Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Nguyen Tinh

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Transcript

The resistance movement in Communist Vietnam

Nguyen Tinh

Speed. Rolling. Uh, Slate 87.

Clapstick.

Nguyen Tinh:

Uh, my father used to be a soldier in the National Army before 197--54,

that mean before we had a big exodus from the North to the South. When

we got to the South, I, uh, went to school and after graduated from the

College of Science, I was a high school teacher, that before 1974.

And after 1974, when the Communists took over South, uh, Vietnam, I uh,

didn't go to teach anymore because I can see that they had a lot of

discrimination policy, so, uh, um, I uh, stay home and tried to plan

with my family to escape because the situation in Viet, in South

Vietnam is worse and worse.

We had, uh, very difficult in moving around, very difficult in economic

life, and especially about cultural life. It, uh, terrible. Uh, first

of all, all the book printed in the South and in the Free World, uh,

were confiscated by the government, and what book you can read is only

the book published in Hanoi.

And, of course, most of these book is about Marxism and uh, as you know

that, of course beside, uh, politics, philosophy, or something like

that, you would like to read some kind of other book like, uh, novel,

um, something like that.

Interviewer:

Uh, what, tell me about this association that you now belong to. What

is it and what role do you play in it?

Nguyen Tinh:

Okay. Uh, I belong to the association, the name is Nationalist

Vietnamese Association. We call it Nationalist because we would like to

oppose to the Communist so the word Nationalist is opposite, um,

opposed of the, the Communist.

And my Association include all Vietnamese who would like to fight

against the Vietnamese Communist, and because right now I have more

time than any other member in the Association, that mean I can do more

for my Association, so they elected me as a chairman.

Interviewer:

Oh, what are the, what are the goals specifically, the goals of this

Association?

Nguyen Tinh:

Oh, the, as-, uh, the Nationalist Vietnamese Association have...

Interviewer:

Oh, we're out of film.

Nguyen Tinh:

[Soft chuckle]

Interviewer:

Keep running out of film.

Short, high toned electronic beeps.

VIETNAM

Tinh Nguyen/lr

SR #23

Tape 3, Side 2

This is WGBH Television, Vietnam Show Number 13, head of picture roll

23, corresponds to, uh, scratch that. Head of sound roll 23 corresponds

with picture roll 40. Thousand hertz reference tone follows.

Electronic tone of long duration.

Speed.

Rolling.

Slate 88.

Clapstick.

Interviewer:

Uh, what is the history of your association?

Nguyen Tinh:

My Association had the new name only two year. Befores it is, it was,

New England Vietnamese Association and it started since 1975 when a

group of Vietnamese surrou--surroundi--arounding, around, uh, Boston,

got together and uh, held the Association.

And they call it New England Vietnamese Association. But about two year

ago, we're had a convention and we thought that that name is not very

good, so we change the name to the Nationalist Vietnamese Association.

That mean it have more politics in that than the, than the older names.

Interviewer:

What are some of the activities that, uh, that your membership engages

in?

Nguyen Tinh:

Okay. Uh, before, talking about activity, I would like to talk about

purpose of our Association.

Interviewer:

Okay.

Nguyen Tinh:

Because if we have the purpose, we know why we have the Associ, uh,

activity. First of all, uh, we have several purpose for our

Association. Ah, so-, socially, politically, and culturally. First of

all, about socially, we try to help one another and you know that,

because we belong to another culture, when we came here, we feel a

little lonely, so we would like to have a chance to get toge-, together

to talk about old day, about our country, uh, and, we also share our

experience in the new lives, so that every people have a chance to

improves their lives in this country. So, we have social activity.

Interviewer:

Hold it just a second. Alright, the second.

Nguyen Tinh:

And, uh, about culturally. You know that this country have very good,

oh, culture. Many, many feature we would like to adopt. and we would

like to, uh learn, but, at the same time, my culture also have many

other good point, too. So what we try to do is to keep some of our best

feature and mingle with some of our, ubs-, our best point in the

culture, so we can have best of both culture.

So we have a lot of activity in cultural activity and moreover, some

American, maybe my country is small country, so they uh know very

little about my country. Maybe they know about the Vietnam War, but

they know little about other things.

So we would like to have many cultural activity to show to America that

we really has some kind of culture. For example, we had dancing,

singing, uh, grafting, something like that, to show these, uh people,

so that we can share some of the best point in each culture. And about

politically...

You know, the, we, escaped Vietnam because we could not, uh, live under

the Communism. They oppress us, they do everything we could not stand,

so that's why we escape. So the reason we are here, uh, political

reason. So of course, we must have political activity. So what is the

political activity? First of all, we try to remind every Vietnamese in

this country that we still have another country there to think about.

Second, ah, our relative, our countryman over there, still under

oppression, and moreover, it very important point that our culture is

destroyed by the Communist and as Vietnamese, we had the responsibility

to do everything to defend our culture. So, we try to support the

resistance movement in Vietnam so that we hope someday, that movement

can topple the government in Vietnam now and we have a chance to

recreate, rebuild the new Vietnam.

Activities and goals of the resistance movement

Interviewer:

What is the, uh, what is the size and nature of the resistance movement

as you understand it now?

Nguyen Tinh:

First of all, we have many political group right now, very act-, acting

in abroad. But inside the country, we have a group we call a movement,

we call, um, Nationalist Liberation Front of Vietnam, and, uh, the

chairman of that Front visited the United States about one month ago,

and according to his information, right now he group about 10,000

people inside and along, inside Vietnam and along, uh, Vietnam and

Cambodia, uh, border to fight against the Communist regime in Vietnam.

And, um, we try to support the Front because they have concrete fact

about the fighting, so we try to support them.

Interviewer:

Now is there any, are there any significant, concrete facts that you

want to share with our audience?

Nguyen Tinh:

Uh, first of all, uh, uhm, about, oh um, I believe, about more than one

year ago, the CBS station show about four minute of the film, they film

in our stronghold in somewhere in the Southeast Asia, somewhere in

Indochina.

Of course, we do not know exactly where it is, because everything is

secret in this war, but, uh during the four minute, we had the picture

of the soldier, I mean, the resistance fighter, uh, acting in the

stronghold. And, uh, ummm, in that, I think, that is one fact I can

share with, with you.

Interviewer:

Is any agency of the United States government giving financial or other

support to, to this resistance movement?

Nguyen Tinh:

Uh, I don't know anything about that, but according to ah, the

chairman, of the, the, United Front, he haven't received any, uh,

financial support from any country, and only the support now he has is

from the Vietnamese all over the world.

For example, myselves, every month I contribute some money to and

everything I can contribute to help that Front to fight against the,

uh, uh, Communist Vietnam.

Interviewer:

What, uh, what do you predict, uh, will, will the future of this

resistance movement and of the Vietnam government be?

Nguyen Tinh:

Uh, before talking about prediction, I would like to distinguish about

the hope and the reality. Of course, most people hope that we can fight

and topple the Communist government in Vietnam, but the reality we talk

about reality because the hope do not bring you anywhere.

According to, uh, mine experience, after spending about Four year under

the Communist, I think we have a lot of chance to topple the present

government. Why? First of all, I can say, I can tell you that

ninety-nine percent of Vietnamese people disliked the government. Now

they would like to stand up and fight against that oppressive

government, but they do not have enough organization, so they wait for

the time. And I believe that when a government is disliked by

ninety-nine percent of its people, I don't think it can stand very

long.

Interviewer:

Okay.

Nguyen Tinh:

Uh, and, really, this question, when I talk with many American, it uh

bother them because they thought that some time American had about half

million soldier in Vietnam, and we had another one and a half million

soldier.

Why we could not, ummm, fer, defeat the Communist? Now, how can we

defeat the Communist and, uh, uh, as I told you that, our, uh, the

chairman said that he, now, right now, he has only ten thousand people.

It, I think, it a little difficult to explain to the American people...

Interviewer:

Hold it just a second...Pick that up, "I think it's a little

difficult..."

Nguyen Tinh:

Hmm hmm. Um, from where?

Interviewer:

From there "I think it's a little difficult."

Nguyen Tinh:

Uh, I think it difficult for American to understand the situation

because what could be done by five hundred thousand American soldier

and one and a half million thousand, million, Viet, Vietnamese soldier,

now, how can it achieve by a Front? Right now, we've only about ten

thousand fighter.

So let me make some comparison so that it, uh, okay. About, uh, several

year ago, I was in Vietnam. I could not understand and no people can

explain to me why people can force or can make a United States

president to resign. Because in a country with less theory of

democracy, the president is very powerful.

Pix 41. Pix 41 is a short end

Speed.

Rolling. Mark it.

Uh, Slate 90.

Clapsticks.

Nguyen Tinh:

I, I could not understand why with only democratic process you can

force a United States President resign from the office because, eh,

living in a country with less degree democracy with no doubt the

president is a powerful man, he can do almost everything sometime, even

he can jail the opponent.

Now, if even, I say even he listen to something, it not serious things,

but with the democratic process, you can do everything you can do in,

uh, as you know, in the history, I don't want, to, to go deep into

that. So now, come back to my situation, you only be a Vietnamese you

understand with only a force of 10,000 people, we believes that we can

defeat the Vietnamese Communist.

First of all, I think, now, it a psychology, uh, warfare. We, eh, most

of the soldier under the Communist regime now is only forced soldier.

That mean they not volunteer into the Army, but they are forced into

the Army. And because they could not enjoy anything, they do not human

right, they do not have, ummm, democratic privilege, all thing like

that, so even the soldiers the Communist soldier, they only way for the

time to turn around, that is, uh, the soldier, Now, talk about the

people. The people, they run uh...

Interviewer:

Start again...

Nguyen Tinh:

Now, the people, they are on the bottom of the hell. So only one thing

they would like to change is the Communist regime. They would like to

topple it, to change to the new life, but they dare not, because, as

you know, the Communist Vietnamese use a very strong police force to

look over the people. So you, it very difficult for you to organize a

resistance movement. If you lay inside the city...

[Airplne noise.]

Interviewer:

Cut.

Speed.

Slate 91.

Clapstick

Nguyen Tinh:

Now...

Nguyen Tinh:

Now the people are of the hole of a hell, so they want is to change to

the new life. How to change it? Of course, they must stand up to do

something to topple the present oppressive government, and to build

another democratic government. And with all the force, I don't think

the Communist government can, uh, stand for a long time.

Interviewer:

Would your Association want American military elements to help you in

this effort to topple the government?

Nguyen Tinh:

Uh, right now, of course I, we, would like to welcome every kind of

help, but there are some form of help harm us more than do us good. For

example, now the government of the United States, just for example,

would like to send some troop to Vietnam to help our side.

It only good in a military side, but in psychology and political side,

it very bad. Because all the people in the world look at us and they

think that we are not, er, really tried to fight to get back my

country. What we did do, just for the interest of the United States, so

that kind of help harm us more than do us good.

Sooo, what we like right now is moral support from any people who still

love peace, love, um, human right, and, um, with all the moral support,

and with all the psychology...

Interviewer:

Okay. I think we've got it.

Nguyen Tinh:

Hmm hmm.

Interviewer:

Yup.

Nguyen Tinh:

Yeah.

Coming up is ambience in the backyard, varying degrees of wind.

Interviewer:

Cut.

Transcript

Transcript

Series: Vietnam: A Television History

Raw Footage: Interview with Nguyen Tinh

Contributing Organization: WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)

AAPB ID: cpb-aacip/15-ks6j09wr90

If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/15-ks6j09wr90).

Description

Credits: Publisher: WGBH Educational Foundation
Writer: Nguyen, Tinh

AAPB Contributor Holdings: WGBH
Identifier: e98743019271c39e798d3876abfd478ae2dd6e8f (ArtesiaDAM UOI_ID)
Format: Aiff-c
Duration: 00:21:55

Citations: Chicago: “Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Nguyen Tinh,” WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed November 19, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-ks6j09wr90.; MLA: “Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Nguyen Tinh.” WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. November 19, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-ks6j09wr90>.; APA: Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Nguyen Tinh. Boston, MA: WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-ks6j09wr90