she will ship out to fort benning on friday. so, that is it. see her say goodbye to civilian life for little while. and then we have here a u of l alum also with a masters from the can school of social work. she came to google as a refugee as well with her family in 1994. without further do, please welcome our two moderators. i am looking forward to an exciting evening. [applause] >> thank you, daniel, and the university of louisville for sponsoring tonight's fantastic row graham. can you guys hear me ok? ok, good. ladies and gentlemen, my name is dd and my college right here is cal. like the professor said, we are not related, it's a common last name. moving voices, it is our mission to bring more attention to the south vietnamese perspective. we want people to know that south vietnam fought bravely and risked everything for freedom. unfortunately, it's often a perspective that is overlooked in our public discussion about vietnam war. we are so thrilled tonight to have the university but together unheard tales of the vietnam war. the perspective from kentucky. >> we have a great panel of speakers here with us that served in south vietnam, often known as the republic of vietnam . they have amazing stories of the vietnam war and their journey to kentucky. i am going to go ahead and introduce our's acres. on the left is dr. gary tran, a cabinet member and vice minister of agriculture for the republic of vietnam during the vietnam war and today he is a veterinarian who operates a reading school in louisville. he is the first vietnamese-american to be a kentucky kernel. [laughter] [applause] next we have mr. [indiscernible] to his left, and american trained gunship pilot in the air force of the republic of vietnam and today he works for catholic charities where he helps to settle refugees. [applause] also an american trained pilot in the air force of the republic of vietnam today he is heavily involved in the nonveterans activities service. [applause] a physician's officer in the army of the republic of vietnam today he works as a doctor at fort knox. [applause] finally, we have mrs. [indiscernible] a pharmacy student when she married him during the war. today she and her husband reside in elizabethtown, kentucky. [applause] as we said before we have five people appear with the last name of tran, none of us are related. [applause] >> except for the married couple. i hope. but not in that way. [laughter] alright, so we want to begin today's conversation with the start of the a and him more. you were a student at the university of oklahoma when it broke out. how did you learn about the war overseas? how did you feel about your country going to war? >> thank you, dd. before i say anything i would like to take this opportunity to convey to our great veterans of the and profound gratitude. [applause] war, from tv, most americans at the time, it was the first televised war, as you remember. every day at 7:00 i was glued to the tv for news of the war. that was where the war was happening. death and destruction. the feeling was very sad and apprehensive. i remember i was trying to study so hard to finish the program as fast as i could so that i could go home. >> you mentioned you that your family was from the countryside. eventually you went back to vietnam to serve as a high-ranking bureaucrat. can you tell us why they were important to the war? >> a farmer who raise chickens, when i came to this country i wanted to be trained in poultry and veterinary medicine. we were the first in what they call leadership training program. sponsored by usaid. at that time every year they sent a dozen young vietnamese who had just graduated from high school to go to study different fields in the united states. it was called leadership training. there were about one dozen of these programs through the war years. of course, there were other students in here to study other fields also. our group is special, from the groups a lot of officials in the government were selected. i was lucky in the way that all the major agricultural jude -- development programs of the republic of vietnam at that time were either supervised or implemented by me directly. later on if time permits i will mention a few of these programs for you. the one program that was the most important, the most striking was the length of the program. -- a reform program. it was so revolutionary that dr. taylor the professor of vietnamese studies at cornell university said that it was the major achievement of the republic of vietnam. now, to delve into the detail of the program i will wait until my colleagues have a chance to answer and go over that program with you. >> as the vietnam war escalated, south vietnam -- can you hear me better now? as the war escalated, south vietnam led the united states with billet -- military force to the draft. the question is a start -- step for the doctor. you were drafted as a military doctor, how did you and your family feel when you were drafted? >> i think that before we get into that at that time, we need to understand the theory in which the vietnamese leave at the time. i mean that if you, a teacher or professor at school, you had to be in the army to learn about military training. after that they assigned you to work in the university southern school. you could go back to become a doctor. so everybody in the 60's, 70's, a family had people in someway, somehow connected to the army at that time. so, i grew up in that atmosphere. i finished med school. the reason i was able to finish med school is because i had a waiver to go to school. if anybody fell during the year or at the end of the year, and then were drafted into the army right away -- i had friends who were drafted. i finished med school in 1974. early and 75, after i recently married my wife at the end of 74 i was drafted in january of 75. that is the way that we live. a little bit anxious, but not very surprised. my family, my cousins, everybody -- my father was a retired colonel at the time. my brother at that time was in the army. [laughter] >> it was very normal for the time. mr. lee, you had a different experience, you actually volunteered to join the air force. why? >> every family had to get into the military with their connections. for me in vietnam if, according to the army, for the navy and the air force it is not drafted it is volunteered. if you were dropped into the army, you could apply for a job. that's why for me you would likely volunteer to the air force. that's my case. >> like most south vietnamese pilots, you were sent to america to finish her training. could you talk about some of your military training in america? >> when i was young about 11 or 12 years in middle school, in my neighborhood there was a lot of members of the air force. they would wear their pistol on the side. this looks very -- it looked like the angel. sunglasses, ray ban. it was very cool at the time. so, i dreamt of being a pilot at that time. when i went up to high school, i presented that to my father. my father is a 15 year veteran of the army. he advised me -- if you want to go to college or join the air force, you can, that's your future. you have total decision about that. but you have to study hard and exercise more so that you can become physically fit. your dream might become true. finally, in 1972 they recruited a lot of members for the air force. i applied for that. after five days of physical examinations with a group of 150 people, only 23 people got into the air force. the rest will be going to the army school. the army official was the air force officer. i loved that. to be the pilot you had to be sent over to america for training. that's a good thing. open your mind to the world. when we joined the air force we had a chance to learn more about america, the culture of america. finally, we passed several exams and were sent to the laughlin air force base. the management of the air force director us there and after four months we passed several exams as well, sending us to flight school. from here i learned helicopter. >> after you both did your training in america you came back to vietnam to serve. you came back to serve as a gunship pilot. tell us about your most memorable combat experience. >> i was the first citizen on that air force. we provided support to all the areas in south vietnam. let me tell you about the plane that i flew. a 190 gunship. it was converted. it was glowing fire support. with the ability to fire up to 6000 rounds per minute the guns. with deadly accuracy. submission for the black reagan. one night on november 30 seventh, 1931, thanksgiving day we filed a north vietnamese convoy. a rare catch. i was bumping up to 2013. they disappeared in a cloud of dust. as we showered them with thousands of rounds in about 10 minutes. another night that i cannot forget was when the g.i. was about to be over with the contact person. get me the black reagan. that was open. he just said -- set it to. right on the border of cambodia. the victim cut the camera easily. we were outnumbered. they were about 100 yards from the camera. i saw hundreds that tried to get the camp. i thought to myself -- fly all four at once. on the radio i heard a friendly voice. it looked like the outline of a flying worm. i showered them until iran out of ammunition. when i went to get next to the base, we found that we had been hit. there were four corners. this morning a new they paid a high price for that. our report was there. also, the message on the radio was the same. times like reagan. thank you. [applause] >> as many here know, the vietnam war produced huge numbers of casualties. lives were lost. when we talk about south vietnam over around 250,000 south vietnamese soldiers were lost. in this portion of the program we want to show you an interview that we did within individual in louisville who was a cia operative and member of the south vietnamese special forces. in this clip is going to talk about losing his friends. so, do you want to turn down the lights? no lights? all right. >> for anyone on the panel, what are your thoughts after watching this clip? breaks i'm of the opinion that the war is men. no one won the war, but we have to face the war if it comes. and right now the war, it has several phases. not just the guns and the ammo. also by the economic means. so, be careful about that. we are ready to face the war any war, to result in peace like that. we prevent the war by being prepared for the war. by the way right now one of the vietnamese people right now they confided in them the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion in everything i felt vietnam needed as a people. , pushing our goal with them to by any means give the freedom for our people in vietnam. with everyone in the world as well. thank you. >> with us you won't find the pilot. it happens so often. sometime in the morning we sit together >> this is your friend the morning. and in the afternoon you heard that he got shot down? so, that is the world. with us, we had to do it. we had to stand against the communists. but on properly, we left the world. i had the privilege of taking care of a baby of an american soldier who came from afghanistan or iraq. many many suffer from ptsd. that's what i thought most. -- saw most. and what hurt me most is, many of the wives, when these people come back, they don't recognize them anymore. these people come back really different person. and many left them. that is what i find out when i take care of these people. this is some that these soldiers want, even though they come back alive, but these will affect them for their whole life. just like easy demand they see in here. at this age he is still affected by the war he went through. >> the cause of the war was very -- cost of the war was very high in different ways. the united states military went through of south vietnam in 1973. how do you feel when america withdrew? >> for us it was very different situation, he comes all along we were told that the united states would support us. we struggled against the evil empire, which is communism. but also we were left without a lot of logistical support to fight during the last year of the war. and it was very disheartening personally, i think that it we would have the support that president next in -- president nixon promised, if the communists violated the paris accord he would retaliate. severely. but that was not forthcoming. even though we have the will and the manpower to carry on, but we could not because of the lack of logistical support towards the end of the war. imagine that we could not even get 300 million -- $300 million through congress to buy gasoline for airplanes and ammunition for the soldiers. we realized our enemies got $4 billion in military aid from china and russia. the soviet union. this is why one of the big reasons we lost the war. >> eventually saigon, the capital, fell on april 30, 1975. that date marked the end of the vietnam war. it is a very important date engraved in many of our minds here at best. on that date, where were you and what were you doing?' >> i lived inside on since 1954 when the geneva treaty decided to have our country into parts. the north and -- the lungs to the communists and the south to the nationalist. and my family, they had heard about experiences with the communism. as my parents at the time were very young. 36 and 32. with seven children aging from 11 years old to four months old. we left our home from the noise and moved south to be able to live in freedom. we already had experience with the communists. even struggling to have new life in the south, after a few years my parents would be able to prosper and all of us went to college. i was in the second year of school when i met my husband in med school. a medical student. we waited until he graduated and got married in 1974. my husband was drafted after he finished school. he eventually became lieutenant. the fall of saigon came before the for five days we heard from his father and uncle and he offered us to go back playing to the u.s. -- to go by airplane to the u.s. but there were a lot of people on the list so we wouldn't be able to go on the first day. which was a friday. so we came back home. on monday, april the 28th, his uncle asked us to come back to wait for the bus to go to the airport. it was on tuesday the 29th, we were waiting for the bus. but around noon we heard from -- we listened to the radio. the south vietnam government surrendered. so we hurried back home to my parents home. at that time the whole big family, my parents, my uncle two aunts, we all prepared to go to the commercial. l pier where the ship docked to find a way to get the ship. to flee the country. because we had a big family and we had just for cars, we went in groups. the first went to the doc and then planned to go back home to pick up the rest of us. but when the first group came to the pier, they saw the chaotic atmosphere because everyone wanted to flee the country. at that time, my father thought about the rest of us still at home. he decided to go back home. that was on the 29th. on the 30th of april, the communist army invaded into the president's palace. the situation at the time was still not settled. everyone still wanted to go flee the country because there was a rumor that the seven fleets of america were still in the south china sea. but there was some hesitation because people were saying that the communist might catch us before we got out. so for the second time we decided to stay. let's goes on. -- life goes on. i came back to work as a pharmacist because i graduated in 1974. my husband, he went to his brother-in-law's office to practice four months. in june 1975, the communist government called all of the soldiers and steady for reeducation for three days. after three days they released them. >> you bring up a very interesting point about the reeducation point. dash cam. on the panel we actually have two people who went to the reeducation camp. this was a leap of the north vietnamese to seek revenge on those who served four south yunnan. they would -- south vietnam. it would imprison them and indoctrinate them. we would like to ask after the war, you were placed in a reeducation camp for four and a half years. can you describe what life was like? >> yes. i was imprisoned for four and a half years. in the reeducation labor camp in north vietnam. while there, the communists controlled the prisoners by using what they called a technique. the prisoners were fat only -- fed only sweet potatoes and a bowl of rice with one tiny piece of meat once a month. the technique was designed to keep everyone hungry. they could only concentrate on the hunger, not escape. the prisoners, including myself were forced through hard labor from sun up to sun down every day under the harsh conditions. first i was on a team, we planted vegetables. sweet potatoes cabbage. and then they put me on the captain team. there were about 15 of us. we went into the forest early in the morning, cut the trees, carried would in the afternoon. we worked from six :00 in the morning until six :00 in the evening. then about 7:00 all of us were locked up in one room. there were about 60 prisoners in one room. we slept on the floor. there was no restroom. just one big bucket. it was terrible. i did not know how i am still alive. my weight dropped to 70 pounds. before i was finally released. during my time in the labor camp i watched it many of my friends died beside me. we had to wrap the dead in paper and buried them in unmarked graves. i cannot forget that, it is still a nightmare to me. thank you. >> doctor, you also had a similar experience. you were also in a reeducation camp for three years but you managed to escape. how did you escape? >> i think that before we talk about the escape, i need to have some clarification about the term reeducation camp. for people who never lived with the communists, or for the young people who were born in the 80's, maybe we talk about reeducation camps like people go to a certain place and then have some kind of education or have dinner and lunch and then have a break and that for them. but actually, it is a correctional labor camp. in the full sense of the term. but we keep using the term reeducation camp because that is the invention of the communists. it has nothing to do with reeducation. it is indoctrination. you come there to work. in between you have indoctrination. when i was in the camp, this was almost three and a half years already. most of my friends were released after two years. we need to understand the atmosphere in which y had escaped. i have seen people escape and never heard from these people again. and i have seen people who escaped and when they caught them, they put them in these containers that -- they put people in these connections in the sun and put them in there. in the year 77 and 78, there was a movement outside in saigon. the communists let chinese people go. at that time they wanted to get on the money from the chinese. so they said that if you give me money, i let you go. so a lot of people tried to get paper saying they are chinese. i lived in the camp at that time and my wife came and told me that people going, my family, they succeeded in escaping by that way. so she came and told me where do i want to escape because i was so hopeless, i did not see any way i could get out. so i decided to go. but i don't know how to escape because it was in the middle of the jungle. i'm not really a soldier, i did not know what direction to go. so i had to get help. i had the chance to talk to lift my friends who is a soldier. they know which way to go. he was able to get out and go in different directions to where we usually go in the morning. and then he agreed to escape with me. so he had a chance to talk to my wife. on the day we decided to escape, both of us, we go. every day i had to go out and work with the other people. as a doctor. i carried sulfide and medications. that is all we had. and some band-aids. and as soon as we go out, we don't -- we disappeared into the jungle. and i just followed the others. we walked in the jungle for i don't know, and our two and then we came to a place. my wife came. and then we kept walking. in about an hour or so, and then finally we see her with a motorbike along with his brother. and then we escaped. >> can i add a little detail? i had a permit to visit him every three months to provide supplies of food and money. because they don't have enough money to give them food. the last time it was in january 1979, and he was already there for three and half years. i came to the camp on wednesday and then we could stay together during the name -- night on wednesday night. i told him the plan. and then i would come back on monday. four days after. so the next day when he had to go back to the camp with other people to go to do labor, and then he told his friend to meet me at -- on the way to the labor. i talked with his friend about the plan. that is why he relied on the friend. because he is a professional soldier. so he already went out to that area to do labor work for a couple of months before, so he knew the way. and then on monday we came back. i had to ask my cousin to ride a motorcycle. and then my friend wrote another one. we did not meet him at the place and then we went further and saw two men with clothes. they had to wear military clothes in the camps. the two men carried bags and then we pick them up. and then just wrote back in saigon without any problem. they don't have any intelligence guards on the road. [laughter] in the hopeless situation, i don't have any other thing that i can do for my husband. so that is what, i don't know whether the holy spirit drives me to do it or not. [applause] >> so as the conditions worsened, and estimated 2 million vietnamese people attempted to escape. most famous when the boat people. they eventually escaped and came to america. mr. lee actually trying to keep the anon 10 times unsuccessfully. he continued to live in vietnam for 30 years. can you describe what life was like under communist vietnam? >> i am unlucky. i tried many times that failed. but i still have a lot of friends in vietnam right now. they don't have any chance to get out. finally, i have been here 13 years. i finally found my luck. i'm not in a camp. but my friends, let these people, were in the camps. some of them try to escape several times that failed. and then when they got back to the camp, they tried to kill them. actually several people have died because of that. in the situation of dr. tran here is very lucky. it's like playing a game, not escape. for me, i'm living under the communists about 20 years before coming here. the first 10 years is very terrible. the whole country in south vietnam, i don't talk about north vietnam because i don't know anything about it. . but i don't think they're better than south vietnamese people. a don't have enough food in the north. and in the south, at the time we don't have enough food, we don't have enough medicine. we lack everything. in the first 10 years. the fuel, the kerosene for burning the lights at night and for cooking as well. we lacked that as well. at that time nobody wanted to say with the communists. and the people in the south vietnam tried to get out. the western countries outside do not want to play with the communists. so finally the first year and the second year and the third year, we don't have anything left. that's why i was in there 10 years. the first 10 years is very terrible for the whole south vietnam people. after 10 years, it's a little bit better. in 19 -- in 1995, 20 years later , vietnam and the united states had a diplomatic relationship again. so from 1995, it got more improvement. >> we were glad you are able to finally make it to america. like most of the speakers here, most ended up in kentucky. a federal settlement program. today more than 5800 be an -- keep the 800 vietnamese-american slip there. -- 5800 vietnamese-american live there. we think all the palace. now we would like to open up a panel for questions from the audience. just a reminder, you do have to speak into the microphone. there is only one in the room. please wait for the microphone to come to you before you answer a question. the lady in >> the front. >>thank you. >> the three gentlemen to my left, where you able to bring your family? >> yes. >> the question was, for the three gentlemen, where you able to bring your families. >> thank you for your wonderful description. thank you very much for your service. >> the microphone is actually for c-span. just repeat your question. >> there has been a great deal of discussion about agent orange . there were two sides, something used in war and war is always terrible. others feel it saved american lives. i'm curious, as americans who came from the south of vietnam, what are your feelings about this? i've been working for 30 years on this topic in vietnam. i'm curious to know your thoughts and perceptions about agent orange. >> what can you repeat the question -->> can you repeat the question? >> about agent orange. to save lives, but i was asking about your opinions on agent orange. >> do any of the panelists have questions opinions or perceptions on agent orange? we will take one question at a time. we will do the agent orange question. anybody on the panel, go ahead. speaking to the microphone. >> i feel deeply indebted to the american soldiers who fought and died for our country. and i saw their courage when we fought along them. he flew with us. he flew every combat mission. i very appreciate that and feel i owe the american soldiers because they came and fight for us and died for us. i am very grateful. >> yes grateful about the american soldier and officer to come to our country to fight against communism. but the communists, they used the term of fighting against the imperialism of america. but actually, it was a civil war between two different idealisms. it was not fighting america. they used that to draw young people to go with them fighting against south vietnam. >> did any of our panelists have a response to the question in the back of a agent orange -- about agent orange? if not, we will move on to the next question. >> i don't have much knowledge about agent orange. the only thing i know is in vietnam, they have some kind of center because they want to get compensation from the united states. but i don't know more about that. the only thing i know is they want to get money from the americans so people that have complications, they say it is from agent orange. that is all i can think of. >> i want to add a little bit more about agent orange. according to my knowledge, the american soldier came to vietnam and fight here. and now they are dying off with some kind of disease because of agent orange. they got compensation. they got treatment. they got all kinds of stuff. i think so. but in vietnam, the people from the north, the south, or the civilian in the war, they are still affected by agent orange as well. but they don't have anything. they don't have any compensation. they don't have any treatment. that is what i want to bring up. thank you. >> agent orange was used in a remote area where there were no people living there except the communists. jungles, in places where they can hide to ambush our forces. we had to use the chemical to do fully eight -- defoliate so we could see who was hiding where so we do not die from their ambush. i don't think the americans used that chemical in places where there were people living. you know, usually weigh in the boonies somewhere where hardly anybody lived except the communists. if the communists are poisoned by that, so be it, you know because they come to kill us. >> they were enemies. >> next question. >> the ambassador to the u.s. from singapore spoke to the world affairs council and made an argument i have never heard before. we always talk about the domino theory of what might happen after the u.s. left vietnam. he said during the midnight and when singapore had become independent deciding which way to go, communist or capitalist, he said mainly based on the american participation in vietnam they went the capitalist model. i wondered your reaction. >> the ambassador of singapore was here and talked about the independence of singapore and whether they would choose to be a communist or free country. they looked to what happened in vietnam and decided to go with the capitalist model. >> they look to the u.s. participation in vietnam which he said was influential in their deciding to go with the capitalistic model. >> they looked at the u.s. involvement in vietnam and decided to go the capitalist route. have any of the panelists heard of this before? any thoughts on that? >> i was young, four or five years old. i don't know much about the politics. >> one million people left their home in the north to the south to speak out about whether we like communism or not. i think most of the people in south vietnam and even some of the vietnamese who stayed behind in the north, they don't like communists at all. we have no freedom. they kill people and use the term of killing people who have possessions. kind of praising the poor. but after we stayed behind, after 1975, everyone became poor. no one had anything and no freedom to do anything. they destroyed even the cemetery . not in the central area, but the suburb as well. everyone had to cremate their family members who deceased. and they used the cemetery in the center to become a guard -- a garden. so you can believe what the communists say, just watch them. >> i agree. that is what our last president said. listen to what the capitalist say, look at what they have done. if we look at the facts north and south vietnam, we are the south. we did not invade the north. the north came and invaded us. the south vietnamese people just want to live in peace with the south vietnamese people, just want to live in peace. the north did not like we do that. we said we have to stand up to defend ourselves. unfortunately, the battlefield was not just in vietnam. we lost the war because of everything. i was a pilot. i was grounded for years because of no gas, no fuel, no ammunition. so of course, we lost the war on the battlefield in the united states, not vietnam. the frontline of the battlefield is here, united states. we lost the war because of the people of the united states, because of congress. congress [indiscernible] with china. >> nobody in his or her right mind would want to live under communism. once the people know what communism is, they usually flee. that is why more than half a million boat people died trying to escape communism. if they could, the whole country would leave vietnam right now except for a few hundred thousand communist cadre. that regime had to use police to force people to live there. >> we will take a question in the back. i think i saw a question in the back behind you. was there a question? ok. >> yes, there was a vietnamese orphanage run by vietnamese nuns . what happened to the vietnamese religious people, the ministers priests, the nuns, and all of them? >> what happened to the vietnamese religious people? >> as i understood, because i lived in saigon so i would be able to run to the church and have activity in the choir. but people who lived in the countryside, they have to wake up very early in the morning to go to church on sunday because they force them to work on sunday. later on, i heard about many places. they tried to take on the property of the church, even the cemetery. they still have a lot of struggle between the government and the religious people. and some of the priests are shot if they speak out. they have been put into prison. >> next question, please. >> thank you. there is a film making the rounds on p.b.s. called "last days in vietnam" that probably some of you have seen. my wife and i saw it and they made a great -- it made a great impression on us. i wonder if you have seen it and what your impression was. there was an impression that they intended to honor the peace accord because they were afraid of richard nixon. they thought he was crazy. when the watergate scandal rope and he was weakened politically, that is what encouraged them to invade the south. >> the judgment sought "last days in vietnam" and wondered if anyone on the panel had seen it and wondered what their impressions work. he said in the film there was an impression that the north vietnamese in pay the the less invaded after the watergate scandal. what are your impressions? >> i agree with that assertion. if there were no watergate probably president nixon would retaliate to the flagrant violation of the paris accord. >> i have another thought about nixon. when we see president nixon have agreement with china at that time probably vietnam is not the frontline for the freedom country anymore. so the people in america because of the loss of 58,000 american soldiers and losing money, they don't want to lose more people and money anymore. i think that reaches a pawn on the chessboard. we have nothing to fight with but the aid from america. if the americans withdraw from afghanistan, i think it would be terrible. when president ronnie came over here last week to have american soldiers stay behind in afghanistan to assure the freedom of afghanistan. >> next question. >> you said everyone in vietnam would leave except for a select few people if given the opportunity to now. i know over the last couple of decades, we have opened up relations with vietnam. do you agree with the policy of the united states? >> the gentleman said if people could leave vietnam they would except for a select few. recently the united states has opened up with vietnam. what are your thoughts on that? >> with the presence of the american embassy in vietnam and a lot of foreign contact they came to vietnam to invest -- that came to vietnam to invest, i think lives over there get better because the companies tend to pay attention to world opinion for their international aid and such. the western presence, with that things tend to be better. north korea is a contrasting difference. in north korea, there is hardly any western presence. that country is unadulterated hell ok? in vietnam, people do not have freedom, human rights. they don't have a lot of things we enjoy here, but still life is a little bit better than in other places. i think open up relations like this is helpful at least for the people's lives over there. >> the worst thing in vietnam now is corruption everywhere in vietnam. the worst thing now in vietnam. you can see the difference between the rich and poor in vietnam. there is a big gap. the minority is the communist party. they got rich because they got corrupt. but many people are very poor, very poor. >> next question. >> this is a question for dr. gary tran. you were agricultural commissioner, whatever the title properly is. my understanding was or is that vietnam was largely rural fundamentally agricultural country before all the trouble, so to speak. and was a net exporting country for rice, a very rich agricultural economy. he talked about some of the programs you were starting -- you talked about some of the programs you are starting there. i would like to your more about that and the consequences of the war for agriculture and the nation's self-sufficiency in terms of food. >> dr. tran, you were the agricultural specialist in the country. before the war, vietnam was largely rural and agricultural and a net exporting rice country. what consequences to the war have on the economy? agricultural economy. >> reform to agricultural development added major achievements to the republic of vietnam, but nobody talks about it. in 2012, cornell university invited about a dozen of us high officials in the government. i remember there were four cabinet members and one general and one admiral. and if you politicians -- and a few politicians and parliamentarians to go there for a symposium. there is a book that came out. i wish you would read about it because these are the things nobody talks about in the 3000 books and novels published on vietnam and the vietnam war. the achievement in agriculture is so massive. it would take me at least a day to talk about. when i gave the talk at cornell university, they get three days for the whole bunch. but my field took a whole day because of that. please, if you are interested in the, get this book. i will leave one book in case you can use it. let me quote one -- couple of sentences from the introduction of the book from the only vietnamese study professor in the united states. this is what he said to introduce the book. the stereotype among americans at that time and later, even to this day, of the second republic government as a dictatorship that deserved to be defeated is perhaps a convenient slander. but it is a slander nevertheless. the efforts of the vietnamese to create a democratic government under adversity is a story that has yet to break through the self-serving american myths that have shrouded what is probably the most abandoned ally in u.s. history. the aim in compiling this volume is not only to retrieve vietnamese voices from the second republic before they are gone, but also to give americans the option of finally, after half a century, of seeing more clearly the ally for whom thousands of americans gave their lives. the section on agricultural development and reform is 50 pages long out of this 150-page book. that will tell you how massive the achievements in that field is. you've got to read this book. >> thank you very much. i'm going to take the privilege of asking the last question because i know all of you live here in louisville. if you could say in one or two sentences because we are running out of time how you came to louisville leaving vietnam as refugees. afterwards, i would invite all of you to ask further questions outside at the reception where there is a chance for conversation and also a chance with the exhibit to learn more about the conflict and those memories. how did you come to louisville? >> me? >> anyone. >> i was lucky because when i came here, when i came to the united states, one of my classmates offered me a job. so i came here to work for him. after that, i split off and practiced veterinary medicine on my own. 25 years ago, i started to train louisville kids to be really good in math and english. [applause] >> see how good she is? she is one of my 3000 smart kids that we trained throughout school. that is why i became a kentucky colonel. [laughter] not because i did anything in vietnam, actually i did a lot in vietnam. if you read this book, you will see it. [laughter] but because i trained 3000 children in louisville to be super good in math and reading. and they later had an awesome college education. >> thank you very much. [applause] >> you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook. >> this year, c-span is touring cities across the country exploring american history. next, a look at our recent visit to saint augustine, florida. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. >> we are at the st. augustine lighthouse and museum. this is the location of florida's first lighthouse. there was originally a lighthouse built here sometime in the late 1600's. and in the 1700's's it was turned into a functional lighthouse. it was down on the water. after florida became a state, they put the money into it and made it a lighthouse with 10 whale oil lamps. they realized it would fall into the ocean. they started building the current white house that was completed in 1874. the old one fell into the ocean in 1880. the current tower has been here since 1874. the purpose of the lighthouse is to serve as a location reminder to all of the ships in the area. each lighthouse has its own individual day and night mark. ours is the black and white stripes with the red top. no other lighthouse can have that. if you see those colors, you know you are in saint augustine. our night mark has three bull's-eyes. when they rotate around, the beams are 30 seconds apart. it is a steady light with 32nd flashes on the ocean. that is our unique night mark. we serve to let sailors know they are in saint augustine to be safely guided inside. the lighthouse comes on every night. we maintain that through volunteers, staff, and donations. we are a nonprofit. we restored the lighthouse and original keeper's house from 1876. we have preserved those for future generations so they can see how the light housework, how it was operated, the keepers who lived here, it was like a military post. they worked day and night. it was a tough job. they had to climb up every two or three hours to put oil into the lantern and clean things, wind the mechanism that kept the lens rotating. it was a rigorous job. we want to keep that commemorated and let people come and see how it worked. in addition to being historic preservationists and taking care of the tower and house we launched an archaeological maritime program. we have a team of archaeological researchers. they go out and look at shipwrecks in our area. we want to know the history because saint augustine is also the nation's oldest port. they find shipwrecks using like a big metal detector through the water. they dive down to the wrecks and analyze what is there, bring up some of the artifacts, and we use those to figure out the story behind the ships. as the ships were coming and going, that was the main transportation in and out of saint augustine for hundreds of years. it can tell us a lot about people coming and going from saint augustine. at one time, there was a shipwreck every two weeks. so there are literally hundreds of shipwrecks off our coast waiting to be discovered waiting for us to be able to excavate those. we look forward to the next piece of history will uncover. >> find out where c-span is going next online. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. >> here are a few of the book testicles we will be covering this spring. in the middle of may, we will visit maryland for live coverage of the gaithersburg festival. we will close out may in new york city where the publishing industry showcases their upcoming books. the first week of june, we are live for the chicago lit fest including our program with lawrence wright and your phone calls. that is this spring on c-span's book tv. >> each week, american history tv's american artifacts visits museums and historic places. you were looking at the petersen house in washington where president lincoln passed away at 7:22 april 15 of 1855. up next, a tour of the boarding house across the street from ford's theatre where abraham lincoln was shot 150 years ago. >> this is an interesting house that has a great history even before abraham lincoln was assassinated. it was built by a german immigrant to america, william petersen, and he used the house as a boarding house. this is a relic of 19th century civil war boardinghouse culture. once upon a time, everybody lived in boarding houses