Dennis W. Davis is a passionate traveler and writer known for his evocative storytelling on “The Constant Epicurean.” With a knack for capturing the essence of diverse cultures and landscapes, Dennis has chronicled his adventures from the bustling markets of Vietnam to the expansive vistas of the American West. His limited edition series, “Dragon Diaries,” offers a deeply personal and immersive look at life in Vietnam during the pandemic, blending poignant anecdotes with broader reflections on resilience and cultural richness. Dennis invites readers to explore the world alongside him through his writing, providing a unique perspective that is both insightful and engaging. “Dragon Diaries” is his latest work. It promises to take readers on an unforgettable journey of discovery and adventure. You can follow all of their adventures on theconstantepicurean.com
In the midst of a global pandemic, Dragon Diaries by Dennis W. Davis offers an intimate look into one family’s journey through a world in chaos. From the eerily empty return flight to Da Nang to their eventual escape from a rapidly deteriorating Vietnam, Davis weaves a deeply personal and universally resonant narrative. Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Vietnam, he explores the tension between tradition and modernity, the resilience of the human spirit, and the small moments of beauty and connection that sustain us through our darkest times.
As Dennis and Diem navigate mandatory quarantines, separation from children, deserted apartment buildings, endless typhoons, and a temporarily shuttered world, his reflections on freedom and community amidst an uncertain future strike a chord with readers, having dealt with their own pandemic plights. Through vivid descriptions and poignant anecdotes, Dragon Diaries captures the essence of a historical moment, offering both a snapshot of life during the pandemic and a timeless meditation on love, hope, and the power of human connection.
Join Dennis and Diem on their rooftop oasis, feel the palpable tension of uncertain days and endless storms, and discover the magic of everyday moments as Dragon Diaries takes you on a journey through a world forever changed.
Excerpt from Dragon Diaries
Chapter 12. Paradise Lost and the Fall of Saigon
It was April 30, 2020, and it seemed like just any other day. Then, suddenly, in the early afternoon, a guest arrived with some unfortunate news. There was much discussion, some conversation on a few telephones, and Diem, incredibly upset, retired to our room. I followed, trying to determine what the commotion was. The only thing she could muster in her frustration was that we were leaving on the next transport out.
I had no idea what the problem was. Diem was clearly too upset to talk about it, so I let it go and began packing up my office. I told her that when she was ready to discuss it, I would be gathering my things. Eventually, she came to me, and we had a discussion. The local authorities had requested that I report to a military concentration camp for a 14-day quarantine. Diem, in an effort to prevent that from happening, asked if we could leave immediately. They agreed.
We have been in An Lao for almost five days now with little trouble. The only thing I can imagine is our visit to town yesterday. There is a lot of xenophobia going around in Asia these days. With little internal transmission of the virus and most cases imported either from China or Europe, my sight in town must have been unsettling for many. I can only guess that the local authorities were bombarded with calls of sightings. This is a district that rarely sees foreigners. It must have been like Bigfoot strolling out of the mountains and walking through downtown Denver. After all, I am twice the size, sometimes three times the size of everyone around me.
Diem was concerned I would be upset. Yes, it’s unfortunate that we must cut our visit short, but it’s better than sitting in a camp. I just came off lockdown in Da Nang for 39 days. I have no intention of adding to that number. Besides, there was still no end in sight for the shutdown of international flights. There still may be time to return. So, I began packing and preparing for the 5 a.m. wake-up call. As Diem attempted to secure our transport, something became apparent. We were not going anywhere, at least not yet. It was the second-greatest state holiday behind Lunar New Year. Trieu was not running his transport. A rare day off for him and a concerning situation for me. If we could not leave, what would be my fate?
This weekend was a collection of two holidays. The first, in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of Reunification Day, is formally known in Vietnam as the Day of Southern Liberation for National Reunification. For Vietnamese Americans who fled to America after the war, it is known as Black April or the National Day of Shame. To the rest of the West, it is known simply as the Fall of Saigon. On this day 45 years ago, North Vietnamese forces completed their takeover of Saigon and raised the North Vietnamese flag over the presidential palace. Thus began a reunification phase and the beginning of modern Vietnam.
The North, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, always saw any foreign presence as occupiers. The story of foreign involvement in Vietnamese affairs was an ancient one. Since 111 B.C., Vietnam has had at least four periods of Chinese domination, a period of French colonial occupation, Japanese rule, another French colonial period, and finally, what the North views as interference and puppeteering of Southern Vietnam following the expulsion of French forces.
The North saw its objective of reunification as noble and honorable, intended only to begin a process of supporting the impoverished, lifting up the working classes abused by centuries of foreign domination, and providing education and, above all, teaching basic skills like reading and writing to all Vietnamese. In his complete works, Ho Chi Minh always held the South in his heart.
Born in the central Highlands and raised in the Imperial city of Hue near Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh boarded a steam liner for France in Saigon, a city that would later bear his name, in 1911. It would be the last time he ever set foot in South Vietnam. His aides and close confidants recalled that even in his last days, his first daily request was news from the south. Ho Chi Minh would die on September 2, 1969, at the age of 79. His entire life was devoted to an independent, and unified Vietnam, though never seeing his life’s work completed.
The southern story is a bit more complicated. Upon the signing of the Geneva Accords in 1954, following the disastrous French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, Indochina was broken into three successor states: the Kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). Vietnam was then subdivided at the 17th parallel: the DRV to the north and the State of Vietnam to the south. The division was initially meant to be temporary. A general election to establish a permanent government for a reunified Vietnam was scheduled for 1956.
The communist forces had established a government in the North under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. In the South, things were not so clear. With a stable government to the North and uncertainty in the South, French Union forces dropped below the 17th parallel but did not immediately leave. A three-hundred-day free movement operation known as “Passage to Freedom” was initiated. During the 300 days, individuals were allowed to freely flow across the established border.
What resulted was a mass immigration of, by some estimations, as many as one million people escaping the onslaught of communism and fleeing south. It is noted that up to 150,000 migrated toward the newly established communist regime. This would mark a great propaganda coup for the U.S. and aid France in the evacuation of oppressed people from the north. It would later use these images of tent cities outside of Saigon filled with people fleeing communism as fuel to ramp up U.S. involvement in Vietnam and exacerbate the Cold War.
The newly elected Catholic Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, would also use propaganda to his advantage, using the fear of coming Catholic persecution as motivation. Over 60% of northern Catholics would flee south. In an attempt to thwart a communist takeover nationally, Diem would try to fill his democratic Catholic ranks. The national election was approaching. Diem knew that Ho Chi Minh would win a national election by a landslide. He canceled the national election, and through an independent election wrought with corruption, declared himself the Prime Minister of Vietnam.
The north saw this as a betrayal and began incursions into the south. With a newly established democratic government in the south and communist forces building in the north it was only a matter of time before Cold War America intervened. The reality of the war was that the North Vietnamese Army was a well established battle hardened force. People often assume it was due to Chinese or Russian backing. Yes, they purchased supplies and weapons from their communist allies. They had also been fighting the Japanese and French for decades. This wasn’t a thrown together at the last minute Army. It was battle hardened, well trained, skilled and unbelievably motivated. The same could not be said for the south.
The South did, however, value their freedom and desire for democracy. That part of the story is unfortunate. Though the regime has softened in the decades since the war, the Party was often brutal and destructive, executing leaders and soldiers or American sympathizers during the war. It is claimed that when the Americans retook Huế, just north of Da Nang, they found mass graves where executions of anyone who had aided the Americans had taken place.
It’s no wonder that when the Northern Army surrounded Saigon, everyone was on edge. Citizens began selling everything they had to purchase tickets out. Posters littered the streets, expressing one’s desirability and asking any foreigner to adopt them. Democracy was quickly collapsing in the South, and desperation was becoming rampant. Just as the unstoppable army began to bear down on Saigon, it stopped—halted just 25 miles from the city and camped out for one week.
The American military presence on the ground had been all but evacuated. The embassy, however, was still fully staffed, in addition to thousands of American civilians that come with any American theater of war. There was also a huge American naval presence offshore. Many believe that Hanoi had stopped just short of the city to allow foreigners, in particular the U.S., to withdraw all civilians and personnel, though many Vietnamese, fearing the crushing retaliation of the North, also fled.
The U.S. had already begun evacuations by fixed-wing aircraft, but it would not be overnight. Little resistance was given to air traffic at this time. Again, it was assumed the North was concerned with drawing in the U.S. naval air and artillery floating just off the coast. The U.S. forces had permission from President Ford to offer air support if any evacuation efforts came under direct threat, though none was ever needed. Pilots often reported their planes being tracked by anti-aircraft installations. No missiles were ever fired.
After a week of waiting, the North Vietnamese finally made their move. Evacuations were still underway as the northern army began its push south on April 29, 1975. A Southern Vietnamese Air Force pilot and defector dropped his ordnance on the remaining operational runways, making them useless. Thousands were still waiting to evacuate the city.
An all-points evacuation order was given, and White Christmas began to play on American radio stations and loudspeakers throughout the city. It was the signal that the last opportunity to evacuate had come, and Operation Frequent Wind went into effect. What followed was the largest evacuation in history, entirely by helicopter. All day and into the night, the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam, Graham Martin, organized and aided in the evacuation of Vietnamese and American personnel.
Eventually, it was decided to shut the embassy, and only Americans would be lifted as time was running out. Thousands of Vietnamese gathered at the embassy gates, hoping for asylum, but for many, it would never come. At 3:45 a.m. on April 30, Defense Secretary Henry Kissinger called for the evacuation of Ambassador Martin; the evacuation would come to a close. Martin was intent on getting as many who wanted out to safety. It is rumored that his wife even smuggled a Vietnamese woman she had befriended in her suitcase. The pilot was ordered directly by President Ford that Martin was to be on the flight. If he wasn’t, he was to be arrested and forcibly removed. Ford was anxious to announce the successful close of the operation.
His helicopter took off at 4:58 a.m., and the last Marine was lifted from the embassy at 7:53 a.m. Four hundred twenty South Vietnamese and South Koreans were left behind in the embassy, as well as the massive crowd gathered outside. In total, 978 Americans and 1,100 Vietnamese were evacuated by helicopter to U.S. naval ships offshore. To those left behind, their fate is largely unknown.
At 8 a.m. on April 30, 1975, a North Vietnamese tank column reached the Newport Bridge that entered the city. At 10:24, just two and a half hours after the last American evacuated, the president of South Vietnam offered his unconditional surrender. The North Vietnamese flag was raised over the presidential palace. The war was officially over. Saigon was soon renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the beloved leader who devoted his entire life to that moment.
April 30th and May 1st are national holidays in Vietnam: Liberation Day and Vietnam’s version of Labor Day. I see the symbolism, as May 1st, 1975, would have been the first day that people in Vietnam were not experiencing war, occupation, or forced labor in centuries. So, they are days of rest and reflection. The transports are not running, and the local authorities have agreed to let me stay until Sunday when the next transport is available. I am only required to stay on the property and not move around the village.
Which is fine by me, as I love hanging around the house anyway. So it would seem that the expulsion of Americans from Saigon 45 years ago is the only reason this American is allowed to stay today. How’s that for poetic irony? Though we will have to return to Da Nang earlier than scheduled, at least I was afforded a wonderful week in the countryside, spending an amazing time with Diem’s family. Soon it will be back to Da Nang to find some more adventures.
