Sadly and painfully, experiences of the Tet Mau Than in 1968 remain for Brothers Sylvestre Diep and Aglibert Thanh. They were arrested at LaSalle Phu Vang School and were "buried alive," displayed like a slide show within every Brother’s heart. A description follows:

On January 31, 1968, First Day of Lunar New Year - Tet Mau Than, at about 3:30A.M. explosions spread out from the Hue City , around and behind Pellerin School. North soldiers, invaded all rooms of the school at 6:00A.M. and stayed there until February 7, i.e. the whole week of Tet. There are about 20 "bo doi" (soldiers from North) very young and all are of northern origin - recognized by the accent of their language.

On the morning of the First Day, 4 Brothers were led to the Headquarter of the "Front of the Liberation of the South." After enduring a long list of questions and informed about the policy of the North Regime, they were sent back home, carefully guarded along with other Brothers in the office of the Dean of Studies. Persons of the staff and other workers of Pellerin School were guarded in a classroom.

On February 5, one could hear explosions from the 7th American Fleet over Hue City: three explosions over the roof of the Junioriate destroyed half the building, and another one over the chapel damaging all its windows - more than 100 large plates of glass.

On February 7, the bo doi left Pellerin School at 3:30A.M. after shooting at the military camp on the other side of the An Cuu River. A few hours later, American soldiers invaded the property of Pellerin. Their presence on the property of the school was really disastrous: on February 10, the building with 2 stories and the house for professors and employees received continuous fire from the bo doi, destroying the entire roof.

The community of LaSalle Pellerin School lost contact with 2 Brothers Aglibert and Sylvestre during the Lunar Eve New Year. These 2 Brothers went to LaSalle Phu Vang, about 20km away from Pellerin, dedicating their time and "li xi" (lucky money) to poor students of that school.

We were informed that on February 4, they had been arrested and guarded at Cho Mai - 500 meters from the school. At the news that the Republican Vietnamese Army of Saigon were en route to Phu Vang, the Vici withdrew bringing with them 2 Brothers, 2 priests, and several seminarians and parishioners.

Finding the bodies of Brothers Aglibert and Sylvestre.

On November 8, 1969, 5 Brothers and 3 employees of LaSalle Pellerin School joined a group of searchers who tried to find the bodies of their relatives. In the very first grave, at 11:00A.M. were found several bodies having already deteriorated, among them were three other bodies, almost immediately recognized one as of Reverend Buu Dong, the two others were of Brothers Sylvestre and Aglibert.

. As for Brother Sylvestre: with his remains, Brother Genereux Nhon saw the white shirt with the number 59, which was the number assigned to Brother Sylvestre since his first year of Junioriate at Mont La Salle, Nhatrang, and which he kept until now. Furthermore, we also found the 6 decade rosary, the typically Lasallian Rosary, in the pocket of his pants;

. As for Brother Aglibert: his two golden teeth were still there, and in a pocket of his pants, there was a piece of music typewritten with words he used for the New Year Celebration.

On November 10, 1969, the bodies of two Brothers were transported from Phu Thu to LaSalle Pellerin School. There were two funeral masses, one presided over by Mgr. Archbishop and concelebrated by 10 priests at the cathedral of Hue in Phu Cam and another at the Honor Court of the school.

On November 12, 1969, the plane from USAID brought the two caskets to Saigon.

***

As the war continued, and bad news was spreading very fast, the Juniors whose families were in Ban Me Thuot, Kontum, Pleilku - regions where the war had started, were so anxious that Brother Colombon Dao, director of the Junioriate, sent me to Nha Trang, to try to get information about their families who might leave their homeland in search of refugees in Nha Trang or Phan Rang. On this occasion, I met my brother’s family from Kontum who had come to NhaTrang more than one week before. However, there was no news from the families of the Juniors.

BBC radio had "predicted" and announced disturbing news for the South Armies, before they happened: "Quang Tri city was lost, Thua Thien (Hue) will be defeated, people continued to flee for refuge somewhere, etc." And in reality, people listened to BBC radio, abandoned their own houses, properties; even the military forces were confused, then "sauve qui peut!" It’s really disastrous everywhere in the North and in the Center of South Vietnam.

***

On April 1, 1975, Brother Phong knocked my room’s front door while I was at siesta around 1:00P.M. He had just come from Hue, carrying a travel bag and bo doi’s sandals made of tire materials. He urged me to phone Brother Michel Hong. We were so happy in meeting each other. Brother Phong had escaped from the LaSalle Pellerin School in Hue at the end of March when the North Armies had attacked Quang Tri, then Hue.

He urged Hong and me to immediately prepare a travel bag and "to go" with him. We responded by laughing and humorously answered, "Why? To escape? Let’s stay here to defend our country!"

He seemingly became angry asgainst us. However, he gave us some interesting details:

. LaSalle Pellerin Community had set up fleeing by boat to Da Nang on March 15, 1975, with the Sisters of Jeanne d’Arc but they had already fled two days before. Brother Rodriguez Dao joined them for assistance and help.
. Brother Director Thien Huong ordered - in the name of the vow of Obedience! - the oldest Brother Paul Buong, almost 99 years old, to fly to Saigon with Brother Tien, the youngest Brother of the community.
. Brothers Anatole Bach, Bellarmin Tam, Anicet Tan, Fortunat Phong and Brother Director Thien Huong packed the luggage in the old Opel car and used it as a pousse-pousse to escape to Da Nang, about 70km from Hue. They joined lots of people "walking" to Da Nang, on the feast of saint Joseph, March 19.
. Just arrived to Son Tra, Da Nang, the bo doi (communist soldiers of the North) "welcomed" them!
. Two days later, the bo doi gathered people in the region, lectured them of the goals and policies of the Front of the Liberation of South Vietnam - which had been in reality the tools of North Vietnam Communist Party. Nothing’s new!
. BBC radio unceasingly reported to all Vietnamese people, especially those of the South, that the Seventh Fleet of the United States "have been waiting for you on the high seas!" Brother Phong invited other Brothers to be ready "to go". Brother Bellarmin Tam who had been a French citizen, tried to reach the French Consulate asking for political protection. Brother Director Thien Huong and Brothers Rodriguez Dao and Anicet Tan decided to go back to LaSalle Pellerin School.
. Only Brothers Phong and Anatole Bach decided to go back home to Saigon. Realizing that the Chief Administrator of the new local government did not know how to read, but just to trace some lines as his approval signature and to stamp the official seal, they requested necessary "travel documents" for safety purposes. They travelled together, but after arriving at Nha Trang, they lost each other.
. Brother Phong arrived at Mont La Salle, Nha Trang but found no one there. That’s because the Petit-Novices, the Novices and students of LaSalle Vinh Phuoc School - former LaSalle Binh Loi School in Qui Nhon - had fled overseas on a ship of the South Marine Army two days previous, on Holy Thursday, March 27, thus celebrating the Great Feast of Easter on the high seas, and were debarked at the isle of Phu Quoc by April 2, 1975.
. Brother Phong jumped over the fence into the Palace of the Bishop of Nha Trang, Mgr. Nguyen Van Thuan, during the night time. Mgr. Thuan urged him to quickly get back home to Saigon and search for the opportunity to flee overseas.

"As you can see," Brother Phong continued, "the North Armies were advancing to the South very rapidly. For this reason I urge both of you to go, immediately, before it’s too late!"

Brother Michel and I laughed and joked, saying that "we have to stand here to defend our country!" He left, angry and disappointed. He would want to refresh our memory about the event of Tet Mau Than in 1968 and of the "Boulevard of Horror" in 1972.

***

Since the invasion began in Ban Me Thuot, Brother Lucien, Visitor, tried to bring all the Brothers and Affiliates from Ban Me Thuot and from the communities in the Center of South Vietnam to Saigon. But there was no way to communicate with them. In the meantime, Brother Fidele Linh, Auxiliary Visitor, requested from the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities, means of transportation to bring Montagnard Students from Dalat and from Nha Trang to Saigon. However, the airplane could not land because too many people had gathered on the runways of Nha Trang and Lien Khuong airports.

Brother Visitor sent Brother Ephrem, with cash, to assist the Brothers in the Center - Nha Trang, Hue - and Ban Me Thuot. He tried by any means he could find to reach these destinations, but he gave up, because people and the Brothers tried to leave these cities by "walking or running" so that the traffic was stuck.

Indeed, Brother Director of the Petit-Novitiate at Mont LaSalle led some Brothers and Juniors to the airport of Nha Trang in search of means to fly to Saigon. When the airplane landed - not stopping with motors still running, instead - they tried to jump on the stairway to get on board, but they could not remain too long "racing" with the plane. They gave up, and Brother Director Mutien had his "very important" carryon bag dropped somewhere along the way.

The risk of a disastrous war from the North become more and more dangerously harmful, not only because of the "forecaster BBC" but overall because thousands of people really moved away, leaving their homes and properties. The communities of Brother Directors of Mont La Salle, Novitiate, Vinh Tho School, LaSalle Ba Ninh School and ChuProng School (for Montagnard Students) were able to get on board the Marine Ship, bringing all of their relatives and students to Vung Tau, then to Island Phu Quoc. This was on Holy Thursday of 1975.

***

At the Junioriate of Thu Duc, even though we tried to continue with the regular schedule of daily activities, i.e. holding classes and regular life-style on a normal basis, the Juniors whose families were from the warring regions could not keep their minds at peace. Brother Colomban, Director of the Junioriate, asked me to request ways to bring these Juniors home, especially those from Nha Trang.

I went to ask for help from the captain, father of one of the Juniors, who replied: "How can you ask for something like that? Even if I provide you with a ship transporting them back home in Nha Trang, are you sure that their families would still be there, or would they be on the road to somewhere searching for refuge?"

That’s right! It’s realistic!

We tried to comfort these Juniors - at least 20 of them, and looked forward to protecting them while still inquiring about news from their families.