in Vietnam while the government promised there would be “light at the end of the tunnel”. But is it trueeee???

1968 was the deadliest year that ever happened in Vietnam. Tet Holiday, when families were supposed to be reunited and celebrating the new year, all of a sudden turned into a bloodbath. Ken Burns captured every terrifying moment of Tet Offensive that broke down America and put it into this episode to show the audience what war truly was.

North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong attacked big cities at home during Tet holiday. American Embassy in Saigon was bombed and became a battleground, while Hue was where the attack reached the high peak. They knew for sure what was on their mind when launching their surprise attack first thing out of NEW YEAR. Vietnamese people know their tradition, they would be away and spend time with their families celebrating the new year. Having the chance in their hands, why not grab it? They must have recalled from history when Emperor Quang Trung also launched a surprise attack and defeated the Qing Dynasty during Vietnamese lunar new year in 1788 when the enemy was unprepared and distracted. Smart move VC, smart move.

But…their intentional goal of having South Vietnamese people rise up and support the North was a mass failure. The South fought back fearlessly despite the chaos and it brought and positive effect. The North Vietnamese and communists were badly defeated everywhere. In the end, both sides suffered severe damages but still claimed: “Victory is ours”.

This footage I found it very icon and terrifying throughout the whole episode. South Vietnamese Army General Nguyen Ngoc Loan was not hesitating for publicly executed Viet Cong officer Nguyen Ven Lem. There was blood gushes from his head and this is not something that I can usually see on TV every day. The scene itself showed how violent and graphic war was and it was normal to kill the enemy during the war, as they said: “Kill or get killed”. This footage was exposed to America and they soon realized that if VC was willing to do anything to get Americans out of their country and unless someone gave up, the war would go on and on until the last person fell down. 

Things fall apart as it was in America when the so-called victory wasn’t so persuasive to the citizens at home. I mean, sure, South Vietnam and America won Tet Offensive but it stopped right there. Even though North Vietnamese lost in their military side, Tet Offensive brought a psychological outcome to America here and there. It shocked the White House, citizens through the television screens, and resulted in Johnson stopped running for another election. Thus, they were not over with the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated during the civil right movement in Memphis and riots erupted in big cities around the country. Then here comes Robert Kennedy’s death in the same year that shattered Americans. They lost the people they admired the most, and nothing would ever be the same again when they felt they would have to endure on the own on the path that was uncertain.

vybui