The Happiest refugee, by Ahn Do, is a memoir which tells the story of his family, his life before and after fleeing war-torn Vietnam, and his dramatic journey through pirate-infested waters. Did you know that refugees contribute an average of $10 billion to the Australian economy in their first 10 years of settlement? Illegal immigrants don't come to Australia to commit crime; they come here to escape war-torn countries such as Iraq,Syria and historically, Vietnam. Despite this, the majority of white Australians have objections to the resettlement of immigrants. These objections come from stereotypes induced by the media (eg.all Muslims support terrorism), differences in culture and political ideologies/campaigns (eg. the boat policy and Pauline Hansen's views on refugees). Prior to reading the happiest refugee, I held the belief that refugees should be allowed into Australia because of the fact that they are leaving their country to escape war and poverty, rather than commit crime. The happiest refugee reinforced the fact that this viewpoint on the subject is correct. In 1955, Vietnam was divided into two parts; the communist state of North Vietnam, and the independent (democratic) state of South Vietnam. The Vietnam war occurred because North Vietnam wanted control over South Vietnam. This war was a fierce feud between south Vietnam along with its western allies (USA,Australia) and North Vietnam, along with its allies (Japan,China, and the Philippines). This…
The Geneva Conference sparked the start of the war after it divided Vietnam into the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Due to economic and military treaty, the United States and South Vietnam began raids on North Vietnam in 1965 (Infoplease, n.d.). The United States provided multiple Air Defense Weapon systems that played a significant role in helping the South Vietnamese and United States forces. A peace agreement reached in 1973 lead…
The purpose of the interview was to learn about Vietnam, the country where my informant was born and lived until 1975 when Saigon was invaded by the North Vietnamese. In addition, I had desired to see Vietnam from a perspective other than the Vietnam War where Americans fought. However, there is another reason I chose Vietnam, I work with students whose parents are from Vietnam even though the parents are a younger generation their culture is alive and lived out in their community. Some of…
The Vietnam War demonstrates “ The insidious power of propaganda...The longest war this century was a war waged by America against Vietnam... It was an attack on the people of Vietnam, communist and non-communist, by American forces. It was an invasion of their homeland and their lives” ( John Pilger ). Luis Valdez's drama, “ The Buck Private “ explains how the government’s propaganda makes society romanticize war. Valdez supports his argument by illustrating to the audience how society sees…
Soldiers of the Charlie Company were ordered by Lieutenant Calley, on March 16, 1968, to leave the village of My Lai destroyed. During the Vietnam War, the United States supported South Vietnam and were in the process of fighting North Vietnam because of their communistic viewpoints. The fighting had been different than any other war, the Viet Cong's fighting style consisted of sneaky sniper attacks and booby traps. Their fighting style had aggravated the United States soldiers and they soon…
They Geneva Agreement ended up dividing Vietnam into two different political zones. The north Being communist and the south not being communist. In 1954 Dooley was transferred so help in the aid of the crossing of 600,000 Vietnamese refugees. He was later recognized for this and awarded by the vietnamese government. This mission was called the Passage to Freedom. On the ship he served as a doctor and he also was able to translate a little bit of French. Later he became in charge of the building…
Vietnam Tunnels Imagine living your life in constant fear, living in the darkness with dangerous things all around you and constantly been bombed. Now imagine trying to fit in a small hole where you were there is barely any air and you can’t see what is in front of you. Well, this was the life of the Vietnamese and the American troops during the Vietnam war. During the Vietnam war, Vietnamese villagers created thousands of tunnels in order to protect them self from the enemy. This…
When walking through a cemetery, one often sees thousands of names engraved on the headstones. To a stranger, one name, quote, or date may mean nothing; however, to someone that knew them, it may be a link to the memories of a friend, family member, or loved one’s life. Like headstones, memorials connect us to the memories of a past person, or perhaps an event. From November 1st, 1955 to April 31st, 1975, war waged as the United States partnered with South Vietnam and fought against the…
The events that occurred and the situations that the Prisoners of War were put through during the Vietnam war were tremendous. The stories that have been told from some of the soldiers significantly help us understand just what went on and why exactly they were captured in the first place. Researchers to this day are still uncovering more and more information about what happened in the detention camps and looking at how it affected the soldiers. Going from 1964 all the way to 1973, there was…
Australia followed the United States footsteps in this anti-war movement and on the 8th of May 1970 around 200,000 people throughout Australia, took part and marched in Moratoriums calling for an end to the war in Vietnam. Many have called it ‘the greatest single demonstration of strength that the peace movement in Australia has ever achieved’, Melbourne gathered the largest numbers which is estimated to be at least 70,000 and even as many as 100,000. The media and conservative politicians had…