Mrs. Merle Ratner with Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong and veteran anti-war activist Susan Schnall achieved a policy statement on Agent Orange at the American Public Health Association, Washington DC.

Today, Vietnam is at peace, after achieving the total liberation and reunification of the country on April 30, 1975. Many areas in the world are still experiencing war and intervention and many people are seeking lessons about how to achieve peace and justice! Lessons can be found in the flowering relations between former adversaries. Vietnam is now a strong and equitable society, and contributing to peace and liberation in the world.

I took part in the anti-war movements of the late 1960’s and 70’s as I still do today. I attended my first demonstration in 1968, at the age of 12. At age 13, I was arrested for the first time for taking part in an anti-war action and later arrested quite a few times for actions at the US White House and the Statue of Liberty. I was inspired to take militant action by the determination and bravery of the Vietnamese people to achieve their liberation.

And I was encouraged by the bold statements against the war made by activists in the civil rights movement such as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcolm X and Muhammed Ali who did so at great risk to themselves. The growing group of anti-war US soldiers and veterans, starting with the Fort Hood 3 – the first GIs to refuse to fight against the Vietnamese people and be jailed – played a key role in building the movement as did the anti-war activities of the patriotic Vietnamese in the U.S.

Merle Ratner demonstrates for peace in New York City.

As the anti-war movement became broader and larger, many of us went beyond just opposing the US war and began to learn about why the Vietnamese people were fighting for their independence and freedom. While U.S. and international support was one part of winning those goals, we understood that the main factor was the ability of the Vietnamese people to combine mass armed, political and cultural struggle as part of a unified strategy which could strengthen Vietnamese liberation forces, win over middle forces and defeat the invaders and their collaborators to change the balance of forces in favor of peace and liberation.

After studying the situation in Vietnam and internationally, we began to understand that Vietnam had imposed a stalemate against colonial armies of the U.S. and its collaborators. In other words, while the liberation forces could not soon win while U.S. forces were in Vietnam, neither could U.S. forces defeat the liberation movement. At the same time, the anti-war movement in the U.S. changed public opinion and the Nixon administration was embroiled in the Watergate scandal which would later lead to Nixon’s resignation.

As the liberation movement in Vietnam assessed the forces and conditions at that time, we understood that the Paris Peace Accords was a crucial step in the process of achieving complete liberation of Vietnam! With U.S. troops required to withdraw from Vietnam, a major force opposing liberation was removed and all U.S. bombing and other war crimes would cease. So, we were very happy at the signing of the Paris Peace Accords! We also understood that full victory would come, announcing the futility of colonial occupation anywhere in the world.

Merle Ratner with an Agent Orange delegation and their lawyer in Washington DC.

It is important to say that, while we had tremendous respect and admiration for the all representatives of the Vietnamese people from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government, we were particularly impressed and moved by the leadership given by Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, who was then the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Revolutionary Government. Madame Binh, was, for us, a symbol of the leadership of Vietnamese revolutionaries whose dignity, determination and strength was an ongoing inspiration for our movement. We sang a song about her:

Live like her Madame Binh, Dare to struggle dare to win

Dien Bien Phu will come again

Live like her Madame Binh!

Spirit of Vietnam, stronger than the U.S. bomb

There are a number of lessons for international and U.S. peoples in commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords. Among them are the need for an integrated strategy that includes a strong national independence movement which wins over huge numbers of workers and peasants, which utilizes military, political, cultural, and diplomatic methods to achieve a united goal. Along with this is the need for militant international solidarity and concrete assistance from abroad, both from socialist and progressive countries and from peoples’ movements around the globe.

Merle Ratner with Agent Orange delegation and friends at a protest against the Agent Orange manufacturer in California.

Another lesson is the Vietnamese liberation movement’s maturity and wisdom in recognizing that signing an agreement, which did not immediately result in the full liberation of the country, was the shortest road to total liberation. We had to explain to a small part of the anti-war movement that had their doubts that the Paris Peace Accords laid the basis for the victory that was to come in April 1975 and also saved many lives that would have been lost in an even more protracted period of war.

A third lesson is that people’s diplomacy and people-to-people relations were a cornerstone of Vietnam’s ability to reach the Paris Peace Accords and the 1975 liberation of Vietnam. Vietnamese leaders like Madame Binh did a wonderful job of telling international friends about what the Vietnamese people were fighting for and why we should support them while building actual people to people ties. I remember meeting Vietnamese representatives in Canada since they were not allowed to travel to the U.S. The anti-war movement sent many delegations to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (and some to the south) to meet directly with the liberation movement. Inspired by what they learned, some foreigners like Jean-Pierre Debris, André Menras and Don Luce directly demonstrated against the U.S. and its collaborators in Saigon and faced jail and deportation.

After liberation, Vietnam practiced people’s diplomacy in promoting reconciliation with the Vietnamese community abroad and with foreign veterans who had fought against them during the war.

Merle Ratner with Agent Orange victims in Kon Tum, Vietnam.

Today, we continue to practice those lessons of people-to-people work in the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign. Together with our partner in Vietnam, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, we work to continue to educate and expose the horrific impact of Agent Orange on the people and land of Vietnam. We demand that the U.S. and the chemical manufacturers of Agent Orange meet their responsibility to their victims by providing money for health care, rehabilitation, vocational care and help for families with gravely ill victims along with cleanup of the dioxin hot spots in Vietnam. We do this through legislation in the U.S. Congress, through educational and mobilizing events and through direct support to the victims in Vietnam and the U.S.

We never forget the example of the Paris Peace Accords in our own peace and justice movements in the U.S. and this anniversary is a fitting time to share them!