94 / Village at War
mostly monks, and in the village the Buddhist pagoda was active and had
wide support. As the pro-Catholic Diem regime undertook its repression
of the Buddhists in the early 1960s, there were many Buddhist-Ied demon-
strations against Diem in Thua Thien/Hue. Many journeyed from the
village to Hue for the marches, rallies, and prayer sessions, and there was
minor Buddhist-Ied agitation within My Thuy Phuong itself-including
circulation of anti-Government pamphlets and anti-Government prayer
meetings at the pagoda.
The Buddhist movement attracted wide support in the village and
throughout the region primarily because of the Government's anti-
Buddhist policies. Another factor was the uy tin of movement leaders.
These were the numerous Buddhist monks, nuns, and laymen in Hue and
in many villages who assumed active, highly visible roles in organizing
prayer meetings, and so forth. My Thuy Phuong's major movement lead-
ers were two local pagoda elders, respected members of the Cult Commit-
tee.
The final major reason for the Buddhist protests' popularity in the
village-and probably throughout the province-was the wide initial feel-
ing that the Front was to some degree anti-Buddhist, that it had "missed"
on an important, timely issue. This point and the Front's changing re-
sponses to the Buddhist movement are discussed below.
It should first be noted that in village meetings, Front leaders had
words of harsh criticism for Catholics, because of close Government-
Catholic Church ties. But always the leaders held out hope to local
Catholics. Front messages urged those of all faiths, specifically including
Catholics, to join the struggle against Diem. In response, a few Catholics
joined the insurgency, but most remained firm Government support-
ers.
In 1961-1962, Front leaders in the village mildly criticized the provin-
cial Buddhist movement, which then was beginning to gain strength.
They accused the Buddhists of dividing the anti-Diem forces, which the
leaders said consisted of people from all religions and most economic
classes. Their special criticism focused on the Buddhist philosophy-
which they described in meetings as passive rather than dynamic and not
oriented to social change. A student put it this way: " At first, the V.C.
thought the Buddhists were not strong enough revolutionaries." But as
the Buddhists began to mount an effective, broadly based challenge to
Diem, the Front leaders changed what they were saying. People began to
hear from the leaders that the Buddhist movement was an important part
of the anti- Diem struggle. However, they also heard the leaders charac-
terize the Front as the "leading element" in that struggle, and as the only
element with military forces to back up its demands. It is not clear
whether this conciliatory attitude toward the Buddhist movement was an
indication of Front policy for the region or nation, but in My Thuy Phuong
it clearly represented a realistic reaching out by insurgent leaders for new
supporters and an attempt to hold on to old ones.
Struggle / 95
Two men described the local Front shift in emphasis toward class
warfare. First, a peasant remembered:
The Front was very much against Mr. Diem, and explained why we should fight
Mr. Diem using the same words that the Viet Minh had used before. But they
also began propaganda about the power of the people, and how the people had
to destroy the rich. This was the Communist idea, just like in North Vietnam or
in Communist China. This was the type of idea they had for their struggle.
Another peasant said:
During the Viet Minh movement the enemy was very clear. Everybody opposed
the French and hated the French, but under Mr. Diem it was not as clear as
before.
In other words, the Liberation had to show the people why they had to fight. It
had to show them why they as the poor class were being used by the upper class
and by the Americans. ...
In summary, despite setbacks caused by Government military and
police pressure, and despite the rise of the Buddhist movement, the local
Front leaders devoted the years 1961-1963 to building a strong revolu-
tionary base. The general thrust of the movement at first differed little
from that of the Viet Minh, for nationalism was the main rallying cry. But
gradually ideas related to class struggle began to complement nationalistic
appeals. Eventually, about 75 percent of the people joined the Front, in
part because of patriotism, in part because they hoped the movement
would work out answers to complicated problems of life in the village.
2.
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NOTES
People indicated that a "security cadre" on the Front committee coordinated
guerrilla activities in the village, but did so with the help of the entire commit-
tee.
See Pike, Vietcong, pp. 232-252.
On one occasion, wooden facsimile rifles played an important part in a guer-
rilla operation: during a period when weapons were scarce, guerrillas carrying
such rifles paid a nocturnal visit to a local civil servant. A peasant recalled,
"When he saw so many guerrillas carrying so many [facsimile] guns, he was
veryafraid."
During 1945-1975, guerrillas often placed mines to interdict the railroad run-
ning north-south through Vietnam, but never along the section of track in the
village.
Pike, op. cit., p. 221, n.
The brother of that man quoted in the text had served the French colonial
army as a low-ranking foot soldier. He died of gunshot wounds while on an
operation against Viet Minh units in 1950.
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