The Vietnamese Resistance

“People are the water, and our army the fish”

-Slogan of the Vietnamese resistance

“A people’s war is a war of the people as a whole, not of the army alone, and it is conducted by the people and for the people. The people are the eyes and ears of the army, and they should feed and keep the soldiers and help the army in sabotage and in battle.”

– summary of Truong Chinh’s strategy

“XOI DAU”: STICKY RICE & BEAN AREAS

The Vietnamese called rural provinces that were hotbeds of the revolution like Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, as well as provinces in the Mekong Delta, xoi dau areas. These war zones were considered pacified by the Saigon government and liberated by the NLF [National Liberation Front]. These areas had both government patrols and NLF ambushes, with villagers caught between both sides.

But like in eating Xoi Dau, a mixture of xoi (glutinous rice) and dau (mung beans) that was a favorite breakfast, Vietnamese living in these areas had to swallow both ingredients and deal with both realities.

SUPPORTING THE RESISTANCE

Civilians in these areas were unarmed but assumed to support the NLF. Older men and children might be rebel messengers, spies and guides. Village communities often collectively hid and stored food and weapons for guerrillas.

A village woman in Mekong Delta told Lady Borton in 1987 with pride and exuberance that with most of the men gone,

“WE [women] built tunnels, and we dug trenches. We were the scouts, we were the supply route. We carried messages and maps. …. we hid rifles under vats of fish sauce and carried them in sugar cane.”

During the day, Saigon government (ARNV) and American troops could occupy the towns and villages, interrogate villagers, arrest, detain, torture and kill suspected NLF collaborators, or imprison them for years in secure areas. But ARVN would retreat to fortified positions at night.

Assisting ARVN or American troops was very risky, because they could not provide security to civilians. Guerrilla fighters embedded in local communities did not engage in overt violence against civilians, but retaliation was usually contained and selective and included assassinations of spies and collaborators and government officials

Sources:
– Heonik Kwon, After the Massacre; Commemoration and Consolation in Ha My and My Lai
– Lady Borton, After Sorrow: An American Among the Vietnamese
– Michael Adas and Joseph Glitch, Everyman in Vietnam: A Soldier’s Journey into the Quagmire