When Saigon fell into the hands of the North Vietnamese Communists, the South Vietnamese Armed Forces had lost more than 230,000 soldiers killed in action, more than 300,000 others wounded with permanent 30 per cent disability, several thousands missing in action. About 3,000 to 4,000 are suffering blindness or amputation of one to four limbs, classified as "100 per cent disability" by the former South Vietnamese Veterans Ministry.
They fought and died and got wounded for 16 yearsas soldiers of a republic. They were not cowards as portrayed in some slanderous reports during the Vietnam War.
After 1975, waves of boatmen and later the Orderly Departure Program have brought many ten thousands of former South Vietnamese military personnel, mostly officers, to the Western countries. The majority of them have resettled in the USA. However, many thousands of South Vietnamese disabled enlisted-men and poor families of the South Vietnamese KIA's have been unable to leave Vietnam. They have suffered the most from the war and deserved the best assistance, but so far they have been mostly forgotten.
Since 1975, they have been completely ignored by the Communist authorities. The Communists even discriminate against them and their families. Many of them are leading a dog's life, taking shelter under eaves or makeshift awnings against walls along the suburban sidewalks, in market places, or even in cemeteries on roofed tombs at night, and begging for food and money in the daytime.
Those South Vietnamese soldiers lost their lives or parts of their bodies in war, not only for Vietnam but also for the security of the Southeast Asian countries. Domino or not, if Vietnam had been overrun in 1965, Thailand and Malaysia at least, would have been invaded, according to reliable information from many high ranking North Vietnamese officers.
Moreover, the sacrifices of the South Vietnamese soldiers also served the interests of the USA as an outpost of the US-led Free World. Although having no legal responsibility for its once close ally, the US government is still under spiritual obligation to the comrades-in-arms who wore uniforms of the same color and followed the same ideals of freedom and democracy.
During the last few years, there have been several groups of Vietnamese émigrés in the USA and other Western countries who raised funds within the Vietnamese communities to send help in cash and in kind such as wheelchairs to the South Vietnamese disabled veterans who are leading the life of extreme miseries in Vietnam.
Actually, Viet Quoc Home Page has been able to contact only three of the groups.
1. One group is led by Mr. Le Dinh Vong, a former SVN lieutenant-colonel. He and his group are running a program under the sponsor of the Indochinese Resettlement & Cultural Center, Inc. (IRCC), an office belongs to the Santa Clara County in North California. His program is called "Huynh De Chi Binh," abbreviated HDCB (The Military Brotherhood)
During the last 3 years, his group has collected contributions from Vietnamese living abroad and then sent them to the disabled veterans in Vietnam over $25,000 in cash and 25 wheelchairs. His group has received about 1,200 applications and processed about 700 documents.
Address:
Vong Dinh Le "HDCB" Program Coordinator 1520 E. Capitol Expwy # 209 SAN JOSE CA 95121 Tel. (408) 239-0341
2. The "Tong Hoi Cuu SVSQ Thu Duc-Nam Dinh" or the "General Association of Former Cadets of the Reserve Officers Schools in Nam Dinh & Thu Duc" is operating a similar program.
During the last 2 years, the association has received contributions amounted to $15,000 in cash. The money was sent to 265 recipients, plus 22 wheelchairs and a number of crutches to disabled veterans who lost a leg or both.
The Chairman of the Association, Mr. Ngo The Linh, is in charge of the program.
Address: Mr. Ngo The Linh, 20009 Stevens Creek Blvd, CUPERTINO, CA 95014 Tel: (408)255-5110. Fax: (408)255-5111
3. Still another group who also devote to assisting the RVN disabled veterans is "VN Republic Disabled Veterans Support Organization," founded in July 1992 in Houston, Texas. According to a report from the association, it has received and sent to the disabled veterans in Vietnam $84,000 since 1992.
Ms Hoang Minh Thuy, publisher of the Xay Dung Magazine in Houston is in charge.
Address:
Ms Hoang Minh Thuy VN Republic Disabled Veterans Support Organization PO Box 1585 HOUSTON, TX 77251-1585 Tel: (713) 697-1882
Representative in Northern California: Ms Hoang Mong Thu, Tel: (510) 228-6230 (H) (510) 680-2845 (W)
So far, only a number the disabled veterans could contact these groups after getting information from private sources, not from official announcements.
All the groups are operating with limited resources. They need larger support. Any help from VIETNAMESE ÉMIGRÉS, PEOPLE IN THE WORLD PARTICULARLY THE AMERICANS, CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND VETERANS ASSOCIATIONS will be highly appreciated.
Until now, aids in cash and kind sent to Vietnam have been on individual-to-individual basis. Gifts of considerable quantity reached Vietnam as help from private charitable organizations to members of the groups once closely related to the former RVN or the USA have been often confiscated, mostly by local governments. Sometimes, the Communist authorities handed confiscated gifts over to the local offices of the Ministry Disabled Veterans and Social Affairs in Hanoi, leaving very small portions to the nominal recipients.
Therefore, assistance should be sent on one of the two basis:
1. If the US government or a major private organization strongly backed by the US government runs an official program of assistance for the former RVN disabled veterans, the gifts would certainly reach the hand of the very recipients. With the current foreign policy of the Clinton administration, however, such program has little chance to be approved unless there is strong pressure from the Congress and charitable associations.
2. Meanwhile, one of the best ways to help is on individual basis. Recipients could have better chances to receive money and gifts in kind sent directly to them
A sponsoring system similar to that of fostering parents could be a good idea. A food allowance of $50 a month is minimum for a person to live in South Vietnam today.
Please contact the groups mentioned above for more details.
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