After my return, I got promoted to a master sergeant. The year of 1968, however, was the worst in my service. We had more casualties and deserters than ever before. I tried to take care of my unit during each operation. But the battle got tougher and tougher, since we were then fighting against the well-trained regular forces from the North Vietnam Army [NVA] rather than the guerrilla troops of the Viet Cong [NLF]. My friend got shot in the back and I got injured in my arm in a battle. The bullet was aimed for me because I was the one with the machine gun. The bullet's casing chafed my arm. I still have a big scar. I remember my friend. He was lying down on his stomach right before he got shot in the back. When he was hit, his whole body rose almost two feet into the air and he ended up on his back. It was so sad to see your friend die.
The wound prevented my return to the combat unit after my hospitalization. In 1969, I was so happy to know that I was reassigned to a training base near Long Xuyen, my hometown. Since I knew how to speak and teach English, I became an instructor of English language and small arms in the training programs from 1970 to 1975. My family was happy to see me back alive and working as an officer in the city. I also taught English as a part-time teacher at a local middle school, which I enjoyed the most, in 1972–1975. I visited the Buddhist temples with my students and traveled to the Ba Den Mountain with my family. You know what happened to me after 1975.10 As a Buddhist, I am always happy.
Chapter 2
Surviving the Bloody Jungle
Rose always prepared the green tea in the traditional way before each interview. As a sophomore at University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), she took the Vietnamese language class and History of Modern Southeast Asia. She learned a lot about the country her parents came from, and tried to understand why they could not go back. “I will get a job at LA after my college” Rose told me behind her father. “I want to move my parents from the Twin Cities to California. The weather is much warmer there” Her voice was low but adamant. She continued, “I will save some money and take my parents back to Vietnam for a visit. You can tell they really miss their hometown. It has been twenty-eight years” What a wonderful daughter for the ARVN veteran! Lt. Nguyen Yen Xuan is so lucky!
Lieutenant Xuan is certainly proud of his daughter and two sons. But he did not feel lucky at all, just like so many ARVN soldiers who went through the Vietnam War.1 “We could have won the war.” He said it many times. His story contradicts some Western assumptions that internal reasons caused the weaknesses of the ARVN. Lieutenant Xuan explained that external factors played a major role in the ARVN’s failure. Among these external problems was the attempt, on the part of the United States and ARVN high command, to Americanize the ARVN troops through U.S. aid and training. Thus, U.S. aid came with many conditions demanding the Vietnamese fight the war in an American way. In the meantime, the ARVN became more dependent on the Americans. Moreover, the White House and Pentagon did not design or expect an ARVN victory for the Vietnamese people, but an American victory for South Vietnam's government.
As a soldier in the Airborne Division, the elite forces of the ARVN, Lieutenant Xuan felt like he was fighting the war for the Americans in 1968–1973. After the United States withdrew its troops from South Vietnam in 1973, the incomplete Americanization led to the total defeat of the ARVN. He believed that the ARVN soldiers should have fought their own war, not the American War. In 1968, South Vietnam's government called up every available man for service. By 1969, the ARVN totaled 1 million strong, including 400,000 national troops in thirteen infantry divisions, 250,000 men as regional or provincial troops, and 350,000 local or Popular Troops.2 Among the three forces, the national troops were the best combat troops. They received better weapons and equipment and had American advisers top down to the battalion levels. The national troops, however, suffered the heaviest casualties since they engaged in more battles than other forces. From 1969 to 1971, the ARVN averaged combat deaths of 22,000 men per year, and by 1974 it had a total of 254,256 dead and 783,602 wounded in action.3 Besides the heavy casualties, all of the ARVN units also suffered low morale, poor combat effectiveness, and high desertion rates.4
Lt. Nguyen Yen Xuan
C Company, Second Battalion, Airborne Division, ARVN (South Vietnam)
When the war began, I didn't know anything about it since I was very young. I became aware of the war when my oldest brother enlisted in the ARVN, and then another elder brother. They wanted to protect their hometown from Viet Cong harassment.5 I think they did a pretty good job and our family business was growing. I helped my parents’ small shop to sell food and goods.
In the late 1960s, however, my brothers and their unit were transferred somewhere far away from our town. According to my parents, the war situation seemed to be turning bad. I was drafted into the ARVN in 1969 and stayed until 1975, when the South lost the war to the North. During the first three years, I was trained and served in the Infantry Division, and then was transferred to the Airborne Division, one of the strongest units in South Vietnam.
In 1969, I received three-month training, including how to fire a gun, operate small arms, and other techniques on how to fight. After our basic training, we were sent to an ARVN advanced [technical] training base. We learned how to ride on helicopters, drive a light truck, and operate some machines. I found that learning experience fun and interesting. One day, we were told that the Viet Congs were going to attack our base, and we had to be prepared. I was so nervous at that time since it was my first battle. For weeks, there was no attack.
I never forget my first battle, which was a surprise attack on our technical training base. That evening, after dinner, we were lying in our tent and talking to two other guys from my hometown. One of them had shopped in our family store before he joined the army. They came to visit me and shared some of their survival experiences. It seemed to me they were so smart, like big brothers, and not scared of anything, like a role model to me. I hoped I could go home together with these new friends.
Not too long after their leaving my tent, enemy mortars began falling at our base. The Viet Cong launched a night attack. I got ready and followed the others to the defensive trench positions. I couldn't see anything in the dark outside the base, and I fired only twice. That was probably the reason I didn't get killed that night. I learned later that the Viet Cong snipers looked for targets by spotting the gun firing points. The more you fired, the better chance you could get shot. The Viet Cong didn't take over our base that night. After their withdrawal, next morning, we cleared up and gathered the men who died last night. The two men from my hometown were killed when their tent was hit by mortars. I couldn't believed that a night before we were just talking about our families and were looking forward to returning to our hometown together. And now they both died. It was really sad.
After the technical training, I was assigned to the Third Company, Second Battalion, Twenty-third Infantry Division. I made some new friends in the company. Since the company was stationed close to the Viet Cong-occupied areas, we frequently engaged with the Viet Cong troops.
One day, when we patrolled along the road, we were ambushed by the Viet Cong. We took cover and fired back. For fifteen minutes, we couldn't see the enemy, but kept shooting randomly. One of my friends, who was just behind me, got shot and fell down. Everyone thought he was dead. About twenty minutes later, we received air support, which pointed out the enemy positions. The captain reorganized us into small groups to target different enemy positions. Soon the Viet Cong disappeared into the bushes. And, to everyone's surprise, my friend somehow sat up from the ground and waved to us. He had returned to life! I was so happy and helped him get up. He was lucky. Our company lost nineteen men in this thirty-minute battle. We also had thirty-seven men wounded.
There were more American advisers who came to our battalion in 1970. I liked the American advisers. Smart and funny, they were curious to almost everything in Vietnam. I really appreciate their sacrificing their own lives for the freedom and democracy of the Vietnamese people. During the battle, we felt like friends working together. We covered each other, helped each other, and shared food and water with each other. But, after each operation, they went back to their camp and their life, and we returned back to our camp and our life.