The Chases in Vietnam: Soldiers

I hope to write more about this later, but my yesterday left me with a flavor of what it is to be the winner and the loser in a civil war.

I met two men, each 65 years old. Both helped me yesterday. Both were soldiers in the Viet civil war. I didn't get a picture of either of them to put on the blog, but let me describe them to you.

One helped me when my motorbike was broken down on a street corner. It would start and idle, but if I gave it any gas at all it would die. I had an hour before I had to be at an appointment downtown, but I didn't know of a nearby mechanic shop. A man sitting on his motorcycle saw my distress and motioned for me to let it idle for a while without killing it. He asked me a "Where you fron?" and when I replied that I am an American (Tôi là người Mỹ) he smiled and gave a thumbs-up. He explained that he was in the Viet army on the side that the Americans chose to support. He worked with a group of US Green Berets and was in Saigon when it was liberated by the communists in '75. The GIs left, but he stayed in a country that would never again be kind to him in terms of employment and opportunity.

The former soldier used his motorbike to push mine to the neighborhood mechanic's corner. (I balance my bike, he puts a foot on my rear bumper and accelerates his bike, and away we ride.) The neighborhood mechanic had a 6' tent for shade and a compressor and toolbox to indicate his trade. He had my engine taken apart and was cleaning it in a matter of minutes, and after 25 minutes he and I shook hands and I gave him the full $4.50 he asked for. My Viet friends say I could have negotiated him down to $3.00, but I know I was in no position to argue, as he saved my bacon with the repair work he did. I'm grateful.

The second former soldier I met yesterday helped me, but indirectly. He is the director of one of the departments of the University, and he has his diplomas and credentials on display in his office ... next to his pictures and awards for military service in the People's Liberation Armed Forces. His help to me is in setting me up with an evening class to teach, starting next week. (The University department that hired me tells me that they will be starting my classes soon, but I won't actually believe that until they give me a schedule and classes to teach.) This second soldier was on the side that won back in 1975. His credentials as a soldier are on par with his doctoral degree, or at least they are displayed in the same case in his expansive office.

The first soldier is one of thousands of motorbike drivers in the city. I've met several of them, and one of the first Xe Om drivers I rode with is always reading at his corner when I go by. His English is fluent and he reads way more than I do, but his employment is bottom-shelf as a driver of the occasional customer wanting transport by motorbike. I don't know for sure if he's a former soldier, but it fits the description. I'd be surprised if I learned that my literate corner Xe Om driver wasn't, in fact, a former soldier of the side that lost in 1975.

The second soldier was a comrade-in-arms with the cadre of men who have led this nation for the last 40 years. He is a capable leader and well known and well respected, and some of the people in his social circle still wear their green uniforms to work, decorated with 3-4 stars on the shoulders.

It's better to be on the side that wins. Just sayin'.

Photos from today's Ceremony of Start-of-School:

Video: