00:00:07.01]
(bullfrog croaking)

[00:00:19.06]
(upbeat music)

[00:00:36.09]
(bombs exploding)

[00:00:43.03]
(machine gun fire)

[00:00:46.05]
(plane engine roaring)

[00:01:06.08]
- [Narrator] During the
long war in Vietnam,

[00:01:09.04]
it was Vietnamese women who captured

[00:01:11.05]
the world's imagination.

[00:01:20.04]
This film is about some of those women,

[00:01:22.09]
made famous by the media.

[00:01:24.09]
It tells their stories

[00:01:26.07]
and what has happened to them since.

[00:01:31.07]
20 years after liberation,

[00:01:34.00]
it explores the role of women

[00:01:35.06]
in today's Vietnam,

[00:01:39.04]
their hopes and fears
for their own future,

[00:01:42.04]
and for their country's.

[00:01:45.04]
(folk music)

[00:01:59.08]
When one little peasant girl, Kim Lai,

[00:02:02.03]
captured an American pilot,

[00:02:04.01]
her photograph hit the headlines

[00:02:05.06]
around the world.

[00:02:08.04]
Now, mother of three children,

[00:02:10.06]
she tells her daughter

[00:02:11.09]
what happened to her 30 years ago.

[00:02:18.03]
- [Lai Translation V/O] In 1965,

[00:02:19.01]
I was almost your size,

[00:02:21.00]
a bit bigger.

[00:02:22.01]
About 17 years old.

[00:02:24.06]
That was the rice field I worked in.

[00:02:26.05]
There was a lot of bombing.

[00:02:35.04]
At the radar station,

[00:02:37.00]
there were two rocket launchers,

[00:02:38.06]
which were often bombed by American jets.

[00:02:43.03]
But the main target was the bridge.

[00:02:54.03]
My life was very difficult

[00:02:55.09]
and I had to work hard.

[00:02:59.09]
My brother was in the army.

[00:03:03.06]
My sister, Moihere,

[00:03:04.07]
was the breadwinner for the family

[00:03:06.06]
because our father had died young.

[00:03:11.09]
I went to school

[00:03:13.01]
and I worked as well.

[00:03:21.09]
When I left school,

[00:03:22.09]
a unit of the revolutionary
army came here.

[00:03:27.02]
They opened a class for 20 girls

[00:03:29.01]
and I was one of them.

[00:03:30.03]
It was so exciting

[00:03:31.08]
that I wanted to join the army.

[00:03:35.01]
I had to keep it a secret

[00:03:35.09]
from my sister and my mother.

[00:03:37.09]
If they'd known,

[00:03:38.07]
they wouldn't have let me go.

[00:03:48.07]
On the 20th of September, 1965,

[00:03:52.00]
an American jet was shot down

[00:03:53.06]
around 10 in the morning.

[00:03:58.04]
The pilot parachuted out.

[00:04:02.02]
Militiamen from five
villages were called out

[00:04:04.03]
by the district force.

[00:04:05.09]
I was among and I saw Robinson.

[00:04:11.05]
- [Narrator] Kim Lai had
never seen a white man before.

[00:04:17.05]
- [Lai Translation V/O]
I didn't know whether

[00:04:18.09]
it was a human being or an animal.

[00:04:21.05]
I turned pale with fright,

[00:04:23.00]
but I soon regained my confidence.

[00:04:28.04]
I fired three shots in the air.

[00:04:30.06]
The militiaman came out of the jungle.

[00:04:34.07]
Robinson pressed his palms together,

[00:04:36.08]
asking for his life to be spared.

[00:04:44.03]
I wanted to beat him.

[00:04:47.09]
But we'd been told by the district force

[00:04:50.00]
to capture pilots alive,

[00:04:51.05]
and not to shoot them or beat them.

[00:04:59.04]
So we protected him to the end.

[00:05:04.04]
As we left, the men said to me,

[00:05:06.03]
"Lai, it was your merit to find him

[00:05:08.08]
"and you're the smallest in the group,

[00:05:10.05]
"you escort him to the village."

[00:05:21.00]
On the way back, Phan
Tuan took a picture of me

[00:05:23.08]
without my knowledge.

[00:05:31.06]
Later, I heard the children say,

[00:05:33.01]
"Lai had her photo taken with the pilot."

[00:05:36.01]
I blushed because that was
shameful for a teenager.

[00:05:40.08]
The fact that I captured Robinson was

[00:05:42.04]
of little important to me.

[00:05:44.02]
I'd only hoped to find him quickly

[00:05:45.08]
so I could go home earlier.

[00:05:48.08]
- [Narrator] Robinson was
held prisoner in this house

[00:05:51.07]
and he kept crying.

[00:05:53.02]
Unable to cope,

[00:05:54.05]
the militiamen always called young Kim Lai

[00:05:56.08]
to comfort him.

[00:05:59.02]
- [Lai Translation V/O]
When he saw me he'd smile,

[00:06:01.02]
stop sobbing, and ask me for a cigarette.

[00:06:04.05]
I'd give him one.

[00:06:07.00]
As he was big and I was small,

[00:06:08.05]
everybody laughed at his enormous body.

[00:06:13.03]
He was so huge that the big wooden bed was

[00:06:15.03]
still not big enough for him.

[00:06:22.01]
- [Narrator] Today, Kim
Lai works as a nurse

[00:06:24.06]
in this hospital in north Vietnam.

[00:06:32.00]
She looks after the sick,

[00:06:33.08]
just as she cared for wounded soldiers

[00:06:35.09]
during the war.

[00:06:40.02]
Her husband runs a small cafe

[00:06:42.04]
next to the house where they live

[00:06:44.08]
with their children.

[00:06:48.01]
Kim Lai recalls how she came to marry him.

[00:06:57.08]
- [Lai Translation V/O] I met my husband

[00:06:59.07]
while working at the Tat Ha hospital.

[00:07:04.03]
He was being treated for
mental illness brought on

[00:07:06.02]
by the war.

[00:07:10.09]
I didn't love him.

[00:07:12.06]
I already had a sweetheart.

[00:07:16.09]
People said, "He loves you,

[00:07:18.09]
"you should marry him."

[00:07:22.04]
My mother said,

[00:07:23.04]
"Lai, you're destined to have a hard life,

[00:07:25.05]
"but if you don't marry him,

[00:07:26.05]
"he will die."

[00:07:30.09]
After a while, I accepted that.

[00:07:34.09]
I was destined to have a hard life

[00:07:37.03]
in order to save another life.

[00:07:45.04]
- [Narrator] President Johnson had claimed

[00:07:47.00]
that this photo was a montage,

[00:07:49.03]
but Robinson came back 30 years later

[00:07:51.08]
on the 20th anniversary
of Vietnam's liberation.

[00:07:59.05]
- [Lai Translation V/O] I've
recently seen Robinson again.

[00:08:01.04]
It was very interesting.

[00:08:06.00]
I didn't know Robinson was coming.

[00:08:08.00]
I was cooking, shabbily dressed.

[00:08:12.05]
And then, I stepped outside

[00:08:13.08]
and saw Robinson and his wife.

[00:08:16.08]
He was as big as before,

[00:08:17.08]
maybe even bigger.

[00:08:26.01]
Our government has a policy

[00:08:27.06]
in economics and foreign relations,

[00:08:29.08]
which is reconciliation between people.

[00:08:39.09]
Robinson had been reluctant

[00:08:40.07]
to come to Vietnam

[00:08:42.00]
for fear that people were still resentful

[00:08:44.01]
and would talk about the war.

[00:08:52.02]
I think capturing the
pilot was not heroic,

[00:08:58.00]
but marrying my husband was.

[00:09:03.07]
It's difficult for a woman

[00:09:04.06]
who cares for a sick man,

[00:09:06.09]
but I'm pleased I had the courage

[00:09:08.01]
to save a human life.

[00:09:14.01]
- [Narrator] Another famous picture.

[00:09:16.04]
Vo Thi Thang tongue was condemned

[00:09:18.01]
to a 20 year jail sentence

[00:09:19.06]
by Saigon's pro-American regime.

[00:09:22.03]
Her serene smile flooded
the world's press.

[00:09:27.05]
- [Thang Translation
V/O] In my birthplace,

[00:09:28.06]
many families had a tradition

[00:09:30.02]
of revolution and patriotism.

[00:09:36.00]
My parents wanted their children

[00:09:37.08]
to join the revolution.

[00:09:39.08]
But before we did,

[00:09:41.00]
we had to make a promise to our father.

[00:09:45.09]
My father asked, "Have you
thought carefully about it?

[00:09:48.09]
"If you have, you can't turn back,

[00:09:50.02]
"despite hardship,
imprisonment, or death."

[00:09:56.03]
My mother said, "Going
into the revolution is

[00:09:58.01]
"like crossing the sea.

[00:09:59.07]
"If you turn back in a storm,

[00:10:01.04]
"you'll still die.

[00:10:02.05]
"Once you set out, you have
to reach the other shore.

[00:10:05.04]
"You can't go halfway and turn back."

[00:10:15.08]
I was an active, mischievous child

[00:10:17.07]
with lots of friends.

[00:10:26.08]
One friend, called Ban, was shot dead.

[00:10:30.00]
He was about 12 years old.

[00:10:38.07]
I was one of the many children

[00:10:40.09]
whose innocence and childhood were stolen.

[00:10:49.01]
- [Narrator] At the age of nine,

[00:10:50.05]
little Vo Thi Thang and her sister helped

[00:10:52.09]
their parents to support the resistance.

[00:11:00.00]
Every day, she crossed the village stream

[00:11:02.07]
with a basket of food

[00:11:04.01]
and took it to the hiding Viet Cong.

[00:11:08.02]
- [Thang Translation V/O] There was

[00:11:09.02]
a coconut tree path leading from here.

[00:11:12.05]
You stood on guard here,

[00:11:13.03]
and I was at a tamarind tree over there.

[00:11:15.06]
There was also a canal along by the path.

[00:11:18.00]
It looks different to me now,

[00:11:19.05]
it looks much smaller.

[00:11:22.08]
- [Friend Translation
V/O] It looked big to you

[00:11:24.02]
because you were small.

[00:11:28.00]
Were you as old as Yen?

[00:11:31.04]
- [Thang Translation
V/O] I was about nine.

[00:11:39.01]
- [Friend Translation V/O] I stood there.

[00:11:40.03]
If there was no one around,

[00:11:42.01]
I would wave my hat as a signal.

[00:11:43.03]
She would cross the canal,

[00:11:44.09]
carrying a basket of rice on her head.

[00:11:49.03]
We'd put the basket down
and leave immediately.

[00:11:53.02]
We'd walk backwards,

[00:11:54.04]
wiping out our footsteps in the grass

[00:11:55.05]
with both hands.

[00:12:00.07]
- [Thang Translation V/O]
Once I put the basket

[00:12:02.07]
on the ground, clapped my hands,

[00:12:04.05]
threw a stone into the bush

[00:12:05.08]
and left.

[00:12:08.05]
But I crawled back watch

[00:12:10.03]
a gorilla creep from the hideout.

[00:12:13.07]
I saw Mr. Moi Teng taking the basket.

[00:12:15.04]
Taken by surprise,

[00:12:16.02]
he raised his gun and shouted,

[00:12:17.04]
"Watch out, go home!"

[00:12:30.03]
- [Narrator] Later, Vo
Thi Thang tongue became

[00:12:32.03]
a student in Saigon.

[00:12:34.01]
She joined the Communist Party

[00:12:35.08]
and continued to work in secret

[00:12:37.01]
for the resistance.

[00:12:40.09]
During school holidays,

[00:12:42.02]
she went for military training

[00:12:43.04]
to a special Viet Cong center

[00:12:45.01]
in Ku Chi.

[00:12:46.08]
There, was an extraordinary
subterranean village.

[00:12:49.07]
Three levels of underground tunnel.

[00:12:51.07]
At one time, the
revolutionary headquarters,

[00:12:54.00]
and only a couple of hours from Saigon.

[00:13:10.07]
- [Thang Translation V/O]
While we were studying,

[00:13:12.06]
we were informed of a big operation.

[00:13:17.00]
One group of tanks came in from the town.

[00:13:21.05]
A group of warships came up the river.

[00:13:38.01]
We were in our tunnel,

[00:13:39.00]
surrounded by the enemy.

[00:13:41.05]
When they came very close,

[00:13:42.04]
we went down to a deeper level.

[00:13:46.08]
They sent the sniffer dogs out everywhere.

[00:13:52.00]
To escape from the dogs,

[00:13:53.00]
we took off our clothes,
which smelled of sweat.

[00:13:55.04]
We rolled on the grass

[00:13:57.01]
to clean off the sweat,

[00:13:58.00]
then we crawled out
without touching any leaves

[00:13:59.07]
or getting entangled with trees.

[00:14:05.07]
The enemy thought the
tunnel was a cul-de-sac.

[00:14:12.09]
They used a loud speaker to call us out.

[00:14:14.06]
They burned dry leaves

[00:14:16.00]
and fanned smoke to the tunnel.

[00:14:21.04]
At dawn, when they
hadn't seen us come out,

[00:14:23.03]
they thought we'd suffocated.

[00:14:25.00]
They threw dozens of grenades

[00:14:26.03]
into the tunnel and left,

[00:14:27.04]
thinking we were dead,

[00:14:28.04]
and reported the news to the papers.

[00:14:32.07]
When we got back to Saigon,

[00:14:34.00]
we read the papers.

[00:14:34.09]
We smiled and said,

[00:14:36.01]
"We've deceived the enemy."

[00:14:40.00]
- [Narrator] In 1968, Vo Thi
Thang was actively involved

[00:14:43.09]
in planning a major Viet Cong operation:

[00:14:46.05]
the famous Tet Offensive.

[00:14:48.08]
She was assigned to kill an informer.

[00:14:52.01]
But when her plans went wrong,

[00:14:53.08]
she was arrested, jailed and tortured.

[00:15:00.05]
- [Thang Translation
V/O] They tortured you

[00:15:01.08]
until you confessed.

[00:15:04.09]
The woman would be stripped naked.

[00:15:08.07]
They'd start torturing her with water.

[00:15:15.00]
After water came electricity.

[00:15:17.00]
They connected electric
wires to the fingers,

[00:15:18.09]
toes, ears and turned on the charger.

[00:15:24.07]
After that, they connected the wires

[00:15:26.06]
to the two nipples,

[00:15:29.04]
then to the vagina.

[00:15:35.09]
Next, came the hanging torture.

[00:15:40.02]
They pulled you up near a table corner.

[00:15:42.05]
They let go of the rope

[00:15:43.05]
and you smashed onto corner.

[00:15:45.04]
The vagina was torn and bleeding.

[00:15:51.03]
- [Narrator] The Saigon regime had planned

[00:15:53.02]
a showcase trial to exhibit a silly girl,

[00:15:56.02]
led astray by the Viet Cong.

[00:15:58.07]
But Vo Thi Thang made a mockery of them.

[00:16:04.01]
- [Thang Translation V/O] In court,

[00:16:06.00]
instead of standing to attention

[00:16:07.03]
with straight arms facing the judge,

[00:16:09.01]
I stood with my hands behind my back

[00:16:11.00]
and faced the public.

[00:16:20.04]
I told the judge,

[00:16:21.05]
"I thought it over and have no regrets.

[00:16:23.07]
"I still think what I did was right

[00:16:25.01]
"and that I committed no crime.

[00:16:27.00]
"My only crime was to be patriotic,

[00:16:29.00]
"and I don't believe
that that is a crime."

[00:16:36.01]
They'd intended to give me
10 years penal servitude.

[00:16:38.09]
Instead, they doubled it for 20 years.

[00:16:44.09]
They said, "From now on,

[00:16:45.07]
"this student's life will be buried

[00:16:47.08]
"in the darkness of imprisonment,

[00:16:48.09]
"a flower in a cold jail."

[00:16:52.06]
Then I asked them,

[00:16:53.08]
"Will your government
still be here in 20 years

[00:16:56.00]
"to keep me in prison?

[00:17:00.02]
- [Narrator] Total silence in the court.

[00:17:03.02]
Vo Thi Thangh smiled.

[00:17:07.02]
A photographer caught this smile,

[00:17:09.02]
her confidence in ultimate victory.

[00:17:16.07]
- [Thang Translation V/O] My
mother visited me in jail.

[00:17:19.02]
"I'm so happy," she said,

[00:17:20.07]
"your name is not on the list of those

[00:17:22.05]
"who saluted the government flag."

[00:17:25.02]
Then pushing a basket of food

[00:17:26.05]
towards me, she said,

[00:17:28.01]
"The villagers sent this for you.

[00:17:29.07]
"If you die, they'll mark the anniversary

[00:17:31.06]
"of your death,

[00:17:32.07]
"but don't disgrace the
family or the village."

[00:17:39.01]
- [Narrator] After six years

[00:17:41.01]
in some of Vietnam's most notorious jails,

[00:17:43.07]
she was released.

[00:17:45.06]
Later, she married and had two children.

[00:17:50.01]
Today, Vo Thi Thang
represents her province

[00:17:53.08]
in the national assembly

[00:17:55.03]
and is vice chair of
the Women's Federation.

[00:18:03.02]
- [Thang Translation V/O] You think that

[00:18:04.05]
my life has been special,

[00:18:07.01]
but I tell you that it
was nothing special.

[00:18:10.00]
For us, Vietnamese,

[00:18:11.03]
everyone was a hero.

[00:18:24.09]
- [Narrator] Vietnam has always celebrated

[00:18:27.00]
and even worshiped its patriotic heroes.

[00:18:30.06]
And many of them have been women.

[00:18:44.02]
In this temple,

[00:18:45.03]
the Chung sisters are still worshiped

[00:18:47.05]
for leading an uprising

[00:18:48.06]
against Chinese invaders
over 2,000 years ago.

[00:19:08.02]
20 centuries later,

[00:19:09.08]
another woman is also worshiped.

[00:19:11.09]
General Dinh was instrumental in defeating

[00:19:14.05]
this century's greatest superpower.

[00:19:27.07]
Nguyen Thi Dinh,

[00:19:29.00]
the illiterate daughter of a poor peasant,

[00:19:31.01]
was born in 1920 in Ben Treah province.

[00:19:34.09]
Her political career
started as a teenager.

[00:19:38.00]
At 18, she was already a member

[00:19:39.08]
of the Communist Party,

[00:19:41.05]
and she went on to become one of

[00:19:43.00]
the most famous leaders in the war.

[00:19:46.05]
Today, Dinh is worshiped
in pagodas and temples,

[00:19:50.02]
and is called by the affectionate name

[00:19:52.03]
of "Auntie Bah."

[00:19:54.04]
Her niece and wartime secretary,

[00:19:56.07]
Nguyen Thi Hang, explains why she was

[00:19:59.05]
such an important figure.

[00:20:05.04]
- [Hang Translation V/O]
Auntie Bah was one of

[00:20:06.06]
the first women to take part in

[00:20:07.05]
the revolution the 40s,

[00:20:09.03]
when Vietnam was still a feudal country.

[00:20:15.07]
If a woman joined the revolution,

[00:20:17.04]
it was assumed that she was
living rough alongside men

[00:20:20.04]
and would soon be defiled.

[00:20:24.08]
If Auntie Bah wanted
to be a revolutionary,

[00:20:27.01]
she had to have a husband
to reassure her parents.

[00:20:32.01]
So she made an early marriage

[00:20:33.07]
at the age of 19.

[00:20:35.06]
But a year later,

[00:20:36.08]
a few days after the birth of her son,

[00:20:39.01]
her husband was captured and died in jail.

[00:20:43.02]
Committed to the struggle
against French colonialism,

[00:20:45.08]
she left her son with relatives

[00:20:47.08]
and concentrated on learning the tactics

[00:20:49.09]
of guerilla warfare.

[00:20:52.07]
By 1960, aged 40,

[00:20:54.09]
she was ready to lead

[00:20:56.02]
a popular uprising in
her province, Ben Treah,

[00:20:59.05]
against the American backed Diem regime

[00:21:01.06]
of South Vietnam.

[00:21:03.04]
A later comrade, General Tram Van Tra,

[00:21:06.03]
describes her pioneering role.

[00:21:13.00]
- [Tra Translation V/O]
The general uprising

[00:21:14.07]
in Ben Treah was a
typical armed revolution

[00:21:16.09]
of the people,

[00:21:17.09]
poorly equipped.

[00:21:21.09]
Mrs. Dinh was the person

[00:21:23.00]
who led this uprising.

[00:21:29.04]
It was like a military operation

[00:21:30.09]
with carefully planned timing,

[00:21:32.06]
reinforcements and logistics.

[00:21:38.01]
It was a combination of political

[00:21:39.05]
and military struggle

[00:21:41.04]
to repel 10,000 enemy troops.

[00:21:45.09]
Most of Dinh's force were women,

[00:21:47.09]
and that's why they were called

[00:21:49.02]
"The Long Hair Army."

[00:21:53.09]
However murderous the
South Vietnamese Army,

[00:21:57.04]
they would not treat women

[00:21:58.08]
as brutally as they would men.

[00:22:03.02]
And so, the women's
movement became very strong.

[00:22:10.03]
- [Narrator] The long hair
army was Dinh's brainchild.

[00:22:13.07]
Her army of unarmed
peasant women backed up

[00:22:16.03]
the poorly equipped Viet Cong guerillas

[00:22:18.03]
in confronting the tanks and guns

[00:22:20.01]
of 10,000 men.

[00:22:23.01]
These women, with their bare hands,

[00:22:25.08]
clashed with enemy soldiers

[00:22:27.02]
to liberate their sons from conscription

[00:22:29.08]
and to destroy the
government's strategic hamlets.

[00:22:34.00]
Dinh used the tactics
of psychological warfare

[00:22:37.01]
and harnessed the creativity

[00:22:39.03]
and resourcefulness of powerless people.

[00:22:42.05]
They used arrows, traps,

[00:22:44.03]
drums, and fake guns.

[00:22:46.00]
Even bees were used.

[00:22:50.06]
One of Dinh's comrades in

[00:22:52.00]
the Long Hair Army was Nguyen Thi Shung.

[00:22:57.02]
- [Shung Translation V/O] At that time,

[00:22:58.03]
our forces only had a few guns.

[00:23:01.07]
Most of our guns were fake

[00:23:03.06]
and we only had one company

[00:23:05.02]
against 10,000 train soldiers.

[00:23:09.00]
We thought we would be killed,

[00:23:11.01]
but Auntie Bah was determined to fight.

[00:23:14.08]
After the battle, we captured 21 guns.

[00:23:20.01]
- [Narrator] Dinh and
the Long Hair Army waged

[00:23:23.00]
the most imaginative guerilla war

[00:23:25.02]
and the powerful South
Vietnamese Army was routed.

[00:23:28.06]
Their success triggered other uprisings

[00:23:30.06]
throughout the country.

[00:23:32.05]
But just as the Ben Treah
uprising was triumphing,

[00:23:36.02]
Dinh heard that her only
son had died in the north.

[00:23:40.02]
She never forgot that pain.

[00:23:43.06]
- [Hang Translation V/O]
Because she'd lost her only son,

[00:23:47.09]
she focused her affection
on young soldiers.

[00:23:54.02]
Auntie Bah visited most of

[00:23:55.08]
the military hospitals in the jungle.

[00:23:58.04]
On every visit, she gave each soldiers

[00:24:00.01]
some motherly love.

[00:24:05.04]
- [Narrator] She was
also a great morale boost

[00:24:07.04]
for the young soldiers

[00:24:08.07]
who missed their families.

[00:24:10.03]
She cooked for them and
mended their clothes.

[00:24:22.00]
- [Hang Translation V/O] As a woman,

[00:24:23.02]
Auntie Bah always wanted to win battles

[00:24:25.03]
with the fewest casualties.

[00:24:26.09]
Both among our revolutionary soldiers

[00:24:29.02]
and the enemy as well.

[00:24:34.04]
- [Narrator] In 1965,

[00:24:36.01]
Ho Chi Minh recognized
the inspirational role

[00:24:39.02]
that Dinh had played in the guerilla war.

[00:24:41.05]
He promoted her

[00:24:42.08]
to deputy commander of
the Viet Cong forces.

[00:24:45.07]
He wanted to use her
experience in the field

[00:24:48.04]
and her strategic thinking

[00:24:49.09]
in the war effort.

[00:24:56.01]
- [Hang Translation V/O]
As a deputy commander,

[00:24:57.06]
she lived and worked with soldiers,

[00:24:59.08]
most of whom were male.

[00:25:04.04]
In the jungle, we were
short of many things,

[00:25:06.06]
like soap and sanitary towels.

[00:25:12.05]
Sometimes, three of us had
to share one bucket of water

[00:25:15.06]
to wash ourselves and our clothes,

[00:25:18.00]
even during our menstrual periods.

[00:25:21.06]
Being surrounded by men,

[00:25:23.03]
we couldn't dry our
panties in the open air.

[00:25:28.00]
We didn't want to arouse our male comrades

[00:25:30.05]
and distract them from the armed struggle.

[00:25:37.00]
- [Narrator] But despite this
outward show of strength,

[00:25:39.05]
long periods in the battlefield took

[00:25:41.05]
their toll on Dinh's health.

[00:25:44.09]
- [Hang Translation V/O]
She suffered from insomnia,

[00:25:46.09]
heart problems, and
gynecological troubles.

[00:25:51.00]
But she couldn't admit to any of these.

[00:25:53.00]
Instead, she put on a brave face

[00:25:54.09]
to encourage her comrades in the struggle.

[00:26:00.05]
- [Narrator] Dinh was a formidable
figure on the battlefield

[00:26:03.02]
because she used her own personal strength

[00:26:05.02]
to inspire and motivate others.

[00:26:08.00]
She demonstrated that battles
can be won in many ways,

[00:26:11.00]
not always with a heavy death toll.

[00:26:13.03]
She inspired the ordinary
people of Vietnam

[00:26:15.08]
to muster their limited resources

[00:26:17.05]
to resist a powerful enemy.

[00:26:21.07]
When the war was over,

[00:26:23.00]
she continued as chair of
the Women's Federation,

[00:26:25.07]
representing her country

[00:26:26.09]
on the international stage.

[00:26:28.09]
She remained one of
Vietnam's most famous women

[00:26:31.07]
until her death in 1992.

[00:26:56.07]
Dinh had devoted her life to her country

[00:26:59.05]
and played a crucial
role in its liberation.

[00:27:02.05]
Within the party,

[00:27:04.04]
her personal courage always led her

[00:27:05.03]
to speak her mind

[00:27:06.05]
and to take a strong
stand against corruption.

[00:27:11.02]
Another famous contemporary,
Dr. Duong Huynh Hoa,

[00:27:14.09]
is also known for speaking her mind.

[00:27:20.09]
- [Hoa Translation V/O] I
think that after liberation,

[00:27:22.06]
the role given to Dinh
was purely decorative.

[00:27:25.08]
Neither her intelligence,

[00:27:26.07]
her common sense, nor
her know-how were used.

[00:27:34.03]
Dinh was known as a general,

[00:27:36.04]
but they never talk about
her military skills,

[00:27:38.05]
her decision making powers,

[00:27:39.08]
or the influence she
had on her colleagues.

[00:27:47.06]
- [Narrator] But her
greatest sacrifice was

[00:27:50.03]
in her personal life,

[00:27:51.09]
particularly the loss of her son.

[00:27:54.07]
His tomb now lies over hers.

[00:28:03.09]
Dinh's memory will be
worshiped for years to come.

[00:28:19.07]
- [Hoa Translation V/O]
We were three myths.

[00:28:22.05]
Dinh, Binh and myself.

[00:28:27.01]
I think that Dinh lived up to

[00:28:28.05]
her myth very well and
was always consistent.

[00:28:31.06]
Me, I didn't want to be a myth.

[00:28:37.08]
The west found it very appealing

[00:28:40.00]
that we were women taking
part in the revolution.

[00:28:43.05]
If we'd been men,

[00:28:44.05]
it wouldn't have had as much impact

[00:28:45.04]
as three women, like Dinh, Binh, and me.

[00:28:52.06]
Many doctors went to war
during the first revolution,

[00:28:55.05]
but they didn't create the stir I did.

[00:28:58.05]
Many men were generals,

[00:28:59.03]
but it didn't attract the attention

[00:29:00.05]
it did for Dinh.

[00:29:01.08]
And during the Paris Conference,

[00:29:03.08]
Binh was a hit because she was a woman.

[00:29:10.00]
I think they played on
the psychological aspect

[00:29:12.04]
to attract international sympathy.

[00:29:16.08]
- [Narrator] But while these
famous women had been hitting

[00:29:19.02]
the international headlines,

[00:29:21.00]
many thousands of
ordinary Vietnamese women

[00:29:23.07]
had been suffering in the battlefields.

[00:29:28.04]
- [Hoa Translation V/O] For a man,

[00:29:29.02]
marching long distances is not difficult,

[00:29:31.03]
but when a woman has her period,

[00:29:32.07]
walking the entire night,

[00:29:34.00]
six, seven hours nonstop is torture.

[00:29:37.09]
Yet those women did it,

[00:29:40.00]
even when they were a few months pregnant.

[00:29:43.00]
I know because I did it myself

[00:29:44.03]
and I had two miscarriages.

[00:29:52.07]
This was something very few women

[00:29:55.02]
ever dare to speak out about.

[00:30:00.02]
It's in the nature of Vietnamese women

[00:30:03.03]
to be obedient.

[00:30:04.05]
For them, it's not just equality,

[00:30:06.01]
but a virtue.

[00:30:07.03]
And during the war,

[00:30:08.01]
they obeyed orders.

[00:30:14.01]
In the war, Vietnamese women found

[00:30:16.06]
themselves acting like heroines,

[00:30:18.00]
and they did it because
they wanted to survive.

[00:30:20.08]
They wanted Vietnam to be independent.

[00:30:25.06]
And that's why when peace returned,

[00:30:28.03]
they went back to their traditional roles

[00:30:30.04]
behind the scenes,

[00:30:31.09]
back to obeying the party,

[00:30:33.01]
their husbands, their parents.

[00:30:37.00]
For them, it's natural.

[00:30:38.03]
It's a virtue.

[00:30:42.07]
During the liberation struggle,

[00:30:45.04]
women were in the forefront.

[00:30:47.04]
After liberation, it was the men

[00:30:49.03]
who came to power,

[00:30:50.03]
and then they wanted to
get rid of the women.

[00:30:56.09]
I'd seen girls doing very hard work.

[00:31:00.01]
They carried rocks of stone
weighing up to 50 kilos.

[00:31:03.02]
All this made them stocky,

[00:31:04.06]
I would use the word "ugly."

[00:31:11.02]
And when the men returned
from the revolution,

[00:31:13.06]
they saw the girls from
South Vietnam looking

[00:31:15.04]
very elegant, very pretty.

[00:31:17.05]
They preferred to marry
those girls in the south

[00:31:21.04]
and the others were left in the cold.

[00:31:23.00]
So they were not only sacrificed

[00:31:24.06]
during the war,

[00:31:26.00]
but afterwards as well.

[00:31:30.00]
- [Narrator] Dr. Hoa first became involved

[00:31:32.09]
with the liberation struggle in the 40s

[00:31:35.07]
as a student in Paris.

[00:31:36.08]
Returning to Vietnam in 1954,

[00:31:39.02]
she worked as a gynecologist
and pediatrician in Saigon,

[00:31:42.04]
and secretly joined the Communist Party.

[00:31:44.09]
She worked as a doctor in the battlefield

[00:31:46.08]
until liberation,

[00:31:48.02]
and became Shadow Minister of Health

[00:31:49.07]
in the provisional
revolutionary government.

[00:31:52.04]
After the war,

[00:31:53.08]
she served as Deputy Minister for Health

[00:31:55.07]
for two years,

[00:31:56.09]
but became disillusioned with

[00:31:58.03]
the way communism was being implemented.

[00:32:01.04]
- [Hoa Translation V/O]
I don't think Vietnam

[00:32:05.01]
digested Marxism very well.

[00:32:08.08]
If you go back to original Marx,

[00:32:11.02]
you'll find a liberating ideology,

[00:32:13.02]
including equality between men and women.

[00:32:15.09]
Equal political, social,
and economic rights.

[00:32:20.04]
But the application of Marxism

[00:32:22.04]
in Vietnam is a very different thing.

[00:32:29.02]
Take, for example, the case of monogamy.

[00:32:32.02]
I remember during the war,

[00:32:33.05]
we had to give talks on morality.

[00:32:38.02]
On one occasion,

[00:32:39.01]
I was the only woman in
a whole group of leaders.

[00:32:44.06]
They told me,

[00:32:45.09]
"Hoa, you give this talk instead of us,

[00:32:47.08]
"we're embarrassed to
give a talk on morality

[00:32:50.03]
"when we all have at least two wives.

[00:32:52.05]
"Some of us have three or four women,

[00:32:54.03]
"so it's embarrassing for us.

[00:32:57.08]
"You've only got one husband

[00:32:59.03]
"so you give the talk."

[00:33:06.01]
- [Narrator] In 1977,

[00:33:07.08]
disillusioned with the party,

[00:33:09.05]
she resigned all her official functions

[00:33:11.07]
and went back to working as a doctor

[00:33:13.03]
in the community.

[00:33:22.01]
Today, with money from Western charities

[00:33:24.07]
and the European community,

[00:33:26.04]
she works in public health.

[00:33:29.02]
She runs a maternity clinic,

[00:33:30.08]
teaching new methods of childbirth.

[00:33:37.09]
She works with malnourished children,

[00:33:40.07]
introducing new ideas to
her medical colleagues.

[00:33:51.02]
- [Hoa Translation V/O] For women doctors,

[00:33:53.00]
it's a question of culture.

[00:33:54.09]
For example, we ask them to let

[00:33:56.06]
the children sit in the sun.

[00:34:01.03]
They need to be naked to gain

[00:34:02.07]
the odd benefit of ultraviolet rays,

[00:34:05.01]
with just a little hatch to protect them.

[00:34:10.03]
They forget to use the hats,

[00:34:12.00]
but they put their
knickers on out of shyness.

[00:34:14.06]
For them, sex is not only the taboo,

[00:34:17.01]
it's disgusting.

[00:34:21.05]
So all the doctors, men and women,

[00:34:24.01]
refuse to let them be naked.

[00:34:29.05]
This is one example of how we need

[00:34:31.05]
to change doctors' attitudes.

[00:34:43.00]
- [Narrator] She also
goes out into villages,

[00:34:45.01]
talking to people about
their health concerns.

[00:35:00.08]
Rather than rushing to prescribe drugs,

[00:35:03.07]
she takes time to find out more

[00:35:05.02]
about her patients and their lifestyle.

[00:35:08.07]
She's trying to spread the idea

[00:35:10.07]
of an holistic approach to health

[00:35:12.03]
amongst her medical colleagues.

[00:35:15.01]
But whether working with
adults or with children,

[00:35:18.00]
Dr. Hoa's convictions
have always been rooted

[00:35:21.00]
in a firm belief in social justice

[00:35:23.01]
and human dignity.

[00:35:26.05]
- [Hoa Translation V/O] I
believe it's still possible.

[00:35:29.00]
to achieve socialism with a human face.

[00:35:33.05]
But people need to be self-critical

[00:35:35.01]
and to have self-respect.

[00:35:38.09]
They mustn't let power and
money go to their head.

[00:35:44.04]
- [Narrator] Her outspoken
views on today's Vietnam

[00:35:47.00]
may have led her away from high office,

[00:35:49.04]
but ultimately they have brought her

[00:35:51.01]
a deeper sense of satisfaction.

[00:35:54.06]
- [Hoa Translation V/O] My
dream was to free my country

[00:35:57.02]
and then to lead a quiet life.

[00:35:59.03]
But since I became involved
with the revolution,

[00:36:01.02]
my life has been chaotic.

[00:36:06.02]
But I'd do it all over again,

[00:36:08.03]
in exactly the same way,

[00:36:09.05]
because I've achieved everything I wanted.

[00:36:13.02]
I've been useful to my country.

[00:36:15.06]
I've found happiness in family life,

[00:36:18.05]
and happiness in love,

[00:36:20.02]
and I'm at peace with myself.

[00:36:22.02]
I think that's what happiness is.

[00:36:28.09]
- [Narrator] But of all the female icons

[00:36:31.00]
of the Vietnamese War,

[00:36:32.05]
the most famous, internationally,

[00:36:34.04]
was Madam Nguyen Thi Binh.

[00:36:37.07]
Jailed as a student for
her political activities,

[00:36:40.06]
she rose to become Foreign Minister

[00:36:42.02]
in the provisional government.

[00:36:44.06]
In that role,

[00:36:45.05]
she went as part of the delegation

[00:36:47.02]
to Paris in the 70s

[00:36:49.01]
to negotiate the peace agreement

[00:36:50.09]
which ended the war.

[00:37:10.08]
Today, she is vice president of Vietnam.

[00:37:18.05]
- [Binh Translation V/O]
In our constitution,

[00:37:21.08]
as in our law,

[00:37:23.06]
we enjoy the same rights as men.

[00:37:25.08]
Economic, political and social rights.

[00:37:33.08]
But women have another
very important mission,

[00:37:37.05]
the sacred mission of being mothers.

[00:37:44.05]
So women enjoy special rights,

[00:37:46.01]
such as four to six
months maternity leave,

[00:37:48.07]
and good support for
mothers with young children.

[00:38:01.04]
These laws also guarantee
equal pay for women,

[00:38:06.00]
even though they have privileges

[00:38:08.08]
that men don't have.

[00:38:14.07]
And there is something
even more important.

[00:38:19.03]
Both the party and the state make sure

[00:38:22.00]
that women are adequately represented

[00:38:24.00]
in the country's various institutions.

[00:38:41.08]
But because of the
underdevelopment of the country,

[00:38:45.00]
women have not been able
to emancipate themselves

[00:38:47.08]
as quickly as they would have

[00:38:49.02]
in better conditions.

[00:39:06.08]
- [Narrator] When Madam Binh
and her compatriots signed

[00:39:09.07]
the Paris Agreement
with the United States,

[00:39:12.04]
they achieved political independence.

[00:39:14.09]
They thought, with
compensation from the West,

[00:39:17.06]
economic independence would soon follow.

[00:39:21.01]
But compensation was never paid.

[00:39:23.04]
And in fact, a trade embargo was imposed.

[00:39:26.01]
Vietnam was left to cope
with the grim legacy

[00:39:28.05]
of a 30 year war,

[00:39:30.02]
three million dead,

[00:39:31.05]
four million injured,

[00:39:33.00]
people in land contaminated
by chemical warfare.

[00:39:36.07]
The high price of independence.

[00:39:44.05]
- [Binh Translation V/O] We always thought

[00:39:46.01]
that independence was everything.

[00:39:50.08]
But although we have
political independence,

[00:39:53.07]
we now need economic independence

[00:39:56.03]
and that's a very hard struggle.

[00:40:03.09]
- [Narrator] After the
collapse of communism

[00:40:05.04]
in Eastern Europe,

[00:40:06.07]
Vietnam looked more to its neighbors

[00:40:08.08]
and began to model itself
on the market economies

[00:40:11.05]
of other successful South
East Asian countries.

[00:40:14.08]
One of the major challenges was

[00:40:17.00]
to create a labor market

[00:40:18.06]
and a well trained workforce.

[00:40:21.00]
The modern international
business sector demands skills

[00:40:23.09]
with new technology,

[00:40:25.04]
and in many ways, this favors young women.

[00:40:28.04]
They can acquire language

[00:40:29.05]
and computer skills fairly inexpensively,

[00:40:32.02]
and are then sure of a good job.

[00:40:34.09]
For the industrial workforce,

[00:40:36.04]
there are longer term problems

[00:40:38.01]
that will take more time to solve.

[00:40:40.09]
The woman charged with
achieving this mission is

[00:40:43.03]
yet another war heroine,

[00:40:44.09]
Vice-Minister Nguyen Thi Hang.

[00:40:47.05]
But she also finds herself coping

[00:40:49.08]
with much broader social problems

[00:40:51.07]
that have arrived with
the new economic system.

[00:40:57.03]
- [Hang Translation V/O]
I think in the aftermath

[00:40:59.03]
of the war,

[00:41:00.01]
the negative aspects of the
market economy have created

[00:41:02.07]
a gap between the rich and the poor.

[00:41:08.01]
We have social problems like gambling,

[00:41:10.02]
drugs, and prostitution.

[00:41:20.05]
- [Hoa Translation V/O] "Come,"
they say to the tourists.

[00:41:22.08]
"Come to Vietnam because
we don't have AIDS."

[00:41:27.05]
In my opinion, even
the massage parlors are

[00:41:30.07]
a disguised deal form of prostitution,

[00:41:33.00]
but they're a substantial
source of hard currency.

[00:41:37.01]
Prostitution is growing
because money has become

[00:41:39.00]
the main goal in today's Vietnam.

[00:41:41.02]
There are only two goals, power and money.

[00:41:48.01]
And as long as women lack

[00:41:50.02]
a sense of responsibility

[00:41:51.07]
and of their own dignity,

[00:41:53.06]
they will always be
susceptible to prostitution.

[00:42:06.05]
- [Hang Translation V/O] Each
community, each government,

[00:42:09.00]
must find the best measures

[00:42:09.09]
to contain this problem.

[00:42:14.04]
But because of our financial limitations,

[00:42:16.09]
it's impossible to overcome these problems

[00:42:18.08]
in the short term.

[00:42:25.00]
- [Narrator] One
government measure has been

[00:42:27.06]
to set up rehabilitation centers

[00:42:29.09]
for women involved in prostitution.

[00:42:32.06]
Many girls have come from
the country looking for work,

[00:42:37.02]
but with few skills,

[00:42:38.04]
they're often drawn into the sex industry.

[00:42:42.04]
At a center like this,

[00:42:43.09]
they're given training for new jobs.

[00:42:47.08]
But both the training offered

[00:42:49.09]
and their aspirations
are often quite limited.

[00:42:58.03]
- [1st Girl Translation V/O] My dream is

[00:42:59.04]
to be a hairdresser,

[00:43:01.02]
so the teachers have put me

[00:43:02.02]
in the hairdressing class.

[00:43:16.04]
- [2nd Girl Translation V/O]
Because my family was poor,

[00:43:18.09]
I couldn't achieve my dream.

[00:43:22.05]
If I was released and allowed to go home,

[00:43:25.01]
I'd find a husband who would
give me two meals a day.

[00:43:28.02]
I wouldn't do this job anymore.

[00:43:41.07]
- [Hoa Translation V/O] A
market economy superimposed

[00:43:44.01]
on a socialist infrastructure
is an aberration.

[00:43:49.09]
So we have a consumer society running

[00:43:51.07]
out of control.

[00:43:52.08]
at a time when production is stagnant.

[00:43:55.07]
This is what leads to vice, crime,

[00:43:57.01]
prostitution, drug addiction,

[00:43:59.02]
and many other problems.

[00:44:00.05]
And particularly prostitution,

[00:44:02.02]
which has now become a sex industry.

[00:44:06.03]
So those women who lived and fought

[00:44:09.02]
during the war

[00:44:10.03]
now see their daughters
becoming prostitutes.

[00:44:16.03]
Our goal was the
independence of our country.

[00:44:19.04]
Today's goal is money.

[00:44:22.08]
Some girls whose mothers were fighters

[00:44:24.04]
get in to prostitution

[00:44:26.00]
and their mothers are
powerless to stop them.

[00:44:31.09]
So this socialism with a human face,

[00:44:34.04]
we can achieve it,

[00:44:36.01]
but only if we really challenge ourselves.

[00:44:41.07]
We mustn't become obsessed
with power and money.

[00:44:44.03]
The happiness of mankind
should be our goal.

[00:44:47.07]
Otherwise, consumer
societies will always create

[00:44:51.05]
huge social problems.

[00:44:53.07]
This is the tragedy that faces

[00:44:55.02]
the entire world.

[00:45:04.08]
- [Hang Translation V/O]
The competitive world of

[00:45:07.06]
a market economy can be very demanding.

[00:45:16.00]
Women who are wives, mothers,

[00:45:17.09]
and workers will always find

[00:45:20.02]
greater difficulty than men do.

[00:45:24.01]
- [Narrator] It is difficult to isolate

[00:45:25.07]
the economic position of women

[00:45:27.06]
from the overall state of
the Vietnamese economy.

[00:45:36.06]
Half the population are
still classified as poor,

[00:45:40.07]
most of them in rural areas.

[00:45:44.00]
The economic benefits of
the market economy have

[00:45:46.09]
not filtered through to them,

[00:45:48.06]
and the gap between rich
and poor is growing,

[00:45:51.03]
particularly now that there's

[00:45:52.06]
very little welfare provision

[00:45:54.00]
to support families living in poverty.

[00:46:04.02]
It is often women who shoulder

[00:46:05.08]
the financial burden of rearing a family,

[00:46:08.07]
as nurse Kim Lai explains.

[00:46:13.03]
- [Lai Translation V/O] Life is hard

[00:46:15.01]
because five people have to share

[00:46:16.06]
about $45 a month.

[00:46:19.09]
My oldest daughter
needs $25 for education,

[00:46:23.01]
so only 20 is left for
the other four of us.

[00:46:28.09]
In the past, there was a state subsidy.

[00:46:32.03]
But now, if you want
children to have jobs,

[00:46:35.05]
you have to invest in their education.

[00:46:40.02]
Everything has to be paid
out of the parents' salaries"

[00:46:43.01]
medical insurance, social security,

[00:46:45.02]
accident insurance,

[00:46:47.00]
all are paid for by the parents.

[00:46:51.08]
If I didn't try to find
other sources of income,

[00:46:54.04]
I wouldn't be able to feed

[00:46:55.04]
my husband and children.

[00:47:02.04]
- [Narrator] But not all
families have mothers

[00:47:04.01]
who will sacrifice anything
to give their daughters,

[00:47:06.09]
as well as their sons,

[00:47:08.03]
a good education.

[00:47:12.00]
In rural areas, when extra help is needed

[00:47:15.00]
in the home or on the land,

[00:47:17.00]
it's the girls who are the first

[00:47:18.04]
to be taken out of school.

[00:47:20.06]
This means that even if
they go to the towns,

[00:47:23.04]
they can only get unskilled work.

[00:47:25.08]
Finding ways of tackling
these deep rooted inequalities

[00:47:30.03]
of education, employment, and gender,

[00:47:33.02]
is one of the main challenges facing

[00:47:35.01]
the Vietnamese government today.

[00:47:37.05]
Vo Thi Thang explains.

[00:47:39.05]
- [Thang Translation V/O]
The women's Federation has

[00:47:42.02]
five key programs to help

[00:47:43.08]
the government achieve
economic and social goals,

[00:47:46.06]
and take care of people, generally,

[00:47:47.08]
women and children in particular.

[00:47:50.09]
- [Narrator] These five
programs cover training,

[00:47:53.09]
job creation,

[00:47:56.01]
women's health and family planning,

[00:47:58.08]
and the representation of women

[00:48:01.04]
in all Vietnam's decision making bodies.

[00:48:08.00]
- [Thang Translation V/O] I believe

[00:48:10.07]
that Vietnam will succeed

[00:48:11.05]
in building a strong country

[00:48:12.06]
with prosperous people,

[00:48:13.08]
and an equal civilized society,

[00:48:16.00]
while safeguarding our
national sovereignty.

[00:48:25.01]
- [Hoa Translation V/O] In my opinion,

[00:48:26.08]
one must be a feminist

[00:48:27.06]
while women are still disadvantaged.

[00:48:33.05]
But when they stop being victims,

[00:48:36.00]
they must take
responsibility for themselves

[00:48:38.04]
and become complete human beings

[00:48:40.07]
with no segregation between men and women.

[00:48:45.09]
One of the qualities that
women must embrace is tolerance

[00:48:50.00]
and freedom of speech.

[00:48:54.01]
When women can express their
deepest thoughts and feelings,

[00:48:57.05]
and not be introverted and self censoring,

[00:49:00.00]
then, and only then, will women flourish.

[00:49:07.03]
- [Narrator] Vietnamese women rose above

[00:49:09.03]
insurmountable odds during

[00:49:10.09]
the long years of war.

[00:49:13.00]
Their next challenge, in peace time,

[00:49:15.05]
is to rise above centuries

[00:49:17.01]
of obedience and self denial

[00:49:19.02]
to build their own

[00:49:20.06]
and their country's future.

[00:49:26.00]
(upbeat music)