What I'd like to ask the lady is what was life like before August 1965? What was life like in the village? Were the NLF people here and what were they doing?

In 1965, I was staying at home. My husband was working in Danang. When I stayed at home, I did not see any NLF people. I only saw a truck coming into the village and arrested me and my child. I was carrying my son then. The interpreters told me to get out there so that they could lob smoke grenades and shells into the village. Then they came in to burn down the houses. They then herded us down to the railroad and took us away until they released us. This was the situation in 1965. I just tell you what I saw.

What was your life and the life of other villagers like before 1965? And were there NLF forces here?

I was busy working then and so I did not see any NLF soldier in 1965. I was only a rice farmer. And so when the soldiers came, I saw the things which I described. I never saw any NLF soldier at all.

Could you please tell me about the day in August 1965 and could you tell fully and honestly as you can what happened?

They shelled the village around 10 a.m., burnt the houses down around 11 a.m. and the cars came around 10 o'clock.

What did they ask you to do that day? Where were you forced to go?

I stayed at home and they forced me out of the house, and that was all. I just did not want to go anywhere at all.

Did you hear gunfire?

They only shelled the village and lobbed smoke grenades in here. It was all dark because of the smoke. The interpreters came in and ordered us out so that they could burn down our houses. And so when I carried my son out of the house, they burnt down my house. After that they took us to the concentration camp. I did not have a house left and so I had to live in the concentration camp.

First of all, did they burn down your house? And if they burnt down your house, then what did you have in the house? And then when they told you to go away, were you angry?

At that time my brick house was just completed. So we had rice cakes, potatoes, rice, pigs and a lot of furniture in the front part of the house and the back section. Both parts of the house had been completed. And so they came it and burnt it down. It was not a thatch house. They just drove me out and so I had to obey them. I did not get angry then.

Did you see the American soldiers burn your house that day? After that, where did the Americans take you to and where were you actually?

Yes, I saw them burn my house. They threw smoke grenades into my house to force me out and so I had to come out. The trucks were parked there. They did not come on foot. They chased me into the paddy fields and I was made to stand there. I was carrying my son then. After they burnt down the houses, they boarded their trucks and began to go away around 5 p.m. After they left, I came back into the village but there was nothing left. And so I built a roof under that bamboo grove there and stayed there for a short while. After that, the puppet soldiers in the fort came and drove us into a concentration camp where we had to stay for a long time. The houses were burnt down. And that was a fact. I am not telling you anything which I didn't see with my own eyes. There were many trucks converging on the village on that day.

When you came back to the village you saw that your house had been burnt down. After that, were the Americans still in the village and did you see them burn other houses?

Yes, they were still around. They burnt one house after another. They burnt the houses down until 5 p.m. before they left. They didn't just burn down one house. They burnt over 100 houses.

Did you actually see the Americans burn down the houses? With your own eyes?

Yes, I saw them burn the houses with my own eyes. They burnt down all the houses. After they set fire on one house, they went to the next and set fire on it. They had the interpreters drive people away as they burnt down the houses.

Please repeat again. That day you saw a film crew taking your pictures. What were your feelings then?

I really don't remember much about how they were taking pictures of us. I only remember that they hung a board around my neck and then pressed the camera like that.

When you were relocated, where did you go and how long did you stay there?

I remained in my village for six more months before they relocated me. The Americans took us to that area in the forest there. And we just stayed put there, going nowhere else after that.

Did the Americans get many people wounded that day?

Yes, there were many people wounded. On the very spot I am sitting now a person who came back from harvesting the rice was shot and wounded. When she was taken to the hospital, she died.

Were there many people wounded?

There were many. Getting wounded was an ordinary thing.

Do you want to say anything more about the event of August 2?

As for August 2, I have already told you about the burning of the house, the shelling and so on. This was what I saw and this is what I am telling you.