As Brother Colomban went back to his room, I went downstairs to welcome the
armed delegation of “People’s Police” who came to “visit” our property at La
Salle Mossard in Thu Duc. I immediately recognized the chief police who had come
to visit us in May of 1975, Nam Thu. A few minutes later, three more Jeeps came.
In each Jeep there were 4 policemen, I guessed, in civilian clothes.
The chief of police saw me come closer. He said without any greetings, “I want
to see Mr. Dao.” I replied, “Please go to the parlor. I’m calling him.”
- “ No need of parlor. I want to go into his room. Where is it?”
- “ Please follow me.”
The chief of police made a sign to two policemen, “Come with me.” Pointing to
me, he ordered two others, “Ask him to take you to Mr. Hong’s room.” Then the
chief of police and his group went in the direction of Brother Colomban Dao’s
room. “How do they know Brother Colomban Dao’s room?” I wondered.
The head of my group asked, “Where is Mr. Hien?”
- “ Rev. Hien is probably in his room; he is sick. Another Hien, ex-Brother
Francois Hien, moved out a long time ago.” [I thought of Mr. Remy Hien at the
Phuoc Tuong Phat Corporation, my closest friend. But, I decided not to mention
his name. “What for?” I said to myself.]
- “ Where is he now?”
- “ I don’t know!”
- “ Where’s Mr. Thang?”
- “ He went to Saigon, searching for a job, I think.”
- “ Where in Saigon?”
- “ I don’t know!”
He looked at me, wild and angry, “Don’t know! Don’t know! Know nothing! Where’s
Mr. Hong’s room? And don’t answer ‘ don’t know!’” I led them to Brother Michel
Hong’s room while I was wondering, “Why do they ask for Mr. Hien and Brother
Pierre Thang?” I thought I had a clue: Tien, the Junior who had been arrested
several weeks before, would have told them something...
Straight in front of upstairs was a little rectangular room which included a
bathroom annexed to a toilet. In front of the bathroom there was enough space
for storing miscellaneous things like camping items. When the group of 7
policemen came to the last upstairs step, they saw the national flag
(red-yellow-star) stored in this little room. They said, “Oh! They store the
national flag in the toilet!” I replied, “This is the storage room!” The head of
the group then obliged me to pick up the flag, opened all doors of the bathroom
and toilet, then told the photographer to take a picture of me and the scene.
“That’s a proof of being a reactionary,” I thought.
The Brother Michel’s room was locked. I said, “I don’t have the key.” A
policeman attempted to unlock the door with big scissors. I protested, “You’ll
damage the door.” The head of the group declared, “We’ll compensate by a new
one.” The door opened. “Wow!” exclaimed a policeman when he saw an opened M79
bullet head on the top of the shelf. Seven policemen were quite careful and
immediately began to search every corner in the room.
The head of the group suddenly asked, “Right now, is there a Gestetner printing
machine on the property of La Salle?” I promptly replied, “No!” He showed me a
piece of paper and pen, requesting that I write down on the paper, “Right now,
in the property of La Salle, there is no Gestetner printing machine.” Then I had
to sign. He kept that piece of paper.
I heard someone call me from Brother Colomban Dao’s room, “Mr. An, come here!” I
went to the large dormitory of the Juniors where the chief of police was waiting
for me, holding in his hand a piece of white paper folded in fourths. He asked,
“Do you know what I have found in the room of Mr. Dao?”
- “ Oh! You mean Brother Director?”
- “ Your Director, not mine!”
- “ OK! My Director, Brother Dao, has been assigned as a housekeeper and
“Econome” of the community. He keeps many things in his room, e.g. dry food,
notebooks, pens, etc...”
- “ None of these items I want to ask about!”
I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. He looked at me, suspicious, then
showed to me the unfolded piece of paper, “Do you know the contents in it?” I
raised my hand to take it, but he drew it back. I said, “No!” He said with a
tone really threatening, “If you don’t know, stay there for 5 minutes and think
about it.” Before leaving for Brother Colomban’s room, again, he commanded 2
armed policemen to watch over me. I didn’t need to guess the contents in that
piece of paper I knew it, but I couldn’t tell the whole truth because “Toute
vérité n’est pas bonne à dire (not all the truth is good to be told!)” Standing
between 2 armed policemen, I tried to think of and remembered the little
students whom in the past I had ordered to stand still when they were
undisciplined, and I realized that sometimes I had been unfair to them.
“Education is not that easy!”
About 5 minutes passed, the chief police came back, still holding the piece of
paper in his hand. “Did you yet realize the contents in this paper yet?” He
asked. I shook my head. He showed to my eyes a face of the folded paper with
some written words, then he asked, “Do you recognize whose hand writing is?” I
quickly read “I attest that this piece of paper is found in the draw of my desk.
[Signature] Dao.” I had been quite familiar with the beautiful penmanship of
Brother Colomban Dao. However, I wanted to see with my own eyes the contents in
this paper before answering his question. I intended to take the piece of paper,
but, again, he drew it back, then articulated word after word, “Is it the hand
writing of Mr. Dao?” I nodded. He then shouted, cruelly, “Reactionary! It is an
anti-revolution flyer.”
I was led back to Brother Michel’s room. Seven policemen had searched thoroughly
at every corner in the room, even opened some books on the selves except one, Le
Grand La Rousse, where, I was pretty sure, there had been a Browning gun. Isn’t
it lucky and providential? Thank God! Anyway, they didn’t find anything else
with which they could condemn Brother Michel for as a reactionary. The head of
the group asked that I lead them to Brother Pierre Thang’s room. There, also,
they didn’t find anything against us. I accompanied the whole group to the
dormitory of the Juniors. Each place was searched in every closet, at personal
tables, even under each bed. A policeman raised high a book titled
“Materialistic Dialectics” by Karl Marx that he had found on a table, then said,
“Look! These guys study our books to be hostile to us!” “No comment!” I said to
myself.
It seemed that they were unsatisfied for being able to find out nothing against
us. The head of the group shouted, “Let’s go to the second floor! We must find
something...” While policemen searched thoroughly the rooms of Brothers Jerome
and Jean Baptist, Brother Francois, Director of the community, in pajama -
because he had caught a cold a few days before - passed by, escorted by 2 armed
policemen. He looked haggard and wasted. He looked at me, then said, “An, what
is happening?” I replied, “Do you feel any better?” I added, “I really don’t
know. Policemen suddenly came and searched thoroughly every room of the
Brothers. The chief of police is still searching in Brother Dao’s room.” Two
escorting policemen drove Brother Francois away.
There was another policeman joining the group of 7 to enter my room. He, Mr. Le
Canh, was the chief guard at the detention camp of Thu Duc. A policeman
uncovered a small Tomahawk hammer, a Boy Scout tool, in my closet. He brought it
to his boss, Mr. Le Canh who shouted, “It’s a killing tool!” then tried to force
me to sign below his hand writings “This is a killing tool found in my closet.”
I objected, saying, “I don’t sign because this is for Boy Scout works. If you
pretend that this is a killing tool, then anything can be a killing tool, e.g.
toothpick or even a drop of pure water, etc. can kill anyone.” He looked at me,
angry, but I still held fast. He shouted, “Whether you sign or not, it doesn’t
matter. Reactionary!”
It was about 5:00 PM when all rooms had been searched for “anti-revolution
proof” without finding any. I went downstairs, and I was really surprised to see
gathered together Brother Francois, Director, this time wearing shirt and pants,
Reverend Chaplain Ngo Dinh Hien, Brother Etienne Toan, the oldest Brother of the
community, and also my two nephews gathered on the field for basketball. Many
armed policemen were around, mounting guard of course. [The Juniors and my
two nephews had been arrested at their own schools since the morning of January
3, 1978. There were 7 Juniors arrested, only my nephews came back home that
afternoon.]
A Jeep with a trailer brought any kind of things found in the room of Brother
Colomban Dao. I knew that it was the fifth time that the Jeep was in and out,
full of goods on their trailer. The chief of police forced Brother Colomban to
climb on board the Jeep. When Brother Colomban got in the Jeep, a policeman
jerked off his eye glasses. Perhaps it was the last time the Jeep with the
trailer came in because they had emptied Brother Colomban’s room.
Meanwhile, Mr. Le Canh, the chief guard of the detention camp, spoke to other
policemen, then he joined the Jeep line in his LaDalat car. The chief of police
pointed at Brother Francois and me; 2 policemen forced us on board another Jeep
while other policemen forced the remaining group of “criminals” into a small
room. The Jeep with Brother Francois and me on board headed to the police
station of Thu Duc.
***
On January 3, 1978, Brother Michel had been working with other people for the “irrigation project.” At about 3:00 PM., he heard his name loudly called through the public address system, “Mr. Pham Quang Hong, come, immediately, to the office. It’s very urgent!” When Brother Michel showed up at the front gate of the irrigation camp, 2 policemen pointed guns at him while the 3rd policeman stood in front of him, then said, “You are Mr. Pham Quang Hong?” He replied, “Yes, I am.” The policeman then read the paper, “Warrant of Arrest.” Just hearing these very first words, Brother Michel was totally confused and lost. He didn’t hear anything else until his two hands were handcuffed. The policemen drove him to the detention camp of Thu Duc and put him into the very cell that Tien, the Junior, had left a few hours before.
***
Brother Augustin Phuc returned home after working at the Rail & Bridge Construction Company, at 4:00 P.M. As usual, he pedaled into the La Salle Mossard property through the main gate. A policeman stopped him, requiring an ID card. He was surprised by such an occurrence because it was the first time he was asked for an ID card. He said, “I’m going home. Why do you inquire for my ID card?” The policeman countered, “Are you Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuc?” Brother Phuc nodded. The policeman said, “You are arrested,” then Brother Phuc’s two hands were handcuffed. He was driven to the temporary detention camp #1 near the Thu Duc Market. His bicycle, relatively new, was confiscated.
***
Brother Pierre Thang, to whom I had earlier assigned the job as ice block
deliverer, had borrowed the Honda motorcycle from Mr. Thanh for going to Saigon
in search for a job. That late evening, instead of returning the Honda to Mr.
Thanh, he thought that it would be more convenient for Mr. Thanh to stop by La
Salle Mossard after delivering the ice as usual. Brother Pierre returned home at
about 7:00 P.M. Right at the gate, 3 policemen were waiting for him. Another
“Warrant of Arrest” was read, and Brother Pierre was driven to the detention
camp of Thu Duc.
Mr. Thanh, whose Honda motorcycle Brother Pierre had borrowed, felt something
wrong happened to the Brothers at La Salle Mossard Community. At 6:00 P.M. he
requested his mother to accompany him to La Salle Mossard. Brother Pierre had
been driven away just a few minutes before, and some envious policemen were
still stroking the Honda motorcycle. Thanh and his mother came to the scene.
Lucky Mr. Thanh! These policemen had earlier received lots of “some things” from
his mother. They said, “Mother! Why do you show up here?” And the Honda
motorcycle was returned to the owner.
***
After hearing that policemen came to “visit” the Brothers and Juniors at the La Salle Mossard Community, certain students gathered, discussed and investigated who among the Brothers and Juniors were not yet arrested, or were still at large, then allotted to anyone available the duty to spread the news about those Brothers and/or Juniors. Tran Me, 12th grader, went immediately to inform Brother Gervais Ha who had visited his family in Saigon.
Brother Gervais and Tran Me went to the Provincialate to inform Brother
Lucien, Visitor, and to ask for advice: Should Brother Gervais go back to Thu
Duc, or should he stay at his family home? Brother Lucien, calm by nature,
listened to the bad news about La Salle Mossard without expressing any dismay,
even though it was the very first time he heard the bad news. After a few
minutes discussing pros and cons and sharing different opinions about the good
and the bad of such a decision, Brother Lucien, Visitor, suggested that Brother
Gervais go back to La Salle Mossard Community in Thu Duc. “Because,” he said,
“if you didn’t do anything against the government, and if they check on the
family-register and find out that you are at large, they could suspect something
wrong about you. Why, they could say, he is at large since he didn’t do anything
wrong?”
To tell the truth, Brother Gervais knew he could not believe in the communist
system - several sessions of “brain washing” had given him more than enough such
experience. However, to be honest, he wished to be with his confreres at La
Salle Mossard Community, whatever might happen. So he went back home to Thu Duc,
late in the afternoon, despite the fact that several friends and former students
who argued against his decision. Just like Brother Augustin Phuc, he was
handcuffed right at the front gate and driven to the temporary detention #1
where some of his confreres and Juniors “welcomed” him.
***
The group of friends and former students had known that Brother Dennis was
going to work as driver-aid, that early morning. So he would be still at large.
The problem was “How to contact him in order to warn him?” The group was divided
into two small groups of 5 persons. The first group was responsible in informing
Brother Dennis at the junction of National Highway and Hoang Dieu Street; the
second group, from Go Dua Bridge to the Thu Duc Market.
Usually, all buses from the New Economic Zone in the North-West area returning
to Saigon pass by the junction at Thu Duc around 5:00 P.M. The first group was
ready to watch every bus stopping by at the check-point in Thu Duc. Everything
seemed normal except there were 2 police cars parked near the check-point. Every
passenger on board any bus had to step down, holding their ID card to be
checked. As time passed, everyone in the group became more and more anxious. It
became dark and darker, but there was no sign of the Renault bus passing by.
“Maybe Brother Dennis has been arrested,” said one of them, “right at the bus
station?” Others didn’t say any word, anxious, but still hoping for good luck
for Brother Dennis.
At 8:00 P.M. the first group agreed to join the second group, strengthening the
watch for Brother Dennis on the longer distance from Thu Duc Market to the two
gates into the La Salle Mossard property. About half an hour later, a red Honda
motorcycle passed Go Dua Bridge in the direction to Thu Duc Market. A student
shouted, “Brother Nhon!” and the shout was echoed along the road. Another
student stood on the middle of the road near Phuoc Tuong Phat and made a sign in
order to stop the Honda motorcycle. The Honda motorcycle stopped. Brother Dennis
was on the seat behind. A student came and whispered to him. He just heard only
2 words, like “...Mossard arrested!” He told to the driver, Mr. Lai, something,
then got down off the Honda motorcycle while the driver continued on his way.
Three students “escorted” Brother Dennis to the ferry-boat port nearby while
others urged each other to disperse, immediately, for the sake of security.
Business times of the ferry-boat to Binh Thanh across the river are from 5:00
A.M. to 6:00 P.M. every day. Four persons, that night, must hide themselves in
the bushes along the river side.
Brother Dennis Nhon would be saved. Thank God!
***
Instead of returning to La Salle Mossard Community on January 2, 1978, Duong
Hoang stayed home one more day in order to help his brothers and sisters for the
harvest of a crop at a New Economic Zone near Long Khanh. In the late afternoon
of January 3, while he prepared luggage for going back to Thu Duc, a group of 5
policemen came investigating the family-register. Although his name had been
added to the family-register, i.e. he had been a legal member of the family, his
two hands were handcuffed after a policeman read a “Warrant of Arrest,” and he
was driven to somewhere; none of his family members had any idea. Arrested for
which crime? Nobody knew.
Duong Hoang was driven to the detention camp of Long Khanh where he was tortured
in several ways. He was 18 years old, a 12th grader at the Junior & High School
of Thu Duc. He realized that he was arrested and tortured, just because he had
been at the spot when Brothers Dennis, Michel and Pierre, and Do Tien, his
classmate, had printed the flyer. Anything else, “I don’t know!” He decided to
answer to any questions regarding the activities of the Brothers and Juniors at
La Salle Mossard Community with the refrain “I don’t know!” even if tortured to
death.
Of course, experiencing how severe the tortures were, Duong Hoang could imagine
the same sort of thing that happened to the Brothers and other Juniors. He
cried. What else could he do? [Duong Hoang was the only one to be jailed,
separated apart from his Brothers-Teachers and classmates. He was released from
prison in 1982. In the “Release Order”, he read “... arrested for being in
relations with the La San Thu Duc reactionaries.” He successfully fled overseas
a year later and has been resettled in Canada.]