‘Re-Education’ Meant Hardship and Loneliness

Tran D. of Westminster, who spent three years in Vietnamese “re-education camps,” couldn’t bring to America any of the fanciful combs, daggers or jewelry he made while imprisoned. But he helped Cal State Fullerton organizers identify items made by other prisoners included in their exhibit “Southeast Asians in California: A Celebration and a Journey.”

A former second lieutenant in the South Vietnamese army, Tran was incarcerated from 1975-78 with fellow soldiers and South Vietnamese government officials. He worked in the labor camp as a blacksmith, adapting auto mechanic and engineering skills he’d learned before the war. After incarceration, he taught English at the University of Ho Chi Minh City.

In 1991, Tran immigrated to Orange County. He has nearly completed his undergraduate degree in linguistics at Cal State Fullerton and plans to pursue graduate work in the field. He tutors Vietnamese high school students in math and English and lives on welfare to support his family of four. Eventually, he wants to return home and teach English.

During a recent phone interview from his home, Tran described daily camp life. He preferred to use his family name to avoid “anything that causes controversy,” referring mainly to political friction within the county’s Vietnamese population, the largest anywhere outside of Vietnam. Many local Vietnamese vehemently oppose establishing ties with the Vietnamese Communist government. *

Q: Did you enter the labor camp immediately after Saigon fell in 1975?

A: A month later. I was told, like many other lower ranking officers, to prepare food and belongings for 10 days. We anticipated we’d be in for about 10 days. We never imagined it would be three years or more.

Q: Were you told where you were going or why?

A: No, everything was done in perfect secrecy. The only thing (North Vietnamese militia) said was, ‘Well, you used to be officers in the old regime and we need to re-educate you in order to make you good people.’ . . . They took us to the forest at midnight, and we all thought that they would stop the trucks and vans, somewhere, and kill us, but we were wrong. The next day, they took us to another place full of mines and unexploded bombs. We had to clear them up (to prepare the area for a camp).

Q: What was a typical day like?

A: A soldier on duty would sound the (alarm) at 5 a.m. Everyone would have to get up and rush out (of the barracks) to do some physical exercise for five minutes. Then, everyone had about half an hour to do personal hygiene, then we would go to the so-called mess hall for breakfast. That was usually dried corn, which tasted like hay and took 45 minutes to chew.

Then we’d came back to our platoon in order to get our (assignments) for the day. Some went into the forest to cut logs. The logs could be up to nine feet in diameter and 10 to 20 yards long, and it took 40 to 50 (people) to carry one from the forest to the camp.

Other people cut down trees and defoliated everything to make the fields ready for cultivation. . . . (Others) looked for shot-down airplanes or tanks to collect the material--steel, aluminum, what ever they could carry back to the camp.

I was one of the blacksmiths to make tools for the camp. I had to work from 7 a.m. until 6 or 7 in the evening. . . . We were free on Sunday afternoons from about 2:30 p.m. on. That was the only free time we had during the day.

As a blacksmith, I had a very favorable (food) ration, much more abundant compared to other re-educatees. But most of us had about 700 grams of rice (roughly three bowls per meal) for the first year every day. It was good, but the second year, food was running short, so that was cut to 450 grams, then to 250 the following year. To compensate, they mostly gave us manioc, which is a root.

Q: Was there any re-education?

A: Once in a while we’d gather in a huge place and they’d say, “Imperialism is dying down” and “Capitalism is coming to an end and socialism is gaining victory.” The so-called re-education camp is a fancy term for concentration camp, for brainwashing.

Q: Was there any violence?

A: Of course many people tried to escape, run away from the camp, and if (they were caught) or if a secret agent was found out, they would be executed. We could hear the shooting once in a while.

Q: Were you ever hurt?

A: No, because I knew how to survive: Being quiet and doing according to the order. If you were told what to do, you did that and didn’t say anything. Don’t have any comments and you will be safe.

Q: Was your family allowed to visit?

A: For the first two years we were not allowed to be visited by our relatives, but the third year, my wife came to visit me three times. . . . I thought I would never see her again. When she same to see me, I thought there might be some kind of hope (of getting out).