Hanoi III Week IV

Hanoi III Week III from Desaix Anderson
Week Three in Vietnam was a strong week substantively and in our field research.
We started the w eek with a seminar on the Democratic Republic of Vietnam’s 1953-56 land reform which both Mao and Stalin compellingly urged the Vietnamese to embark. Based on Chinas land reform and contradicting Ho Chi Minh’s efforts to be inclusive of all social and economic classes into the revolution, the reform, based on China’s experience, pitted peasants against landlords in fierce confrontation. Landlords were denounced as traitors and many put to death. Ho Chi Minh in the latter stages apologized to the Vietnamese people for the mistakes made and the Secretary General of the Communist Party, who had led the reforms, was demoted.
This session as followed by a magnificent session with the author of “Sorrow of War,” Bao Ninh. Mr. Ninh was in wonderful spirits and responded poignantly and honestly to a variety of pointed questions about the book, his life, and philsosophy. It was the best of three sessions we have had with Bao Ninh since the seminar began in June 2007, in part, because of the excellent questions posed by the students.
We also looked at the US mIlitary strategy, as well as rising resistance in South Vietnam. Finally, we explored the “Tet” offensive of 1968, its causes, planning, purposes, and aftermath, including the shocked political reaction in the United States to this dramatic event.
Following on this heavy substantive event, we thoroughly enjoyed a week0-end in Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by most residents. HCM City contrasted dramatically with Hanoi with its sleek modern buildings, upscale shopping on Dong Khoi Street, formerly known at Tu Do Street, where many a GI found love and solace. The well-kept gardens and modernized business district reminded many of other glass and steel cities of Southeast Asia. Others fondly remembered the busy, old quarters of Hanoi, the more intellectual and cultural Hanoi, and wondered where Vietnam’s future lay. Everyone enjoyed “Apocolypse Now,,” in the entertainment heart of Ho Chi Minh City.
We also had a half day in the Cu Chi tunnels, which enthralled all because of the incredible efforts of the Viet Cong in tunneling hundreds of miles underground to avoid the destruction of B-52 bombs and a US military base only five miles away, from whence such attacks as “Tet” provided safe space for those carrying out the massive attacks January 31, 1968.