4.30.1975

Two days ago marked the 35th anniversary since the fall of Saigon. As a first generation Vietnamese-American, this day holds a special place in my heart, and if not for it, I would never have lived my life in the US. Vietnam today is not a huge part of history in the eyes of American educators, but the Vietnam War and its aftermath is a huge part of my cultural identity, and it should be for all Vietnamese-American teenagers. I know this blog is usually funny and random, but I really want to share the history of 4.30.1975 because it's extremely important. Going to an American school, we often hear the winner's side of the story, and I am here to offer a second account of the events that occurred.

In 1945, Vietnam was considered part of France, and after some confusion after WWII, it ended up remaining that way. In 1954, the Communists of Vietnam was just one of the many groups chafing under French rule, wanting to overthrow them. In a battle called Cuoc Chien Dien Bien Phu, the Viet Minh (what the Communists used to be called) defeated the French and signed an agreement stating the Vietnam would be divided at the 17th degree parallel.

Ngo Dinh Diem was appointed the first president of the Republic of Vietnam. Under his leadership, the southern part of divided Vietnam prospered. At this time, Saigon was at the top of Southeast Asia. It was even considered one of the "5 Dragons" of this time. Southern Vietnam was producing enough rice to feed 3 countries, and was the first to use nuclear energy.

On the other hand, northern Vietnam wasn't doing as well and decided not to honor the agreement tey signed.  After 1954, they started penetrating into southern Vietnam, and after 1960, the civil war started. The US started helping out southern Vietnam. Well, we could all think that they did this out of the kindness of their hearts, but that isn't true. The Cold War made the US and the Soviet Union enemies, and since the SU was helping out northern Vietnam (Communist), then the US took revenge by representing capitalism in southern Vietnam.

Vietnam was glad for US aid, but only wanted money and weapons. Ngo Dinh Diem didn't want any soldiers, but the US provided those anyways because the Great Depression had left many Americans unemployed and economically weak. Since Ngo Dinh Diem continued to oppose, the US killed him. President Kennedy had nothing to do with it, and didn't find out until after the act happened. Those who killed the president of Vietnam later killed Kennedy as well.

Nguyen Van Thieu was later named president, and was forced by President Nixon to sign an agreement stating that the US would pull out of Vietnam. However, the north was still getting tons of help from communist China and the Soviet Union, so they became stronger against the south.

By March 1975, the south was screwed. And by April, we were officially screwed. After 4.30.1975, the fall of Saigon, many Vietnamese fled the country to escape the Communist Party.