Precursor to the Mỹ Lai Massacre: 1968 Phong Nhị, Phong Nhất_35: The Monument bearing the 74 names
Click to read in Korean(2014년 그날, 향내 매캐한 그 곳)
The Memorial Monument for the Victims of the Massacre next to the banyan tree at the entrance to Phong Nhị. Flowers sent by a South Korean civic group on February 12, 2014 stand by the monument. Photograph by Humank
On February 12, I entered the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất.
It wasn’t on February 12, 1968. It was on February 12, 2014, 46 years after the incident. I started from Da Nang in a car. As I drove on the number one national highway southward toward Hoi An for about 40 minutes, the Điện An area of Điện Bàn, Quảng Nam came into view. A little later, in the middle of the rice paddy to my right, a large tree came into view. It was a banyan tree. This is where the incident began. The banyan tree is a landmark symbol of that day. I slowed down the car and turned right. I continued with the village to my right and facing westward toward the Trường Sơn mountains, just as the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Brigade of the Marine Corps did forty-six years ago. It was barely wide enough for a single car to pass through. I narrowly escaped the motorcycles speeding by from the opposite direction. After about 50 meters, I saw a small vacant lot. I parked the car and began walking. It wasn’t like 46 years ago when the grass grew thick. It had become a cemented pavement. I could see the villages. The old houses were all transformed into modern-style homes.
I arrived to Da Nang Airport from Incheon Airport three days ago. It was only in recent years that a direct flight to Da Nang was created, making it no longer necessary to fly through Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi, an indication that Da Nang is the third major city in Vietnam. I stayed at a hotel in Da Nang for a week and rented a car every day to go back and forth, day and night, to the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất villages, which is about 40 minutes away. It was my fourth visit since 2000. This time, I deliberately chose early February, with a single objective: I wanted to see the ancestral rites. That day was February 12th based on the Gregorian calendar, and based on the lunar calendar, it was January 13th, which was one day before the incident. In Vietnam, ancestral rites are held one day before the actual day, based on the lunar calendar.
Forty-six years ago, about 70 residents were found dead in the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất, after the South Korean troops visited. Including those who were seriously injured prior to dying, there were a total of 74. A total of more than 35 families were known to have been affected by the incident, and even in excluding those that relocated, there were still 20 families observing the ancestral rites in Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất on the same day. The villagers refer to it as the 'Đại Hàn rite.' I made a pilgrimage to four of the homes beginning at 9 a.m. My first destination was the home of old lady Nguyễn Thị Lượng. There is no family she lost as a result of the February 12 incident. But three years later, she married Lê Đình Đái (34) who on that day, lost his wife, Nguyễn Thị Thời (33). Even after her husband's death, Nguyễn Thị Lượng holds a rite for his former wife. It is a long-held belief among the Vietnamese that those who are respectful to the deceased will be blessed. Hà Phước Mậu (57), whom I met on an alleyway in Phong Nhất during my visit in January 2013, said he still holds a memorial service and bows to the former owners of his home, with whom he has never met. The two former owners burned to death that day, their corpses becoming unrecognizable.
Next, I visited the home of Lê Đình Mực (56), where I met his younger brother, Lê Đình Mận, who survived the incident being held in his mother’s arms. His mother, Hà Thị Diên(born in 1934), who was working in the field at the time, protected her infant son, even while she herself was shot to death. Lê Đình Mực and his older sister, Lê Thị Chừng(52), came with their children and prepared the ritual food while chattering boisterously.
On the morning of February 12, 2014, Lê Đình Mận (left), who survived in the arms of his mother, Hà Thị Diên, and his older brother Lê Đình Mực are lighting an incense to commence the memorial service for their mother. Photograph by Humank
The third home I visited was that of the elderly Nguyễn Dân. His eldest daughter, Nguyễn Thị Thanh, (19, at the time of her death) had her breasts mutilated with a knife before being killed. It was one of the most brutal deaths. Gathered together were the children and grandchildren of Nguyễn Thị Thanh's sisters, Nguyen Thị Ba (63) and Nguyễn Thị Hoa (59), who were among the five remaining of the nine Nguyen siblings.
Finally, I visited the home of Nguyễn Thị Thanh (54, the same name as the aforementioned Nguyễn Thị Thanh) who not only suffered serious injuries but also lost the most family members, including her mother, maternal aunt, older sister, younger brother and nephew. Her older brother, Nguyễn Đức Sang(61), who miraculously survived along with Nguyễn Thị Thanh, despite suffering a fatal bullet wound, wasn’t able to attend because he was living in Ho Chi Minh. Their uncle, Nguyễn Đức Chơi (76) led the memorial service. The way each household led its memorial service was more or less the same. They would set up foods such as fruits, beer and pork in front of the altar, burn incense, invite the spirits of the dead, wave incense with their hands and bow three times. Then everyone would sit down to eat together. The more affluent homes would invite their neighbors to come and drink together. It was a both a day of mourning and a day of celebration.
On the morning of February 12, 2014, the family of Nguyễn Dân (middle in front row) finished the so-called "Đại Hàn rite" and took a photograph to commemorate. The left of the front row is the second daughter, Nguyen Thị Ba (63), and the third daughter, Nguyễn Thị Hoa. Photograph by Humank
Nguyễn Dân is bowing to the spirits after setting up the ritual food. Photograph by Humank
The state did little to nothing to take care of those who passed away that day and the bereaved families. South Vietnam, whose duty it was to protect the residents of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất in 1968, vanished from existence on April 30, 1975, along with Saigon's defeat to the North Vietnamese army. Since then, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, born as a unified country, also has not actively taken care of the families of those victimized by the South Korean military. This was in stark contrast to the treatment of the so-called "patriotic martyrs"--those within the North Vietnamese Army or the Viet Cong who died during the war. There are 585 martyrs enumerated by the Điện An People's Committee alone, including in the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất, and there is a splendid large tower dedicated to them just across from the People's Committee building. The families of these martyrs are paid 1.5 million dongs (approximately 70,000 won) every month. Each New Year, they are given an additional 200,000 to 400,000 dongs. One of the bereaved families of the South Korean military victims openly expressed their feelings of alienation, saying, "How could the nation not even support us for a single incense for the memorial service?"
On other days during the visit, I went to the homes of those who survived the incident to hear their testimonies. There were many from Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất who had lost their parents that day and thereafter entered the mountains to become a Viet Cong or fight as a sniper. All of the interviews were conducted after obtaining advance permission from Vietnam's Quang Nam Province Friendship Association, a process that is characteristic of a socialist country. I carefully wrote an official letter in Vietnamese detailing my stay, purpose of the interviews, and interviewers, and submitted it 15 days before my arrival. Quang Nam Province Friendship Association directed its administrative offices at Điện Bàn and the Điện An People's Committee to cooperate in this coverage.
The people's committee staff came on bicycles to guide me from the first day of my coverage. Although they mean to provide convenience by helping to locate an interviewee's home, their presence can sometimes feel like surveillance. I nevertheless decided to take it as an act of kindness. I even requested data, such as older photographs of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất, if there were any kept by the People's Committee. I hoped they would be photographs from the 1960s if possible. I told them I’m fine with any photograph, whether they pictures of the residents, or pictures of the people's committee staff. I asked Trần Quốc Toản(46), who is in charge of foreign activities within the People's Committee of Điện An whether this would be possible. After some thought he replied, "I have photographs from the 1960s," making me ecstatic. He asked me to wait a few days. A staff member with the key to the photograph storage was supposedly on leave because of a death in the family. All I could do was wait for the staff member to return to work.
Finally, three days later, he returned to the office. Trần Quốc Toản handed me the photographs he had received from the employee. It was a ragged magazine that looked oddly familiar. As it turned out, it was a copy of the November 23, 2000 issue of the 《Hankyoreh 21》. Thirteen years and two months after its publication, the magazine looked as if it were 30 years old with its corners worn out and crumpled. I was at a loss for words. This was a copy that I myself had donated back in April of 2001.
It was the second time I visited the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất. At that time, I stayed for only one day. In 2000, I was able to acquire documents and photographs relating to the massacre of civilians in Vietnam from the U.S. National Archives, which were declassified for the first time in 32 years, and wrote a front-page story for the《Hankyoreh 21》 on November 23, 2000. The main stage for documents and photographs was the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất. 《Hankyoreh 21》also dealt with Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất the most in the article. Five months later, in April 2001, I had gone to Vietnam with that issue of 《Hankyoreh 21》. At that time, I made a request to the Điện An People's Committee to gather the families and survivors of those killed on February 12, 1968. It was when the bodies in the photographs published in 《Hankyoreh 21》 remained unreported. I wanted to know their names. I wanted to find their brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers. The residents gathered in the yard of Nguyễn Xu, an elder of the village, thanks to the People's Committee’s broadcast to the village. They circled around the photographs and began matching names to the corpses, which in turn enabled me to write this book.
In February of 2014, I returned the issue of 《Hankyoreh 21》 to the staff member of the People's Committee and asked if there were any other photographs, but he shook his head no. It was naive of me to hope for more, when the fact that there was a sourcebook on the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất incident was a blessing itself. It was a thin booklet produced in December 1995 by the Điện Bàn District Office for Culture and Communications, a senior administrative body of Điện An. During my visit in January 2013, I inquired here and there to locate and meet with the main character of the sourcebook. It was Lương Mỹ Linh(42) who worked for the Điện Bàn District Office for Culture and Communications.
According to her, in 1995, the Điện Bàn District Office for Culture and Communications sent orders to the 20 wards in the prefecture, including Điện An, to report if they had any history or cultural relics that could be included. At that time, the Điện Bàn District Office for Culture and Communications supposedly tried to extensively investigate events from the French colonial period to the time of the Korean military presence, and display the artifacts in museums. At that time, Điện An reported incident of February 1968 in the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất. According to Lương Mỹ Linh’s memory, three wards were investigated: Điện An (which includes Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất), Điện Thọ (which includes Thủy Bồ), and Điện Dương (which includes Hà My). Lương Mỹ Linh went down to Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất and met survivors for two days to gather their testimonies. Her colleagues went to Thủy Bồ and Hà My. Thủy Bồ and Hà My were also victims of 1968, with the Thủy Bồ incident taking place on January 20, and the Hà My incident, February 22.[1] 145 people in Thủy Bồ and 138 people in Hà My were killed. Both locations suffered nearly double the number of victims of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất.
The Thủy Bồ incident occurred during the Flying Dragon operation, in which the 2nd Brigade of the Korean Marine Corps was moving its base from Chu lai to Hoi An, and the Hà My incident was during the first operation of the Monster Dragon, which was a counterattack operation to the Tet Offensive that happened at the same time as the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất incident. Along with that of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất, the incidents of Thủy Bồ and Hà My are considered the three major incidents of the Vietnam War in the Điện Bàn District of Quang Nam Province.
It is hardly conceivable that such a thing only happened in the Điện Bàn District. What happened in the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất was not an unusual incident. According to Dr. Koo Soo-jung (former Hankyoreh 21 correspondent of Ho Chi Minh), who in 1999, first informed the Korean society of the Korean military's massacre of civilians in the Vietnam War between January 1968 and November 1969, more than 4,000 civilians were killed in districts throughout Quang Nam Province alone, including the Duy Xuyên District, the Quế Sơn District, and the Thăng Bình District. This is just less than half of the 9,000 civilians who lost their lives in five central provinces (Quang nam, Quảng Ngãi, Binh Dinh, Phú Yên and Khanh Hoa) between 1965 and 1973, the entire period during which Korean combat troops were dispatched to Vietnam. Four thousand out of nine thousand, and seventy-four out of four thousand. Essentially, the 74 people who lost their lives in the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất were merely the tip of the iceberg, as the trite phrase goes.
At the memorial monument next to the banyan tree at the entrance to the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất, one can see the names that comprise this "tip of the iceberg." From a 78-year-old man, who was born in 1890, to an infant born in 1968, each victim has his/her year of birth and hometown carved next to his/her name. A sign in front of the monument reads (in Vietnamese), “On February 12, 1968, 74 people were slaughtered by South Korean soldiers near the Banyan Tree in Điện An, Điện Bàn District, Quang Nam Province. The lunar New Year (the year of the rabbit) January 14." The memorial was completed in August 2004 by members of the South Korean civic group 'Me and We' through civic fundraising and in consultation with the Điện An People's Committee. About 10 members of "Me and We" built the road with shovels, along with members of a Vietnamese volunteer group in July of 2009.
Consecutive coverage by《Hankyoreh 21》played a crucial part in raising the Korean people’s awareness of the areas affected. The first official report can be dated back to September 2, 1999. Ho Chi Minh Correspondent Koo Soo-jung made a feature of testimonies obtained by visiting five central provinces that were operating areas for South Korean troops in the summer of that year. The readers were shocked, as this was the first time they heard of such a story in the media. The same went for the several testimonies of the war veterans, which has continued since the spring of 2000. At that time, 《Hankyoreh 21》dedicated one to two pages every week for an entire year to publicize the incidents and to collect donation of funds. Many readers responded with great sympathy, but we were also met with a huge whirlwind of antipathy. More than 2,000 members of the Association of Korean Veterans Disabled from Defoliant, claiming that the honor of the veterans of the Vietnam War was damaged, raided the office building of the Hankyoreh newspaper in Seoul on June 27, 2000, causing an unprecedented disturbance. A blackmail phone call ensued, saying they would detonate the rotary press, which led to the commotion of a bomb-sniffing dog searching the area around the press.
A year later at a summit meeting on August 23, 2001, President Kim Dae-jung expressed remorse to Vietnam’s head of state, Trần Đức Lương, for having participated in an unfortunate war. President Kim promised and thereafter implemented humanitarian aid aimed at building hospitals and schools for five provinces in central Vietnam. Amid this trend, the Committee for the Establishment of the Peace Museum, which started as the "Committee for Investigating the Truth on the Massacre of Civilians in the Vietnam War," was launched in 2003,and the "Citizens for Vietnam and Korea" was formed on Facebook (2012). Medics with Vietnam and Peace has been volunteering annually since 2000 in the regions impacted by the South Korean military. The massacres during the Vietnam War have become an important motif and a new human rights issue in Korea, a divided nation, stimulating and awakening the populace to the sentiment of peace. It has become a painful historical mirror that must be directly looked into before criticizing Japan as the perpetrator of imperial rule in the past.
On the afternoon of February 12, 2014, ten flower arrangements were placed in front of the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất memorial monument. They are all flowers from civic groups and schools in Korea. Various messages were written in Vietnamese on the ribbons on the arrangements. "We sincerely apologize for your sacrifice" (Medics with Vietnam and Peace). "May the spirits rest in peace" (Jeju Writers' Association). "We kneel down once again to apologize to the families of the victims of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất. We are sorry" (Citizens for Vietnam and Korea). "We will remember the History of that Day!" (Roadschola) "We will fight for peace on this land, so that the deaths of the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất victims and their families’ suffering will not be in vain" (Peace Museum).
After dark, a plane is flying over the memorial monument and the banyan tree next to it. Photograph taken on Feb. 12, 2014. Photograph by Humank
The sky was clear and blue over the monument. The wind came blowing. The bamboo pedestal supporting the condolence flowers was thin and weak. The flowers began falling down one by one. The people who visited the monument after a memorial service at their homes picked up the flowers and put them back on the pedestal. However, when they left, the flowers collapsed again. The flowers seemed to represent the deceased who belatedly received a glimmer of spotlight, but that which was nevertheless short-lived. The sun tilted west and the wind blew harder. The leaves of the banyan tree danced. When the darkness penetrated, the area around the banyan tree and the memorial monument without a street lamp became pitch black, with only the sound of an airplane flying over it.
[1] The relatively well-known civilian massacre of the Vietnam War is the Hà My incident, which took place on January 24 on the lunar calendar and February 22 on the Gregorian calendar. It has been thus far been incorrectly known to have taken place on Jan. 26 on the lunar calendar and Feb. 25 on the Gregorian calendar, apparently because of poor calculation of the lunar calendar when the Hà My incident was first investigated. The memorial monument in the Hà My village also says it was the 24th day of the first lunar month. 『Korean Warriors Dispatched in Vietnam 4-5』, published by the Ministry of National Defense, shows that a South Korean unit entered the Hà My village on Feb. 22, 1968."The engineering company (Captain, Major Eum Moo-ryang) while conducting road reconnaissance of the passing vehicles, found and dismantled two anti-tank mines on the road in Ha My Tay village at 7.30 and 7. 40, and again removed two anti-tank mines from the south at 08.30. On the same day, the squad, led by Lt. Gen. Lee Kwang-heung, went into hiding near the Hà My Tay village and found the enemy at 12.00, lured six of them to death with Cremore landmines and grenades, and acquired 249 bullets of live ammunition."
- Written by humank (Journalist; Seoul, Korea)
- Translated and revised as necessary by April Kim (Tokyo, Japan)
The numbers in parentheses indicate the respective ages of the people at the time in 1968.