The voices of Vietnam's wartime press
HANOI: Vietnam's revolutionary press emerged during a turbulent chapter of the nation's history, marked by uprisings against colonial powers, and a long struggle for independence and territorial integrity that spanned nearly the entire 20th century.
As the country marks 100 years of revolutionary journalism, only a handful of war reporters remain able to pass their lived experiences on to future generations.
Photojournalist Tran Hong and news editor Vuong Nghia Dan were among the last cohorts of war correspondents to enter the battlefield over five decades ago, yet the memories of those days remain vividly etched in their minds.
At 26, Tran Hong was dispatched to the frontlines as a photographer embedded to a liberation army unit. The images he and his colleagues captured in the war zones were often developed on the spot.
Down in a makeshift darkroom in a bunker, they would poke a hole in banana leaves, which were wrapped around a flashlight, and develop the films they shot.
'It was a tough yet incredibly thrilling time for us war journalists,' he told Vietnam News.
From 1973 to the 1980s, Hong was present on battlefields across Vietnam, documenting the army's battles in the Truong Son mountain range to the northern borders, and subsequently Phnom Penh to capture the crimes of the Khmer Rouge.
The works of front-line journalists like Hồng did not reach newspaper pages or radio air waves on their own.
Hundreds of technicians, editors, telegraphists and couriers were quietly working behind the scenes to bring news stories and images from the battlegrounds to the audiences nationwide.
Among these people was Vương Nghia Dan, one of the first female reporters of the Liberation News Agency during the anti-American war, which later merged with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) following the national reunification in 1975.
News stories at the time were transmitted to the news office via Morse code, Dan recalled.
'We often had to make guesses as we went along, because the signal quality was very poor," she said.
Morse code, lacking the tone marks essential to the Vietnamese language, made their work all the more challenging.
After telegraphists decode the information sent in by the liberation troops or local forces from the front lines through Morse code, Dan and her editing team would transform these pieces of news into coherent, digestible articles.
These were then handed over to another team of technicians, who encoded and sent them out to newsrooms and radio stations located in the north.
Photographs for important news were also sent using telegraphs, or physically transported via mail trucks or soldiers heading back to the north – all of which cost immense time and effort.
At times, these precious images were lost forever when bombings struck the couriers on the way.
Youth's spirit
Hong and Dan were among the many other young people of their generation who chose to postpone their university studies to fight for national liberation.
'The spirit of the youth back then was incredibly unique,' said Dan.
Dan was in her final year of university when she chose to join the Liberation News Agency's reporter class GP10, which was bound for the southern front in 1972.
'1972 was an intense year in the war – the entire nation was mobilised for the battle fronts in the South,' she said, recalling that it was mostly young workers and farmers who went to war before, but that year, even university students were recruited.
When asked why she made such a pivotal decision just months away from her graduation, Dan said: 'It was such a fervent atmosphere, and our education has always emphasised patriotism and sacrificing for our own country – and that touched me.'
After eight months of training on both reporting skills and physical endurance, she and her classmates embarked on a long journey to the south.
From the tri-border area between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, her team continued to travel on foot for more than 500km under the enemy's observation aircraft and air attacks, to the forests of Lo Go Xa Mat, now a national park in Tay Ninh Province.
Meanwhile, Hong turned down two university admission offers to become a soldier in 1968, working on military logistics and communication.
But just one year later, he was selected to study journalism at the Central School of Communication and Training, now the Academy of Journalism and Communications.
He had worked as a photojournalist since he graduated in 1973. Newspapers back then often listed numbers of injuries and deaths in the battles, he said, but there were very few pictures.
'As a photographer, I felt compelled to do whatever it took to get the evidence of the other side's losses and defeats,' said Hong. To him, photojournalism was about the truth.
Yet at times, he found himself caught between his commitment as a soldier and his compassion as a human being.
'I had never seen death before [working as a war photojournalist]. The dead might not be on the same side as me, but we are all humans after all – we are of the same kind, so it was heartbreaking,' Hong recalled.
Lasting legacy
After the war, Dan continued her career at VNA's southern bureau, later becoming one of the first staff members of Le Courrier du Vietnam, when the agency took over the country's only French-language news publication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993.
She stepped down as head of the Economic News Desk in 2003 to serve a three-year term as a VNA resident correspondent in Belgium.
Upon returning to Vietnam, she continued contributing to Le Courrier du Vietnam until the pandemic surge in 2021, concluding her journalism career that spanned over five decades.
Meanwhile, through unwavering determination and perseverance, Hong produced some of his most acclaimed work after the war: more than 100 photographs of General Vo Nguyen Giap in his daily life, and nearly 70 portraits in a series titled 'Vietnamese Heroic Mothers' – women whose children sacrificed their lives in the wars for national cause.
These collections of work have been taken over by the National Archives Centre and the Vietnamese Women's Museum.
'That's where those photographs should be, in proper preserving conditions, where they can continue spreading their values. It is my greatest legacy, my greatest joy,' said Hong.
"The presence, voices and works of revolutionary journalists remain both a source of pride and a powerful bridge through which younger generations can connect with history," said Tran Thị Kim Hoa, a member of the Advisory Council at the Vietnam Press Museum.
"It is these real, specific people who breathe life into history, making it vivid and dynamic rather than simply archival materials.
'We have a responsibility towards those who came before us, the journalists who made contributions not only to the history of the press but, more broadly, the national revolution history,' she added.
Drawing from her experience as the first director of the Vietnam Press Museum and now a member of its advisory council, Hoa observed that many of the challenges faced today echo those raised by journalists decades ago – from education, family and justice to economic matters and the preservation of cultural values and heritage.
"When younger generations of journalists engage with the legacies of their predecessors, they gain not only insights for their careers but also lessons for their life journeys," Hoa said.
'Beyond professional insights, these are lessons in how to live, how to conduct oneself, how to uphold integrity and intellect and how to dedicate and sacrifice for a cause.
'And perhaps the greatest lesson for us is the spirit of contribution, dedication to one's profession and the willingness to sacrifice for ideals.' - Vietnam News/ANN
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
Liberal arts meet vocational ed
Education fulfils many objectives, including vocational training; social and language skills; knowledge of social norms and value systems; cultural fulfilment and enrichment; and the satisfaction of personal curiosity. Within these multitudes of objectives lie two general education philosophies: the liberal arts approach and the vocational or professional approach. Liberal arts approach The liberal arts approach traces its lineage to the ancient Greek philosophers. Socrates' famous dictum 'the unexamined life is not worth living' exhorts us to assume nothing and question everything while Plato's 'parable of the cave' encourages everyone to step out of our comfort zones and embrace new knowledge and experiences. The liberal arts approach gives prominence to breadth of education. The idea is 'to draw forth' the innate capabilities and talents of individuals, best facilitated by having breadth. Pedagogically, discussions and debates are preferred over lectures and coursework assignments over exams. The strength of this approach is the strong development of critical thinking and rational thought, sharpening of intellectual capabilities, and fostering of creativity and diverse problem-solving skills. Vocational approach This approach was brought about by the industrial revolution. The earliest societies consisted of hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists living off the land. Subsequently, agriculture developed, towns sprang up linking disparate individuals into a distinct economy. The industrial revolution modernised the economy into a complex, monetary-based and global construct. Specialisation, particularly in terms of job skills, became the order of the day. The vocational approach caters to this by giving prominence to depth in a specific field or discipline to provide specific, relevant and technical information, knowledge and skills for a particular job or career. Pedagogically, instructions, practical training and competency assessments are preferred. Knowledge philosophies: The liberal arts and vocational approaches underpin the objectives of education. — Convergence These two approaches are not exclusive and can be complementary. Most current education systems incorporate both. The American tertiary education system, including those devoted to specific vocations such as military academies and technical institutes strive for a holistic combination of breadth and depth. Subscription to the liberal arts approach is evident in the breadth of education requirement where one must take subjects from different academic disciplines such as social science, humanities, fine arts and language. Depth requirement requires one to select a major (specialisation) in a specific discipline such as anthropology, biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering and psychology. The education system of British-influenced Common-wealth nations emphasises depth over breadth. Subscription to the vocational approach, which dovetails with the British historical-cultural emphasis of creating well-trained workers and professionals to administer former colonies, is present from high school where students are screened, with those academically inclined proceeding to pre-university studies and the rest to trade schools or the working world. Those that complete pre-university studies then enrol into a specific university programme such as accountancy, engineering, medicine, law, literature, performing arts, and philosophy. There are steps taken to converge these two approaches. Canada has shifted towards the liberal arts approach and her education system is closely aligned with that of America. Australia offers graduate medical school entry that resembles that of America. Many universities in Commonwealth countries now provide students a choice of 'elective' subjects for a semblance of breadth of education. Malaysia adopts the Commonwealth system in schools and universities but our National Education Philosophy adopts a liberal arts approach. Ideally, we can blend both philosophies to produce quality education suited to our local culture. Dr Wong Teik Aun, a principal lecturer at the Centre of Australian Degree Programmes at INTI International College Penang, enjoys writing on subjects close to his heart and has published Penang People 2: Diaspora, Hippies and Other Shenanigans and A Backpacker's Requiem. He has also contributed numerous academic articles to internationally ranked journals. The views expressed here are the writer's own.
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
The voices of Vietnam's wartime press
HANOI: Vietnam's revolutionary press emerged during a turbulent chapter of the nation's history, marked by uprisings against colonial powers, and a long struggle for independence and territorial integrity that spanned nearly the entire 20th century. As the country marks 100 years of revolutionary journalism, only a handful of war reporters remain able to pass their lived experiences on to future generations. Photojournalist Tran Hong and news editor Vuong Nghia Dan were among the last cohorts of war correspondents to enter the battlefield over five decades ago, yet the memories of those days remain vividly etched in their minds. At 26, Tran Hong was dispatched to the frontlines as a photographer embedded to a liberation army unit. The images he and his colleagues captured in the war zones were often developed on the spot. Down in a makeshift darkroom in a bunker, they would poke a hole in banana leaves, which were wrapped around a flashlight, and develop the films they shot. 'It was a tough yet incredibly thrilling time for us war journalists,' he told Vietnam News. From 1973 to the 1980s, Hong was present on battlefields across Vietnam, documenting the army's battles in the Truong Son mountain range to the northern borders, and subsequently Phnom Penh to capture the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. The works of front-line journalists like Hồng did not reach newspaper pages or radio air waves on their own. Hundreds of technicians, editors, telegraphists and couriers were quietly working behind the scenes to bring news stories and images from the battlegrounds to the audiences nationwide. Among these people was Vương Nghia Dan, one of the first female reporters of the Liberation News Agency during the anti-American war, which later merged with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) following the national reunification in 1975. News stories at the time were transmitted to the news office via Morse code, Dan recalled. 'We often had to make guesses as we went along, because the signal quality was very poor," she said. Morse code, lacking the tone marks essential to the Vietnamese language, made their work all the more challenging. After telegraphists decode the information sent in by the liberation troops or local forces from the front lines through Morse code, Dan and her editing team would transform these pieces of news into coherent, digestible articles. These were then handed over to another team of technicians, who encoded and sent them out to newsrooms and radio stations located in the north. Photographs for important news were also sent using telegraphs, or physically transported via mail trucks or soldiers heading back to the north – all of which cost immense time and effort. At times, these precious images were lost forever when bombings struck the couriers on the way. Youth's spirit Hong and Dan were among the many other young people of their generation who chose to postpone their university studies to fight for national liberation. 'The spirit of the youth back then was incredibly unique,' said Dan. Dan was in her final year of university when she chose to join the Liberation News Agency's reporter class GP10, which was bound for the southern front in 1972. '1972 was an intense year in the war – the entire nation was mobilised for the battle fronts in the South,' she said, recalling that it was mostly young workers and farmers who went to war before, but that year, even university students were recruited. When asked why she made such a pivotal decision just months away from her graduation, Dan said: 'It was such a fervent atmosphere, and our education has always emphasised patriotism and sacrificing for our own country – and that touched me.' After eight months of training on both reporting skills and physical endurance, she and her classmates embarked on a long journey to the south. From the tri-border area between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, her team continued to travel on foot for more than 500km under the enemy's observation aircraft and air attacks, to the forests of Lo Go Xa Mat, now a national park in Tay Ninh Province. Meanwhile, Hong turned down two university admission offers to become a soldier in 1968, working on military logistics and communication. But just one year later, he was selected to study journalism at the Central School of Communication and Training, now the Academy of Journalism and Communications. He had worked as a photojournalist since he graduated in 1973. Newspapers back then often listed numbers of injuries and deaths in the battles, he said, but there were very few pictures. 'As a photographer, I felt compelled to do whatever it took to get the evidence of the other side's losses and defeats,' said Hong. To him, photojournalism was about the truth. Yet at times, he found himself caught between his commitment as a soldier and his compassion as a human being. 'I had never seen death before [working as a war photojournalist]. The dead might not be on the same side as me, but we are all humans after all – we are of the same kind, so it was heartbreaking,' Hong recalled. Lasting legacy After the war, Dan continued her career at VNA's southern bureau, later becoming one of the first staff members of Le Courrier du Vietnam, when the agency took over the country's only French-language news publication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993. She stepped down as head of the Economic News Desk in 2003 to serve a three-year term as a VNA resident correspondent in Belgium. Upon returning to Vietnam, she continued contributing to Le Courrier du Vietnam until the pandemic surge in 2021, concluding her journalism career that spanned over five decades. Meanwhile, through unwavering determination and perseverance, Hong produced some of his most acclaimed work after the war: more than 100 photographs of General Vo Nguyen Giap in his daily life, and nearly 70 portraits in a series titled 'Vietnamese Heroic Mothers' – women whose children sacrificed their lives in the wars for national cause. These collections of work have been taken over by the National Archives Centre and the Vietnamese Women's Museum. 'That's where those photographs should be, in proper preserving conditions, where they can continue spreading their values. It is my greatest legacy, my greatest joy,' said Hong. "The presence, voices and works of revolutionary journalists remain both a source of pride and a powerful bridge through which younger generations can connect with history," said Tran Thị Kim Hoa, a member of the Advisory Council at the Vietnam Press Museum. "It is these real, specific people who breathe life into history, making it vivid and dynamic rather than simply archival materials. 'We have a responsibility towards those who came before us, the journalists who made contributions not only to the history of the press but, more broadly, the national revolution history,' she added. Drawing from her experience as the first director of the Vietnam Press Museum and now a member of its advisory council, Hoa observed that many of the challenges faced today echo those raised by journalists decades ago – from education, family and justice to economic matters and the preservation of cultural values and heritage. "When younger generations of journalists engage with the legacies of their predecessors, they gain not only insights for their careers but also lessons for their life journeys," Hoa said. 'Beyond professional insights, these are lessons in how to live, how to conduct oneself, how to uphold integrity and intellect and how to dedicate and sacrifice for a cause. 'And perhaps the greatest lesson for us is the spirit of contribution, dedication to one's profession and the willingness to sacrifice for ideals.' - Vietnam News/ANN
The Star
3 days ago
- The Star
Meet the 'Python Huntress', who has more than 600 dead pythons under her belt
Siewe is a professional hunter of the invasive Burmese python in Florida. — Photos: Reuters Amy Siewe was a successful real estate agent – but her life changed after she captured her first python in Florida's Everglades in the United States. 'I just had this fascination with snakes. So when I learned that there was a python problem here in Florida... I went on a hunt, I caught a 2.75m python, and that was it. I was hooked!' she said. Within two months she had sold her business in Indiana and moved to Florida to become a python hunter. Now, with more than 600 dead pythons under her belt, she is known as the 'Python Huntress' – one of a handful of women among hundreds of men hunting the invasive Burmese python in Florida's Everglades wetland ecosystem. 'This python is about 3m long,' she says as she wrestles a snake she has just captured in the tall grass in the middle of the night. 'It's probably about three years old, and to date it's eaten about 200 of our native animals, including mammals and birds.' The snakeskins are tanned into leather and dyed, then turned into fashion accessories and other goods. Burmese pythons have been spreading through the Everglades National Park since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 destroyed a breeding facility for the pet trade, freeing some 900 snakes. Originally native to South-East Asia, the python can grow up to 5.5m long and has a voracious appetite, consuming the local wildlife, including mammals, birds and even alligators. The Everglades is a unique subtropical ecosystem, with the largest continuous mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere. It is home to a vast array of unique species, including the endangered Florida panther, the American alligator and the American crocodile. But it provides no natural predators to the Burmese python, allowing the population of the invasive species to balloon. Scientists have noted dramatic declines in raccoons, opossums, bobcats, and rabbits in the region. 'There's an estimated 500,000 pythons out there,' Siewe said. Siewe and her boyfriend Dave Roberts measuring a python they caught in Ochopee, Florida. The pythons, which are hunted by night, cannot legally be transported alive, so they are killed on site after being captured and measured. Once home, Siewe skins the dead snakes, and then has the skins professionally tanned into leather to be made into purses, wallets, watch bands and other goods. It takes an average of 12 hours to catch one. 'So it's not that effective, right,' she admits. 'We're always going to have pythons in Florida. What we're trying to do is figure out how to decrease their numbers. Hunting right now is the most effective tool that we have.' – Reuters
