Part of Camp Davis (Source: The liaison board of Camp Davis) Hanoi (VNA) - Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dy Nien used to say that while the Paris conference on Vietnam was the success of a prolonged, difficult, and complicated diplomatic struggle, the fight to force the opponents to comply with the Paris Peace Accords was an extremely fierce battle of wits and arguments.
Stories about that battle were shared by some witnesses to history at a discussion held in Hanoi on April 25.
The event took place on the occasion of 50 years since the signing of the Paris Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam (the Paris Peace Accords) (January 27, 1973) and the 48th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day (April 30, 1975). It was held by the National Archives Centre No 3, the liaison board of war veterans at Camp Davis, and the Friends of Vietnam Heritage.
Colonel Dao Chi Cong speaks at the discussion. (Photo: VietnamPlus) Via the discussion, organisers hoped to express gratitude to the previous generations and recall stories about the implementation of the Paris Peace Accords, thus helping improve following generations’ awareness of and sense of responsibility towards upholding patriotism and traditions.
Colonel Dao Chi Cong, an officer for external affairs at the office of the military delegation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam and head of the liaison board of war veterans at Camp Davis, recalled that Camp Davis is an abandoned military camp of the US army located near Tan Son Nhat Airport to the southwest (now in ward 4 of Tan Binh district of Ho Chi Minh City).
It housed the military delegations of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam.
The discussion in Hanoi on April 25 (Photo: VietnamPlus) To isolate the two Vietnamese delegations, the US-backed Saigon administration surrounded Camp Davis with layers of barbed wire. It also erected 13 watch towers outside, pointed guns at the camp around the clock, and conducted numerous threatening activities to cause pressure on the two delegations.
“Though we had already anticipated the dangers of the political struggle amidst the “den” of the enemy, we didn’t think that difficulties came as soon as we travelled from Hanoi to Tan Son Nhat airport,” he recounted.
The Saigon administration demanded the delegation handle entry procedures as an implication that the Republic of Vietnam was a different nation.
“That was an irrational demand violating the Paris Peace Accords since Vietnam is a unified country. We resolutely opposed to that requirement,” Cong said.
At that time, the Saigon administration compromised but sent a car with a white flag planted on it to take the delegation to Camp Davis. Once again, the delegation showed objection since they came as a force to implement the Paris Agreement for the sake of peace, not as surrenders, he added.
At the discussion, participants also listened to many stories from Colonel Dinh Quoc Ky, a liaison officer of the delegation; Pham Van Lai, who planted the liberation flag atop the water tower of Camp Davis; Nguyen Hung Tri, an interpreter for the delegation; and Truong Viet Cuong, a technician of the Vietnam News Agency.
Stella Ciorra, Vice Chairwoman of the Friends of Vietnam Heritage, speaks at the event. (Photo: VietnamPlus) Talking to VietnamPlus, Stella Ciorra, Vice Chairwoman of the Friends of Vietnam Heritage, said the discussion was highly meaningful for her and other members of the association, and that as foreigners, they had never imagined how the Paris Peace Accords were implemented. She had just simply thought that an agreement among the parties were signed, everything would go as the agreement stated and the war was over.
However, the struggle continued and it was not until April 30, 1975, or more than two years later, that Vietnam gained true peace, she added./.
