Posted on 09/19/2002 10:23:35 PM PDT by HAL9000
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnamese officials were meeting Friday to consider whether to punish an actor branded a "national traitor" for starring with Mel Gibson in the Hollywood movie "We Were Soldiers."Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, where actor Don Duong lives, proposed earlier that he be fined and banned from acting or leaving the country for five years for appearing in the movie, which they said distorted the history and image of Vietnamese soldiers.
Officials from the Ministry of Culture and Information were meeting Friday to consider the proposal, and will submit a recommendation to the ministry for a final decision, ministry Cinematic Department Director Nguyen Phuc Thanh said.
Vietnam's communist government has led a strident campaign against "We Were Soldiers" in the country's state-controlled media.
The movie, not approved for sale in Vietnam but widely available on bootleg DVDs, depicts a bloody three-day battle in November 1965 in Vietnam's Ia Drang valley, the first major clash between the North Vietnamese army and U.S. troops in the Vietnam War.
In the film, the U.S. troops have little idea of what they face and are overrun and suffer heavy casualties. Both sides are portrayed as courageous and self-sacrificing, while their families are shown grieving the deaths of their loved ones.
The movie is based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" by the U.S. commander in the battle, retired Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore.
Duong played commander Nguyen Huu An, who led the Vietnamese soldiers to victory.
Duong, one of Vietnam's most popular actors, has appeared in numerous domestic movies about the war. He also played the role of a refugee camp translator in "Green Dragon," a movie directed by Vietnamese American Tony Linh Bui about Vietnamese who fled the country after the end of the war and dreamed of living in the United States.
"Both movies distort the legitimate war history of our people and the humanity of the Vietnamese," army newspaper Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People's Army) said in a front-page article Wednesday.
The newspaper demanded stern punishment for Duong.
"By becoming a propagandist and henchman for 'hostile forces' and tarnishing the Vietnamese soldiers and people, Don Duong has sold his conscience cheaply and become a national traitor," it said.
Duong couldn't be reached for comment, but in an earlier interview with The Associated Press, he said he was surprised at the reaction and has decided not to play any more roles in foreign movies about the Vietnam War.
Vietnamese movies about the war invariably portray Vietnamese soldiers as noble and Americans as cruel murderers.
Well Sgt Ron??
Let's face it; the silence "IS" deafening, huh??
There's got to be a good, sound (g) reason when so many blabbermouthed Liberal-Socialists who're concentrated in such a small place as Hollyweird are as quiet as church mice.
Right?
I mean just trying to connect the dots, here.
It's been my experience whenever ya gotta deal with the Hollyweird ilk to explain their change of routine &/or out-of-character behavior(s)?
Just a matter of, Pinning the Tail on The Donkey," isn't it?
"...Seems they're too busy preparing to send out 4,000 of their trouble-making Liberal Demorat Lawyers out to all our Nov. 5th Voting Precincts Nationwide to do the same to our Right to Vote here that the Vietnamese Communists are now doing to DON DUONG's Right to freely express his Acting Talants abroad...???"
Maybe so, Sarge.
But methinks them 'Rats in DC would be better served spending their remaining time booking Movers, right now.
...I've the distinct feeling there's about to be a run on Movers Sarge; & soon. ;^)
Vietnam *says*, huh??
Gezzz.
Really a tough call trying to decide who's the biggest liar, Sgt Ron.
...the Vietcong thugs or the L.A.Slimes.
Yes, Prayers for Don Duong.
I hope he can return to the USA and tell his story.
America needs to wake up to the EVIL that roams this earth!
May we in American remember this.
"I might be 'naive' about politics, but there's one thing I'm sure of: I have done nothing that bothers my conscience, have done nothing that is untruthful, have done nothing that I would want to take back. I have [acted in these films] to erase hate and promote love.
"Luckily, in [Vietnam] I have encountered many people who share my views. They help me and encourage me not to give in, not to lose hope and humanity in our country.
"No matter where, at Sundance, Berlin, Japan ... I always am proud to be Vietnamese. I have never done or said anything that would have negative consequences for my homeland. I forever respect and value the spirit of the people of Vietnam, just as the sentiment of the people who are not limited by national borders who have supported me.
"My dear children, make sure you always remember that relationships between people, even if in other countries, have no border. Despite governments, people around the world have one heart."
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