puzzles me why so many of us choose to play dumb and not accept obvious facts and realities. In the end, it won't be disease, natural disasters, or war that will destroy us, but forced stupidity. Nothing is worst than knowing something yet having to convince oneself otherwise. That just gives the rest of the world more opportunities to laugh at and spit on us as a people. I only hope future generations of Viets will overcome this by realizing actual truths, face truths in order to solve.
were harassed had nothing to do with either sides of the war, some were even clearly pro-South but would be wrongly accused, and then punished, if not killed. So, if you think that then was a democracy where citizens enjoyed so much freedom, then, uh, why don't you enlighten me & many others,and please inform me just what EXACTLY were the freedoms the people of South VN had back then? You can lie if you have to. Go on!!! For me, I know VN's govt now sucks, but so did the SVN govt back then.
On a final note, I must conclude that I do have the utmost respect for Vietnamese people. However, I am not blind to our shortcomings. If you think about, a country blessed with plenty of natural resources, arable land, etc., Vietnam really should not be as poor as it is. Some can blame the powers, wars, whatever, but the real reason for the country's lies within the people and this social evil comprised of hypocrisy, denial and conscious ignorance. Viets have always been smart folks. It ..
Again, such freedom, eh? Before 1975, only a very selected few, comparable to handfuls of Viet citizens, in a country with a population in the millions, could obtain a passport and travel abroad. It was virtually impossible to have a passport, unless you were extremely rich, or were connected with those in power. Uh, freedom? Villages in the South, neighborhoods in cities of the South; many would be harassed by the ARVN and/ or anti-VC paranoid extremists regularly! Many of those that ...
So how does that make me a liar? And secondly, according to you I also lied about Viet locals not having much freedom back then. Gee, since you're 68 yo, were you not around during the Diem elections? Gee, he won with 100% of the votes! Wow, if you can't see that that was rigged, then I don't see a point in validating anything you say! Elections rigged, people's votes not counting.... Gee, that's freedom? Under Diem's regime, only Roman Catholic Viets could hold state jobs, not Buddhists..
Lechinhluan, this is my last comment! I have read that the members of the CBC band fled Vietnam due to several reasons. The primary one being the uncertainty of the outcome of the war and also there had been suspicions conjured up by both sides on young artists of the day in Saigon, a witchhunt from the anti-VC radicals of the South, and naturally, the repercussions they would have to face with the communist North after being defeated. This witchhunt on both sides occurred often. (cont...)
I don't think anyone w/ half a brain & had lived through the war (this is referring to those that were old enough) would disagree with my comments. If you don't feel that South Vietnam was a country of corruption, then, my friend, you deserve nothing less than my utmost pity. Now that does not make me in any way a supporter of the regime today in Vietnam. It's just that I won't play into that distorted bullshit image of how utopic pre-'75 Saigon was, like those in denial would claim.
Got your message. Thanks for the input. I would have answered you through email but since your message came from YouTube I wasn't able to. If you provide any info on the singers or song writers before 1975 I'll appreciate it.
I've always thought that CBC band was the best rock band in SVN. However, I've never seen them on any stage of Asia, Paris by Night, Hollywood, Van Son, etc.. Could anyone care to explain to me why. Thanks!
A great video! Yeah, people were freely enjoying music until communist invaded S. Vietnam that made many great musicians and singers finding ways to escape from Vietnam.
nice comment, my friend, but I'm afraid you're like so many other Vietnamese who remember or heard about the pre'75 years; painting Saigon as a utopia and a democracy that never really existed. I was born in 72 so I was too young to experience it personally, but what I've learned from my mother who is Vietnamese and my Father, an American, and along with what I've gathered from singers from that era I've become acquainted with, it was far from utopic. We were a country at war, though...
Saigon & other big cities were spared from the fighting that took place in the jungle, everyday, funerals were held on the streets of saigon as the families mourned over a loss of their young son in combat, danger always seemed imminent so a curfew was strictly enforced, singers & those in the nightlife industry were locked down at their workplace like prisoners & unable to go home each night since closing time was after the curfew, it wasn't uncommon at all to hear the loudness of bombs...
would override the live music so much that everyone would have to stop everything including the band and the music until the awful noise went away, a constant reminder of the turmoil in Vietnam. these young men during R & R and the young women, Viets & Americans crowded the nightclubs nightly in Saigon trying to live it up, uncertain of what tomorrow will be like or even if a tomorrow would come. at war, south vietnam's government was corrupt, more like a dictatorship than a democracy..
aside from the economic freedoms benefitting the nightlife and a few other industries, club owners became wealthy as war profiteers, Viet singers for the first time were paid in US Dollars working at GI clubs making more than in the past singing at Viet cabarets, the red light district boomed, But besides the monetary factor, Viet locals didn't have much freedom. a witchhunt for VC supporters constantly went on, saying the wrong thing could land you in jail or shot, even this band, the CBC...
fell victim to the paranoid witchhunt, as they were falsely accused of being VC sympathizers and were banned from performing live anywhere in Vietnam, they had to even run from the South Vietnamese authorities fleeing to Thailand in 74 in order to avoid persecution! I don't believe in communism, but pre'75 Saigon didn't seem much like a democracy and the people of South Vietnam never really had much freedom.
"...you're like so many other Vietnamese who remember or heard about the pre'75 years..." No...No I am not a history reader but I was a "lucky" witness who had lived as a young ager before and after 1975. If I was born in America, I probably have had same thoughts as yours. You were right one thing. Yes, corruption exists everywhere especially in those developing countries like Vietnam. Back in 1960's S. Vietnam did have an effective leader who was educated in US.
His name is Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was not a best leader but he was better than any other leader in Vietnam and other Asian Countries during that era. From the begining, he did not want American's strategic war of fighting communists by sending American troops to VN.
thanks for your replies to my comments. i just want to make it clear with you that i had no intention of insulting you with what i wrote. i am happy that we are exercising our constitutional rights as americans, just like i firmly support our vietnamese-American communites in all their many rallies and demonstrations, as long as they are peaceful. they have a right to do so-that i support. what i don't support is absurdity, when reality is bunched up with fantasy (continuted)
which equates ignorance, if not hipocrisy. for example, at these anti-communist, pro-democracy rallies i've seen on many occasions Viet folks, young and old, carrying signs that read "Restore" or "Bring Back" Democracy for Vietnam. i can't help but to wonder, what planet are these people from? like i've said, looking back at our history, vietnam never had a democracy. before '75, the short period when vietnam wasn't under either chinese or french domination (continued)
what so many of us consider the "free state" of vietnam, the South, known as the Republic of Vietnam, was an aristocracy at its best. ravaged by war, the country depended heavily upon the US militarily and economically. the North, the communist state, claimed they were the "free state" because they did away with the french, and didn't play puppet state to America, when in fact, the Viet Cong heavily depended on the Soviet Bloc which continued on for almost 2 decades after the war. Neither
sides were free. during 1954-75 period, the french colonists were driven out only to be replaced by the US & the Soviet Union super powers. No independence, corrupt leadership, and war... just what from the past should be "restored" or "brought back"? the message i'm trying to send out to some of our fellow viet-americans is "GET REAL!" you had said, "If I was born in America, I'd probably have the same thoughts as you..." I must specify that I, also, was born in South Vietnam. (cont)
like you, i also witnessed life under communist vietnam after '75. the war had separated my parents, as my mother and i had to endure 3 hard years in communist vietnam. i was still a child when we left VN in '78, but what i remember still haunts me today. my mother being part-French, me being half-American, we were easy targets for the VC regimes to terrorize. our only means to survive was to sell off our possessions one-by-one, if it hadn't been confiscated already by the VC (cont)
my mother & i watched as our house, once filled with furniture & appliances quickly turn into an empty shack. Even the empty, unfurnished shack would be taken away from us when we were "asked" to leave the country and "repatriate" to France in 1978. The VC regime had wanted to rid VN of all foreigners, including Viet-born half-breeds w/ French, Indian, etc. blood. They were to be deported & sent back to their fatherlands, all but the half-American kids because the VC had no ties w/the US then
so we left for france, as our house, all our remaining valuables back in VN would shamelessly go to the hands of the VC. This sort of thing happened before to my French great-grandparents during the Diem regime, as they were driven out of VN in the early Sixties. My family in VN had been shit on from all sides, the French, the Republic South, the VCs, and even the Americans. By the way, Diem was not an effective leader, he was a US handpicked puppet leader. during his years, South VN (cont)
and its economy flourished only because of money pumped by the US. As long as Diem remained the quiet, obedient puppet, the money would continue to flow, but he spoke up, and got himself killed. Diem was NOT educated in America, he went to college in Hanoi. His only previous background in politics was his involvement in anti-Viet Minh activities & the brief terms in civil service as an appointed mandarin. in 1950, fearing persecutions from the Viet Minh, Bao Dai, and French forces, he fled
to Italy, then ended up in America in exile living at a seminary in New Jersey. As he befriended the right-wing Catholic church in the US, he was appointed as consultant to the University of Michigan Government Research dept. He was no fit leader. His being handpicked to lead South VN's US crafted puppet regime largely due to his ties with Christian extremists, as he was favored over the Buddhist "heathens". He hardly spoke any English, a dead giveaway he wasn't educated in the U.S.
@lassley: Do you remember which district you're from when you're in Vietnam? I had a friend in 1st (or 2nd?) grade who sounds just like you. He has a sister and his home had a butler.
yes i do. my family lived on the first district of Saigon on Vo Tanh street. My grandmother was the owner of Au Ma Cabane nightclub located on the first district as well right next to the Au Baccarat nightclub.
His name is Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was not a best leader but he was better than any other leader in Vietnam and other Asian Countries during that era. From the begining, he did not want American's strategic war of fighting communists by sending American troops to VN.
I really don't agree the way Presidents Kennedy and Nixon handling war in Vietnam. I believe today American politicians already learned a big lesson from Vietnam War. The way they handling N. Korea (6 parties talk rather 2 parties talk as of Geneva between only America and N. Vietnam).
lassley, you lied. The CBC left Vietnam to avoid the communists because they knew in advance that the South VN would fall. They were not accused by the SVN governemt. A lot of things you wrote about SVN were incorrect.
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yes, it's been documented that the CBC had left a year in advance before the Fall of Saigon because somehow they were notified ahead of time and knew of what will happen the following year, and so they fled a year earlier than the first wave of Vietnamese "to-be" former nationals, bla bla bla! You mean to tell me that is completely believable? Personally, that is nothing more than a load of crap-- a pop music band, despite that they were part of a group of artists that participated (continued)
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in various politically-themed marches and movements, i.e. anti-war rallies, anti-VC marches, etc.-- that they would be the chosen ones somehow to be given such info of what will happen in the future, when and where this war would end? Bullshit! If you buy that, then let me ask you, why is it the rest of the world was not aware of this info, i.e. my own uncle, an American who worked in Saigon at the U.S, embassy until '75, even he didn't know when the war would be over... especially during 1974
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my own uncle has told me that nobody knew what was going to happen until it did! the only thing anyone could obviously see after the US troops withdrew, were evident signs of the North edging in, but when the Fall of Saigon would take place beforehand exactly, was all a mystery and everybody still kept hoping that the outcome would be different. This is not to discredit the CBC family, but it's obvious that they had to say that when interviewed. It was a fact that many artists fell victim to
the paranoid witchhunt that went on in the South, by the fanatical anti-VC extremists. Ask any of them, and they'll tell you that it wasn't so rare for a singer that was singing and working at the USO for US military personnel at night, to be questioned by these fanatical anti-Commie witchhunters at an anti-war demonstration! If you were opposed to violence and didn't believe in all the killings, you could be branded as a sympathizer to commies or even a VC! Therefore, it was a difficult time
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for everybody and both sides, North and South, weren't without their flaws and bad qualities. Given my background, I am in no way the slightest fan of the VC's, but my criticism of South VN prior to 75 does not make me a sympathizer to them, either. I just won't stand for hypocrisy, which is what many of my fellow former South Vietnamese former nationals have been brainwashed with, as they think Saigon prior to '75 was some healthy democracy. But you can't accept what I've gathered as truth
and accuse me of lying. Well, then, please specify what were the "lies" I've told. Perhaps you have been given such valued info, much like the CBC back in 74, info that I apparently am ignorant of, so please, enlighten me and prove me wrong! Otherwise, quit talking out of your ass mr. lechinhluan, because you've fallen victim to being brainwashed, as well, because according to you Saigon back then was this utopic, marvelous democratic paradise! Isn't that right?
American soldiers receive better trainings, equipments, especially higher morality than ever before. As for me, I had lived and tasted lives under communism; therefore, I would do whatever I can to support this country in fighting for its freedom and promoting its democracy around the world.
That led N. VC having a reason of so-called "liberating S. Vietnam from Emperalist America". President J. Kennedy and CIA knew about the coup but America just wanted Diem to step down. Unfortunately, he was horifically killed.
Great performance. She has an amazing voice! So raunchy and great! Love this band!!!
denisethepainter 1 month ago
LOVE IT, BICK LOAN ROCK! AND ALSO HIPPI,;)
justfriend8 2 months ago
Great song & awesome performance.
squirtad 3 months ago
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i always thought this song should've been played by jabba the hutt's band in his palace
perryhall1991 5 months ago
Comment removed
perryhall1991 5 months ago
CBC rocks.!!
lambomong1 8 months ago
Saw them when I was in Saigon in 72
MrHarley001 9 months ago
This is what youtube is for! To hear and see great music like this that I wouldn't have otherwise.
swinebread 10 months ago
Greetings from Czech republic.This sound is very nice.
RadoRadimir 10 months ago
càng nghe càng thấy hay!
monguocthaibinh 11 months ago
bài này càng nghe càng thấy hay!
monguocthaibinh 11 months ago
troi oi, bai nay nghe may chuc nam bay gio moi biet duoc mat ca si. thay luc xua , ho rat bui bam va dep tu nhien. that cam on nguoi post.
theXboyboy 1 year ago
can anyone translate the lyrics to this track? it's so good. i'd love to know what bich loan is singing...
ranaghose 1 year ago
i really wanted to rock that beat ..
awesome collaboration ...
bboyHungjuse 1 year ago
awesome!!! real viet musik :)
givemeagain3111 1 year ago
Killer track, can't enough of it!
Tight drums and slashing wah-fuzz, the wild acid funk sound that I dig!
domidom666 1 year ago
hell yeah
octopusmime 1 year ago
VIET ROCKSSS
twentynothing 1 year ago
simply adorable! I love them.
namcasithienphu 1 year ago
yeah, Vietnamese Janis Joplin !
mhungrocker 1 year ago
lassley, just enjoy the music please. bring your political discussions somewhere else.
lucirz 2 years ago
lassey quit being an attention whore ur the one who sound like a douche its me this me that . stfu mat lon
dannyvoltron 2 years ago 5
Oooh,too much r'n'r going on here!cant have that,cos "charlies dont surf"remember?haha,we (charlies can surf some)right?oh hi lassley,wanna talk?
kukladbob 2 years ago
Sum 1 Need To Give Lassey A Coke And Shut The Fuck Off . We Dont Care Wat U Think, Either Enjoy The Vid Or Not
dannyvoltron 2 years ago 3
dannyvoltron, I care what I think, you shut the fuck up!
lassley 2 years ago
That what we call music
972musiclover 2 years ago
Yes, I really like this singer, Bich Loan, and cbc. Are they still playing?
skitrekker 2 years ago
Is Bich Loan still playing with CBC and to they have any DVD's?
nufu100 2 years ago
her voice sounds Mai Le Huyen
MrRiverha 2 years ago
before 1975 the South Vietnam was real freedom !! thank you lord
dongvanpham 2 years ago
puzzles me why so many of us choose to play dumb and not accept obvious facts and realities. In the end, it won't be disease, natural disasters, or war that will destroy us, but forced stupidity. Nothing is worst than knowing something yet having to convince oneself otherwise. That just gives the rest of the world more opportunities to laugh at and spit on us as a people. I only hope future generations of Viets will overcome this by realizing actual truths, face truths in order to solve.
lassley 2 years ago
were harassed had nothing to do with either sides of the war, some were even clearly pro-South but would be wrongly accused, and then punished, if not killed. So, if you think that then was a democracy where citizens enjoyed so much freedom, then, uh, why don't you enlighten me & many others,and please inform me just what EXACTLY were the freedoms the people of South VN had back then? You can lie if you have to. Go on!!! For me, I know VN's govt now sucks, but so did the SVN govt back then.
lassley 2 years ago
On a final note, I must conclude that I do have the utmost respect for Vietnamese people. However, I am not blind to our shortcomings. If you think about, a country blessed with plenty of natural resources, arable land, etc., Vietnam really should not be as poor as it is. Some can blame the powers, wars, whatever, but the real reason for the country's lies within the people and this social evil comprised of hypocrisy, denial and conscious ignorance. Viets have always been smart folks. It ..
lassley 2 years ago
Again, such freedom, eh? Before 1975, only a very selected few, comparable to handfuls of Viet citizens, in a country with a population in the millions, could obtain a passport and travel abroad. It was virtually impossible to have a passport, unless you were extremely rich, or were connected with those in power. Uh, freedom? Villages in the South, neighborhoods in cities of the South; many would be harassed by the ARVN and/ or anti-VC paranoid extremists regularly! Many of those that ...
lassley 2 years ago
So how does that make me a liar? And secondly, according to you I also lied about Viet locals not having much freedom back then. Gee, since you're 68 yo, were you not around during the Diem elections? Gee, he won with 100% of the votes! Wow, if you can't see that that was rigged, then I don't see a point in validating anything you say! Elections rigged, people's votes not counting.... Gee, that's freedom? Under Diem's regime, only Roman Catholic Viets could hold state jobs, not Buddhists..
lassley 2 years ago
Lechinhluan, this is my last comment! I have read that the members of the CBC band fled Vietnam due to several reasons. The primary one being the uncertainty of the outcome of the war and also there had been suspicions conjured up by both sides on young artists of the day in Saigon, a witchhunt from the anti-VC radicals of the South, and naturally, the repercussions they would have to face with the communist North after being defeated. This witchhunt on both sides occurred often. (cont...)
lassley 2 years ago
CBC the best ... remind me QueenBee
greno95 2 years ago
lassley wrote "Viet locals didn't have much freedom". You lied.
lechinhluan 2 years ago
I don't think anyone w/ half a brain & had lived through the war (this is referring to those that were old enough) would disagree with my comments. If you don't feel that South Vietnam was a country of corruption, then, my friend, you deserve nothing less than my utmost pity. Now that does not make me in any way a supporter of the regime today in Vietnam. It's just that I won't play into that distorted bullshit image of how utopic pre-'75 Saigon was, like those in denial would claim.
lassley 2 years ago
You lied 2 things: CBC did not leave VN because they were accused as VC by SVN gov, 2nd Viet locals didn't have much freedom was wrong.
lechinhluan 2 years ago
They ROCK!!!
mercedess500 2 years ago
CBC YOu Rocks !
Forzanuccii 3 years ago
Thanks WaPow132.
paulle8 3 years ago
I love it when Tuy Hoa starts to dance, so classic
WaPow132 3 years ago
wowo they are better than almost every rock band in vietnam today hahaha long live old school!
lucirz 3 years ago 2
This is so BADASS!!! Viet-Rock circa '71, fools!
califilms1999 3 years ago
'75!
califilms1999 3 years ago
didn't they leave vietnam in 74'? because of rising tensions of the war
WaPow132 3 years ago
Yo, lassley!
Got your message. Thanks for the input. I would have answered you through email but since your message came from YouTube I wasn't able to. If you provide any info on the singers or song writers before 1975 I'll appreciate it.
Thanks.
bacthan 3 years ago
Xin cám ơn mọi ý kiến đóng góp của qúy vị.
bacthan 3 years ago
... và nếu rảnh xin qúy vị bỏ chút ít thời gian ghé qua trang nhà nhacvangvietnam chấm com để trang mình lên rank luôn. Xin cám ơn.
bacthan 3 years ago
@bacthan .xin bạn đăng lên những bài nhạc vàng thêm nhiều nhé!mình rất hâm mộ bạn lắm! vì mình thích nhất là nhạc vàng,
monguocthaibinh 11 months ago
I've always thought that CBC band was the best rock band in SVN. However, I've never seen them on any stage of Asia, Paris by Night, Hollywood, Van Son, etc.. Could anyone care to explain to me why. Thanks!
paulle8 3 years ago
They were featured once on Paris By Night 4 in 1987
WaPow132 3 years ago
A great video! Yeah, people were freely enjoying music until communist invaded S. Vietnam that made many great musicians and singers finding ways to escape from Vietnam.
hungtdao 3 years ago
nice comment, my friend, but I'm afraid you're like so many other Vietnamese who remember or heard about the pre'75 years; painting Saigon as a utopia and a democracy that never really existed. I was born in 72 so I was too young to experience it personally, but what I've learned from my mother who is Vietnamese and my Father, an American, and along with what I've gathered from singers from that era I've become acquainted with, it was far from utopic. We were a country at war, though...
lassley 3 years ago
Saigon & other big cities were spared from the fighting that took place in the jungle, everyday, funerals were held on the streets of saigon as the families mourned over a loss of their young son in combat, danger always seemed imminent so a curfew was strictly enforced, singers & those in the nightlife industry were locked down at their workplace like prisoners & unable to go home each night since closing time was after the curfew, it wasn't uncommon at all to hear the loudness of bombs...
lassley 3 years ago
would override the live music so much that everyone would have to stop everything including the band and the music until the awful noise went away, a constant reminder of the turmoil in Vietnam. these young men during R & R and the young women, Viets & Americans crowded the nightclubs nightly in Saigon trying to live it up, uncertain of what tomorrow will be like or even if a tomorrow would come. at war, south vietnam's government was corrupt, more like a dictatorship than a democracy..
lassley 3 years ago
aside from the economic freedoms benefitting the nightlife and a few other industries, club owners became wealthy as war profiteers, Viet singers for the first time were paid in US Dollars working at GI clubs making more than in the past singing at Viet cabarets, the red light district boomed, But besides the monetary factor, Viet locals didn't have much freedom. a witchhunt for VC supporters constantly went on, saying the wrong thing could land you in jail or shot, even this band, the CBC...
lassley 3 years ago
fell victim to the paranoid witchhunt, as they were falsely accused of being VC sympathizers and were banned from performing live anywhere in Vietnam, they had to even run from the South Vietnamese authorities fleeing to Thailand in 74 in order to avoid persecution! I don't believe in communism, but pre'75 Saigon didn't seem much like a democracy and the people of South Vietnam never really had much freedom.
lassley 3 years ago
"...you're like so many other Vietnamese who remember or heard about the pre'75 years..." No...No I am not a history reader but I was a "lucky" witness who had lived as a young ager before and after 1975. If I was born in America, I probably have had same thoughts as yours. You were right one thing. Yes, corruption exists everywhere especially in those developing countries like Vietnam. Back in 1960's S. Vietnam did have an effective leader who was educated in US.
hungtdao 3 years ago
His name is Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was not a best leader but he was better than any other leader in Vietnam and other Asian Countries during that era. From the begining, he did not want American's strategic war of fighting communists by sending American troops to VN.
hungtdao 3 years ago
thanks for your replies to my comments. i just want to make it clear with you that i had no intention of insulting you with what i wrote. i am happy that we are exercising our constitutional rights as americans, just like i firmly support our vietnamese-American communites in all their many rallies and demonstrations, as long as they are peaceful. they have a right to do so-that i support. what i don't support is absurdity, when reality is bunched up with fantasy (continuted)
lassley 3 years ago
which equates ignorance, if not hipocrisy. for example, at these anti-communist, pro-democracy rallies i've seen on many occasions Viet folks, young and old, carrying signs that read "Restore" or "Bring Back" Democracy for Vietnam. i can't help but to wonder, what planet are these people from? like i've said, looking back at our history, vietnam never had a democracy. before '75, the short period when vietnam wasn't under either chinese or french domination (continued)
lassley 3 years ago
what so many of us consider the "free state" of vietnam, the South, known as the Republic of Vietnam, was an aristocracy at its best. ravaged by war, the country depended heavily upon the US militarily and economically. the North, the communist state, claimed they were the "free state" because they did away with the french, and didn't play puppet state to America, when in fact, the Viet Cong heavily depended on the Soviet Bloc which continued on for almost 2 decades after the war. Neither
lassley 3 years ago
sides were free. during 1954-75 period, the french colonists were driven out only to be replaced by the US & the Soviet Union super powers. No independence, corrupt leadership, and war... just what from the past should be "restored" or "brought back"? the message i'm trying to send out to some of our fellow viet-americans is "GET REAL!" you had said, "If I was born in America, I'd probably have the same thoughts as you..." I must specify that I, also, was born in South Vietnam. (cont)
lassley 3 years ago
like you, i also witnessed life under communist vietnam after '75. the war had separated my parents, as my mother and i had to endure 3 hard years in communist vietnam. i was still a child when we left VN in '78, but what i remember still haunts me today. my mother being part-French, me being half-American, we were easy targets for the VC regimes to terrorize. our only means to survive was to sell off our possessions one-by-one, if it hadn't been confiscated already by the VC (cont)
lassley 3 years ago
my mother & i watched as our house, once filled with furniture & appliances quickly turn into an empty shack. Even the empty, unfurnished shack would be taken away from us when we were "asked" to leave the country and "repatriate" to France in 1978. The VC regime had wanted to rid VN of all foreigners, including Viet-born half-breeds w/ French, Indian, etc. blood. They were to be deported & sent back to their fatherlands, all but the half-American kids because the VC had no ties w/the US then
lassley 3 years ago
so we left for france, as our house, all our remaining valuables back in VN would shamelessly go to the hands of the VC. This sort of thing happened before to my French great-grandparents during the Diem regime, as they were driven out of VN in the early Sixties. My family in VN had been shit on from all sides, the French, the Republic South, the VCs, and even the Americans. By the way, Diem was not an effective leader, he was a US handpicked puppet leader. during his years, South VN (cont)
lassley 3 years ago
and its economy flourished only because of money pumped by the US. As long as Diem remained the quiet, obedient puppet, the money would continue to flow, but he spoke up, and got himself killed. Diem was NOT educated in America, he went to college in Hanoi. His only previous background in politics was his involvement in anti-Viet Minh activities & the brief terms in civil service as an appointed mandarin. in 1950, fearing persecutions from the Viet Minh, Bao Dai, and French forces, he fled
lassley 3 years ago
to Italy, then ended up in America in exile living at a seminary in New Jersey. As he befriended the right-wing Catholic church in the US, he was appointed as consultant to the University of Michigan Government Research dept. He was no fit leader. His being handpicked to lead South VN's US crafted puppet regime largely due to his ties with Christian extremists, as he was favored over the Buddhist "heathens". He hardly spoke any English, a dead giveaway he wasn't educated in the U.S.
lassley 3 years ago
@lassley: Do you remember which district you're from when you're in Vietnam? I had a friend in 1st (or 2nd?) grade who sounds just like you. He has a sister and his home had a butler.
bacthan 3 years ago
yes i do. my family lived on the first district of Saigon on Vo Tanh street. My grandmother was the owner of Au Ma Cabane nightclub located on the first district as well right next to the Au Baccarat nightclub.
lassley 3 years ago
His name is Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was not a best leader but he was better than any other leader in Vietnam and other Asian Countries during that era. From the begining, he did not want American's strategic war of fighting communists by sending American troops to VN.
hungtdao 3 years ago
I really don't agree the way Presidents Kennedy and Nixon handling war in Vietnam. I believe today American politicians already learned a big lesson from Vietnam War. The way they handling N. Korea (6 parties talk rather 2 parties talk as of Geneva between only America and N. Vietnam).
hungtdao 3 years ago
lassley, you lied. The CBC left Vietnam to avoid the communists because they knew in advance that the South VN would fall. They were not accused by the SVN governemt. A lot of things you wrote about SVN were incorrect.
lechinhluan 2 years ago
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yes, it's been documented that the CBC had left a year in advance before the Fall of Saigon because somehow they were notified ahead of time and knew of what will happen the following year, and so they fled a year earlier than the first wave of Vietnamese "to-be" former nationals, bla bla bla! You mean to tell me that is completely believable? Personally, that is nothing more than a load of crap-- a pop music band, despite that they were part of a group of artists that participated (continued)
lassley 2 years ago
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in various politically-themed marches and movements, i.e. anti-war rallies, anti-VC marches, etc.-- that they would be the chosen ones somehow to be given such info of what will happen in the future, when and where this war would end? Bullshit! If you buy that, then let me ask you, why is it the rest of the world was not aware of this info, i.e. my own uncle, an American who worked in Saigon at the U.S, embassy until '75, even he didn't know when the war would be over... especially during 1974
lassley 2 years ago
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my own uncle has told me that nobody knew what was going to happen until it did! the only thing anyone could obviously see after the US troops withdrew, were evident signs of the North edging in, but when the Fall of Saigon would take place beforehand exactly, was all a mystery and everybody still kept hoping that the outcome would be different. This is not to discredit the CBC family, but it's obvious that they had to say that when interviewed. It was a fact that many artists fell victim to
lassley 2 years ago
the paranoid witchhunt that went on in the South, by the fanatical anti-VC extremists. Ask any of them, and they'll tell you that it wasn't so rare for a singer that was singing and working at the USO for US military personnel at night, to be questioned by these fanatical anti-Commie witchhunters at an anti-war demonstration! If you were opposed to violence and didn't believe in all the killings, you could be branded as a sympathizer to commies or even a VC! Therefore, it was a difficult time
lassley 2 years ago
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for everybody and both sides, North and South, weren't without their flaws and bad qualities. Given my background, I am in no way the slightest fan of the VC's, but my criticism of South VN prior to 75 does not make me a sympathizer to them, either. I just won't stand for hypocrisy, which is what many of my fellow former South Vietnamese former nationals have been brainwashed with, as they think Saigon prior to '75 was some healthy democracy. But you can't accept what I've gathered as truth
lassley 2 years ago
and accuse me of lying. Well, then, please specify what were the "lies" I've told. Perhaps you have been given such valued info, much like the CBC back in 74, info that I apparently am ignorant of, so please, enlighten me and prove me wrong! Otherwise, quit talking out of your ass mr. lechinhluan, because you've fallen victim to being brainwashed, as well, because according to you Saigon back then was this utopic, marvelous democratic paradise! Isn't that right?
lassley 2 years ago
American soldiers receive better trainings, equipments, especially higher morality than ever before. As for me, I had lived and tasted lives under communism; therefore, I would do whatever I can to support this country in fighting for its freedom and promoting its democracy around the world.
hungtdao 3 years ago
lol love you Bich Loan and love the band
love Kathy Hue too
lop7481 3 years ago
That led N. VC having a reason of so-called "liberating S. Vietnam from Emperalist America". President J. Kennedy and CIA knew about the coup but America just wanted Diem to step down. Unfortunately, he was horifically killed.
hungtdao 3 years ago
she is awesome. she sounds like janis joplin!
lassley 3 years ago
That's friggin AWSOME!!! Thanks!
jaws365 3 years ago
Wow...Great memory. CBC is always one of my favorite Vietnamese band. Thanks for the video
TylerTV 3 years ago 2
Thanks for posting this Video.
tuanthanhtdt 3 years ago 2