Nhan Huu Nguyen interview

The Americans were present at that time. Because the Americans were around at the time, the Vietnamese armed forces were still very strong at the time although they did not engage in the fighting.

Q: Please talk about the social impacts of the Americans. Many people have said that the Americans brought with them prostitution, black marketeering, opium and corruption. And that is your opinion of the impacts of the Americans on Vietnamese society?

A: When the Americans arrived in Vietnam, I felt that there was not much prostitution. This was because there was a number of bar-girls who made a lot of money. As for black- marketeering, this only involved buying goods from the American supermarkets for resale ., As for corruption, this only occurred after the American troops had left and became increasingly worse. This was because if a soldier wanted to remain in the city he had to pay an officer so much money. Other- wise, he had to go to the front.

Q: But didn't people say that only with the arrival of the Americans that prostitution and corruption got out of hand?

A: In my opinion, this was not the case. This was because after the Americans left, there were still prostitution and corruption around. As for black marketeering, the only thing I witnessed was the purchase of American goods from the American supermarkets for resale.

Q: But weren't, these phenomena left behind by the Americans?

A: No, not so at all. This was because after the American troops left, it got more and more difficult to make a living. There were more prostitutes after than during the American presence. A number of girls were working in the bars while the American troops were still in Vietnam. After the Americans left, some of them went back to their normal lives by going back to their families. But a number of them who did not have any money had to continue to... they could not work as bargirls anymore and had to become pros- titutes.

Q: Wasn't it true that the Vietnamese were opposed the the Americans creating bad social influences in Vietnam?

A: In my opinion that was only Vietcong propaganda. As far as I was concerned, I realized that the American troops came and helped the Vietnamese people in many ways.