Reeducation in Postwar Vietnam: Personal Postscripts to Peace (Texas a & M University Military History Series)

Rating:
Summary: An important contribution.
Review: These are the stories of two former colonels of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam who were sent to North Vietnamese reeducation camps for thirteen years each after the collapse of Saigon. They had to battle winter chills, starvation, hunger, lack of medications, and exhauting work in the rice paddies.
The only treatment for any illness is tam lien, a local herbal medicine, which instead of helping, worsens their medical illnesses. Malnutrition and manual labor undermine the health of the remaining people. Others were plucked in the middle of the night for intensive and mind numbming interrogations, from which they returned "dazzled, silent, and uncommunicative."
This important contribution to the Vietnam War history underlines the mistreatment and violation of human rights of prisoners by the Hanoi government. I only wish it was more detailed, but the authors have advised us they are warriors not "writers".
I also learn that general Le Minh Dao, commander of the 18th ARVN division, who magnificently repulsed repetitive attacks from five North Vietnamese divisions at Xuan Loc during the last days of April 1975, was also sent to the North for 17 years of reeducation. He is working on his memoirs and everyone is anxiously waiting to read them.