Hearts and Minds Page #9

I was arrested in 1968.

I was at home

when the security police came.

They took me to headquarters

for a few questions...

and kept me.

You can't imagine

how badly I was beaten.

Mostly on the head.

My eyes are bad now.

After I was arrested,

I was beaten so badly...

even now

I sometimes have headaches...

and nosebleeds and ear-bleeds.

In those days, all we were

getting to eat was rotten fish,

so we asked for some vegetables.

But when we complained,

we were beaten and chained...

and lime powder was thrown on us.

And they poured water on us,

and we had nowhere to run.

Our cells were this big...

and we could do nothing

but stand where we were...

and get the water

and the lime all over us.

Some of us lost our teeth

and our hair.

And when the lime got wet, it just

boiled up, bubbling all over us.

Our hair fell out and our skin

became covered with sores.

They said that if we were innocent,

they would beat us

until we were guilty,

and that if we were guilty, they

would beat us until we repent.

In a country where the people

don't hold national sovereignty,

in a country where

the government has proven itself...

to be the enemy of the people,

the prisoners are the patriots.

And no matter how badly treated

we are, still we are proud,

because at least we are free,

instead of enslaved as so many of

the so-called government officials.

And so, you see,

when a Vietnamese works

for peace and for liberty,

he is considered a communist.

It is an honor for the communists to

have to work for peace and justice.

So it is the government which gives

validity to being a communist,

because they continue to say...

that the people who work for justice

and for peace are communists.

You see?

We were learning to

be good soldiers...

back when you're three, four,

five, six years old.

That's when good ol' mom is telling you

to obey the local camp regulations.

In this case, it's the house.

And you start to learn

to respect authority.

And so, finally, lo and behold,

at 20, 22 years old,

you find yourself in service and

maybe take that last and final step,

where you become quite regimented...

in a military form of discipline.

That stuff isn't worth the paper it's

written on, if the basis isn't there.

You need that cornerstone that goes back

to childhood, and who's teaching you,

but good old moms,

women like yourselves.

It's terrifying. When you're facing a

torture session with a bunch of gooks,

it's gonna be pretty

darn miserable.

No doubt about it. You're scared.

You're really petrified.

But at the other side, you have

a bunch of women back there...

telling you, "You better

do something," you know?

That's the wrath of God. You don't want

100 women climbing down your back,

So you figure the

gooks aren't so bad.

So you press on.

In many respects,

the destiny of our country,

and more personally,

the destiny of me,

your men, your children...

is in your hands.

If you are proud of the P.O. W. S

and personally of me,

then you should be proud of yourselves,

because I was what you made me to be.

As for my own view, uh, I thought

through as best I could...

the meaning of Southeast Asia

to the United States in the 1950s,

Looking backward

and looking forward...

in terms of what I know about the

dynamics of societies and so on.

And on balance...

It is an on-balance judgment...

I came to the judgment that it's a

vital interest to the United States.

I've never had any reason

to change that judgment.

And, uh, therefore, I, uh,

I do believe that what we have done

is generally right,

although I would have preferred

to have seen a different,

more decisive military strategy.

Certainly, to me,

the day you can say that a sacrifice

such as that is not worthwhile...

is the day that you've destroyed

all your real values...

of what is worthwhile

and what isn't.

And there's no

question in my mind...

that he and everybody else

that did what he did...

there's no sacrifice

that is in vain.

Absolutely none. Down the line, that's

the price you pay for freedom...

and that's the price that you pay for

the kind of stature that we have...

and it's the kind of risk you take...

to preserve the ideals that we have.

He had just a tremendous

sense of humor...

and just an amazing, instinctive sense

of what was important and what wasn't.

I remember when I was getting ready

for our oldest daughter's wedding,

and I was upset because something

or other wasn't going well,

and he called up from Pensacola and

he said, "How are thing's going?"

And I said, "Fine, Bing,

but such-and-such has happened."

He said, "Oh, Mom,

don't sweat the small stuff."

You know,

it just made all the difference.

I thought, "Gee. That really

is small stuff, you know?"

And it was. Yeah.

And it made the whole thing

much easier.

And, of course, I came up in a tradition

where military service was...

In World War II, there was no

question everybody was part of it.

There was not the kind

of dissension and so forth...

that there has been surrounding

the Vietnam thing.

But I think that most of the

people of this country...

are too busy

to get involved deeply...

in, uh, uh,

on, uh, the kind of things

that the dissenters do.

In other words, I think that really

the strength of our system,

and I think it's a terrific system,

is that you do rely on somebody like

President Nixon for leadership.

I think his team of people with him

are outstanding...

and, to me,

the leadership that he has shown...

and decisions that he has made,

uh, really have...

They're the kind of decisions...

I would expect from

the president of this country.

And the action he has taken

is the action I'd expect...

from the president of this country.

I think the whole executive,

legislative and judicial system

that we have is superb.

It has worked many, many... far better

than any other system I'm aware of...

and brought us

to our state of power...

and, uh, really,

of international stature...

that we have a responsibility

to stay with and to uphold.

What did your son want to become?

I suspect he would have

gone into the newspaper.

He actually had just got a job

with the New York Times...

when he went into the, uh, O.C.S.

And he'd worked for newspapers

in the summer...

while he was at college.

I suppose that it's like any pain.

You don't remember pain too well...

afterwards.

Thank you. Thank you very much,

Mr. President, dear people.

I'm thrilled to be here with you guys.

This is what I like... a captive audience.

It is always the custom

at a dinner at the White House...

to have a toast

to the honored guest.

The difficulty tonight is that there

are so many honored guests...

that we would be drinking

all night and into the day.

Somebody just said,

"What's wrong with that?"

The most difficult decision that I

have made since being president...

was on December the

18th of last year.

There...

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