Pham Van Hoa, captured on June 15, 1975, released on September 30, 1987. The following information came from Nguyen Cau, one of his reeducation camp peers, a former VNAF lieutenant colonel. (via email in February 2004)

Questions: Where did you spend time with my father in reeducation camp? What years? Which camps?

After April 30, 1975, the Military Administration Council ordered all South Vietnamese Armed Forces officers (from the grade 2nd lieutenant up to general)  to report in person before the Security Control. Anyone who missed that day would be court-martialed. Three days after 300,000 officers were under arrest. The Communists had built thousands of camps everywhere from North to South Vietnam.

Following were the reeducation/labor camps that, your Dad and I, have been locked up: Long Giao Camp, Suoi Mau Camp ( Spring of blood Camp), Son-La ( near the border of North Vietnam and China), Hoang Lien Son, Ha Son Binh, Ha Nam Ninh . I was in Camp #1 and your Dad in Camp #3. Both these camps located in the valley of a chain of mountains and forest. The escape was impossible.  (1976-1979) Nam Ha camp, located about 80 miles north of Hanoi, in a mountainous area. In 1979, the war between the Communist Vietnam and China occurred in the border region. They moved all the prisoners to further south. We both lived in Nam Ha B ( Nam Ha Sector B built up near a mountain where the communist had imprisoned the U.S. Air Force pilots captured before 1975). In 1980, some non-profit Humanitarian Organizations requested to visit the prisoners camps: Z-30C, Z-30D camps in forest Rung La, 100 miles north of Saigon. In 1982, they moved us to the south. I was in Z-30C and it seems your Dad was in Z-30D (once of the worst camps where many senior officials were held.) In total, we lived in 6 camps from North to South Vietnam. The time he was in prison, he did not do anything negative. We kept our spirit pretty high except some 0.1% of us didn't. ( to be continued)

More details in upcoming book...

A fellow prisoner painted this water portrait of Hoa in Camp Nam Ha, 1984.

After 10 years of hard labor, Hoa (wearing hat) is still smiling and keeping his spirits high, 7/85. This rare photograph was taken by my great aunt whose husband was a former high-ranking official of the Communist Party. In 1954, when Vietnam was divided in two countries, some of my relatives remained in North Vietnam. The prisoners were allowed to pick up mail at the camp's post office. This camp might have also been Nam Ha, 80 miles north of Hanoi. Note the tall mountains in the background.