Female Guerilla Fighters

Stop Five, Hanoi 25/04/2015 to 31/05/2015
(Written by Her)

Among other things, the women’s museum presents the history of female participation in the war. Women were soldiers, generals, fired weapons, made traps and ammunition. In fact, 40% of the militia self defense were women. They worked digging trenches and delivering babies. They tended to the sick and wounded. Vietnamese women played a vital role in the war, as I’m sure women have all over the world. The difference in this country is that they have been honoured, praised and memorialized for the contribution and sacrifices they made during the countries tumultuous past. Women had a voice, they were given leadership roles, they were respected and now they are commemorated and immortalized in the museums of Hanoi and Saigon, awarded medals of bravery and became the subject of many propaganda posters representing bravery. Here are some of their stories; 

Nguyen Thi Kin Lai

Nguyen Thi Kin Lai is pictured here with a captured American pilot named William Andrew Robinson, who’s plane was shot from the sky in 1965. She was a female guerrilla aged just 17 years old. Robinson was just 23. The picture was exhibited on billboards and stamps around the country. At just 17, Thi Kin Lai became a symbol of the courage and heroic nobility of Vietnamese women. Surprisingly, this story had a happy ending, the two met again in 1995 when Thi Kin Lai was 45 with 3 children working at a hospital and Robinson, 51, a mechanic was visiting old combat zones. 

Nguyen Thi Dung

Thi Dung was a young female prisoner. During her time in prison she was given only enough water to keep her alive. She had no means of washing for 3 months at a time and had no way to wash or dry her clothes. In order to wash her body, she covered herself in nylon material to make her sweat and she wiped herself with a wet cloth. She washed her clothes in urine and cut and braided her hair to make a clothes line for them to dry. Like other women, Thi was subjected to torture. Women were kept in tiger cages. They were cannibalized. They were fed medicine to paralyze them. They were shackled to the floor. War can be guaranteed to bring out the worst in people. 

Female Guerrilla fighters

When heavy rain fell and flooded the root to the hospital, female soldiers lept to action. They waded through the flood water to form an orderly line. They then placed heavy boards across their shoulders and formed a human bridge. The stood with water reaching their necks until all the wounded were safely carried to the hospital.