17
“When the enemy comes,
the women must fight”
WOMEN IN THE
VIETNAM WAR
by ELIZABETH WINDSCHUTTLE
Late last year, fo u r A u s tra lia n w om en visited Vietnam to re cip ro ca te an e a rlie r A u stra lia n
to u r by Vietnamese wom en. We w ent via B a n g ko k and Vientiane to H anoi. B efore we left, we
were to ld we w o u ld p ro b a b ly n o t go to Saigon. Few w esterners had been in the S o u th since
the w ar ended, and we d id n ’t th in k any sp e cia l e xce p tio n w o u ld be m ade in o u r case. There
was o n ly one pla ne a day fro m H a n o i to Saigon. It was a D C -4 w h ich c a rrie d no m ore than 30
passengers. So, when o u r d e le ga tio n o f four, p lu s a g u id e and an in te rp re te r were o ffe re d the
fligh t, it cam e as a surprise. N o t o n ly were we to be am ong the firs t to visit S aigon since the
end o f the war, b u t we were ta kin g up six coveted seats in a pla n e at a tim e w hen the firs t m a jo r
conference on re u n ific a tio n was be in g h eld in Saigon. We were being treated in a fa r m ore
p rivile g e d way than we had expected.
We were in Vietnam as guests o f the
Vietnam ese W om en’s U n io n but we had
b ro u g h t w ith us w estern c o n ce p ts o f w hat
such an o rga nisa tio n w o u ld be and had u n d e r­
estim ated how in flu e n tia l it was. In o u r firs tte n
days in N orth Vietnam , how ever, we had com e
to realise that the status o f w om en there was
fa r better than o u r ow n in A ustralia. W omen
had equal, and often m ore than equal,
representation in all a c tiv itie s o f the society.
We were fo u r civilia n s, b u t as guests o f the
W om en's U nion we were treated like im p o rta n t
p o litic ia n s o r o ffic ia ls w o u ld be in A ustralia,
m e e tin g w ith th e h e a d s o f th e m a in
gove rnm ent d e pa rtm e n ts and arm ed forces.
The A ustralian Embassy s ta ff in H anoi joked
w ith us, som ew hat en vio usly, about the
privileges we w ere receiving.
A lth o u g h we had gained som e a p p re cia tio n
of the q u ite d iffe re n t role o f V ietnam ese
w om en, we w ere still n o t prepared fo r the
surprises o f Saigon. W hen we arrived at the
central o ffic e s of th e W om en’s U n io n in
S outh V ietnam , a b e a u tifu l cre a m -p a in te d ,
gre e n -shu tte re d French c o lo n ia l b u ild in g , our
hosts anno u n ce d o ff-h a n d e d ly th a t it had been
the fo rm e r m ilita ry com m and h eadquarters
and
p r iv a t e
r e s id e n c e
o f G e n e ra l
W estm oreland.
T h a t d a y , s ittin g in W e s tm o re la n d ’s
reception room , we le a rn t the reason fo r the
p o sitio n th a t w om en en jo y in V ietnam now. We
m et peasant w om en g u e rilla fig h te rs fro m the
provinces, w om en o ffic e rs fro m the arm ed
fo rc e s ,
s c h o o lte a c h e rs
tu r n e d
u rb a n
re vo lu tio n a rie s, w om en from the upper
classes
of
the
"o ld " S aigon regim e u n der the French,
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AUSTRA LIAN LEFT REVIEW No. 53
in c lu d in g a Vietnam ese princess w ho had long
w orked in su p p o rt o f the lib e ra tio n forces. The
status o f w om en was tied to th e ir c ru cia l role in
the s tru g g le fo r national independence.
V ietnam w o u ld not have becom e free fro m the
French o r the A m erica n s were it not fo r its
w om en.
M ost w estern com m e n ta to rs have failed to
see the s ig n ifica n ce of th e role o f w om en in the
w a r. H a rd ly a n e w s re p o r te r had a n y
c o n c e p tio n o f w h a t th e y w re d o in g .
Jo u rn a lis ts p ortra yed w om en as passive
victim s o f the war, not as active agents in it.
News rep orts invaria b ly assumed th a t all
Vietnam ese troo ps, gu e rilla s and m ilitia were
male; th a t all p o litic a l prisoners were men; th a t
s u p p o r t s e rv ic e s s u c h
as m e d ic in e ,
a m m u n itio n s and a g ric u ltu ra l p ro d u c tio n
w ere m obilise d and run by men; th a t a n ti­
a irc ra ft gun ners were male.
Even people w h o have studied and w ritte n
a b o u t V ietnam from a sym p a th e tic p o sitio n
have n o t considered the sex o f those involved.
O ne w e ll-k n o w n A u stra lia n a n ti-w a r a c tiv is t
and a u th o r on Vietnam show ed rank d is b e lie f
w hen, on my return home, I began ta lk in g of
the w a rtim e achievem ents o f w om en.
W O M E N A S S O L D IE R S
T h e V ie tn a m e s e d id n o t d e fe a t th e
A m e ric a n s
b y a d o p tin g
c o n v e n tio n a l
m ethods. No a g ric u ltu ra l so cie ty fa cin g the
greatest w ar m achine th a t hum an h is to ry has
p rod uce d co u ld have done that. T h e y w on
because th e y developed a successful stra te g y
t h a t c o m b in e d m i l i t a r y a c t io n w it h
re vo lu tio n a ry po litics. A t o u r m eeting at
W e stm o re la n d ’s house, we w ere in tro d u c e d to
one of the o rig in a to rs o f th a t strategy, Madam e
N guyen T hi D inh, D eputy C o m m a n d e r in
C hief o f the P eople’s Lib e ra tio n A rm ed Forces.
H er o ffic ia l title is G eneral and she was second
in charge o f the S outh Vietnam ese arm ed
forces d u rin g the war.
The offensive th a t Madam e D inh led in Ben
Tre province in 1960, and fo r w h ich she had
earned her m ilita ry post, becam e the m odel
s tra te g y fo r all lib e ra tio n forces th ro u g h o u t
the South. It com b in e d both w hat the
V ietnam ese called “ arm ed s tru g g le ” and
"p o litic a l stru g g le ". The in su rg e n t forces in
Ben tre involved large num bers o f peasants.
They sto rm ed the m ilitia posts o f the
A m e rica n -b a cke d Diem, ousted D iem ’s villa g e
a d m in istra to rs and replaced them w ith local
peasant self-m anagem ent co m m itte e s.
M adam e D inh m o b ilise d peasants w h o had
been involved in e a rlie r resistance ag a inst the
French. T h e ir w eapons w ere b a m b o o sticks
and kitchen knives. H er “ a rm y ” held a tin y
liberated zone in Ben Tre. H er actio n s
provided the m odel fo r o th o r p ro vin ce s in the
S outh to fo llo w .
It was m ainly a fte r 1965 when the US sent
tro o p s in to the S outh on a m assive scale, that
the m ovem ent to have w om en jo in the arm y
increased.
W omen becam e fu ll-tim e m em bers o f the
arm ed fo rce s in the south. M any o f them held
leading p ositions. A b o u t 40 per c e n t o f the
regim ental com m anders o f the PLAF were
w om en. They w ere tro o p s w h o d e a lt w ith the
A m erican m obile reserves, in itia te d offensive
o p e r a t io n s a n d a t t a c k e d m a jo r U S
co n ce n tra tio n s. A ll were v o lu n te e rs w ho
received no salary and when n o t in com bat,
helped in harvesting, b u ild in g hom es and
schools, and a d m in is te rin g free m edical care
and m edical tra in in g .
W omen also fo rm e d a m a jo r part o f regional
g u e rilla forces, fu ll-tim e fig h te rs w ho operated
in the region w here th e y lived. T hey engaged
US forces in the same area, lay am bushes,
e n circle d bases, and attacked posts.
W omen in local se lf-d e fe n ce units, o r m ilitia
w om en, were not fu ll-tim e so ld ie rs but fo u g h t
w hen th e ir area was attacked, p in n in g dow n
lo c a l fo rc e s a n d k e e p in g th e ir p o s ts
p e rm anently e n circle d .
A h ig h e r percentage o f w om en w ere in the
local m ilitia and regional g u e rilla u n its than in
the PLAF. The local m ilitia kept villages
fo rtifie d w ith trenches, tra p s and spikes. These
defences were decisive in w earing dow n the
m orale o f Saigon and US tro o p s.
D uring the Tet O ffensive in 1968, the
N ational Lib e ra tio n F ront staged a m ilita ry and
p u b lic ity coup by ta kin g over the US Embassy
in Saigon. B lazoned across the fro n t pages of
n e w s p a p e rs a ll o v e r th e w o rld w e re
photo g ra p h s o f the NLF flag fly in g fro m the
ro o f o f the Embassy. But no
new spaper
m entioned that it was a w o m e n ’s com m a n d o
g ro u p th a t forced the o c c u p a tio n of five of the
seven flo o rs of the Embassy, kille d tw o
h undred
US personnel, and co m p e lle d
A m bassador B unker to escape in a h e lico p te r.
We learnt that the leader o f th is o ffe n sive at
W OM EN IN THE VIETNA M WAR
the A m erican Embassy was Le T hi Rieng, a
fo rm e r Vice P resident o f th e W o m e n ’s U nion,
and a m em ber of the ce n tra l co m m itte e of the
NLF. W ithin hours o f th e o c c u p a tio n , w h ile US
and S aigon o ffic ia ls w ere s till reeling fro m the
attack, Le T hi Rieng was executed.
M ost of the gu e rilla fig h te rs in Cu Chi
province were w om en, and th e y earned fo rth e
province the nicknam e o f the ‘‘ Iron T ria n g le ” ,
so called because g u e rilla p ersistence in this
area led to it being the m ost heavily
bom barded and de fo lia te d area in the south.
We saw Cu C hi later. T h e re is h a rd ly five feet
between one bom b c ra te r and the next. The
A m ericans have sewn a h ig h ly n o xio u s weed,
over six feet high, and as fa r as the eye can see,
covering fifty per cen t o f the p ro vin ce and thus
preventing rice p ro d u c tio n .
We met som e o f these w om en, in Cu Chi
itself, fo rty kilom ete rs fro m Saigon.
“ The US and S aigon a d m in is tra tio n s
realised the c ru cia l role o f w om en in this
p ro vin ce ” , said Ms P huoc, a m iddle-aged
peasant wom an, "because in 1968 and 1969,
alm ost the e n tire fem ale p o p u la tio n o f Cu Chi
were forced in to c o n c e n tra tio n cam ps. T hey
knew wom en w ere a ctin g as g u e rilla s, liaison
and in filtra tio n fo rce s."
“Many of the w om en escaped fro m the
co n ce n tra tio n cam ps at n ig h t and returned to
gu e rilla activity in th e ir local areas. The
wom en destroyed m ost o f the 42 fo rtre sse s in
th e ir area, as w ell as p ro d u c in g and p ro vid in g
food and m edical assistance to o th e r g u e rilla
fighters. O ur b a tta llio n was called the Iron and
Steel b a tta llio n .”
We drove fu rth e r in to th e p rovince. The road
becam e im passable and we tra n sfe rre d to a
jeep. It was overcrow ed and the jeep lurched
along a boggy track. We stopped and Ms
P huoc led an insp e ction o t a n e tw o rk of
tunnels and u n d e rg ro u n d shelters w h ic h she
had helped b uild and in w h ic h she had lived fo r
m onths at a tim e. The tra p d o o r in to the tunnels
was ju st big enough to a c co m m o d ate her
slig h t body.
“ The tra p d o o r was covered over w ith leaves.
You c o u ld n ’t te ll it was th e re ” , said Ms Phuoc,
de m onstra tin g fo r us. "W hen th e y cam e” , she
said, “ we co uld hear the A m erican soldiers
above us. S om etim es th e y u rinated on the
gro und over o u r heads.”
A lm o st as an after th o u g h t she added, “ This
was the main headq u a rte rs o f the NLF in the
S outh".
19
In the fin a l push th a t w on v ic to ry in A p ril
1975, w om en w ere in the fo re fro n t.
Tens of thousands of w om en rushed to
o c cu p y the d iffe re n t provinces in th e S outh.
“ We seized th o u sa n d s o f m ilita ry posts, and
to o k over a d m in istra tive bases, fa c to rie s and
schools. We captured m ilita ry stores, w eapons
and to o k prisoners. W om en p lanted the PRG
flag e veryw here” , said Ms Hanh o f the
W om en’s U nion.
"M illio n s o f w om en th ro u g h o u t S outh
V ie tn a m c a lle d on S a ig o n tr o o p s to
su rre n d e r” . It was this stra te g y th a t caused the
in n e r co lla p se o f T h ie u ’s arm y. “ W om en w ere
d ire c tly re sponsible fo r the fall o f the 25th
d ivision in th e south-east, d ivisio n s 7 and 9 in
the south, and d ivision 21 in the s o u th -w e st. In
Saigon alone, 300,000 tro o p s co lla p se d , and
wom en g u e rilla s headed the invasion of
T h ie u ’s P residential Palace.”
W ith us at the m eeting were som e o f these
w om en. Ms Xuan was am o n g st the g u e rilla
fig h te rs w h o led the arm y in to S aigon. Pham
T hi D uyen, a peasant w om an, led g u e rilla
fig h te rs in Tu Due province. They to o k o v e rth e
d is tric t a d m in is tra tio n , captured T h ie u tro o p s
and fo rce d a general su rre n d er in th e province.
Ms Duyen led her tro o p s to free priso n e rs fro m
the local gaol and to take o ver th e m ain
ele ctrica l p o w e r station serving Saigon.
Ms H anh then tu rned to a yo u n g w om an
alo n gsid e us, perhaps 18 o r 19 years old.
“ S ister N g uyen T hi P huong had a baby o n ly
five m onths old. Early on the m o rn in g o f A p ril
30, w ith her baby tucked under one arm and a
gun in the o ther, s h e fo rce d tw o c o lo n e ls and a
captain o f T h ie u ’s arm y to su rre n d er. H er
tro o p s ca p tu re d an im p o rta n t US p etrol and oil
reserve and tw o hundred m ilita ry lo rrie s and
tru cks".
For som e o f the g u e rilla w om en, how ever,
the end o f the w ar was a b itte r experience. A
num ber o f w om en w ho engaged in fu ll-tim e
g u e rilla a ctio n left th e ir ch ild re n w ith frie n d s
and re la tiv e s , and in m a n y c a s e s , in
k in d e rg a rte n s . T h o u g h m a n y o f th e s e
k in d e rg a rte n s con ta in e d ch ild re n w h o were
orphans, th e y were n o t orphanages as we
know them . Such fine d is tin c tio n s , how ever,
did not b o th e r those A m ericans w ho “ re scu e d ”
ch ild re n th e y considered "o rp h a n s ” fro m
these places in the dying days of the war, fly in g
them out in G erald F ord’s O p eration B a b y lift
to the USA, England and A u stra lia w here th e y
w ere adopted out, o r in one h id e ou s case
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AUSTRA LIAN LEFT REVIEW No. 53
M y wish is to ride the tempest, tam e the
waves, kill the sharks. I want to drive the
enem y away to sa ve our people. I will not
resign m yself to the usual lot o f wom en who
how their heads and becom e concubines.
- Thieu Thi Trinh, the woman who
led insurrections against
the C hinese in 248 A.D.
Graphic representation o f the Trung sisters.
taking 200 o f them to th e ir death w hen th e ir
"re scu e ” plane crashed. M any g u e rilla parents
w ho had left th e ir ch ild re n in the care o f such
kin d e rg a rte n s fo u n d in the m id d le o f the
v ic to ry ce le b ra tio n s th a t th e ir ch ild re n w ere
gone and there was no record o f w hat
happened to them.
Vietnam ese w om en have perhaps the
longest tra d itio n s o f all in m ilita ry a ctio n . A
num b er o f w om en fig h te rs w h o led a ttacks on
the C hinese d u rin g the 1,000 years th a t C hina
o ccu p ied Vietnam are s till rem em bered. The
best celebrated are the T ru n g S isters w ho, in
40 AD tra in e d 36 w om en as generals to lead a
peasant arm y of 80,000 to drive o u t the
Chinese. For three years they held o ff C hinese
attem pts to restore them selves but in 43 AD
the sisters were defeated by s u p e rio r num bers
and arm s. T hey then chose the tra d itio n a l
Vietnam ese response to defeat - suicide.
The T ru n g Sisters have becom e part of
Vietnam ese m y th o lo g y and th e ir story, w ith
m any em bellishm ents, is a central part o f the
c o u n try ’s oral h isto ry, p ro v id in g one o f the
main in sp ira tio n s fo r resistance to fo re ig n
d o m in a tio n . Every spring, on the six tie th day
of the second m oon, the people o f Hanoi
celebrate the anniversary o f th e ir death.
A n o th e r part of th is oral h isto ry is the sto ry
o f T rieu T hi T rin h , a 20 year old peasant
wom an w ho in 248 AD led an arm y of
thousands and drove o u t the C hinese. She
held them at bay d u rin g the co u rse o f 30
battles but was fin a lly defeated and also
suicided.
The idea of the w om an fig h te r became,
th ro u g h such stories, id e n tifie d w ith the very
co n c e p t of Vietnam ese n a tio n a lis t o p p o s itio n
to fo re ig n co n tro l. C hinese d o m in a tio n was
id e n tified as a patria rch al d o m in a tio n and so a
re b ellion led by w om en was the a p p ro p ria te
m yth o lo g ica l response. M yth and a ctio n have
sustained each other. The m y th o lo g y has
encouraged w om en to becom e fig h te rs
th ro u g h o u t Vietnam ese h is to ry and th e ir
battle fie ld e xp lo its have c o n tin u a lly provided
the basis fo r fu rth e r stories.
W OM EN IN THE VIETNAM WAR
Had the A m e rica n s been aw are o f the
m ilita ry h isto ry of Vietnam ese w om en they
may w ell have a pp ro a ch e d the w a r w ith
d iffe re n t tactics.
But, of course, few g e nerals read history.
T his left open the o p p o rtu n ity fo r w om en to
c o n d u c t one o f the m ost e ffe ctive cam paigns
of subversion to w h ich any a rm y has been
subjected.
Peasant w om en serving G Is d o in g w ashing,
shinin g boots, selling fo o d and d rin k re g u la rly
gained entrance to US bases. Inside they
w ould ch a rt the precise m easurem ents of
targets that, as gu e rilla fig h te rs , th e y planned
to shell that night.
N ext day, inside the base on ce m ore, they
w ould check on the a c cu ra cy o f th e ir m ortar
attacks, and if necessary, re ch a rt th e ir
m easurem ents. As th e y paced o u t the
distances they w o u ld d e fe r p o lite ly to any Gl
who happened to pass. N ext n ig h t, th e y w ould
shell the base again a c c o rd in g to the new
m easurements.
Even M adam e D inh entered one US base
disguised as a peasant w om an.
We were also to ld th a t m any p ro stitu te s in
Saigon were info rm e rs fo r the NLF.
For us, the a ttitu d e o f A m e rica n s to w a rd s
w om en in Vietnam was e p ito m ise d by a badge
we saw on a hat o f a ca p tu re d A m erican pilot,
now exhib ited in a w ar m useum in H anoi. It
depicted the ca rto o n dog S n o o p y saying
“ L ife ’s a B itc h ” .
The attitude of men to w om en in N orth
Vietnam and the a chievem ents gained by
w om en in that c o u n try in th e tw e n ty years
since independence c o n tra ste d sta rk ly w ith
the unm itigated d e gra d a tio n and vio le n ce that
wom en in the S outh endured at the hands of
the US regime.
T h ro u g h o u t the w ar th e N o rth provided a
co n sta n t rem inde r o f w h a t s o rt o f life was
possible. W om en w orke rs in the N orth enjoyed
e q u a lity w ith men in all fie ld s, and had gained
ch ild care, m a te rn ity pay allo w a n ce s and o th e r
reform s that w estern w om en have s till to win.
In the southern citie s life fo r w om en was
ch aotic, e xp lo itive and devoid o f any social
w elfare measures.
The w om en we met in S aigon made no
secret o f the fa ct that th e y suffered fa r m ore
under A m ericans than at any tim e u n d e r the
French.
Ms Hanh described the w a r experience.
21
“ W hile th e re was k illin g , raping, b rib e ry,
c o rru p tio n , fo rc e d co n c e n tra tio n o f w om en
and ch ild re n in to cam ps and stra te g ic ham lets,
the w o rst effects fo r w om en w ere the
w holesale o p e ra tio n s o f genocide, e p icid e and
b io cid e in th e a ir war. F orty five per c e n t o f o u r
land in the south is now unarable. T here are
one m illio n w id o w s and 500,000 orphans.
T o x ic ch e m ica l devastation has le ft h u n dreds
o f th o u sa n d s o f w om en in fe rtile and an
in d e fina b le nu m b e r o f w om en giving b irth to
m alform ed foetuses, n o t o nly now , b u t fo r
m a n y g e n e r a t i o n s t o c o m e . I t is
understa n d a b le th a t one o f the m ost sacred
slogans o f all Vietnam ese people d u rin g the
w ar was that ‘w hen the enem y com es, the
w om en m ust fig h t’
W O M E N IN T H E N O R T H
The role o f N orth Vietnam ese w om en was
d iffe re n t b u t no less sig n ific a n t. W hereas
wom en in the S outh p a rticip a te d in the arm ed
stru g g le , in the N orth th e y w ere in s e lfdefence, civil defence units, a n ti-a irc ra ft and
m ilitia g ro u p s fo r the defence o f th e ir fa c to ry
o r village.
W hile nearly all N orthern w om en received
som e m ilita ry tra in in g , and becam e experts in
the use o f a n ti-a irc ra ft w eapons and h a n d -to hand com bat, few were actual m em bers o f the
regular arm y. Those w h o were, served in
h ig h ly skille d and often dang e ro u s jo b s as
bom b defusers, m edical and liaison w orkers,
as su p p o rt tro o p s and su p p ly carriers.
W omen w ere m ainly responsible fo r the
clearing aw ay o f devastation a fte r the
bom bings. T hey dug shelters, re b u ilt roads,
bridges, houses, sch o o ls and fa cto rie s. They
cared fo r the dead and the w ounded.
Rice p ro d u c tio n in the N orth had to be
s u ffic ie n t to boost supplies to PRG governed
areas o r lib e ra te d zones and to m em bers of the
PLAF as w ell as sustain food p ro d u c tio n fo r
the north. It was necessary th e re fo re to gre a tly
increase a g ric u ltu ra l p ro d u c tio n in the N orth
d u rin g the war.
In the N o rth seventy per ce n t o f the food
p ro d u c tio n was carried o u t by w om en and
th e y w ere re sponsible fo r an increased
p ro d u c tiv ity in these years.
The increased p ro d u c tiv ity was n o t o n ly a
result o f land reform s and the c o lle c tiv is a tio n
o f food p ro d u c tio n . The degree o f w o rke rs'
c o n tro l given to its main w orkers, w om en, led
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A USTRALIAN LEFT REVIEW No. 53
them to set and fu lfill th e ir ow n targets.
W om en w o rkers in the N o rth held stro n g
p o litic a l c o n v ic tio n s a b o u t th e ir p ro d u c tiv e
c o n tr ib u t io n . A s lo g a n o f th e N o rth
Vietnam ese W om en’s U nion was “ Let the
w om en o f the N orth shed m ore sw eat so th e ir
sisters in the South co u ld shed less b lo o d ” .
There are m any well know n exam ples w here
N orth Vietnam ese w om en in te rp re te d th is
slogan q u ite lite ra lly. A fte r Le T h ie n g Rieng,
the Vice P resident of the S outh Vietnam ese
W om en’s U nion was executed fo r her a ctivitie s
in the T e t O ffensive in 1968, w om en in one
n o rth e rn provin ce alone w orked 44,392 extra
days to avenge her death.
W omen in facto ries d u rin g the w ar had th e ir
ow n slogans. A t Nam D inh te x tile m ill it was:
“ Every m eter of clo th is a b u lle t ag a inst the
enem y."
The w om en in the m ills w orked hard and fo r
long hours d u rin g the war. They often w alked
m iles to w ork. They did not see th e ir ch ild re n
fo r long periods o f tim e, p a rtic u la rly when the
ch ild re n w ere evacuated to the c o u n try s id e to
p ro te c t them from the bom bing.
W omen w orkers not o n ly m ade the main
c o n trib u tio n to fo o d and in d u stria l p ro d u c tio n ,
they also defended th e ir w orkplaces.
Nam D inh te xtile m ill in Nam Ha p rovince,
100 kilom eters from Hanoi, was tw ice bom bed
heavily. In the Johnson bo m b in g s in 1965, the
w hole m ill, in c lu d in g creches, kindergartens,
w orke rs' d in in g room s and clubs w ere alm ost
to ta lly destroyed. It was devastated again in
1972 in the N ixo n bom bings.
A t Nam D inh w om en form ed th e ir ow n self
defence units. In 1972 a w o m e n ’s defence unit
o f 15 sh ot dow n a US plane and captured the
US p ilo t. In Nam D inh we met tw o w om en fro m
this unit.
W om en in a g ric u ltu ra l p ro d u c tio n in the
same p ro vin ce form ed 20 se lf-defence units.
T hey used a n ti-a irc ra ft w eapons to defend
roads and bridges, dug trenches, rescued the
w ounded fro m bom bed b u ild in g s , gave
m edical assistance, and carried food to o th e r
f i g h t e r s . A f t e r th e b o m b in g s t h e y
reconstructed roads and bridges, and cleared
away devastation.
We m et one you ng m other, Thanh Nham,
w ho earned the title of H eroine of the A rm ed
Forces, fo r defusing bom bs th a t “ exploded on
c o n ta c t” .
It is in te re stin g to com pare Vietnam ese
w o m e n ’s c o n d itio n s w ith those o f A u stralian
w om en du rin g W orld W ar II. T h e ir w o rk and
sa crifice are very s im ila r but the s itu a tio n was
a ctu a lly very d iffe re n t. A u stra lia n w om en to o k
over m en’s jobs but the jo b c a te g o rie s were
reclassified so that w om en e arnt less than a
man w o u ld have fo ra p a rtic u la r jo b . T here was
no p ro p e r ch ild care. In N orth Vietnam none of
th is o ccurred.
M ID D L E C L A S S W O M E N
It is possible to id e n tify tw o d iffe re n t m iddle
classes in South V ietnam , one created by the
French and one by the A m ericans. The “ o ld ”
b o u rg e o isie o f Siagon w ere w e a lth y la n d lo rd s
and c iv il servants w ho had prospered under
French c o lo n ia l rule when France had
c o n stru cte d the “ Paris o f the O rie n t” in the
nineteenth century. The “ new ” b o u rg e o isie
w ere those w h o fo u n d e d new in d u strie s to
serve the A m ericans after 1964 and w hose
num bers were su p p lem ented w ith w ealthy,
often C atholic, refugees fro m the N o rth from
the 1950s. W hile there were m any fa m ilie s that
overlapped both groups, m any m ore rem ained
d is tin c t. The main d iffe re n c e was th a t th e “ o ld ”
b o u rg e o isie detested the A m ericans.
A m o n g st o u r W o m e n ’s U n io n hosts in
Saigon w ere w om en w ho belonged to “ o ld ”
fam ilies.
We visited a school, M inh Khai, in S aigon, at
w hich som e of o u r hosts had c o m p le te d th e ir
s e c o n d a ry s tu d ie s in p re p a r a tio n fo r
u niversity, or, as was m ore o fte n th e case, a
suitable m arriage. The g ra n d e u r o f the
b u ild in g s and g ro u n d s m ake o u r present-day
A ustralian private sch o o ls fo r g irls seem
p athetic im ita tio n s by c o m p a riso n . The “ o ld ”
b o urgeoisie o f Saigon was very rich.
M inh Khai sch o o l provides a classic
exam ple o f the alliances fo rg e d a m o n g st the
“o ld " b o u rgeoisie ag a inst the T h ie u and
A m erican regimes. N ot o n ly fo rm e r pupils,
da ughters of the rich, but m ost of the tea ch in g
s ta ff o f re c e n t y e a rs w e re a c tiv e a n d
outspoken o p p o n e n ts o f the S aigon and
A m erican a d m in istra tio n s.
“ E ig h ty per cent of p rim a ry teachers, 45 per
cent o f ju n io r secondary teachers and 30 per
ce n t o f senior se co n d a ry teachers were
involved in a n ti-w a r a c tiv itie s ,” the cu rre n t
V ice -P rin cip a l to ld us. “ A fo rm e r p rin c ip a l of
the school was interned fo r six years by Thieu.
She has now been re in s ta te d .”
23
W O M EN IN THE VIETNA M WAR
Women guerrilla fighters in a self-defence
village sharpening stakes for traps to use
against their enemy.
"M any of the s c h o o l’s old p u p ils, in spite of
th e ir bou rgeois lifestyle, to o k part in the
prote st m ovem ent," she said.
The w om en we met at th e W om en’s U nion
and the teachers at the s ch o o l w ere part o f a
m a s s m o v e m e n t a m o n g s t th e “ o l d ”
bou rgeoisie that opposed the war. They e ith e r
became re vo lu tio n a ry s u p p o rte rs of the PRG
o r m em bers o f th e T h ird Force - in d e pe n d e n t
o p pon ents of the Diem, Ky, T hieu and US
regim es. They despised the new ly ascendant
nouveau riche class o f m erchants and
p rofiteers w ho lived o ff these a d m in istra tio n s.
T h ey had seen th e ir life style , a c o m b in a tio n
o f the best tra d itio n s of b oth Vietnam ese and
French cultures, replaced by a vu lg a r im ita tio n
o f the A m erican way o f life The stre n g th of
th e ir resentm ent, as o f all Vietnam ese people
we met in the South, is evident everyw here
now.
In a w ar m useum in Saigon, p ro m in e n c e is
given to a d is p la y of the in flu e nce o f Am erican
cu ltu re in Saigon. Row upon row o f cru d e
com ics, cheap paperbacks, film posters
represent the p o p u la rc u ltu re w h ich flo u ris h e d
in the w ar years.
M o re o v e rt are th e p h o to g r a p h s o f
Vietnam ese w om en s trip p in g in n ig h tclu b s,
th e ir eyes and noses reshaped, th e ir breasts
and hips inflated w ith silico n e . O ne sign
sum m ed up the Saigonese view o f the essence
o f A m erican cu ltu re : “ C ar Wash and Get
S crew ed” .
WOMEN
AND
THE
POLITICAL
STRUG G LE
The
role
of
"p o litic a l s tru g g le "
women
in the
(as d is tin c t fro m the
24
A USTRALIAN LEFT REVIEW No. 53
“ arm ed s tru g g le ” ) in raising the p o litic a l
co n sciousn ess o f people in the South, was
c ru cia l. By th e ir exam ple, w om en persuaded
people to becom e active in the w ar e ffo rt. T hey
o rg anised pro te st d e m o n stra tio n s and rallies
and m oun ted a mass m ovem ent to enco u ra g e
S aigon soldie rs to desert. The w om en in th is
m ovem ent cam e to be know n as the Long
H aired A rm y.
H u n dre ds of thousands o f peasant w om en
in the S outh dem onstrated ag a inst th e use of
chem icals and defoliants. D e m o n stra tion s
w ere often held sim u lta n e o u sly in th irty o r
fo rty p ro vin cia l and d is tric tto w n s . The w om en
piled branches and dead livestock in view of
S aigon tro ops, to em barrass S aigon o ffic ia ls
and to rally sym path y am o n g st rank and file
troop s, m ost o f w hom w ere co n s c rip te d fro m
rural villages like th e ir own.
T he Long H aired A rm y was re sponsible fo r a
mass d e fection o f S aigon troops. Between
1963 and 1973 the num ber o f d e fe c tio n s
reached nearly 450,000.
O th e r w om en, not part o f th is m ovem ent,
form ed gro u p s pro te stin g on in d ivid u a l issues.
T hey in cluded the A sso cia tio n o f M others of
C om batants, the A sso cia tio n o f M others w ith
C h ildren in Gaol, and the A sso cia tio n fo r the
Defence o f W ar O rphans and W idow s. These
w ere m ostly fro m the urban m id d le class in
S aigon. T housands o f them also belonged to a
mass w o m e n ’s m ovem ent w h ich developed in
1970called the W om en's C om m ittee to D efend
the R ight to Live.
We m et in S aigon a B u d d h ist nun w ith
saffron robes and shaved head the Venerable
T h ich Nu H uynh Lien w ho to ld us th a t m any
re lig io u s people had opposed the Thieu
regim e. In 1967 N hat C hi Mai, a B u d d h is t
teacher, im m o la ted herself p u b lic ly in Saigon.
Venerable Lien said th a t her re lig io u s
co m p a trio ts w ere alluded to jo k in g ly as the
“ C ropped H a ir A rm y ” .
“ W hen the Long Hairs and the C ropped
H airs fo u g h t to g e th e r they alw ays w o n ” , she
said. “ S om etim es we fo u g h t w ith w eapons,
som etim es we propagandized am o n g st the
T hieu tro o p s ” .
“ T he C ro pped H air A rm y clashed w ith Thieu
p o lice often. On one occasion one o f o u r nuns
was beaten w ith an iron mask. We were all
pleased a b o u t this, because the assault was
being sh o t by e ig h ty-fiv e television u n its fro m
all over the w o rld ” .
In 1974 there were nearly 250,000 political
prisoners in S outh Vietnam , and nearly half
w ere wom en.
N inety per ce n t o f leading m em bers of the
W om en’s U nion w ere im p riso n e d , serving
sentences ra n g in g fro m one to seventeen
years.
In 1969, fo r the firs t tim e, large n um bers of
w om en were in carcerated at the n o to rio u s
prison island o f Con Son.
We met one of these w om en in Saigon.
T h u yn h N goc Anh, a sch o o lte a ch e r, w ho
spent 12'/2 years in C on Son and was released
before the end of the w ar o n ly because she had
ca n ce r and was not expected to live. Inside,
she to ld us, w om en were su b je cte d to the m ost
inhum ane treatm ent, to rtu re , starvation,
infestation of rats, verm in and disease.
Incu ra b le g yn a e co lo g ica l diseases w ere often
the re su lt o f prison tre a tm e n t sp e cia lly
intended to h u m ilia te w om en, such as the
denial o f w ashing w a te r d u rin g m e nstruation.
We asked Ms Anh how was it p o ssib le to
survive th is tre a tm e n t fo r such a long period.
Her answ er was sim p ly: “ S o lid a rity am ongst
the wom en. O n ly th is co u ld help us survive."
Prison becam e a school w here the inm ates
ta u g h t each o th e r th a t th e o n ly w ay to rem ain
hum an was to jo in w ith o th e r prisoners.
“ There were sm all protests at first, such as
not sa luting T h ie u ’s flag. In d ivid ua l w om en
w ere repeatedly punished u n til fin a lly all the
wom en refused to do it and the gu a rd s fo u n d it
d iffic u lt o f punish everyone", she said.
The co n fid e n ce of Vietnam ese w om en today
is a d ire c t result o f th e ir role in resistance over
a long period, and m ore re ce n tly in the w ar
effort. The e xperience of sh o o tin g dow n a B52
o r F111, o r learning to take c o n tro l o f a fa cto ry,
has developed in Vietnam ese w om en a se lfs u ffic ie n c y p ro b a b ly un e q u a lle d by w om en
anyw here in the w o rld . The V ietnam ese call
this process “ tu giai p h o n g " o r s e lf-lib e ra tio n .
The p o litic s o f re u n ific a tio n w ill be very
in te re s tin g . B e c a u s e th e y h a ve been
co n fro n te d fo r so long w ith such an a cutely
sexist regim e, w om en in the S outh ta lk m ore
o p e n ly about the s o rt o f issues W estern
fe m in ists are co n ce rn e d w ith. N o rth e rn
w om en have lived w ith som e of these re fo rm s equal em ploym ent, ch ild care - fo r so so long
that they appear to take them fo r granted. The
heightened aw areness o f the so u th e rn e rs w ill
b ring the w om an question to th e ce n tre of the
p o litic a l debates on re u n ific a tio n . New
fe m in ist in itia tive s seem the lo g ic a l result.