Judy Visits Vietnam 1970/2013: In Search of Spring at Mid-Space by Do Xuan Oanh

Do Xuan Oanh (1923-2010) was a poet and songwriter whom I met in 1970 when he was a “people to people” emissary from North Vietnam to the American Peace Movement.

Here is one of his sayings: “Be good to friends who are good to you, even be good to friends who are bad to you, for only friends will come with you on the long road to revolution.”

Here’s another, addressed to all of us: “My father used to recite to me a very significant verse when I was a child: ‘You must not wait until the score is achieved to know who is the real hero.’ I repeated this sentence when I buried him, and pledged to look at life with the same eye. I would not wait until change has come to know that you represent the future.”