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clay dubeIt's been thirty years since Vietnam was unified under Communist rule. Many books as well as documentaries have examined the war and its causes and consequences. One issue that especially resonates with Americans, including kids, are the stories of children born from the pairings of US soldiers and Vietnamese women.
One book on the subject is Trin Yarborough's Surviving Twice: Amerasian Children of the Vietnam War. Yarborough spoke recently at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. This session will be broadcast on C-SPAN Book TV this Sunday, September 25 at 4:45 pm (pdt).
AnonymousThe last time I visited Vietnam, I was most struck by two things. How much the Vietnamese welcomed Americans (or maybe it was American dollars) and how resourceful and industrious they were. Everyone, even small children, become small businessmen.
Linda Zarou
AnonymousI was wondering if how the children of U.S. soldiers and Vietnamese women are viewed in Vietnam or the Asian community at large? Are these children treated as well as children with full Vietnamese heritage or are they outcasts in their society? In addition, are the Vietnamese women who have these mixed children accepted or scorned in their communities?
I know that Vietnam is not the only place that U.S. soldiers have fathered children, how are these children treated in other Asian countries?
I guess I ask this question because of race relations here in the United States, my reference comes from the African/African American perspective. Some African Americans feel that having racially mixed heritage (esp. Caucasian and Black) is desired, because of skin tone and hair texture. This really goes back to preferences given to those with the desired qualities during the years of American slavery.
How often are these children been reuinted with their American fathers? What percentage of these unions result in marriages?
How does this play out in the Asian community? Please excuse my ignorance, I am definitely new to learning the dynamics of Asian cultures.
Jemila[Edit by="jpratt on Sep 29, 4:13:14 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousMy sister and brother in law were in Viet Nam recently, and I'm sure they would agree with you; how forgiving the Vietnamese are, though! (My sentiments.)
AnonymousInteresting question. I believe that there is a stigma associated with being of mixed race in the asian community. You should see the play Miss Saigon. It deals with the relationship between an American soldier and a vietnamese prostitute. She has a child from the soldier. Both her and the child are ostracized and the soldiers returns to the United States without her or the child. There is also an old song from the punk band called "the clash", the song is called "straight to hell". It is about how amer-aisan child are shunned from both the asian and caucasian community because they are mixed. Of course these perspectives are media based and they are both supposed to entertain, but they are still part of the culture.
clay dubeJemila asked about the offspring of American and Vietnamese pairings. Much has been written about the challenges these children confronted and continue to face. Here are a few resources:
Daughter from Danang, a heart-wrenching story of a woman who grew up in the US thinking of her Vietnamese mother
http://www.daughterfromdanang.com/
-- the PBS website for the film includes materials for teachers
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/daughter/
An essay by Christian Langworthy, who was born Nguyen Van Phoung (part of the PBS American Experience website): http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/reflect/langworthy.html
An article by Shandon Phan at the Asian Nation website:
http://www.asian-nation.org/amerasians.shtml
clay dubeOn Monday, Oct. 17 PBS will air an American Experience documentary entitled Two Days in October. The program looks at two days in Oct. 1967 where American ideas about the Vietnam War were dramatically challenged. In Vietnam, a US battalion was ambushed and 61 soldiers were killed. In Wisconsin, students protested the arrival of Dow Chemical (producer of napalm) recruiters on campus. The protest turned violent.
In Los Angeles, KCET, ch. 28 will be broadcasting the documentary at 9 pm. It won't be aired on KOCE or KCLS until sometime later.
The website includes a teacher's guide.
Anonymoushello,
I saw this post a long time ago and I meant to reply but it took me a while to find this book. My sister has done a lot of work in the area of ethnic studies and we both were a part of a now defunct group called MAIN (Multiracial American International Network) and one fundraiser we were a part of brought these kids to the US to see their pops. Of course there's been lots of discrimination against them in Vietnam but I am not an expert on the matter. But I know someone who is.
Her name is Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde. Here's one citation but I'm sure she has more. She's a prof at UC Davis last I heard.
Root, Maria P. P. (1992) From Dust to Gold: the Vietnamese Amerasian Experience in Racially Mixed People in America. Sage Publications. Newbury Park, CA.
Maybe she has a home page, too.
dan
AnonymousI wonder if this is especially true today? The idea for Miss Saigon goes back to the days of the war when of course there would be anti-American feelings toward a nation that had invaded their country.
AnonymousDon't you think that there is anti - american sentiment in this country. So many Vietnamese died in this war. One may arge that we (America) had no right to be there and the devastation of war was caused by America. The same sentiment is being seen today in Iraq and I believe that it will linger in this regions for generations.
AnonymousThere is plenty of blame to go around in that war. Vietnam was divided at the end of WWII by the eastern and western powerhouses like Korea and many other asian countries.
The was itself was a civil war long before US forces became involved. I probably belong to a rare group within those in this discussion - I was an adult during the 60's. I just missed the famous "all expenses" trip to sunny, rainy SE Asia. When I was a college freshman, a classmate was a former Green Beret "advisor". Besides the US, Great Britain, France, Australia and other countries sent troops and equipment to the south. The USSR, China and other Soviet allied nations sent advisors and equipment to the north.
Regarding the possible forgiveness of Americans by Vietnamese, I recently read an article on a resort in Vietnam that indicated most of the current population was born either just before or after the war ended. For an Asian studies class I took a couple of years ago, we were required to interview someone who had been born in an asian country. I interviewed a former ARVN (South Vietnamese Army) officer, who was one of the last to flee Saigon when it fell. He has become an American citizen and is a sucessful businessman. He has taken several trips to Vietnam in the past several years and found people there thought little about the war. I've spoken to former American soldiers who've gone back as tourists and found it to be a positive experience.
Maybe the past is the past.
AnonymousThis relates to World war II in specific the American invasion on Iwojima in Japan. Posted here because it's war related. There was an excellent report with coverage on the History Channel earlier this evening. The history channel has a lot of good coverage on Asian History as well as Asian events.
Keep your eyes peeled and check out historychannel.com
AnonymousI recently saw a film titled The Beautiful Country(2004) that portrayed a young man who was the result of a relationship between an American soldier and a young Vietnamese woman and the young man's journey to reach America. Very interesting and moving depiction of the impact on the woman and child-shame and bigotry that was attached to his parentage and created great suffering.
Terence Malick produced, a really nice film. Also a harrowing portrayal of a Malaysian detention camp and an illegal boat voyage to reach the US where the man is basically enslaved in New York. Link at IMDB if you'd like to check it out further is
AnonymousI checke out the link for The Beautiful Country and the film looks very interesting. Was it ever out in theaters?
AnonymousSorry I am so slow responding to your question, I didn't see your reply until this morning.
This film received a very limited release in a handful of major cities. It was reviewed by Ebert and Roeper, but it was in and out of theaters pretty quickly. I got it through NetFlix primarily because it was nominated for an IFP Spirit award. Check it out, you'll enjoy it.
I especially enjoyed seeing a bit of the Vietnamese perspective on the war and the postwar perspectives on America. We've made so many movies exploring the traumatic experience of our young men in Vietnam or even the conflict that erupted in the US over our involvement but we so seldom see any other side of the events. I wonder how many Americans would be surprised to learn that children of American GIs are not exactly the top of the social ladder in Vietnam today.