DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970 | 1970-10-07 ""Iowa City People's Peace Treaty Committee"" Page 13

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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970

1970-10-07 ""Iowa City People's Peace Treaty Committee"" Page 13

A Deathbed Poem of a Vietnamese Father to his 14 year Old Son

[photo]
U Thi Ang

To my son,
I leave you
A foggy future
Two thirds of my life
I have lived
Without joy
My father has fought;
I have fought;
you are fighting
The same war.

Now, I'm leaving.
I leave you
Foxholes to inhabit
Mined fields to plow
Boobytrapped paths to walk in
Rivers diluted with
blood for you to drink
Rice soaked with herbicides for your bowl

Nights with flashbombs to give you light
Days with napalm to hide the sunlight from you
Receive these, my son
This is my bequest. This is your future
But may you leave your son a better one!

we had to wait for seventeen hours without any food. We were given vegetables only four times in eight months. Only once were we given fresh "spinach", a vegetable the Vietnamese never eat raw. These were given to us by the "criminals" Ve and Tran. Now the women have no vegetables to eat. 
We were not given enough food an drink. If we asked for more they sometimes answered us by mixing our rice with petroleum or mixing our dried rotten fish with soap, or giving us uncooked rice. We had stomach aches from these foods and when we were sick, they refused to give us rice soup. We denounced this to the nurses. When they were in a good mood they gave us some grains of salt for our rice soup. When not, we had to eat plain rice soup. Often they did not allow us to wash our bowls. So we had to eat out of dirty bowls on which the flies, dogs, and poultry stepped, or mice ran over. Rice was usually mixed with dust, the kind of dust that comes from the outdoor toilets through gusts of wind. We asked for clean bowls to eat out of. They hurried us: "If you eat slowly, we'll dump all your rice in one bowl and you'll have to eat like dogs from one bowl." Some women were sick and couldn't eat.They wanted to save their food, but the bowls were grabbed and rice thrown away. 
The cells were narrow and hot. Five of us in one cell so we had to divide the space. Two persons lay on the cement squeezed together like canned fish, the limited space occupied by the iron bar used to shackle us. One of us had to lie sideways close to the latrine bucket, with her legs bent day and night. Above our heads on the iron bars, there was always a barrel of lime dust. 
Tran allowed the trustee prisoners the place over the iron bars where they could sleep and watch us day and night. They looked down through the iron bars and when they caught us going to the bathroom or changing out clothes they would purposely say "feel at ease, we do not want to sit here, but we must follow orders."We protested against this to the chief of the cages, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Nhan, but he said nothing.
Across from the tiger cages are the outdoor toilets which continuously send out bad smells. Each gust of wind brings the dust from the toilets and covers our head, eyes and nose as well as our food and water. At night we could not sleep because of the cold, the mosquitoes, our dirty clothes, thirst, and because of the trustees sleeping above our heads. 
Each day they allowed us to empty our latrine bucket once. Just one of us was allowed to carry the bucket. Though the bucket did not contain much , it was heavy like a block of stone (because it is made of fresh wood and covered thickly with black asphalt). Because of our weak health, we tried to drag the bucket. If we happened to spill some of the contents, we were immediately punished. Sometimes when some of us got diarrhea or cholera, we asked them to let us empty the bucket immediately, but they refused. The bucket held three liters and sometimes we had to go to the bathroom in our wash basins. The narrow and hot cells always smelled of excrement and urine, sometimes mixed with the nauseous smell of the menstruation which arises after 24 hours of being deprived from washing. For months we only had a thin suit of clothes. We had to tear off our sleeves to use as sanitary napkins. Thanks to some who wore 2 pants at the time we came, we were able to have "mobile" pants to use and wash our pants. For months, each day we were only given a bucket of water to use to wash our faces and our sanitary bucket at the same time. In some cells, the prisoners had to leave the bucket unwashed or use a damp cloth to wipe out the bucket. When going to the bathroom, we tried to sneak a can of water to wash ourselves afterwards. Each time they caught us they would swear at us: " You cows and buffalo women" or "you stone-cared women."
One mother who had a two-month old baby could not feed him because she herself did not have enough to eat. Without water to wash the baby, she had to tear her clothes to wipe the baby. Without sanitation and through lack of food, the baby lost considerable weight and was seriously sick. Director Ve at the time felt obliged to send the baby back to the mainland. On his return to the mainland. Dung's the baby's eyes were runny because of the lime that was thrown on him. 
Each day the opened the cell door, flies came into the cell in swarms. At night the bugs creeped all over the walls and mosquitoes made a kind of music flying around and sucking the prisoners' blood until the morning. There were thousands of mosquitoes and bugs, their bellies swelling wit the blood they sucked until they could not fly or creep anymore. Ants and worms also bit us, our bodies itched and we had festers from our scratching. Each week we were allowed to wash ourselves only three times. Each tie they gave us five minutes, time enough to quickly undress and pour one or two cans of water over our  bodies. Sometimes before we could put our clothes on trustees would push the door open and come in with their whips, looking at us naked, swearing and kicking over the bucket and remaining water, not allowing us to continue to wash our clothes. 
When we were in menstruation period, they only allowed us to wash our clothes once each 24 hours. And each time we must show the trustee the bloody water we wash our clothes with. The Vietnamese women are usually ashamed when they have to let their mothers and sister know about it ... and yet we have to show to the trustees our dirty clothes in order to get permission to wash them. Without enough water and enough time to wash, we must cut our hair short or shave our heads completely. The Vietnamese women consider their long hair short or shave our heads completely. The Vietnamese women consider their long hair something precious. Nhan and Sum. the top trustees had some of the women shackled because " the (women) disturb thee peace by shaving their heads" The inadequate conditions at Con Don have caused many of us to suffer diseases such as: intestinal and stomach disorders, diarrhea, cholera, malaria, T.B., hemorrhoids, typhoid, dropsy, paralysis, eye disease, open wounds, and particularly a disease called " vomiting excrements" ( because after months of being unable to go to the bathroom, and without medical treatment, we vomited the excrement). Through lack of medicine our diseased increased and we were transferred to the clinics. When any of us fell in serious illness and when we called for emergency, not only did the trustees do nothing but they (especially Sum and Man) also threatened to throw lime on us and swore:
" This is a cattle cage."
"These and brick and lime kilns"
"If you do not obey and if you keep demanding things, we'll give you more lime dust."
"Death is common in Con Son. If you die, we'll send you to the cemetery of Hang Duong."
" Medicine is given ten days only. Don't ask for more."
One of the women had cholera and called for the nurses. However, not only did they not send any nurse down, but they accused her of being a "peace disturber" and shackled her arms and legs to an iron bar. So she lied there in the midst of feces. The women must tear off their clothes to clean her. Not until she fainted did they take her to the dispensary. When a prisoner was too ill and had a brain attack (madness) Sum and Man ordered her shackled for disturbing order and took advantage of her situation to attack her body. 
Each time there was someone sick in the cell and calling for medicine and a nurse, 
(WOMEN cont. on page 17)

Saving...

A Deathbed Poem of a Vietnamese Father to his 14 year Old Son [photo] U Thi Ang To my son, I leave you A foggy future Two thirds of my life I have lived Without joy My father has fought; I have fought; you are fighting The same war. Now, I'm leaving. I leave you Foxholes to inhabit Mined fields to plow Boobytrapped paths to walk in Rivers diluted with blood for you to drink Rice soaked with herbicides for your bowl Nights with flashbombs to give you light Days with napalm to hide the sunlight from you Receive these, my son This is my bequest. This is your future But may you leave your son a better one! we had to wait for seventeen hours without any food. We were given vegetables only four times in eight months. Only once were we given fresh "spinach", a vegetable the Vietnamese never eat raw. These were given to us by the "criminals" Ve and Tran. Now the women have no vegetables to eat. We were not given enough food an drink. If we asked for more they sometimes answered us by mixing our rice with petroleum or mixing our dried rotten fish with soap, or giving us uncooked rice. We had stomach aches from these foods and when we were sick, they refused to give us rice soup. We denounced this to the nurses. When they were in a good mood they gave us some grains of salt for our rice soup. When not, we had to eat plain rice soup. Often they did not allow us to wash our bowls. So we had to eat out of dirty bowls on which the flies, dogs, and poultry stepped, or mice ran over. Rice was usually mixed with dust, the kind of dust that comes from the outdoor toilets through gusts of wind. We asked for clean bowls to eat out of. They hurried us: "If you eat slowly, we'll dump all your rice in one bowl and you'll have to eat like dogs from one bowl." Some women were sick and couldn't eat.They wanted to save their food, but the bowls were grabbed and rice thrown away. The cells were narrow and hot. Five of us in one cell so we had to divide the space. Two persons lay on the cement squeezed together like canned fish, the limited space occupied by the iron bar used to shackle us. One of us had to lie sideways close to the latrine bucket, with her legs bent day and night. Above our heads on the iron bars, there was always a barrel of lime dust. Tran allowed the trustee prisoners the place over the iron bars where they could sleep and watch us day and night. They looked down through the iron bars and when they caught us going to the bathroom or changing out clothes they would purposely say "feel at ease, we do not want to sit here, but we must follow orders."We protested against this to the chief of the cages, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Nhan, but he said nothing. Across from the tiger cages are the outdoor toilets which continuously send out bad smells. Each gust of wind brings the dust from the toilets and covers our head, eyes and nose as well as our food and water. At night we could not sleep because of the cold, the mosquitoes, our dirty clothes, thirst, and because of the trustees sleeping above our heads. Each day they allowed us to empty our latrine bucket once. Just one of us was allowed to carry the bucket. Though the bucket did not contain much , it was heavy like a block of stone (because it is made of fresh wood and covered thickly with black asphalt). Because of our weak health, we tried to drag the bucket. If we happened to spill some of the contents, we were immediately punished. Sometimes when some of us got diarrhea or cholera, we asked them to let us empty the bucket immediately, but they refused. The bucket held three liters and sometimes we had to go to the bathroom in our wash basins. The narrow and hot cells always smelled of excrement and urine, sometimes mixed with the nauseous smell of the menstruation which arises after 24 hours of being deprived from washing. For months we only had a thin suit of clothes. We had to tear off our sleeves to use as sanitary napkins. Thanks to some who wore 2 pants at the time we came, we were able to have "mobile" pants to use and wash our pants. For months, each day we were only given a bucket of water to use to wash our faces and our sanitary bucket at the same time. In some cells, the prisoners had to leave the bucket unwashed or use a damp cloth to wipe out the bucket. When going to the bathroom, we tried to sneak a can of water to wash ourselves afterwards. Each time they caught us they would swear at us: " You cows and buffalo women" or "you stone-cared women." One mother who had a two-month old baby could not feed him because she herself did not have enough to eat. Without water to wash the baby, she had to tear her clothes to wipe the baby. Without sanitation and through lack of food, the baby lost considerable weight and was seriously sick. Director Ve at the time felt obliged to send the baby back to the mainland. On his return to the mainland. Dung's the baby's eyes were runny because of the lime that was thrown on him. Each day the opened the cell door, flies came into the cell in swarms. At night the bugs creeped all over the walls and mosquitoes made a kind of music flying around and sucking the prisoners' blood until the morning. There were thousands of mosquitoes and bugs, their bellies swelling wit the blood they sucked until they could not fly or creep anymore. Ants and worms also bit us, our bodies itched and we had festers from our scratching. Each week we were allowed to wash ourselves only three times. Each tie they gave us five minutes, time enough to quickly undress and pour one or two cans of water over our bodies. Sometimes before we could put our clothes on trustees would push the door open and come in with their whips, looking at us naked, swearing and kicking over the bucket and remaining water, not allowing us to continue to wash our clothes. When we were in menstruation period, they only allowed us to wash our clothes once each 24 hours. And each time we must show the trustee the bloody water we wash our clothes with. The Vietnamese women are usually ashamed when they have to let their mothers and sister know about it ... and yet we have to show to the trustees our dirty clothes in order to get permission to wash them. Without enough water and enough time to wash, we must cut our hair short or shave our heads completely. The Vietnamese women consider their long hair short or shave our heads completely. The Vietnamese women consider their long hair something precious. Nhan and Sum. the top trustees had some of the women shackled because " the (women) disturb thee peace by shaving their heads" The inadequate conditions at Con Don have caused many of us to suffer diseases such as: intestinal and stomach disorders, diarrhea, cholera, malaria, T.B., hemorrhoids, typhoid, dropsy, paralysis, eye disease, open wounds, and particularly a disease called " vomiting excrements" ( because after months of being unable to go to the bathroom, and without medical treatment, we vomited the excrement). Through lack of medicine our diseased increased and we were transferred to the clinics. When any of us fell in serious illness and when we called for emergency, not only did the trustees do nothing but they (especially Sum and Man) also threatened to throw lime on us and swore: " This is a cattle cage." "These and brick and lime kilns" "If you do not obey and if you keep demanding things, we'll give you more lime dust." "Death is common in Con Son. If you die, we'll send you to the cemetery of Hang Duong." " Medicine is given ten days only. Don't ask for more." One of the women had cholera and called for the nurses. However, not only did they not send any nurse down, but they accused her of being a "peace disturber" and shackled her arms and legs to an iron bar. So she lied there in the midst of feces. The women must tear off their clothes to clean her. Not until she fainted did they take her to the dispensary. When a prisoner was too ill and had a brain attack (madness) Sum and Man ordered her shackled for disturbing order and took advantage of her situation to attack her body. Each time there was someone sick in the cell and calling for medicine and a nurse, (WOMEN cont. on page 17)