Ex-Vietnamese Soldiers "Repatriated" to France ?
From pms262@nyu.edu Thu Apr 15 10:43:07 2004
Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 09:43:11 -0500
From: Paul Michael Sager <pms262@nyu.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Query: ex-Vietnamese soldiers "repatriated" to France?
Dear list,
A friend is wondering if there was a situation during the French-Indochina war similar to what happened in the Algerian War with the Harkis: fighters on behalf of France who were abandoned and/or given refuge in France from revenge. The Hmong, Moi and others and the US are a clear parallel, but did anything similar happen in 1954 and after? I wouldn't think so, since they could go south in 54. Perhaps some went to France in 75 or after on claims of veteran status. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul Sager
Grad Student
NYU
From: VSG-owner@u.washington.edu [mailto:VSG-owner@u.washington.edu] On
Behalf Of Jean Michaud
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 1:17 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group
Subject: Re: Query: ex-Vietnamese soldiers "repatriated" to France?
Dear Paul,
One fragment of answer to your question perhaps. He was not a soldier per se but White Tai leader Deo Van Long, the last 'Seigneur de Lai Chau' in Sip Song Chau Tai and commander in chief of his Tai subjects, was airlifted from Lai Chau to Hanoi when the former was abandoned to beef up the Dien Bien Phu bastion a few month before its fall. Deo was first taken to Hanoi with his wealth and his entourage, then to France where he resettled permanently. I suspect he was not the only such case.
Jean Michaud
Universite de Montreal
From emiller@fas.harvard.edu Thu Apr 15 10:43:15 2004
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 16:03:58 -0500
From: Ed Miller <emiller@fas.harvard.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: Query: ex-Vietnamese soldiers "repatriated" to France?
Dear Paul (and list):
Several high-ranking officers in the Vietnam National Army ended up in France after 1954, though not all of them were evacuated there by the French. VNA General Nguyen Van Hinh, son of former State of Vietnam Premier Nguyen Van Tam, departed Vietnam for France in November 1954 after a failed bid to oust then-premier Ngo Dinh Diem. Hinh's deputy, General Nguyen Van Vy, remained a bit longer but eventually joined his commander in France. I think that General Nguyen Van Xuan also made his way to Paris eventually, as did Le Van Vien, a.k.a. Bay Vien, who is best known as the head of the Binh Xuyen cartel, but who also included a commission as a General of the VNA in his portfolio.
Ed
From OJHM.Salemink@fsw.vu.nl Thu Apr 15 10:43:20 2004
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 23:02:02 +0100
From: Oscar Salemink <OJHM.Salemink@fsw.vu.nl>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: Query: ex-Vietnamese soldiers "repatriated" to France?
Dear Paul,
An insulting label such as "Moi" means something like "savage" and was replaced by more "respectful" ethnonyms such as "Montagnard" when the French (and later Americans) could use their martial services. The French created the Bataillons des tirailleurs montagnards du Sud-Annam (BTMSA) in the 1920s and continued to employ Central Highlanders in various military and militia units through the First Indochina War. After 1954 a group of the Bataillons Rhades (nowadays Ede) went to fight for the French in Algeria, and afterwards retired in France. Most chose to live in southern France.
When I did research in Vietnam's Central Highlands in the early 1990s I interviewed many veterans of the colonial army who still considered themselves French soldiers and were indignant that they did not receive their retirement pension anymore after 1975. This was a bit different with the highlanders who fought with the US Special Forces although many of them too felt that they were really employed by the US Army rather than the RVN Army.
Oscar Salemink