Thai Pham |
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Note: Thai is accompanied by his brother-in-law, Bao Tran, in this interview, who translates and reads Thai’s responses as well as adding in his own perspective. Bao also served with the ARVN and was later prisoner in a reeducation camp.
On Hearing War was Breaking Out
The war messed up everything. It made it broken, they killed people, I thought it was bad news. We didn’t like the war.
I think first when I heard war was breaking out in 1972, we had been in university, but in the summer of 1972, the war of Vietnam was very harming. Everybody in the school, and the big university — they closed. Everybody, they had to go to the army.
How about him? [motions to Thai] 1966 — he had to go to the army.
After that — we go to the war.
I saw lots of my friends die, because we fought together, the republic in the South fighting the North.
But in the North, they had the support from Russia and China, but the army in South Vietnam — only American support.
They had 50,000 people — American — die from Vietnam, and in 1973 the Americans left my country.
From 1975 the war was over — the end of the war after the Americans left.
Everybody worked together with the Americans before.
They [North Vietnamese] cast us to work in the prison in the mountain.
How about him? [referring to Thai] Seven years.
How about me? [referring to Bao] Five years.
Every — as much as seventeen years, fifteen years — different.
But after that, they had the contract from Vietnam and America, from President Reagan — they sponsored those who had been living in a cell for over 3 years.
On Those Fighting for North Vietnam
I felt towards those fighting for North Vietnam — North Vietnam was communist, and living in South Vietnam — the Republic — they were different.
Oh. What did I think about those fighting for North Vietnam?
North Vietnam and South Vietnam — different, everything.
Different because North Vietnam, they followed China, they followed Russia, but South Vietnam, they followed America.
North Vietnam was Communist, South Vietnam was a republic — different.
We fight together, not myself because the South had support from America, and the North — support from Russia and China,
But when the war ended, from North Vietnam and South Vietnam — so many didn’t like each other. They still don’t like them.
But now the war’s over, over 40 years ago.
We forgot everything, we want to get back together.
Not because the war is over, we want Vietnam to become the good Vietnam.
We don’t like that we haven’t gotten back together.
Object Description
| Profile of | Thai Pham |
| Title | From ARVN to Reeducation to America |
| Profile bio | Thai Pham was a high school student in Vietnam when he was drafted to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He served in the army for eight years, fighting with the American forces against those of Northern Vietnam, but when the war ended and the Americans left, Thai was captured by Communist forces and was a prisoner in a reeducation camp for seven years. In the duration of the war, Thai was shot severely and required a blood transfusion and surgery. After his release, Pham was sponsored and emigrated to America. He now resides in Orange County with his family, fighting and winning the battle against Hepatitis C. Bao Tran was a university student when he was drafted to the war. He is the brother-in-law of Thai Pham. Bao served in the war for five years, collaborating with America to combat the communist forces of North Vietnam. During the war, he lost many friends while his father passed away. After April 30, 1975, Bao was imprisoned in the reeducation camp along with Thai Pham. His release from the reeducation camp allowed Bao to emigrate over to America with his own wife and child where he resides with his family in Orange County. |
| Profiler bio | Rui Huang is a freshman at the University of Southern California studying Business. Steven Pham is a freshman at the University of Southern California studying Industrial and Systems Engineering. Owen Slyman is a freshman at the University of Southern California studying Public Policy and Sustainable Development. |
| Subject |
Vietnam Vietnam war reeducation camp emigration sponsorship communist |
| Profiled by | Huang, Rui; Pham, Steven; Slyman, Owen |
| Profile date | 2016-03-04 |
| Geographic subject (county) | Orange |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA; Vietnam; North Vietnam; China; Russia |
| Coverage date | 1972 |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/thai-pham/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 4 video files (00:12:16); 4 transcripts |
| Language | English |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
| Filename | phamthai |
Description
| Profile of | Thai Pham |
| Title | On Hearing War Was Breaking Out |
| Format | 1 transcript, 2p. |
| Filename | phamthai-vid1_tr1.pdf |
| Full text | Note: Thai is accompanied by his brother-in-law, Bao Tran, in this interview, who translates and reads Thai’s responses as well as adding in his own perspective. Bao also served with the ARVN and was later prisoner in a reeducation camp. On Hearing War was Breaking Out The war messed up everything. It made it broken, they killed people, I thought it was bad news. We didn’t like the war. I think first when I heard war was breaking out in 1972, we had been in university, but in the summer of 1972, the war of Vietnam was very harming. Everybody in the school, and the big university — they closed. Everybody, they had to go to the army. How about him? [motions to Thai] 1966 — he had to go to the army. After that — we go to the war. I saw lots of my friends die, because we fought together, the republic in the South fighting the North. But in the North, they had the support from Russia and China, but the army in South Vietnam — only American support. They had 50,000 people — American — die from Vietnam, and in 1973 the Americans left my country. From 1975 the war was over — the end of the war after the Americans left. Everybody worked together with the Americans before. They [North Vietnamese] cast us to work in the prison in the mountain. How about him? [referring to Thai] Seven years. How about me? [referring to Bao] Five years. Every — as much as seventeen years, fifteen years — different. But after that, they had the contract from Vietnam and America, from President Reagan — they sponsored those who had been living in a cell for over 3 years. On Those Fighting for North Vietnam I felt towards those fighting for North Vietnam — North Vietnam was communist, and living in South Vietnam — the Republic — they were different. Oh. What did I think about those fighting for North Vietnam? North Vietnam and South Vietnam — different, everything. Different because North Vietnam, they followed China, they followed Russia, but South Vietnam, they followed America. North Vietnam was Communist, South Vietnam was a republic — different. We fight together, not myself because the South had support from America, and the North — support from Russia and China, But when the war ended, from North Vietnam and South Vietnam — so many didn’t like each other. They still don’t like them. But now the war’s over, over 40 years ago. We forgot everything, we want to get back together. Not because the war is over, we want Vietnam to become the good Vietnam. We don’t like that we haven’t gotten back together. |
| Archival file | Volume3/phamthai-vid1_tr1.pdf |
