Atrocities allegedly committed by American forces
SR 2074
NGUYEN THI CAO
Clapstick
Interview with Nguyen
Thi Cao
Interviewer:
Please
tell us what happened to you and your family when the Americans came on
August 2, 1965?
Nguyen Thi Cao:
Is that
the full question?
Interviewer:
Yes,
that is the full question.
Nguyen Thi Cao:
When
the Americans came in 1965 they rounded up the
villagers and took the elderly women and the young women over to Cam Ne
and raped them. They caught my daughter, raped her and then shot and
killed her. It was not until two days later that I could recover her
body. She was stripped completely naked and even her watch was missing.
It was not until two days later that I could recover her body and buried
her.
Interviewer:
Please
tell us with more detail what happened on that day: How the tanks came
in, what the Americans did, where you ran to, etc.
Nguyen Thi Cao:
When
the Americans came in, they drove us out into the fields. After I was
chased out into the fields, I ran to Hoa Tho.
The whole village population was scattered all about, so how should I
know what happened to other people after that? They burnt down all the
houses, and the villagers were scattered all around. People ran
everywhere.
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Clapstick
563 Take 1
Clapstick
Interviewer:
When
did the Americans tell you to leave the house? When did you lose contact
with your daughter? When was the last time you saw your daughter
alive?
Nguyen Thi Cao:
They
chased us all out of our houses to the open fields first. Then they
captured us and rounded some of the people to the banyan tree. Those
women whom they wanted to rape they detained at the foot of the banyan
tree. The rest of the people were chased to other places.