oe SEUN WE ~ 8 RAE MURPHY I HANOI a ew : j ie EARLY years of the J | tres “EMtury, -an Empress ait pace gave birth to a lye oF ild was sleeping on ie Emperor as he : pete’: dream, or- tify). nstruction of a te ¢,P8G0da — the Pagoda d ‘Rg aan Today this fam- a of lotus flowers y banana and the . 0 tree, . tT the | ot the Original pagoda. * cUltue Missionaries of west- this and civilization to im teg 4nd “withdrew, they Vth ; Usue a of the French has Sach’ d by the Americans, 8 tp -Y the Vietnamese the y eCeive their bombs Boda: This not far from Wee: the shores of the “ake, the mobile AY the sme are being set oon wy warmth of the | lake. Wwe make our way Par} NO ¥ that adjoins the lake h Mameg atk. I am told ty oS for two reas- W oun, Ric fe Puilt the parle and it ' ’VietnantVorite place for F nd ‘there couples to sit phat atten. evenings. The » Seng hee presented a 4 ight out one that can its», -Dto this city and Ple are fighting. + Stands as it did then,. © original shrine. , On. every bench sat a young couple, arms about each other, looking out over the water; per- haps watching the several small sampans fishing on the quiet lake. Perhaps they weren't watching the fishermen, but they were oblivious to the hurried movements of the army around them, as temporary communica- tion lines were being strung and the sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons were brought into place. On the opposite side of the road, other citizens sat around outdoor tables drinking beer. and lemonade, eating ban tom, (shrimp rolled with spices in a bean cake patty and deep fried). At times the noise from. the laughter at the buffet ap- peared to drown out the rumble of the convoy of half-trackers and troop carriers. The war in Vietnam is a war for life, and the people seem in- tent on living and enjoying life as they can; at the same time they fight. I have been told by pedple who know, that Hanoi is. now protected with a ring of - concentrated fire power that sur-. passes the defences of Moscow in 1941. One can see this every- where and that which one can’t see is no doubt the most impres- sive. The Americans are paying a high price in their attempts to destroy this city and kill its people. © : Thave now met a few of these people. Hoag Lien, is a heart doctor who seems to be scarcely into “ta # fata a Protected by ‘a ‘ring of fire power that surpasses the defences of Moscow in Tribune | When will it end? her thirties, but who fought against the French and whose home city is Dalat in the south. “Dalat is three times as beautiful as Hanoi, but’I haven’t seen it for over 20 years. My parents are there and so is a sister, but of course I hayen’t been in con- tact with them. Not even-a pic- ture.” Hoag Lien, which means yellow lotus, has three sons stu- dying in different schools, all evacuated, and.her husband is in the south fighting somewhere. -She fondles a little child whom she looks after while the girl’s mother works. “Life seems empty for me with my family away, but there is my work and I keep busy.” | > ‘I asked when she thinks the war will end. She merely shrugs ‘— “maybe five, maybe seven years. I think longer though.” We talk of wages, rents and rations. President Ho is the high- est paid citizen—240 dong each month. One dong is roughly 30 cents and rents are fixed at one percent of wages. “You mean President Ho only pays about two and a half dong rent for that palace in which he lives . . . pretty cheap rent” I say. She laughs: “I pay one dong for my quarters. That’s cheap also.” Clothing, rice .and meat are rationed here. Eggs and fruit among other staples are not, The quantity of rations vary according to age, and occupation and seem quite enough. Most of the agriculture is _organized « in cooperatives and there are mar- kets where the farmers can sell their surplus produce without s* —— 1941.” Site: VOL. 28, NO. 46 SS” 10c Abandoned French pillbox—“monument to military futility”. regard to ration restrictions. No- body I spoke to could recall the - price of rice on the free market, _ vestiges of authority of the pup- which is a further indication that - the ration of food staples are adequate, My discussion with Hoag Lien drifts on until she says she must ‘take the child home to her empty house, — The girl who serves my table has a -beautiful oval face, with almond eyes; perhaps she weighs eighty pounds soaking wet. This morning with others of the hotel, - she was practicing rifle firing: in the courtyard behind the building. She picked up her rifle, rested herself on the ground and fired three shots in rapid succession - at a ‘target about one hundred yards ‘away. The first shot was erratic, but the other two came close’ to the mark. Later I of- fered my congratulations. “I am a poor shot, my-friends are much better,” she, said. “T° serve the revolution mainly by serving guests at the hotel. In Vietnam, everyone's work is. im portant.” ; There are two wars in Viet- nam. There is the air war here, which I was reminded of as I was interviewing somebody here to the accompanyment of the sound of bombs and artillery about ten miles away, and there is the air and land war in the south, — : I have had a long and interest- ing discussion with the head of the South Vietnam Liberation Front mission in Hanoi. He spoke mainly of the struggle in the south in relation to its politi- cal and military aspects. The NLF recently held a congress which adopted a new political program. This remarkable document is beamed in particular to the city dwellers in the south, the work- ers in the first place but also great attention is placed on the middle strata in the urban areas. I was told that in the few weeks since the program has been in circulation a sensation has been caused, and many overtures to- wards national reconciliation are being carefully tended. As all ¥ pet regime crumble, the political struggle will grow and assume immediate importance. The military situation is more complex. The NLF has grown stronger and has the initiative on the battlefield, although Ameri- can fire power and tactical mo- ‘bility: is an awesome -force.. The . ‘Americans, being forced on the. ° defensive, cannot police -the countryside. They are forced to ' commit many of the mistakes made by the French. One can still see, all over the north, the French pill-boxes and defensive positions. These monuments to military futility. are well con- structed. . Never-the-less — the weeds and trees are forcing the brickwork to crumble. In their Qwn way they look like shrines to forgotten religions. © -@ I was told to be careful draw- ing too many analogies between the French and Americans. Ame- ‘ricans control the air; their say- age use of defoliants and toxic chemicals and their mobility are made possible by the helicopter. I was also told on several: occa- ’- sions that the Americans don’t fight like the French did either. The French had roots in Viet- nam that went back over one hundred years. They knew Viet- nam. and they knew the Viet- namese; they especially knew how the Vietnamese fought and many of the French fought to keep something they felt was theirs. This is not: s® with U.S. soldiers who know nothing about Vietnam and really care only to get home alive. This naturally saps the morale. I asked about possible nego- tiations and used the term, “face savers.” My friend just smiled and said, “there will be a time for such things, but the Ameri- can’s know they still have many cards to play.” ' : On my mind constantly are the prospects for peace. I am sure it is on the minds of most of you who read this. The an- swer to that question however - does not lie in Vietnam but rath- er in Washington. :