THE ROAD TO FREEDOM II

In 1946, Viet Minh Front started the war with the French to regain independence for Vietnam. Almost all patriots left the main cities to relocate to rural countryside, and my family was one of them. My dad had joined Viet Minh Front before August 1945. Although during the war, our lives were miserable, we were all proud to be patriots.

In 1953-1954, Communists started the Land Reform Movement in North Vietnam. During the Movement, they killed thousands of landlords. The Land Reform Movement changed the patriot spirit of thousands of people, who had sacrificed their lives for the beloved country, and my parents were among them.

After witnessing a public trial in Thanh Hoa that killed a landlord without good reason--and a hundred similar cases were reported--my parents decided to escape to a safe area that was controlled by Nationalists.

On July 20, 1954, a peace accord was signed in Geneva to bring peace to Vietnam after eight years of war.

In accordance with the peace accord, Vietnam was divided into two parts: North and South, using Ben Hai River at the 17^th Parallel as the border. The Communists controlled North Vietnam, and Nationalists controlled South Vietnam.

In October 1954, Viet Minh troops marched into Ha Noi, after the French forces withdrew. That was the right time for my parents to start the first phase of their escape plan; my parents moved my family from Tan Phuc Village (very close to Bai Thuong) in Thanh Hoa Province to Ha Noi in November 1954.

In late spring 1955, my parents divided our family into three small groups and sneaked one by one out of Ha Noi to Hai Phong, then flew to Saigon to seek freedom.