Vietnam: the Unheard Voices - Refugee Educators' Network

184 Viet hJm-The Unheard Voices
are fighting two wars. One is the co~lvenrional war, where XI-c can
use our tcch~~ological superiority over \-ast arcas whcn thc pcopIc
haw been movcd; the Vier Con= arc losing this war. But thc other
\i=ar is the guerrilla war, and this onc the57 arc winning. ?'hey are
winning it hy default, hccausc \\-c arc not fighting it. By sr, uprt>r,tin=
the people from their traditionaI Iives, we are not acknowledging
the political and social bases of their struggle."
It is truc that removing the people from Ben Suc and similar areas
uscd by the N1.F for resupplv dcnied the enemy critical support.
On the othcr hand, thc movcmcnt of discontented displaced pawns
has frequently facilitatcd NI-F infiltration of thc ncw camps and,
worse, of the cities. When American rrisitors ask refugee childrcn
xvhere their farhers and brothers are, there are three possible answers:
"dead," "in the Arnlp," m an en~barrassed silcnce that
usually rncans they are off fighting in rhc KLF.
By placing so manv people symptllcric to the X1.F causc n ~ht in
the middle of the cities, thc gnvernmcnt imelf hcIpcd to make tl~c
attacks un the citicls: ptfisihle. In sornc parts of Saigon, the NLF
brought guns and ammunition into the ciw before 'Tet in mock
funeral processions. Sympathetic or perhaps just frightened refugees
then buried the "coffins" in graveyards, where some of them, in
fact, had rcsortcd to building thcir own shacks for lack of othcr
space. At Tct, rhc NIX snldicrs movcd in with reIauvcs or fricnds,
ostensibly to cele1,rate the holidays, hut in fact to await thc beginning
of the attack. While the children Iit firecrachrs, the soldiers
tatcd thcir rifles. And when the offensive began, there were plentv
of rcfugees who made excellent guides, for they knew the locarion
of thc police stations, the habits of the poIicemen, and the alleyways
that form rhc jun~lcs of thc cities.
In fuIfi1Imcnt of ,4mbassador Taylor's fcars, the rcfugcc dro\-cs
who have come into the urban centers have greatly over1,urdened
already scanty go\.ernmcnt resource. Although thc VC have prcssurcd
some, it is nor they who have flooded the government agencics
with rcfugccs. Aftcr all, they necd the people in the countrvside
as scmrccs of food, shcltcr, recruits, and porters. Rather, it is the
allied poIicies that have caused the greatest mass movemena. In any
casc, the result has been insurmountable difficulties for an already