Victor over the Past - Chapter 1

From: … Nguyen @yahoo.com>
Subject: Nguyen 's Biography
To: thuyhang606@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 9:42 AM

Thân tặng TH quyển hồi ký …

" Về chia sẻ kinh nghiệm với bạn bè. TH cứ tự nhiên. Nếu bài học cuả mình có hữu ích được cho đời thì mình nên chia sẻ. Có vậy thì xã hội mới tiến bộ và phát triển được. Những gì mình có thể để lại trên đời này thì mình nên để lại."

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To my children:

Someday when you turn these pages, you will find a connection that links my past and

your past together. Through these pages, you will have a better understanding of why and

how your father ended up in America. What made him live the way he did? How did his

personal beliefs and temperament affect you all? How much did your father care about you?

And what kind of expectation did he have for you? You probably think that your lives

would have been better had I done differently. The truth is that if I could have had a clear

vision of what your lives would be and the power to change my own past, I would have

done so already. Unfortunately, no one has this power. But that is the way of life. No one

can fully prepare for his or her children's outcome because life improves itself constantly.

One generation cannot anticipate everything happening in the future. And we all come to

this life unprepared. It is up to us to improve our lives, our children's lives, and the lives of

others around us regardless of our pasts. That is a reason for our living. We improve

ourselves continuously through learning, practicing, and doing something whether for us

or for others.

I used to blame every failure or mistake that I had on my parents. I thought had my

parents lived their lives differently, then my life would be better. I bore that ungrateful

feeling inside me for a long time until the day you came into my life. You were the blessings

from God to me. When I held you in my arms, I swore to myself that I would keep you from

repeating my own painful experiences. I wanted to prevent you from making any mistake

for as long as I lived, but soon I realized that oath itself was a mistake, too. Had I not let you

fall down, you never would have learned to walk, or had I kept you from struggling in the

water, you would never have learned to swim. No matter what I did or how hard I tried, you

would still have to experience your own mistakes or your own downfall to be a better

person. Then, I realized that for all those years I was wrong about my parents. My parents

really tried as hard as they could to protect me just like I did you.

 For a person to have better knowledge of his life, he needs to be able to make a connection

between his past and his present. I want you to have that ability, so I use these pages and

these words as a doorway that I could take you with me back through time and to the place

that I came from.

CHAPTER 1

 1960 was the year of the rat according to the Vietnamese calendar. On December 31 of that

year I was born in Saigon, Vietnam. Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia whose shape

resembles the letter "S". It is located on the southern border of China. Along the east side, it

meets the Pacific Ocean while on the west side, it is connected to Laos and Cambodia.

Vietnam is a tropical and agricultural country. Its tradition and its culture were almost

identical to its northern neighbor, China. In fact, Vietnam was a distant province of China

from the beginning, but because of the heavy taxes and levies that were imposed upon

Vietnam by China, Vietnam broke free and claimed its own independence. That led to a war

against China for about a thousand years. And before Vietnam could taste its own peace, it

was colonized by the French for another hundred years. After it defeated the French at Dien

Bien Phu, Vietnam inflicted its own wound with the civil war for another thirty years. War

has devastated the lives, the culture, and the land of the people in Vietnam. War has also

slowed down the development of the country tremendously in most areas including

education, health, and economics.

Though most of the lives in Vietnam have been overshadowed by the tragedies of

war, the Vietnamese still manage to retain their loving and caring attitudes toward each

other. Humility, pride, and independence are the main emphases of the Vietnamese. People

treat each other with respect. Younger ones refer to the older as older brother or older sister

to express respect. While the older calls the younger by name to show love, closeness, and

consideration. Much of my life in Vietnam, I witnessed quite a number of beautiful scenes

that were composed of the carpet-like smoothness of rice fields, of the grandeur of

mountains, of the coconut trees, and of the bitter nut trees. Sometimes in the wind, I still can

hear those poetic chants sung by mothers, wives, and lovers. Most of these songs reflected

true love of family and friendship. They reflected how faithful a wife had been toward her

husband who laid down his life to protect his family. They reflected how great was the love

of a mother who put herself through all the difficulties of life to maintain the lives and

ensure the survival of her own children. Besides the reflection of love, sometimes I could

also hear those melodies and rhythms which reminded me of the strength, the endurance,

and the hope for the country's better future echoing in the winds.

As far as I can remember, when the French colonized Vietnam in 1887, they divided

the country into three main parts: the northern part, the central part, and the southern part.

Since that time, many Vietnamese patriots attempted to revolt, but they all failed. Yet none

of them gave up their fight. By late 1930s a group of revolutionaries, who followed the

communist doctrine, became the leading force in the nationalist movement, and they called

themselves Viet Minh.

My father was born in the northern part about the same time the Viet Minh became

the major movement in Vietnam. All of his childhood was good. He was living in a well

protected family, and he was isolated from all the turmoils in the country at that time.

Academically, he was always one of the top five students in the class. He was loved by his

teachers and was respected by his classmates. His father died and left a good bit of fortune

to his mother. He told me that his mother even treated him better than his older brother.

Everything went well for him until the Viet Minh defeated the French and took over the

northern part of Vietnam in 1945.

 After the Viet Minh took over his village, they started to close down schools, temples, and

churches. At the age of 16, he had to join forces with all young catholic men in his local

church to fight the Viet Minh. It was an uneven battle, the Viet Minh had guns and

ammunition while those catholic men had nothing but bamboo sticks and stones. The result

was devastation. Many catholic men were captured. Every night, they were dragged

through the village and beheaded. Fearing for his life, his mother asked him to follow his

older brother and escape to the south although South Vietnam was still under the control of

the French. She told him that she gave his brother enough money to take care of both of

them very well. She wanted to see them going to the new land, doing something good that

she could be proud of, and hopefully one day she could still live to see their return. She

wanted my father to promise her that he would not return to his village if he did not make

it to the rank of general.

 He gave her that promise, and he left that night with his brother. They traveled country

roads, paths through rice fields, and by river to get to the south. When they got there, his

brother took the money and left him in the strange land. Nowhere to turn to, he volunteered

to join the French Union army in 1947 for shelter and possibly to fulfill his promise.

To be continued ...

From FB's friend :

http://moon-ah.blogspot.com/2011/01/victor-over-past-31-chapters.html

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