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Post date: Jan 3, 2012 4:05:13 PM
Scouts Abound – Following is an article written by a former Vietnamese boy scout living in the USA about his scouting and life experiences in Vietnam as well as in America. It is reposted here as an edited version for readers of “Scouts Abound – Chuyện Hướng Đạo”, of whom many are living in Vietnam. The original version in its entirety can be read at this URL, http://scoutlifevn.blogspot.com/
A true story from Chuan, an ex-Boy Scout of Vietnam
A true story from Chuan, an ex-Boy Scout of Vietnam
Chu An
I was born in South Vietnam, a country located in Southeast Asia.
[…]
I grew up and spent my teen years in Nha Trang which I have affectionately called ‘my city’. Nha Trang is a coastal city located in the middle of South Vietnam. It is naturally surrounded on the north, south and west with mountains; and to the east is the Pacific Ocean.
[…]
Besides the calamities of war, natural disasters and seasonal typhoons from the ocean further wreaked havoc in people’s lives. From August to December, torrential rainstorms and typhoons pounded the coast of Vietnam. While the rains caused [...] a lull in the fighting, the floods worsened the lives of ordinary people. In South Central coast of Vietnam, the five-month rainy season often caused severe floods. Not much serious flooding was in the city of Nha Trang. However, the surrounding rice fields and all roads leading to the towns outskirts were often submerged in five to ten feet of water. During the wet season, the livelihood of the farmers and those living away from the city worsened, as drinking water and foods were no longer readily available to them.
I often saw groups of uniformed teenagers going house to house asking for and collecting donations to help flood-affected citizens. My father explained to me that those uniformed boys were Boy Scouts who were doing charity work. Upon hearing my father’s explanation of the Boy Scouts’ action I yearned to be one of them, for I admired their noble spirit and especially their voluntarism. Moreover, I really loved their colorful uniforms. I asked my parents to allow me to join a Lasallian Boy Scout Troop, and they gave their consent.
I officially joined the Boy Scout when I was in sixth grade. It has been 40 years since then. However, I still vividly remember the time I spent with my friends in scouting. Despite the many ups and downs in my life and besides my wonderful period in Lasallian high school, I believe the time with the Boy Scouts was the most fantastic epoch of my life.
My first Scout meeting was on the beach of Nha Trang. Surrounding me were about 40 friendly faces of my age. I was introduced to Phuc Viet troop. Everyone seemed very happy to have me in the troop. I started by learning the Scout Movement's history and its bylaws. I also had so much fun with many troop activities. I was impressed of the new friendship from fellow scouts and the kindness of the Scout leaders from a Lasallian Seminary.
Six months after joining the Scouts, I memorized the ten Scout laws,
1. A Scout's honor is to be trusted.
2. A Scout is loyal.
3. A Scout's duty is to be useful and to help others.
4. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other scout no matter to what social class the other belongs.
5. A Scout is courteous.
6. A Scout is a friend to animals and nature.
7. A Scout obeys orders.
8. A Scout smiles and whistles.
9. A Scout is thrifty.
10. A Scout is clean in thought, word and deed.
and the Scout motto “Be Prepared”.
I also knew a little bit of Morse code and semaphore; I learned knots, and using sticks to make signs of in jungles, and starting a fire. I learned to follow safety rules in the woods, to perform one good deed every day. And most fun of all was being tested about Scout rules and Laws and to go on camping trips. I was accepted to be invested to become a scout. This day was so important to me. The night before, I sat by the campfire that was circled by Scouts and leaders; I spoke to them about how I felt about Scouting, how it changed my thinking, attitude and made me a better person. After that, each scout shared their experience about Scouting to help me. After a late snack we ended the campfire around midnight. I was so excited and could not sleep easily, anxiously waiting for the next day; I will be a real Scout. About 5 AM, when the sky was still dark, I woke up early; a short while later, leaders and the whole troop woke up. In a hurry, we brushed our teeth, cleaned our faces then ran and climbed to the high hill nearby when the sunrise just appeared. We stood on a boulder that was bigger than the size of a house; I put my right hand on World Scout flag, and took an oath: In front of my country and the scout flags, the leaders and Scout friends, on my honor, I promise to do my best to do my duty:
1. Be faithful to God, conscience, and my country.
2. Help other people at all times.
3. Obey the 10 Scout Laws.
Afterward the Scoutmaster came to me and used his left hand to shake my left hand. Other leaders and Scouts put their hand together to celebrate my first success in the Scout life.
Day after day, I liked Scouts more. Vietnam is a tropical country, Nha Trang is an ocean city; it never snows and the temperature is always above 55 degrees Fahrenheit, so most of Scouts activities happened outdoors. With the Troop, we learned Scout skills: We made rafts by tying the banana trees and the bamboo trees together, floating on the rivers to go across. With big empty metal containers, ropes and woods, we made floating bases for our tents on the lakes; and with a lot of tree branches and wood, we made tents up in the trees. We also made monkey bridges. Everyone took bicycles, and we rode on the roads going through the hills; we did the scout walk - 100 feet walking then 100 feet running. We could go on a long trip every day. We helped our community when needed. We worked on the gardens or painting someone’s houses to raise funds for scouts activities and expenses. We had Troop games and competitions on cooking, running, swimming, bag jumping. I still remember an enormous wide game with more than 500 Scouts attending; we were divided into 2 groups. Each group had a headquarters with flags; each person had the body shield board and 3 tennis balls. We tried to hide in the wood or face directly at each other. If somebody got hit by the balls which the opponents threw, he would be “dead” and out of the game. If that person was a spy, he would need to give the secret code letters and the opponents would try to solve that letter to know where the headquarters and the treasures were. They would bring more “soldiers” to search for treasures and to attack the headquarters. When the flags at headquarters went down, the opponents won.
Following the hand signals of the leaders, we lined up in the circle, semi-circle, square, rectangle, 2 lines or 4 lines. We attended the National Jamboree with more than ten thousand of Scouts. We had a lot of fun and had things to learn. Scouts made us strong in spirit, grew in better health and became a good character.
I remember one time when our troop went camping on an island which was near a cemetery. Some of us had canned food. We opened the cans to get food for dinner and left the empty cans on the stones. At night, we heard a lot of noises. Many of us were scared and thought it were ghosts. The day after, all of us laughed because we found out that wind blowing the emty cans against the stones causing those strange noises. When we learned there weren't any ghosts, I was very relieved.
I was involved in Scouts until I was eighteen, almost finishing Lasallian high school. I made the best friends in my life. We shared whatever we had. Everything was so good until the spring of year 1975; when the Communist from North took over South Vietnam. Scouts were not accepted in the country anymore.
[…]
In May 1975, […] all South Vietnam officers and soldiers must register to go to the re-education camp for 10 days. My father must do the same. Before he left, putting his right hand on my shoulder, with a very sad face, he said to me,
“It is the time for me to go; please take care of your mom and your siblings. I believe in you, a Boy Scout. Please try to do your best to support the family.”
I tried to hide my tear before him and the rest of my family. […] Where would my father be?
Afterwards, I took my mother, 7 younger brothers and sisters, the youngest one only 2 years old, to Lam Dong, a highland with mountains and many forests to rebuild our family lives. We had no experience in real life and no knowledge to work on the farm. With the little money left, we bought some used hand tools like saws, hammers, knives, pliers, clothes, some rice, salt, seed etc. and lived temporarily in a house of a kind and generous villager.
Days after days, my brothers and I walked bare feet for about 10 miles to the jungles cutting many trees and bringing them back to the village to build a house by ourselves. We cut long grass to make the roof; we used hard wires to make nails; bamboo trees were to be maded into ropes and walls. Our hands swelled and bled because we had to work very hard without any gloves; we were hurt a lot. Over time, our hands and skin became callous.
After a year, we were out of money and food. I was very worried about my family’s future. How could we live without money and food? We came to the jungles picking up fruits, weeds and herbs, and we cut bamboo shoots to eat. Our regular meals were about two pieces of yucca roots and salt, we had no meat for a year. We used ashes as toothpaste; we used coal to make ink for chalk lines to cut trees that was made into pieces of wood.
Later we learned many precious experiences from people who lived on the mountains. Early in the morning, when the sky was still very dark, we left our house, going to the jungle to cut down trees, burning them to have ashes (good fertilizer) and having empty land to plant corn, yucca roots, sweet potatoes, squashes, and other vegetables.
We went to the valley. We cut trees, and we moved rocks; we levelled the land and we made the water lines from the springs to the field to plant rice. We made traps to catch animals to eat. We came back home when the sun disappeared. It was a long walk after a day of hard work and without nutritious food; it made us so exhausted every day. At night, sleeping on the bamboo beds, having no blanket to cover our bodies, we usually woke up several times because of the cold. We were also bothered many times by the police who came and searched our home at midnight. If they suspected something, they could take us away without any explanation.
Every time when the harvest came, we were so happy. We collected hundreds of heavy bags of corn, rice and yucca roots, then we carried them up to the very high hills - about one mile; and we walked a long way to bring them home. That was a strenuous job. We were all so tired. The next day, it was too tiring for us to wake up to work, but we must go back to the jungle. We had no day off except when we were seriously sick.
[…]
Because of working in the jungle, my brother and I almost died many times. When cutting the big trees on the mountains, we were in dangerous situations. The directions of the trees' fall depended on the strength of the wind. If a strong wind blew, it could change the way we wanted the trees to fall, and the branches could hit us or pull us down to the bottom of the hill. Without a radio to know the weather forecast, we were stopped and drenched by heavy rains and thunderstorms; we ran down the large spring to go home, but the water tide was so strong, and it made it difficult for us to walk on the long monkey bridges without anything to hold on. If we fell, the water would pull us away and surely we would die. We prayed to God; luckily, we did not fall and after that we ran hurriedly back to our home. We trembled with cold, but survived.
Many times at work, I had many accidents and a lot of bleeding. I used some salt, water, and ashes from burned out logs to sanitize the wound and used special leaves to heal it. Anytime when we were sick, we had to find some herbs to cook and make the medicine. In the evening of July 1, 1981, I came home from work in the jungle and I saw my sister lying on the bed with a strange face. My mom said she just got sick. I held my sister and asked her if she knew who I was? She answered my question incorrectly. My mom used a needle to prick her fingers, but no blood came out. It was dangerous sign. I was so scared, and I carried her hurriedly to a neighbor who had a tractor asking him to take my sister to the hospital about 10 miles away from our village. The good farmer brought us to the hospital at night with the help from another neighbor; we carried some torches to light up the road. When we arrived at the hospital about 10 PM, I asked a nurse to please examine my sister right away. After listening to my sister’s heartbeat, she said my sister had already died. Could not believe what I heard and did not accept the bad news, I sobbed my heart out. We brought my sister home and put her on the table. We stayed up overnight.
My sister died from an unknown serious illness when she was 11 years old.
My mom loved her so much and she lost some of her mind and common sense. She ran around the house, laughing, crying and screaming like a little baby. Early in the morning, we tried to make a casket by cutting down trees, sawing them into a few pieces of wood then we nailed them together. It was a long coffin for her body. We carried it and buried her at the foot of the mountain. I stayed by her grave by myself that night. It rained heavily. I felt so sad. I hoped one day, after my father release, that we all could reunite but now that my sister had died. My father would not be able to know of the sad news and could not be allowed to say good bye to her. Sitting by her grave, I was so pessimistic, and it was too difficult for me to handle the situation. How could God let my sister leave us when our father was still very far away? Why couldn't an innocent baby have a good meal for so long and be left to pass away? Why, why, and why? Sad days after sad days, I missed her so much; I remembered her poor life. I had too keep this emotion in check. If not, who would work to help my mom, my brothers, and sisters? I remembered the Scouts Laws: be brave and cheerful. I had to go on living and to make a better future for my family.
Almost every week during the first year after my sister died, my mom still dreamed about her. In the middle of night, she laughed, screamed and talked to herself. I could not sleep because I felt very sad for my mom and asked her what happened? She said she saw my sister appearing in front of her, wearing the angel clothes and smiling.
In the village, people celebrated New Year and Christmas with good food and new clothes, except our family. Holidays were terrible days for my family. My mom just cried and cried. She missed my father and even worried more about his life. My sisters and brothers were still hungry and lived in terrible conditions.
After a few years, I still did not know where my father was. We were very worried about him, and I did not know if he was still alive or dead. Suddenly, we received his letter letting us know where the camp was and he was trying to work very hard hoping […] to come home early to reunite with his family.
Luckily this time, after waiting few hours in the police office, at last, they gave us the permission to visit our father. We sold whatever we needed to live like rice, corns, chicken to get some money to pay for transportation. I brought my mom with me. The trip took us more than 36 hours, and we stopped at a station in the forest. Following a policeman along with many people, holding my mom's hands, with a big bag on my shoulder, with more than 3 hours walking in the jungle, climbing over a monkey bridge we came to visit my father.
After waiting hours at the prison cells in the jungle, my father appeared to see us. He looked so strange: skinny in the prison clothes and a lot older with a long beard. Face to face, with the guard at the center listening to what we said, we talked and comforted each other. I asked my mom to hide the bad news that my sister and my grandfather died because we worried if my father knew he would be too sad and he could not stand what had happened. After meeting my father for about half an hour, we were told that we must leave. We gave him some food. I looked at him one more time before I left; I saw that he started to cry; yet, he tried to hide his emotions.
The happy day came to my family after our long wait. My uncle came to let us know that my father had just been released and was waiting for us in Long Khanh, a city near Saigon. He thought it may be a better place for us to live. We left our home and came to Long Khanh to meet our father and again, we began from the beginning.
My father was in shock, and he cried loudly when he just learned that his father and daughter died while he was in prison. He could not imagine that our real lives were so terrible when he was in prison. He told us what happened to him in prison. It was a very long story.
Later he brought the happiness back to our family not only with our reunion, but also by working hard and trying to help our family. What we lacked of was money. We tried to earn some money to help our family. Again, I came to the jungle and stayed there a few months then came home. With a few friends, we cut down many trees and saw them into small pieces selling them to wood dealers. Without any shirts, we worked under the sun; thus, everybody got burned. In the summer, it was so difficult to find water. Walking for more than two miles, we found a dirty water spot; there we bathed and carried buckets to drink; at night we slept under the shelter made by bamboo and long grass. We got sick; a friend of mine died from malaria, and some other friends inflicted by other another kind of serious illness. I got a snake bite, and I used the first aid method learned from scouting days; luckily, I survived.
In the jungles, we were not only unsafe by the wild animals, but also by the outlaws. My friend taught me some Kung Fu to use in emergency situations, and it helped me to avoid being attacked by bad elements.
With the money we earned, we bought some chicks and piglets. We raised them and later sold them to buy what needed for the family. We planted coffee, pepper, banana trees and many other plants to make a better living. But even trying our best, we still lived miserably […] with many restrictions. By laws, everything we got from the harvest was to be sold to the government at a very low price. If we did not follow those rules, we would be put in jail. We had no electricity and we had no basic human rights.
Too tired of working in the jungle, I tried to find a better job. I learned how to be a carpenter for a few months. Later, I worked as a carpenter for about six years. I liked this job because I had opportunities to go to many places in the city. I did many different things from building houses, furnitures to decorating hotels, etc. I earned more money by doing this work.
The very surprising news we heard was that at the requests of the International Human Rights Organization, the United States Government accepted families of South Vietnam officers who were put in prison – the so called ‘re-education camp’ – for at least 3 years to come to the United States of America as refugees. We were so happy.
After about two years waiting for the paper work, we came to America in 1992. The free world, we dreamed of, but never thought it would come true.
[…]
Around one million Vietnamese escaped by small boats going to the Pacific Ocean; hundreds of thousands of them died because of high tide, lack of water, food, pirate and shark attacks.
After the Vietnam War ended, we rebuilt our lives a third time, in America. I worked very hard, sometimes 3 jobs, trying to make money to help the family. After a few years our lives were settled down.
In 2001, with my family I came back to Nha Trang, and I tried to find my Scout and Lasallian high school friends after 30 years of lost contact. I missed many of my old friends who died or were missing. I was so happy to meet other friends who are still living there. We had a very good time together. We could not think that it was real, and that we had this chance to see each other again. They gave me pictures when we were scouts.
Later, with the help from my friends, I created Lasan Ba Ninh Alumni Group (Ba Ninh named after Saint (Brother) Bénilde Romançon) with a lot of activities: making a School website (http://www.lasanbaninh.org/), e groups, reunions and visit our old Christian Brothers and teachers regularly. I made fundraising campaigns in our group to help our Christian Brothers, teachers and friends in Viet Nam. I found more than 100 old scouts and high school friends living in many countries. Some of us first met each other in California in 2003. We recollected our Scouting time in the past with many things to remember. After that we emailed and talked on the phone. We reunited every year. This was the happiest time we enjoyed after a long time of waiting.
Anytime when I see the Boy Scouts of America, I remember my time in scouting, wishing one day I can wear the Scout uniform again.
I met Huong, my wife, in 1993 in the USA. She is a sister of my old Scout friend. We used to be neighbors in Nha Trang. […] After being married a few years, my wife and I had a boy; his name is Paul.
I told my son a lot of good things about scouting, and he was excited and happy to join. He started as a Cub Scout when he was 5 years old.
Over 8 years with my son, I was involved in some of the Boy Scouts of America activities. I had a lot of chances to learn about the good things about it. We had a lot of camping over the weekends, at many different locations around the country; I enjoyed the camp fires, the beauty of nature, the fresh air in the countryside, the peace of mind, the food, the Scout atmosphere, the spirits of the Boy Scouts of America, and the friendships between scouts. We stayed up late looking to the moon talking and sharing our scouting and life experiences. Also, with my father, an ex-Scout leader and my son, I came to visit a Vietnamese training camp in Virginia in 2007. We were so happy to see many Vietnamese Scout leaders tried to organize the Scouts oversea. They made many International Vietnamese Jamborees for more than thousands of Vietnamese Scouts and leaders living around the world gathered every few years to keep the Scout spirit and Vietnamese traditions for the next generations.
[…]
I really believe that “I planted the seed..., but God made it grow”. I motivated Paul with the Lasallian spirit. I talked to Paul about my experience getting through the most difficult time in our family in Viet Nam. I reminded him about the goodwill of Scouting; he should share what he earns and needs to give some to the unfortunate people. I believe Scouting is the most precious gift that parents can give for their children. I try to spend time with Paul as much as I can. I would like to thank God for letting him understand how lucky he is to live in America.
He tries his best at school, scouts, sports, music and social work. For the last few years, Paul earned around 100 certificates of awards, medals, trophies from the President of the USA, State Senator, University, Sports Groups, Boy Scouts, Schools, Music groups, Libraries, etc. He anticipates helping Special Olympic in Baltimore, Scouting for food to help homeless, one week for Cub Scout camp, School Libraries... Every year, he does more than 100 hours of social work. In the years of 2009, 2010 and 2011, he attended the competition of “Straight A” Vietnamese students living in several states in Northeast America by the Lasallian Alumni Association (A group of Vietnamese Christian Brothers and educators) in Virginia. He won all the first places with the award of $ 1,500. He bought a Scout pant for me. He used the rest of the money giving to the charity organizations to help sickness and kept some for the future.
Bridging from the Cub Scouts to the Boy Scouts of America about 3 years ago, now he is a Life Scout, and the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader of Troop 247, Dulaney District. I hope in the near future, he will be an Eagle Scout, the highest honorable achievement as a Boy Scouts of America. I wish he will be a good scout and a good citizen.
Trying his best, Paul likes to take a challenge. In 2011, he attended the Global Talent Search and took ACT Test from the Johns Hopkins University, 4 years above his grade level. He won; and being evaluated as Grand Honoree, among highest scoring participants in America this year, he received Scholarship. On October 23, 2011, Paul, his teacher and our family came to the Johns Hopkins University to receive Certificate of Award. Then with family, he as all Grand Honorees around the world received Medals on November 13, 2011. This year, he was selected to play clarinet in Baltimore County Public School Band and also a member of National Junior Honor Society, also he is the Captain of "Quiz Bowl", assistant manager in Basketball School team,…
I am blessed so much. I thank God and Saint Mary for saving my life; I thank Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of World Boy Scouting; I thank the Boy Scouts of Vietnam; I thank America for giving me a better chance to rebuild my life; I thank the Boy Scouts of America for letting me join and enjoy Scout life; I thank my parents, my family, my friends and my wife for supporting me; I thank my wonderful Lasallian Christian Brothers and teachers who educated me.
I thank you, Mr. Jeff Currier, Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 247 in Baltimore, and Mr. James Barton, Dulaney District Director who invited me to write this article.
I would like to acknowledge and express my thanks to Mr. Duff Hughes, the Chairman of Vanes Brother Company and Mr. Jack Kidd, Scoutmaster of Troop 35, Baltimore who read this story then gave Paul and me a chance to be on a tugboat to look at a firework display in the Inner Harbor to celebrate 100 years anniversary of Boy Scouts of America in Baltimore. I thanks for your friendship.
[…]
We keep our prayers to those who sacrificed themselves in the war and their families. May God bless America!
With much happiness, we celebrated 100 years of Boy Scouts of America in 2010 at A.P. Hill, Virginia with more than 45,000 Scouts attended and 600,000 visitors at the National Scout Jamboree. It was a very exciting to see faces from around the world and celebrate this special event.
Thank you very much!
Yours in Scouting,
Photo 1: Author, holding patrol flag in front row, with his brothers in scouting. Photo 2: Author's sister. Photo 3: Three generations of scouts, from left: author's father, his son, himself.
Source: Chu An, My Scout time and my real life. Retrieved December 27, 2011 at http://scoutlifevn.blogspot.com/
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