Customer Reviews

A Vietcong Memoir: An Inside Account of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

" A Viet Cong Memoir" is an intriguing historical account of the "other side" of the Vietnam War. Mr. Truong was a member of the National Liberation Front, as opposed to an actual military guerilla. The media always referred to the NLF as "the political arm of the Viet Cong". That always struck me as a dark, typical Vietnam type mystery. With "VCM", the NLF has a human face to go with the mystery. Right from the outset, any Vietnam vet as myself must take a story told by a VC with several grains of salt! Mr. Troung is beyond a doubt engaging in a bit of revisionist history, painting the indigenous (Southern) Vietnamese NLF in a fairer light than the more taciturn, hard core Communist Northern invaders. (...) A decent awareness of the conflict is needed to fully appreciate the book. With all these constraints aside, "VCM" rates as 5 star history. This should be required reading for serious students of the War, almost on a par with Bernard Fall's epic "Street Without Joy". The reasons are many: Troung is an excellent writer, both at once engagingly formal yet abidingly down to earth. Well educated, well connected and intelligent, he was involved with the NLF from the early 1950s-the French era of the War. The reader senses Troung's commitment to Ho Chi Minh's cause right from the time he meets "Uncle Ho" as a student in Paris. I believe that he believed in Ho's aphorisms- "liberty sweet liberty", "victory great victory", etc. Since Troung was not a jungle guerilla, the military side of the conflict is not emphasized here. Four major aspects of the War are mentioned; these are the book's strengths. 1) The reader will understand how the nation of South Vietnam ran and eventually disintegrated. The author paints a grim picture of a string of venal, petty and authoritative Saigon regimes. Troung came from an upper class Southern family and was well placed to report accurately.He even does time in a dank Saigon prison. Typical for Vietnam, his wife springs him with a bribe! 2) For a foreigner, the author had an excellent (!) grasp of the American political scene. The Vietnamese must have seen the U.S. letting the War slip away long before we did. 3) "VCM" is the only place I have read a fair, balanced and nuanced version of the back room deals at the 5-year debacle known as "The Paris Peace Talks". There was actually an ebb and flow, a system of sorts. Did Henry Kissinger blink? Was he outfoxed? Or, as the author seems to suggest, were he and Nixon just out of maneuvering room? 4) Critically, Troung takes pains to paint the South Vietnam oriented NLF as a kinder, gentler "third way" between the real bad guys (the Saigon regimes and their American cronies) and the hard core Marxists from Hanoi. The NLF wanted to set up a quasi-independent government in Saigon that would allow for the obvious differences between the 2 Vietnams. The infighting was intense and the "good guys", if that's what they really were, got stiffed good and hard. I chose to take Troung at his word; other readers may disagree. As a finale, "VCM" offers a rare, poignant, and touching chapter on the refugees known as the "boat people". I used to think that "Vietnam" consisted of that remote, little dusty Engineer camp I lived in for a year. Then I started reading other folk's far (!) more earthy accounts of RVN. 30 years after coming home, I continue to be ASTOUNDED by how many stories and sides there are to this foggy and mysterious place. "VCM" makes some sense out of the mystery. Then again, this being Vietnam, it may deepen it! Night always did fall quickly over there.

America's defeat in the Vietnam war was to me a bitter experience. And although I am not given to 'enthusiasms', I believe that the author and his translators have produced a remarkably significant book. The author is a man of intelligence, strength, sensitivity and integrity and he provides insights at many levels. Thru his eyes we see the importance of personal and family connections in Vietnamese society. We witness Ho Chi Minh's magnetic personality and galvanizing importance. We see how difficult it is for left humanist liberals to keep their ideals when they side with communists and, by implication, how hard it is for anti-communists to distinguish left liberals from communists. We see how for many patriotic South Vietnamese, southern nationalist feeling found no outlet with the Western allies and got channeled to the communist side. We are given an insider account of how highly placed individuals such as the author and his friends worked to undermine resistance to the Vietcong and subvert institutions from within. There is a harrowing account of the author's time in prison, his torture and isolation. The book has many photographs of sincere and intelligent people who worked so hard for communist victory. We learn about political organizing, front groups that co-opt the non-communist opposition, transport along the Ho Chi Minh trail, the layout of jungle headquarters, and instructions on how to make a campfire with no smoke. The terror and destructiveness of B-52 raids is made clear as is the usefulness of the Vietcong's early warning network and their evasion tactics. And that's just in the first part of the book. The writing has a casual, easy to read quality. The reader can take away a variety of 'lessons' depending on the opinions and convictions he brings to the book. But the author's honesty and understated directness will have a big impact.

It would seem that some of the negative reviews here result from the reviewer's preconceived notions about the War not meshing with the history presented in this book.

But it is precisely the way in which this book challenges our notions about the war that makes the text so great. For example, the author illustrates how much of the ideology that fueled the fight against the French and the Americans came from the French ideals of nationalism and liberty. Communism was seen as a convenient vehicle but not provide much in the ideology department.

The author also presents an image of the VC as being somewhat less than the fearless idealists that are presented in much Western media. Some Americans feel compelled to see them as pure and fearless in order to justify our loss to them. But the author describes many instances where the VC avoided engagement with the enemy or lost bodily control during attacks.

Another unexpected revelation was that, at the highest levels, the Vietnamese leadership seriously questioned the country's falling into the Soviet sphere of influence. What was the point, they asked, of fighting off one neo-colonialist just to replace it with another? This is the first book (or article, for that matter) to dispel so many of the fundamental myths that have held about the war.

In following the story line and characters, it certainly helps to be familiar with the major players in both the North and South. But even without that basis of knowledge, this is an excellent book that tells a gripping tale while questioning our assumptions about the topic.

In addition to seriously challenging our "conventional wisdom" regarding the war, the book is full of the kind of subterfuge, close calls with security forces, late night police visits, narrow escapes and suspense that you could find in many of toady's spy novels. But in this case, it is all true.

I read this book when it was first published and have used it as a reference as both a student and teacher of the Vietnam Conflict for many years. Before having traveled to Vietnam, this was one of the first sources I'd encountered that put a human face on a former enemy that other texts and media reports had failed to provide. The text gives the reader an excellent view of one man's perspective in the National Liberation Front and shows its readers an outlook rarely seen from an American political sentiment. Of particular interest to me were the author's personal accounts of espionage during the war and the physical and emotional affect American fire power had on the Vietnamese combatants.

A have read more than a few books on Vietnam (both the country and the war) and I would have to say that this is the most engaging. Unlike so many other books on the subject, it is not an academic exercise or attempt at justification. It is a personal account from a man who was a prime motivator in the NLF, but was not Communist. As such, he has a refeshing objectivity that is not too clouded by his first-hand knowledge of the events. This combination of objectivity and first hand knowledge is a rare find.

The objectivity, however, is not perfect and there is at least one point with which the author seems unable to come to grips -- He readily criticizes US administrations for "overestimating" the control Hanoi had over the NLF/VC/PRG. But in the end it seems that the US estimation of that control was closer to the truth than his own assessments were.

As a Vietnam veteran who survived the Tet Offensive, I was deeply moved to read about the war from the "other" side. Mr. Truong Nhu Tang describes in depth how dedicated the Vietcong leaders were. They were "nationalists" who were intent on saving their country from politicians whom they perceived to be corrupt elitists. After reading his description of life in the jungle it is a wonder any of them survived the hardships of such an existence. The evolution of the Ho Chi Minh Trail was fascinating. I was amazed at The dedication of the workers who were responsible for keeping the trail open...bomb craters from night bombing runs were either filled or detoured around.

"A Viet Cong Memoir" by Truong Nhu Tang (Former Minister of Justice) offers some rare glimpses into the Vietnam War. I haven't finished reading the book just yet, but did scan the last chapter to read the punch line. Truong Nhu Tang, fed up with the mismanagement of Vietnam, he 'lost the faith' and became disavowed, and fled to Paris, France in 1978. Albert Pham Nooc Thao, a close friend of the author and fellow Communist, was Chief of Security for South Vietnams armed forces when Diem was in power. Albert worked hard to institute programs in Vietnam to anger the civilians and make them more prone to blame the government and join the NLF. He also bird dogged and acted as Diem's bloodhound to locate officers and officials who didn't support Diem. What a Trojan Horse! I wonder how many other high ranking RVN officials also were on the other side, using their positions to spy, bring charges of corruption on the RVN gov't, get rid of competent officers and officials by McCarthyism (accusing them of being communists) and cause general confusion?

This is an important book, if only because there is so little published material like it.

Truong Nhu Tang's story is not a complete history of the Vietnam War (as if any single work could be); this is an honest and insightful account of one man's struggle and eventual disillusionment.

Truong was no wide-eyed idealist, rather an intellectual moderate who wished for independence. He clearly lays out the reasons for his conversion to the NLF, mostly the incompetence and corruption of the regime in the South. He describes his fears and misgivings in siding with the North, fears that were realized during the post war struggle for power in the South.

For the reviewers wishing for more inside details of guerrilla warfare, Cong-style, the author plainly states that he was never a fighter. He was part of the political infrastructure of the NLF, much more involved in policy than tactics. His hope was to be an member of the government that would run, with some degree of independence, the liberated South.

There are some interesting descriptions of the workings of the Viet Cong and life in the jungle. I found especially interesting the accounts of receiving intelligence about B-52's en route to their jungle positions and the steps taken to avoid bombardment.

Should this be the only book you read about the subject? No, but it should be read by anyone interested in different aspects of the war, as opposed to a work that merely reinforces existing opinions.

In the end this book is an exceptional insiders perspective of the Vietnam War.

Basically this is a personal account of a priviledged Saigon family member who joins the Viet Cong and then becomes very disillusioned with the 'final victory'. While I enjoyed reading parts of this book, most of it reads like a personal diary with many names and characters who few even know.

As a very educated man, the author did not seem to understand that politically aggressive countries like the Soviet Union, the US, China, and even North Viet Nam need to control. So when the South Viet Nam government fell after the US left, North Viet Nam and the Soviet Union swept right into power. How could anyone not see this coming who actually lived most of his life there and dealt with these governments almost daily?

The author also had lived a very comfortable life in Paris for years as a student and later as a Viet Cong official. Later he would also make official visits to Eastern Bloc countries and the Soviet Union getting a good view of their poverty and bread lines. I was amazed that after he saw the contrast between communist countries and capitalistic countries he could ever embrace a communist ideology for his own country. He doesn't really explain his polictical expectations for Viet Nam.

The book describes the Viet Nam struggle from a personal view but never really measures the sacrifice of millions from many countries. The book talks about the 'glorious' meetings in the jungle and the words of 'Uncle Ho' in their hearts but it never discusses the 22,000 buried alive in the Cu Chi Tunnels, or the hundreds of thousands killed during B-52 attacks along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, or the millions dead in the Killing Fields of Cambodia, etc, etc. The irony of this war is that In the end, market forces are driving Viet Nam to a market-based economy where the communist government becomes more irrelevant every day. Capitalism was the enemy for so long and now it is consuming their country. Maybe the author should update his book because now the future is starting to look very bright for Viet Nam!

I thought this book was great for two reasons. First, it is a rare and important description of the Viet Nam War from an NLF participant's point of view. The author did a good job of describing the workings of the NLF and Viet Cong leadership from the early days of the war through the takeover of South Viet Nam by the North. I particularly liked the vivid accounts of the Ho Chi Minh trail. I wish he had written more about that. Secondly, I enjoyed the author's personal story. He did a fine job of describing his thoughts and feelings through the many fazes of his life. He eloquently tells the story of his life from his boyhood growing up in a loving but rigid upper class Vietnamese family under French colonialism, through his political awakening as a young man in Viet Nam and in France while a student, through his difficult years in South Viet Nam as an underground operative, his horrible time of torture and suffering in a South Vietnamese Prison, his difficult years living in the jungle after he is released in a prisoner exchange, his tragic disillusionment with the Communists after their 1975 victory over South Viet Nam and finally his terrifying escape to Hong Kong as a boat person. If you like a good true story or have an interest in the Viet Nam War or Vietnamese culture, I recommend this book.