Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Nguyen Thi Te, 1981

Interviewer: What was life in the village like before August 1965 ? Were there many guerrilla fighters and things like that in the village? Nguyen Thi Te: At that time there was no guerrilla fighters in the village. On August 2, 1965 the Americans dispatched a lot of troops into this area. They came in, in amphibious tanks and burnt down the houses. They forced the village inhabitants to get out of the houses so that they could burn them down. When the Americans came to my house with the interpreters they pushed us out of the house and refused to let us take any belonging with us at all. They did not allow us to take anything out of the house at all. They burnt everything. They just closed the door and burnt everything. Then they arrested the villagers and raped them and beat them up. When I tried to drag some of the belongings out of the house, the interpreter said that I was carrying out political struggle and did not allow me to take out anything at all. They arrested me and other inhabitants and took us to a very large banyan tree. When the villagers saw that I was dragged to the banyan tree they all yelled out loud, asking the Americans not to arrest me. The Americans said that we were carrying out political struggles and ordered that we be roughed up. So they beat us profusely and chased everybody away except for me. Then four Americans put a dynamo on my body here, attached a wire to my tongue and my two nipples and then they churned the dynamo. I was knocked down to the ground by the shock. After I fell to the ground, they stripped me completely naked. And then the four Americans took turns to rape me. After they were through raping me, they took this bottle here and shoved it up my vagina. When they pulled the bottle out, I also passed out and did not know what happened next. When I came to again because my neighbors threw water on me, I saw that two-thirds of this bottle was smeared with blood. This left a deep imprint in my mind. And my outrage is profound. I am now a cripple and have not been able to do much as a result. Blood keeps on coming out of me continually ever since. Interviewer: Please continue and give us some more detail on that day.

Nguyen Thi Te: On August 2, 1965 they came in droves and arrested me and raped me. They caused injury to me. I passed out at that time and did not know anything after that. I am still outraged by the whole thing. I am now still sick and crippled and cannot do anything physical at all. I can only depend on the cooperative for my food since I cannot do anything at all. I just sit at home like this. They gave me electric shock on the head and so I still have headaches. Then blood keep on oozing from my body. So I cannot do anything at all. Interviewer: Do you know whether the Americans raped anyone else on that day? Nguyen Thi Te: Yes, but they were raped and killed.

Interviewer: There were many others but they were killed? Nguyen Thi Te: Yes. They all died. Interviewer: Were there many people injured that day as a result of the American shelling? Nguyen Thi Te: Yes, there were many wounded and killed. After they burnt down all the houses they moved the people to the soccer field in Yen Ne. At that time there was a school there. And about 400 persons were taken there. Interviewer: We want to ask you two questions: How many people was raped that day and how many people killed? And how can you be sure that your facts are correct? Did you see all these things with your own eyes? Nguyen Thi Te: I saw with my own eyes the killing of a seventeen-year-old girl and many people who were injured and maimed and these people are still alive. They roughed these people up and broke their arms and legs. And those crippled people are just sitting around today, unable to do anything at all.

Interviewer: How many persons were raped in all? Do you know the number? Nguyen Thi Te: There were that young girl, an older woman, and I...I was really frightened and then I passed out, so how could I know what happened after that? When I came to, the Americans had all left.