Gender in War: The Case of the Vietnam
War and ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’
This article reviews some aspects of the author’s research conducted as a member of an
inter-university team under a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research. It presents the Vietnamese
government’s title and position of ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ and discusses the origins and
some social implications of this politically- constructed identity in Vietnam.
Introduction
T he issue of gender in war is a very important topic
in peace studies. Until now studies have focused on the
subject of women soldiers1. However, gender experience
in the post-conflict society is also very important. In this
article I will present the problem associated with the
notion of ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’, through which I
shall analyse some important aspects of gender in a post-
conflict society. ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ is an honorary
title given in Vietnam to mothers whose children were
martyrs in the Vietnam War2. It also entitles them to have
social security. There are 46,398 women with the title of
‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ in Vietnam3. Specifically my
study indicates that the system of ‘Vietnamese Heroic
Mother’ is giving rise to new social effects, including a
new type of postwar conflict in Vietnam. The following
discussion is an account of research conducted in Vietnam
from 2007 to 2009 and the issues that emerged.
As it is well known, there are many difficulties with
interviewing people in Vietnam, because the Vietnamese
government practically restricts free research activities.
So, I asked for help from official organisations. The War
Crimes Museum in Ho Chi Minh City agreed to help me
and introduced several persons whom I could interview
as part of my research. I interviewed several people
concerning the Vietnam War in Ho Chi Minh City. Two
of them are ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mothers’ and one is the
husband of one of them.
I would like to introduce my three interviewees4.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Que was born in 1928 in Quang Nam
Province in the southern part of Vietnam. She joined the
Revolutionary movement in 1945. She married Mr Phan
Quang Hong and gave birth to a daughter in 1949. She was
arrested by the South Vietnam Government and interned
in the prison of Con Dao5 from 1959 to 1975. During her
absence, her daughter also joined the Revolutionary
movement and died in a street fight in 1968. Ms. Nguyen
heard about the death of her daughter while in prison in
1970. She received the title of ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’
in 1995.
Mahoko Kyouraku
Mr. Phan Quang Hong was born in 1926 in Quang Nam
Province. He joined the Patriotic movement in 1945. He
was arrested by the French Army in 1949, the year when
his daughter was born, and was put into the prison of Con
Dao until 1954. After release, he continued to participate
in the Revolutionary movement and, as a result, was
arrested again by the South Vietnam Government. He
returned to the prison of Con Dao from 1959 to 1973. He
also heard about the death of his daughter in the prison.
In 1975 he was reunited with his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi
Que, with whom he since has been living in Ho Chi Minh
City.
Ms. Bui Thi Me was born in 1921 in Vinh Long Province
in the southern part of Vietnam. She married in 1940 and
gave birth to four sons and two daughters. From 1955 she
took part in the Revolutionary movement. Her four sons
were enlisted as patriotic soldiers in 1967. But in 1968,
three sons became martyrs and one son received a serious
wound. She was so shocked that she was hospitalised for
one week. She received the title of ‘Vietnamese Heroic
Mother’ in 1995.
I interviewed Ms. Nguyen on 12 September, 2008, Mr.
Phan on 19 September, 2009, and Ms. Bui on 20 and
21 September, 2009. I interviewed them either in a room
of the Museum or at their house with the interpreter of
Japanese and Vietnamese. In the following section I will
examine some prominent issues raised through these
interviews.
What is a ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’?
In 1994 the Vietnamese government, in its political move
to recognise the important role played by the ‘Vietnam’
War (or American War, as it is called in Vietnam), created
the system of ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’. This is a social
security system to support old women who lost their
children in the revolutionary war.
The regulation on ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ was issued
on 29 April, 1994. It is called ‘Regulation about conferring
honourable “Vietnamese Heroic Mother’s title”’6. At the
beginning of the text, three goals of this regulation are
mentioned. These are:
Social Alternatives Vol 29 No.1, 2010 11
a. To remember that mothers of Vietnam contributed to
the State and, in doing so, made huge sacrifices.
b. To teach people about the revolutionary tradition of
the nation and encourage patriotism, and
c. To requite the mothers.
There were four criteria applied in order to be selected to
this title, as follows:
a. To have one child7 who was a revolutionary martyr, or,
have two children, both of whom were martyrs.
b. To have three or more children who were all martyrs.
c. To have one child who was a martyr, and both her
husband and herself were martyrs8.
d. To have two children who were, as well as either her
husband or herself, martyrs.
Ms. Nguyen corresponds to the first case, while Ms Bui
corresponds to the second.
According to the regulation, applicants to the title of
‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ should submit an application
form, but my two interviewees did not apply for the title
by themselves. Ms. Nguyen said that she did not know
how to apply, and she learned that she had been awarded
the title when she was telephoned by the Department of
Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs in 1995. Ms. Bui learned
about her acquisition of the title from newspaper. Ms
Nguyen said that she was glad to get the honorary title of
‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’, although she is not comforted
by it. The death of her daughter was the most tragic thing
in her life. The two women were both thankful to the State
officially, but expressed mixed feelings in private.
The ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mothers’ receive a monthly
allowance and are supported in various ways for the
duration of their lives. For example, Ms. Nguyen receives
1,191,000 Dong per month as a ‘Vietnamese Heroic
Mother’. She also receives 1,408,100 Dong annuity per
month and 619,000 Dong per month of war disablement
pension. The monthly allowance of ‘Vietnamese Heroic
Mother’ is a decent sum to live on in Vietnam.
Since this title is given by the government, the recipient
must pledge loyalty to the State. In Vietnam, people
associated with the former South Vietnam government are
excluded from this title. Thus, not all mothers who lost their
children during the war receive this title. Moreover, from
among all mothers who lost their children during the war,
the government selected those who suit the government
causes best. Their intention is clear from the fact that the
political position of each mother receives careful scrutiny.
Some Key Questions that Emerge from the
‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ Concept
Why does the state honour parents who lost their
children?
12 Social Alternatives Vol. 29 No.1, 2010
In Japan, by comparison, the issue of supporting wives
who lost their husbands in war has been the main
consideration9. In Vietnam, the government focused on
the parents of martyrs. In Vietnamese culture, children are
expected to support their parents, since patriarchy remains
deeply rooted in the society, even under socialism10. If the
parents lost their children in war, the government must
support these parents. Mothers who lost their children,
who should have supported her, have grown old. This
system of ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ was decreed in
1994, twenty years after the end of the War.
Why is it ‘Mother’, and not ‘Father’?
When I interviewed Ms. Nguyen, she said that her
husband, Mr. Phan, was unhappy that he could not get
the title of ‘Vietnamese Heroic Father’. Ms. Huynh Ngoc
Van, the vice-head of The War Crimes Museum in Ho
Chi Minh City and who was present at my interview with
Ms Nguyen, agreed. They proposed that there should
be equality between genders. While the government
is not likely to establish the title of ‘Vietnamese Heroic
Father’, in 1994−the same year as when the regulation
on ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ was issued−another
more inclusive law was enacted. Under this decree, the
families of martyrs were given many distinctions, for
example condolence money and regular allowances. Not
only mothers but also fathers, sons, daughters, brothers,
sisters, nephews and nieces came to be supported by the
government. Mr. Phan consequently receives 794,000
Dong (AUS$47) per month as the family of a martyr.
However, in Vietnamese society, mothers are special.
The old proverb in Vietnam says, ‘When you drink water,
remember its source’. By these words, we can understand
clearly the gender system of Vietnam, where mothers
are honoured. In a patriarchal society, the State values
women as mothers, not necessarily in their own right.
The number of women who do not marry is increasing
in Vietnam after Doi Moi11, with some women choosing
to follow their own independent futures without having
children. Moreover, those aging women who hold the title
of ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ will pass away, leaving only
the title behind. However, it is likely that this politically-
constructed social system, which honours only mothers
as the priority women’s role in society, will give rise to a
new conflict between women who are mothers and women
who are not.
Why Does the Government Select Among Mothers?
In the application form for ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’,
there is a question concerning the applicant’s political
stance: ‘Which party did you support, north or south, at
the time of the liberation of Saigon, 30 April 1975?’ Only
mothers who supported the Communist Party at the end of
the war can become a ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’. Even
those who began to support the Communist Party after
the war cannot become a ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’.
When I asked my interviewees what they thought about
distinguishing mothers by their political stances, Ms
.Nguyen answered, ‘Nothing can be done about it, because
it was war’. She also added, ‘That is what it means to be
in war’. Ms. Bui said that a mother’s pain at losing her
children is the same for all mothers but in this society only
those whose children died for the Revolution are honored.
‘But now’, she continued, ‘We don’t distinguish mothers.
We hope to respect the feelings of all mothers who lost
their children, their causes notwithstanding’. They seemed
to feel awkward in discussing this issue.
Many mothers lost their children in the war, but the
government made a selection that demonstrates that
desirable mothers for the state are the supporters of
the Communist Party, who sent their children to the
‘revolutionary’ war. In Vietnam, the State requires
patriotism to a great extent from its people, especially
from mothers.
Conclusion
There have been some interesting developments in recent
times concerning ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ and I will
conclude by briefly discussing these.
The first of these was a new exhibition room in the
Vietnam Military History Museum, Hanoi, focusing on the
‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’. The Regulation concerning
‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’, a model application form for
the title and many pictures of the Mothers were on display.
Through this exhibition, the Vietnamese government
seems to be giving ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ an
important place in the national history.
The second instance is in the renewal of the exhibition
in the Vietnamese Women’s Museum. The Vietnamese
Women’s Museum in Hanoi was established on 20
October, 1995 and is the primary research center on
Vietnamese women. It is currently undergoing renewal
work and will reopen in 2010, on the occasion of the
one-thousand-year anniversary of the founding of the old
capital Thang Long, present day Hanoi. Currently, there is
a temporary exhibition.
In the old exhibition, the focus of the display was on
women’s activities during the Vietnam War. In 2007, a
new display focused on the ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’
indicating that the museum is trying to place ‘Vietnamese
Heroic Mother’ in the context of women’s history of Vietnam
as it sets out to renew the national vision of the past.
The third indication of promotion of the concept of
‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ is the construction of a
monument to honor ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’. The
construction began in Tam Ky City in central Quang Nam
Province12 on 27 July, 2009, which is War Invalids and
Fallen Soldiers Day. The monument will be completed in
201113.
The status of the ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ will be
officially honoured into the future not only by the creation
of the title but also by such monuments. The new
gender policy created by the Vietnamese government,
commending mothers faithful to the state, will be
consolidated.
In the past, Ho Chi Minh set forth his plan to use female
power, which had been oppressed in patriarchal society, in
the revolutionary movement and gained women’s support.
Women took arms themselves, participated in production
activity and acquired their rights in the process. The ideal
of the socialist state of Vietnam was one where women
built the state together with men. However, the notion of
‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ re-introduced perspectives of
the conventional patriarchal system into the society. How
will Vietnam overcome this contradiction?
Finally, I would like to present a bestseller novel of Vietnam
of 1989. It is The Swallows Fly (original title: Chim en bay)
written by Nguyen Tri Huan. It won the Vietnam Writers’
Association Award for the fiscal year 1990.
There are two women in this novel, who reached an
understanding after the Vietnam War. One of them was
a woman soldier of the Communist Party (North party),
who killed a man who supported the South government.
After the war, she says to the man’s wife, ‘We can talk
to each other in equal terms as women who were both
fated to unhappy destinies during the war, although we
were then in the opposite camps’. Mutual understanding
was reached in the novel. But is it possible to reach such
consensus in reality when the state is promoting bias for
its own purposes?
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific
Research (B) (KAKENHI 19402005).
I would also like to give special thanks to Ms. Bui Thi Me,
Ms. Nguyen Thi Que , Mr. Phan Quang Hong and Ms.
Huynh Ngoc Van.
Notes
1. For example, Gottschang-Turner 1998; Sasaki 2001.
2. The war fought between Vietnam and U.S. from 1954 to
1975 is called ‘the American War’ or ‘the Anti-America War’ in
Vietnam. In this article, I will call it ‘the Vietnam War’ following
established practice of academic field in Japan.
3. This number is shown on the exhibition panel of the Vietnam
Social Alternatives Vol 29 No.1, 2010 13
Military History Museum in Hanoi. I saw it on 3 September
2008. This number is dated to December 2003 and the moth-
ers who received the title after death are included.
4. My three interviewees agreed to have their names and
speech revealed.
5. Con Dao was a ‘political prison’ established by French Army
and used by the South Government. It was notorious for inhu-
mane tortures.
6. Papers on the regulation concerning ‘Vietnamese Heroic
Mother’ can be seen in the Vietnam Military History Museum in
Hanoi.
7. Sex of the martyrs was not relevant.
8. The title of ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mother’ was also given to
mothers who were already dead.
9. Kawaguchi 2003.
10. Iwai 1995.
11. Le 2006.
12. Quang Nam Province was where fiercest battles were
fought, so there are many ‘Vietnamese Heroic Mothers’.
13. ‘The Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper’ 28
July 2009.
Nguyen Tri Huan 2002. Tsubame Tobu (The Swallows
Fly), Translation by S. Kato. Tokyo: Terainku.
Sasaki, Y. 2001. Souryokusen to Josei Heisi (The Total
War and Women Soldiers). Tokyo: Seikyuusha.
Yoshizawa, M. 1999. Betonamu Sensou: Minsyuu ni
Totteno Senjou (The Vietnam War: the War Field for
the Peoples). Tokyo: Yoshikawa Koubunkan.
Author
Mahoko Kyoraku is a Professor in Gender History at
University of Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
Brown Thongs
The man with warm skin, bald head, round glasses
walks over, hangs the newspaper on its rack
saunters back, looks down at his feet
announces to a table full of people

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14 Social Alternatives Vol. 29 No.1, 2010

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