April 30, 1975: The Day of Return - Part 3: Saigon, the First Days of Peace

Le Van Nuoi in Ma Da primeval forest, Dong Nai in 1976

Along the journey from District 1 to District 5, I was amazed to see the scenery of the roads and the people, especially the white ao dai of students, after five years away from Saigon. More hotels and high-rise apartments were built along the road.

Saigon scene May 1975

At this time, Nguyen Hue Boulevard in the center of Saigon only had two most luxurious hotels, Rex and Palace (later renamed Huu Nghi), the tallest with 10 floors. Traffic was bustling on the road. Still the same old cars and taxis like Renault, Traction... and motorbikes like SS.50, vespa, velo solex, PC...

Mostly bicycles were used by students and workers. Along the way, many people stood in front of their doors, curiously watching the convoy, occasionally waving. Seeing us wearing black ba ba uniforms, people probably guessed that we were prisoners of the revolution returning from distant islands.

Entering the yard of Hung Vuong School, I saw that there were quite a few former prisoners walking around. Perhaps the students here had temporarily moved to another school, using this school as a temporary shelter for former prisoners. Suddenly, a voice called out: "Nuoi! Nuoi is back? So happy!"

That was Vo Thi Hai - former general secretary of the Gia Long Saigon High School Women's Representative Board in the 1970-1971 school year, who participated in student movement activities with me. Sister Hai was multi-talented: writing articles, taking photos, playing the guitar... Later she became a reporter for Tuoi Tre newspaper, using the pen name Bich Vi. It was true that Sister Hai had a journalist's blood, so she had hunted down the news that Le Van Nuoi would return to Saigon on that day.

When the organizers called our group to gather and line up in the school yard to check in for our rooms, Sister Hai quickly took her camera and followed, capturing a photo of the group of former Con Dao prisoners waving flags, including me standing in the middle with a checkered scarf wrapped around my head.

The next day, I was in a class meeting when suddenly the loudspeaker announced: Le Van Nuoi had a family member coming to visit. In the school yard, a female student wearing a white ao dai ran to me, shyly asking: "When did you come back, Nuoi? How are you?"

I was stunned by the gentle beauty of this girl. We both held hands and sat chatting on a stone bench under the canopy of a royal poinciana tree in full bloom in the school yard. Her name was Luong Chau. The dating began from then on and lasted for seven years. In 1982, we got married after Luong Chau graduated from the University of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City.

This group of former prisoners of Con Dao stayed at Hung Vuong School to attend a three-day "Victory course". The content included listening to the City Party Committee leaders announce "The situation of liberating Saigon and our immediate tasks"; reviewing their personal experiences during their imprisonment, whether they maintained their integrity in prison, meaning did they salute the yellow flag with three red stripes of the Saigon government? Did they declare the identities of their comrades or collaborate with the enemy when they were arrested, tortured, or imprisoned?

Team 4 members take a photo in front of Uncle Ba Xe's house, Ton That Thuyet Street, District 4, late May 1975. Le Van Nuoi stands on the left side of the back row - Photo: MINH THI provided

Building a new revolutionary government

On May 20, 1975, after finishing the course, Nguyen Van Vinh, a cadre of the Saigon Youth Union, came to pick me up to visit my parents' house in District 4 in a Jeep driven by a self-defense youth. Both men were dressed in civilian clothes and wore red armbands with the words "Revolutionary Forces" and "Revolutionary Self-Defense Youth" printed on them. Vinh sat next to the driver, holding an AK rifle in his hand.

As the Jeep drove from Notre Dame Cathedral down Tu Do Street (today's Dong Khoi), I suddenly saw a white cloth banner with quite long red letters hanging above the balcony of the 2nd floor of the luxurious Majestic Hotel.

The gist: We are a third, neutral force... represented by Mr./Ms...., requesting to negotiate with the revolutionary government...". I told the driver to go straight to District 4 to visit my parents.

My second sister invited Vinh and the driver to have a family reunion dinner. That night I slept over. The next morning, I rode my bicycle to present myself to the leaders of the Saigon-Gia Dinh Revolutionary Youth Union (later the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City) which had its temporary headquarters at the Liberty Hotel, 49 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, District 3.

The City Youth Union assigned me to participate in the campaign "Sweeping the enemy, building a revolutionary government at the grassroots level" directed and launched by the City Party Committee throughout the city. I joined Team 4 working in District 4, with Ms. Tu Tin (Tran Thi Ngoc Hao) as team leader, I was the deputy team leader with a total of about 15 members, most of whom were law students, agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry students such as Mr. Bui Ba Bong (later Deputy Minister of Agriculture), Dang Dinh Phung, Pham Thao, Bach Yen, Mr. Tam, Ta Tuoi... Ms. Tu Tin directed:

"We participate in the campaign from the perspective of the Youth Union. So you need to focus on closely following the lives and work of the young masses, and then find ways to support them. As for the task of hunting down the remnants of soldiers from the old regime who are hiding and storing weapons, the security and armed forces have already done this."

Starting from the last week of May, Team 4 went on missions to many bases in several districts, and finally stationed permanently for about seven months in Wards 5 and 6, District 4. Before 1975, the Saigon regime only organized three administrative levels: city, district, and ward in the inner city, hamlet in the suburbs. From the beginning of 1976, the revolutionary government merged the two ward into one ward and commune.

When forming wards and communes, the city leaders often arranged for soldiers or police to act as secretaries, and undercover cadres to act as chairmen. Several years later, after training positive elements into the Party and Youth Union ranks, the cadres who matured after 1975 gradually replaced the revolutionary cadres at the grassroots level of wards and communes...

After the first month, the City Youth Union withdrew Ms. Tu Tin to another job, and she assigned me as team leader. The hamlet committee mobilized and introduced several households whose relatives participated in or sympathized with the revolution to provide us with temporary shelter. Team 4 was fortunate to be stationed for about five months at the house of Uncle Ba Xe - Tran Van Xe (1930-2022) in hamlet 6, Ton That Thuyet street, district 4.

Uncle Ba Xe participated in the intellectual movement in 1954-1965. He was tall, gentle, talented in painting, and wrote beautiful calligraphy. Aunt Ba Xe had the capable and kind style of a woman from the Southwest. This family had quite a few children: Tuyen, Minh Thi, and Minh Tho. Every day, most of the brothers cycled home for dinner and slept overnight. For lunch, the brothers bought sticky rice and a plate of rice to eat quickly. I did the same so as not to bother the homeowner.