YEARS OF CHANGE
May 1, 2000

Elizabeth Farnsworth looks at the state of a Vietnamese village 25 years after the end of Vietnam's war with the U.S. NewsHour Archives: Elizabeth Farnsworth's 1990 visit to the same Vietnamese village. Online Forum: Share your memories from the Vietnam Era.

Online NewsHour Special Report: Remembering Vietnam May 2000: Online Forum: Share your memories from the Vietnam war era April 28, 2000: How two veterans responded to anti-war protests. April 20, 2000: A look at the media's effect on the Vietnam War April 12, 2000: A discussion on the Vietnam War's effects on the military April 5, 2000: A look at the Vietnam War's historical impact Jan. 21, 1977: Carter's Pardon May 29, 1978: The Forgotten Wounded April 30, 1985: Lessons Learned April 30, 1990: Healing the Wounds April 17, 1995: Robert McNamara July 11, 1995: Normalizing Relations     March 23, 2000: Secretary of Defense Cohen discusses his trip to Vietnam. Aug. 9, 1999: A discussion of trade with the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam May 15, 1997: Normalizing relations with Vietnam Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Asia.     PBS/The American Experience: Vietnam PBS/POV: RE:Vietnam U.S. State Department	JIM LEHRER: Another in our reports on the legacy of the Vietnam war, 25 years after the American withdrawal. Tonight Elizabeth Farnsworth's return to a village near Da Nang, where she made a documentary ten years ago. She found a town still recovering from war. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: These are the faces of Vietnam's victory, the old soldiers, 25 years later, who survived the wars against the Japanese, the French, and the Americans. They are gathered in the village of Binh Phu, about two hours Southwest of DA Nang, in what used to be South Vietnam, to receive recognition from the national government for their sacrifices. (Speaking in Vietnamese) A local Communist Party official told their story. Many of these men and women first fought to throw out the French, and defeated them in 1954. The Americans came next, and these veterans say that war haunts them still. Nguyen Tung has been a Communist Party leader in Binh Phu for more than 50 years. He lives in a house near where American troops had a firebase. NGUYEN TUNG, Former Viet Cong: (speaking through interpreter) My father was shot dead by Americans. My elder brother and sister were killed, too. American troops had a base on that hill over there, and they destroyed most of the village. Everything was shelled and burned, and everyone had to flee. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The fields and paths of Binh Phu are so peaceful now, it's hard to imagine them in war. But fighting was fierce in the village because it was a base for the Viet Cong. They were the Communist revolutionaries of what was then South Vietnam. They fought a government based in Saigon that was supported by Americans. The top Viet Cong commander in the region was General Vuong Tuan Kiet. GENERAL VUONG TUAN KIET, Former Viet Cong: (speaking through interpreter) The Binh Phu area became a place for major confrontations with the Americans. It was ideal for us to use as a stepping stone to attack Highway One and DA Nang. The Americans were very sensitive about this area, because they knew we had stationed some of our main forces there.
	Memories of the war
	ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Beginning in 1965, American troops came roaring into this place. Thuong Khanh, at 75, remembers it well. TRUONG KHANH, Former Viet Cong: (speaking through interpreter) It took the Americans and South Vietnamese government troops three days to fight their way into the village. They came in the back, and were able to separate our fighters. Since we were a revolutionary base, they bombed and destroyed everything. Not a leaf was left. My house was burned 21 times. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: For the ceremony April 26th recognizing Binh Phu's sacrifices, data was gathered on how many people were killed here. Dang Xuan Hoi, a village Communist Party official, said the population in the early 1960's was just over 4,000. 1,432 were killed -- about 35% of the village -- including civilians and soldiers. Those who survived fled, and only in the past few years has the population reached pre-war levels. What people in Binh Phu called the American war may be further in the past than when we came ten years ago, but wherever you look in this village, the scars of war remain. Walk the paths that connect the hamlets of Binh Phu, and you can't miss the injuries.This man, who fought for the South Vietnamese army, stepped on a mine during the war. This woman said she was hit by shrapnel from a bomb. There are birth defects, too. This child has Down's Syndrome, and villagers blame it on Agent Orange, which was sprayed in great quantity here. Beside the paths are graves for people who were killed in battles and buried right where they fell. Nearby are more elaborate tombs, this one constructed recently by a villager now living in California for his mother and grandmother, both killed by a grenade, and his sister, killed by an American shell. And just down the way is the soldiers' cemetery, with graves of local Viet Cong, and also many North Vietnamese who came here to fight, too. Village records show that the people of Binh Phu have filled in 750 bomb craters and dismantled 3,600 mines and bombs. A blacksmith had bought American shells from scavengers and was shaping them into plows and animal traps. BLACKSMITH: About five years ago, there were a lot of bombs and scrap pieces, but now most are gone.
	Thoughts on Americans
	ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: When villagers are asked what they think of Americans now, many find it hard to respond. This woman laughed at first, and then said she had hated Americans for only a short time during and after the war. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: How do you feel about Americans? WOMAN: (speaking through interpreter) On the world scene, old enemies talk to each other now. There's no longer any reason for us to hate each other.
	Binh Phu today
	ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: To an outsider, Binh Phu looks much the same as in 1990. The government had just dismantled unproductive rice cooperatives then, and farmers could lease land for up to 15 years and decide what to sell and where. The semi-privatization had sent rice production climbing, but some families we interviewed then said times were still very tough. Ten years later, that grandmother and baby are better off. DUONG THI PHAN: (speaking through interpreter) Last year was good. We have enough to eat. The years of the war were horrible. It's better now. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Good land in Binh Phu gives three harvests of rice a year now, not two as in the past. The national government has made funds available for irrigation and fertilizer, and this has improved production. Much of the rice is consumed here, but some is sold to traders and eventually exported. Since 1988, Vietnam has become the third-largest rice exporter in the world. Small profits from rice sales have made it possible for some people to open shops, and for the first time, Binh Phu has a kind of downtown. In 1994 the village got electricity, and with it TV. There's even a billiards parlor, where ten cents brings an hour's play. And most important, say villagers, roads are being improved, which makes it a bit easier to get crops to market, though carrying bags of rice on a bicycle is still a rough go. A new primary school was built recently with help from the private international aid group Worldvision. It costs about $1.50 a year to send a child to school, and the official recognition of Binh Phu as a village of heroes will make subsidies available for those who can't pay. The village survey found that 20% of Binh Phu is still very poor, and Communist Party leader Dang Xuan Hoi says more money is needed for development. DANG XUAN HOI, Local Communist Party Official: (speaking through interpreter) We are still lacking classrooms and equipment for the school, and though the road has been improved, in the rainy season it is still very bad. We are trying to asphalt one kilometer in the year 2000, and we appeal to overseas Vietnamese to contribute to the construction. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Some villagers have left to seek opportunities elsewhere. Pham Thanh, whose life we documented in 1990, had been taken to the U.S. for medical treatment after being brought out of the village by the same G.I.'s who killed his family. He is back in the United States now because he couldn't find a good enough job to stay in Vietnam. His wife, who is also from Binh Phu, and his children live in DA Nang, and are awaiting his return or visas to travel to California. Other villagers have also moved into cities for better schools and jobs. But most of the kids of Binh Phu must find their opportunities in the village itself. They're studying English, and are eager to practice with visitors. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: (talking to children) Very good. What is your name? ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: 60% of these kids will go to high school, and about 30% on to some kind of higher education. They have studied the war, and know when the Americans came and what they did. But it doesn't interest them much. They are moving ahead. And the older generation, the ones who fought, suffered, and won the war, are dying off. In ten more years, many will no longer be here.