'nothing is more important than independence and freedom'
"The kemhamysophie.comese people have rallied và fight under the words of the father of their country, the late President hồ nước Chí Minh: "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom"
May 19, 2021, is his 131st birthday. Bạn đang xem: 'nothing is more important than independence and freedom'
Tom Wilber*
I am an American of the generation in the wake of armed aggressors who attacked việt nam from 1964 until the peace accords were signed in 1973. I was a teenager then & too young lớn be conscripted. However, my father, Walter Eugene (Gene) Wilber, was very much a part of the American war of aggression against the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam.
He was a pilot, a fighter squadron commanding officer, shot down & captured in 1968. When gene Wilber arrived in Hà Nội, President Hồ đưa ra Minh was in the last full year of his life, and would, sadly, pass away on the 24th anniversary of independence on September 2, 1969.
In Hoả Lò prison in June of 1968, Wilber began his deep personal reflection on his role in the troubling và disappointing actions the US was taking against Việt Nam. Wilber concluded that the war was illegal. He chose to act, voluntarily, to communicate to others that the US should depart vn immediately. He recorded his statements in Hoả Lò prison. They were broadcast on radio from Hà Nội and heard by US troops in Southeast Asia and the international community around the world.
In a statement he made on the US Independence Day holiday in 1971, Wilber told Americans of their country’s many deceits và violent aggressions, summarising: “We were wrong in these actions, và we are still continuing these mistakes.”
"The kemhamysophie.comese people have rallied & fight under the words of the father of their country, the late President hồ nước Chí Minh: "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom,"" he added.
Back in the US in 1973, Wilber was criticised heavily for speaking against the American war. Despite controversy & rejection, he did not falter in his firm belief that the US had been the aggressor in the terribly long struggle for independence by the kemhamysophie.comese people.
He remained respectful in his attitude và belief toward Việt Nam, encouraged normal diplomatic relations, even offering to serve as an ambassador, and always spoke kindly about the kemhamysophie.comese people until his death in 2015.
I am most grateful lớn my father for speaking his mind that the war was wrong. Five years of family separation & a lifetime of criticism are minimal costs considering the benefits that my father’s actions presented khổng lồ me. Through his experiences, gen Wilber helped me lớn develop a deep appreciation for the kemhamysophie.comese people, including profound respect for the life and leadership of hồ nước Chí Minh.
I have made more than 30 visits to lớn Việt Nam. Many of my trips have centred around tỉnh nghệ an Province. Wilber parachuted into Nghệ An, Thanh Chương District, Thanh Tiên Commune, travelling to lớn Hà Nội on the trails và roadways of Trường tô (also known as the tp hcm Trail). Not far from Wilber’s entry point into Việt Nam, the childhood home of Uncle hồ is in Nghệ An, nam giới Đàn District, Kim Liên Commune. I have visited the Kim Liên relic several times. In my earlier trips to Nghệ An, it was in realising the humble beginnings for hồ chí minh that I began lớn sense the meaning of those words that I had overlooked as an American: “Nothing is more important than independence và freedom.”
I consider nghệ an not only as the birthplace of hồ nước Chí Minh but as the birthplace of my awareness borne khổng lồ me by my father who arrived in Nghệ An. Nghệ an is my portal khổng lồ insight.
Bùi bác Văn is a lifelong nghệ an resident now living in Vinh City. Living in xóm Thanh Tiên in 1968, it was Văn who helped capture my father. When we met in 2015, Văn embraced me as a friend. He took time khổng lồ teach me, showing me many historic sites in nghệ an and Hà Tĩnh. Not only have we visited bomb-damaged areas from the American war, but he also explained to me the significance of the poet Nguyễn Du in literature and philosophy and the victorious quang đãng Trung in the history of liberation from foreign invaders. From more recent history, he has illuminated lớn me bác Hồ’s childhood village in Kim Liên and the influences of Hồ’s mother Hoàng Thi Loan & Hồ’s educated father Nguyễn Sinh Sắc, along with the inspiration of the nationalist scholar Phan Bội Châu, residing a few kilometres lớn the east of Kim Liên in nam giới Đàn. At an early age, the young hồ nước would overhear many deep conversations between his father and Phan about modernisation, patriotism, và freeing the kemhamysophie.comese from the grip of colonialism. Based on my education from my friend Văn, who greeted my father, & then, 47 years later, welcomed me, tỉnh nghệ an and the area of President Hồ’s childhood have become, for me, rich in meaning.
There are so many things that could be said about tp hcm from his beginnings in Kim Liên to the learnings và influences that shaped his ability lớn develop his plan, as western historian Virginia Morris describes in Hồ Chí Minh’s Blueprint for Revolution (2018). His blueprint allowed việt nam to “fight and win a protracted asymmetric war,” as Morris wrote, “against superior powers of the French, và then the United States.”
In his early twenties, tp hcm would work his way around the world – khổng lồ New York, London, Paris – developing his strategy to lớn realise his country’s independence và freedom.
Historian Christopher Goscha, in kemhamysophie.com: A New History (2016), chronicles how hồ nước Chí Minh’s travels “brought him in liên hệ with a wider range of reformists and anticolonialists". On the 110th anniversary of his departure from vn for the West, it is important lớn remember how hồ nước Chí Minh’s exposure to lớn thought, his debates và discussions, the further refining & distillation of purpose – building upon the intellectual and practical influences of his learnings in childhood và youth in nghệ an – would emerge from this crucible as the precious element from which independence and freedom would be forged.
The people of việt nam today enjoy the “happy spring” of reunification. I encourage westerners, especially Americans, lớn learn more about hcm and Việt Nam’s sovereign struggle, their inevitable victory, & their role in peaceful international relations. As more people understand how we arrived at the present moment, our mutual recognition of hcm becomes clear.
* Tom Wilber is an independent researcher, investigating US prisoners in the Democratic Republic of vn from 1964 until 1973. In addition khổng lồ having been a lecturer at Hà Nội University, he assists with special exhibitions at Hoả Lò prison relic. His early research became the source for the năm ngoái award-winning film produced by Ngọc Dũng, The Flowerpot Story. His essays have been published in Việt phái nam News. He is co-author along with Jerry Lembcke of Dissenting POWs: From kemhamysophie.com’s Hoa Lo Prison khổng lồ America Today (2021). Wilber represents a US-based non-governmental organisation that works on humanitarian projects with kemhamysophie.comese organisations.
