Vietnam: Unified, Independent and Poor

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Introduction

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Overview

On a cool Saturday morning in January, the smell of charcoal cooking fires permeates the village of An Duong on the outskirts of Hanoi. A little after 7 o'clock, four schoolboys enter a courtyard in which a 12-foot high obelisk sits atop a 2-foot high brick platform. One of the boys knocks loose a brick while his pals quickly collect others. They line them up to make a little wall across the platform. Out come two well-used paddles and a pingpong ball. The before-school game begins.

An old woman listens for a few minutes while an American visitor speaks with the youngsters, Then motions to the American. She squats down and writes with a stick in the dust: “250,” Erasing that with a sweep of the hand, she then writes “ngay 21-12-72”—“the day December 21, 1972.”