Guilfordian, September 24, 1981
Dramatic exodus: Saigon to Freedom
By Arthur Freund
What does one do when the
Communist-Vietcong overrun a
country and disposes its citizens
of their inalienable rights? For
Thai Quoc Chung, A Guilford
College student, this action
meant leaving Communist-run
Vietnam for a country that of
fered more freedom, the United
States.
Until the final Vietcong of
fensive in 1975, Thai's father
operated his own export-import
business in Saigon. Following the
Vietcong occupation most of the
private businesses including
Mr. Chung's enterprise were
expropriated by the "people's
state," according to Thai. This
event undermined any hopes that
Thai had in the new Vietnam.
In May of 1976 Thai received a
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Thai Quoc Chung escaped from Viet Nam to find freedom. Now, as a
Guilford student, he brings us a new appreciation of the United States.
Peace activist
Radical Priest
By Bob Gluck
On September 29, Rev. Daniel
Barrigan, Catholic Priest,
author, and for the past fifteen
years a leading activist in the
American peace movement, will
speak at Memorial Auditorium
on the campus of UNC.
September 30 he will speak at
Guilford College at 3:30.
Since 1972 Rev. Berrigan has
been involved in a campaign
against nuclear proliferation.
His continued demonstration of
his opposition to Government
policy through acts of civil
disobedience has resulted in his
being arrested twenty times
between 1973 and 1977.
Berrigan was last arrested in
September 1980 when he and
seven other people broke into a
General Electric plant in King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania, battered
draft notice from the govern
ment. At this point he realized
that he must escape from Viet
nam before the Vietcong laun
ched their offensive into Cam
bodia. (Kampuchea?)
During this time Thai managed
to find employment with a
company which produced marine
engines. Obtaining this job and
ensuing events were all part of
Thai's escape plan.
Through his business in the
company Thai managed to
procure false papers by a bribe
allowing him to build a boat for
his escape to Thailand. (The
building of ocean-going craft was
sharply regulated by the Com
munists who feared a mass
exodus from Vietnam.) Thai had
built a thirteen meter flat bottom
skiff made of wood, the type of
boat one would only use on rivers.
This design would not arouse any
two nuclear missile nose cones
and poured blood on classified
documents.
Rev. Berrigan first gained
notoriety in the 1960's for his
protests against the Vietnam
War. He is best known for his
protest in May 1968 when he and
his brother Phillip set fire to files
siezed from a draft board office
in Baltimore.
The Berrigan brothers were
immediately arrested and in the
ensuing trial Daniel was con
victed and sentenced to three and
one-half years in jail. Instead of v
serving a jail term which he felt
was unjust, Berrigan jumped bail
and went underground.
After eluding a massive, highly
publicized manhunt by the FBI
for four months, Berrigan was
finally caught and ended up
spending eighteen months in jail.
Rev. Berrigan is the author of
suspicious that he intended to use
it in the ocean as it was less than
sea worthy. The boat was
equipped with a small auxiliary
engine in the stern, although a
large gasoline engine was hidden
from sight by a wooden cabin.
With the intention of sailing for
Thailand from the southern most
tip of Vietnam, Thai, his younger
brother and eleven of his
cousins applied for and
received permission to go to the
city of Camau in August of 1976.
In order to.conserve gas for the
journey, a commodity of great
scarcity, Thai arranged for his
boat to be towed from Saigon
to Camau. To make it appear
that their party was moving to
Camau, they brought along some
bamboo and wood planks sup
posedly used for the house con
struction. They secretly planned
to use the bamboo for a sail and
the wood planks to cover exposed
portions of the deck from the
onslaught of the seas. For
protection they brought along a
Colt 45, a Vietnamese pistol and a
flare gun.
They started from Saigon in
late August for Camau. During
this three-day trip they put most
of their gas in the larger boat in
case the Vietcong boarded the
boats. Three people travelled in
the boat-in-tow, while the other
ten travelled in the larger boat
for appearances' sake.
Upon arriving in Camau's
harbor, Thai's boat was moored
directly opposite the marine
police station. Fearing that their
escape would be discovered they
decided to lay low for four hours
before heading for the open seas.
To add to their problems the
police had two captured
American PFC boats which they
used to patrol the seas. Luckily,
these boats seemed in total
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twenty-three books of poetry and
prose on the subject of religion
and war in addition to several
autobiographical works. In an
introduction to Phillip Berrigan's
1967 book Prison Journals of a
Priest Revolutionary, Daniel
Berrigan wrote:
"It is madness to squander the
world's resources on lethal
military toys, while social misery
and despair rise around a chorus
of the damned.
It is madness to create the
illusion of political or social
change, all the while standing
firm for spurious normalcy.
It is madness to renege on one's
word by activity which plays out
the game one pretended to
replace.
It is madness to ignore, with
social savagry and deter
mination, the viable and im
passioned activists in our midst."
disuse.
At nightfall Thai and his party
quietly slipped out of the harbor
and headed down river to the
open seas, using their auxiliary
engine to conserve fuel. When
they reached the delta of the
river they had to skirt the beam
from a light tower but their craft
was so small that they passed
unnoticed.
"The Mother Country"
By Velencia Mack
Dancing to the Beat of "The
Mother Country"
When the Chuck Davis dance
company came to Guilford
College, no one knew exactly
what to expect. There was not
the usual hand flapping, arm
swinging, and foot stomping that
is associated with African dan
cing. The dances the company
performs "portray love of self,
COLLEGE
HOMECOMING
Vim* Days:
Hats "on" to Thursday: Oct. Ist
| Make Cringe -
It's Tacky Day: Oct. 2nd
R WG-" Red "white, &
Guilford": Oct. 3rd
; Also -
Thursday Eve-Pie eating contest
in Bryan dorm
Saturday Eve-Sock hop
in old gym
* robust energy and enthusiasm
Away from the delta and its
probing light, Thai turned on the
main engine for the most difficult
part of their journey. Then
something unexpected happened:
Thai hadn't figured that with the
evening tide their boat would
scrape bottom! The severity of
the damage was not enough to
stop their escape although they
continued on page 6
and love of life" as they tell the
story of African culture, says
Davis.
Davis started the dance
company in 1968 after seeing a
Tarzan movie in which blacks
were "represented in a negative
aspect." The company, which
consisted of only a few friends at
the time, would help put an end
"to the bastardization of African
culture," stated Davis. At
present, the Chuck Davis Dance
Company is a combination of a
twelve member chamber unit,
and a seventeen member touring
unit. The chamber unit is
represented by students from
Duke, Central, and Carolina. The
touring unit has toured the United
States, Europe, Aftica, asnd
South America.
The subject matter for the
dances comes from "the mother
continent" where Davis goes
once a year to talk with and learn
from the native Africans. He
brings what he has learned back
to the United States and from the
folklore he creates his dances.
Davis will be back in
Greensboro in February to
teach a dance class at A&T State
University.
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