Finding Pete: Rediscovering the Brother I Lost in Vietnam

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Finding Pete: Rediscovering the Brother I Lost in Vietnam Page 34

by Jill Hunting

Nguyen, Kim, 65–66

  Nguyen, Miss, 74–75

  Nguyen Cao Ky, 186

  Nguyen Van Hoa, 78

  Nha Trang: and Jill’s 1991 visit to Vietnam, 150

  Pete in, 49, 50, 58, 156, 159

  workings of local government, 133

  Nhu (Diem’s brother), 26, 57, 61

  Nhu, Madame, 59

  Ninh Thuan Province, 50, 92, 96, 125, 228

  Nixon, Richard, 107

  NLF (National Liberation Front), 105. See also Vietcong (VC)

  Nongovernmental entity (NGO), IVS as, 22, 29, 31, 114. See also International Voluntary Services (IVS)

  NVS (National Voluntary Service), 67, 186–89, 191, 217–18, 238

  Office of Rural Affairs, 29, 30, 48, 93, 94, 178–79

  Oklahoma City, 7, 22–23, 35–36, 37, 42–43

  Operation Desert Storm, 146, 152

  Operation Rolling Thunder, 164

  Owens, Bill, 19–20

  Paddle boating accident, 86

  Patterson, Sue: and initial news of Pete’s death, 11

  and Jill, 171–72, 199–200

  on memorial service, 39–40

  Pete’s relationship with, 20, 87, 129, 130, 135, 159, 192

  Peace activism, 13–14, 82, 103, 105, 109

  Peace Corps, 31, 166, 195

  Perfume River, 147–48

  Persian Gulf War (1991), 146

  Personal effects, return of, 70

  Phan Rang: coup effects on, 61

  Jill’s visits to, 137, 151–52, 230–33

  library project, 79–81

  life in, 59–60

  Pete’s assignment to, 33, 48

  Pete’s departure from, 166

  Pete’s travel to, 50, 54–55

  Vietcong infiltration of, 125, 129

  Vietcong’s attempt to seize, 164–65

  Phan Thiet, 151, 152

  Phillips, Rufus, 29, 57, 178

  Phuong, Mr. (assistant province chief, 1960s), 59–60

  Phuong, Mr. (guide for Jill’s 1991 visit), 136, 137, 142, 145, 148, 152

  Politics: U.S., 46–47, 97–98, 106–7, 111, 126–27, 132–33

  Vietnamese, 27, 96–97, 128, 158

  Prisoner abuse in South Vietnam, 107–8

  Psychological warfare and Vietnamese traditional beliefs, 221–22

  Quakers, 102–3, 108

  Quang Ngai, 148, 154–56

  Qui Nhon, 50

  Rabbit raising project, 92–93

  Rach Gia, 220–21

  Rankin, Stephen, 20–21

  Refugee problem, 191

  Relief operation for typhoon victims (1964), 154–56

  Retribution for Pete’s death, stories of, 175–76, 177, 215

  Rice wine distillery, 191–92

  Robinson, Joseph, 243

  Robinson, Scott, 168, 169–70

  Romance: awkwardness of rejoining “civilization,” 166

  Pete’s musings, 87–88

  and Vietnamese customs, 49, 174–75

  Vietnamese girls’ designs on Pete, 88–89, 91. See also Bradley, Margo

  Patterson, Sue

  Ronk, Don, 104, 109

  Rowan, Carl, 46

  Rural Affairs, Office of, 29, 30, 48, 93, 94, 178–79

  Rusk, Dean, 57, 96, 106

  Russell, William Huntington, 43–44

  Saigon, 49, 62, 65–66, 152

  Sailboat building project, 63

  Scarborough, Jay, 79–81

  Schoolhouse construction, 64, 92

  Schwarzkopf, Gen. Norman, 146

  Scott, Phil, 81

  Security challenges: and dangers for American civilians, 13–14, 22, 48, 133–34, 251n7

  hamlet bodyguards, 99

  increasing instability, 99, 133–34

  IVSers’ personal arms, 98

  and Jill’s 1991 visit to Vietnam, 144, 149, 150

  ongoing Vietcong threat, 39, 98, 99, 124, 125–26, 129, 130

  Pete on, 13, 54, 60, 132–33

  Pete’s close calls, 128–29, 154, 196–97

  Self-immolation protests by Buddhists, 24, 50

  Sexuality and IVS’s cultural guidance, 49

  Sibling relationships, 9–10

  Sister-city proposal, 228, 230, 232–33

  Skull and Bones Society, 43

  Small, Les, 237–38, 243

  Smoking of fish project, 93–95

  Social customs. See Culture, Vietnamese

  Soc Trang, 239

  Sommer, John: biographical sketch, 111–12

  and Cham weavers, 91, 234

  joining of IVS, 21

  making contact with Jill, 112–13, 117

  peace activism, 109

  on Pete, 112–13

  Vietnam analysis, 103–4

  Sonoma (Calif.), sister-city relationship in Vietnam, 228, 230, 232–33

  South Vietnam: coup d’états in, 61–62, 133

  Diem regime, 24, 26, 27, 28, 57, 61

  politics of, 27, 96–97, 128, 158

  prisoner abuse case, 107–8

  U.S. aid to, 24

  workings of government, 96–97, 113, 128. See also Vietnam

  Stapleton, Vaughn, 59

  Stevenson, A. Russell, 25, 59–60.

  Stockton, Carl, 14, 207

  Stoltzfus, Gene: and IVSers’ discontent, 104–6

  making contact with Jill, 115–16, 117

  and memorial library project, 77

  and memorial service in Saigon, 66

  pacifist background of, 114

  peace activism, 109

  and Pete, 98, 113, 115–16

  postwar activities, 114–15

  on protest letter to Johnson, 114

  Stone, Fred, 219

  Strategic Hamlet Program, 28–29, 33, 52, 89–90, 92

  Student volunteer movement in Vietnam, 67, 186–89, 191, 217–18, 238

  Summer Youth Program, 187–89, 217–18

  Sympathy letters, 75–76, 204, 206–7

  Tay-Do, 217–18

  Taylor, Gen. Maxwell, 57, 127

  Tet holiday, 97

  Tet Offensive, 176

  Thailand, 118–19, 141–42

  Theusch, Chuck, 228

  Thich Quang Duc, 24

  Thien Mu Pagoda, 147–48

  Thompson, Hugh, 148

  Thuan Tu, 89–90

  Tiger Cages, 107–8

  Tighe, Ellen, 193

  Tilapia fishpond project, 93

  Tornadoes in Oklahoma, 35–36

  Tran Dinh Song, 1–5, 228, 230, 240, 241, 244

  Tran Ngoc Bau, 74

  Truffles, 179–80

  United States: bombing campaigns, 164

  cultural changes (1960s), 97–98, 124, 131

  Pete’s 1965 visit, 165–69

  politics of, 46–47, 97–98, 106–7, 111, 126–27, 132–33

  Vietnamese attitudes toward, 62, 63. See also Military presence, U.S.

  U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): educational support from, 52, 131, 163

  and IVS’s status as independent NGO, 22

  loss of personnel to Vietcong, 160–61

  Pete’s frustrations with, 195

  Pete’s prospects for career with, 158

  and Strategic Hamlet Program, 29

  U.S. Operations Mission (USOM). See U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

  Van Phu Quang, 222–23

  Vietcong (VC): assassination attempts on IVSers, 14, 48

  attempt to seize Phan Rang, 164–65

  gains in control (1964), 96–97

  as Pete’s killers, 1–2

  presence in Ninh Thuan, 125

  targeting of USOM personnel, 160–61

  threat from civilian aid workers to, 29, 215

  threat of, 39, 98, 99, 124, 125–26, 129, 130

  Vietminh, 26

  Vietnam: Buddhists vs. Catholics in, 28

  friends’ reservations about Pete’s going, 20–21

  impact on Jill, 207–8

  IVSers’
perspective vs. official one, 106–7, 254n4

  Jill’s trips to, 136–53, 227–36, 239–42, 243–44

  landscape of, 49, 50, 58–59, 94, 98, 159–60, 191–92, 220–21

  Laverentz’s impressions of, 173

  misdirection of aid to, 194–95

  need for modernization, 163

  Pete’s analysis, 52, 163, 166, 185–86, 188, 190–91

  Pete’s disillusionment after robbery, 135

  Pete’s excitement about going, 19

  Pete’s love for, 32, 50–51, 95, 99, 122–23, 159–60

  Pete’s orientation, 25–26

  post-coup climate in, 62–63

  slow pace of life in, 121, 124–25, 169

  stresses of living in, 118

  student volunteer movement, 67, 186–89, 191, 217–18, 238

  withdrawal of U.S. dependents from, 160, 179. See also Culture, Vietnamese

  Military presence, U.S.

  Security

  South Vietnam

  Vietnamese Voluntary Youth, 131

  Viet Nam: The Unheard Voices (Luce and Sommer), 103–4, 117

  Vietnam War: father on, 82

  and Humphrey, 46–47

  IVSers’ opposition to, 13–14, 103, 105, 109

  Jill’s opposition to, 82

  mother on, 82, 108, 111

  Yale debate on, 39

  Vinh Long, 190, 238

  Washington, D.C., 1966 trip to, 45–46

  Well-digging projects, 89–90, 120

  Wesleyan University, 15, 18–21, 121–22

  Westmoreland, Gen. William, 127–28

  Whalen, Chuck, 141, 143, 144, 146

  Windmill projects: approval for, 59

  long-term survival of, 109

  Pete’s involvement in, 96, 124, 166, 172

  village celebration, 218, 231–32

  Wisner, Frank G. II, 70

  Witmer, John, 50

  Women, Montagnard, 59. See also Romance

  Woodbridge, Connecticut, 12–13, 39–40

  Worthington, Linda, 178–79

  Worthington, Paul, 178–79

  Wu, Mr. (Chinese language professor), 192–93

  Yale University, 12–13, 19, 39, 43, 44

  Youth programs: NVS, 67, 186–89, 191, 217–18, 238

  scouting, 99–100, 155–56

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jill Hunting was on a writing retreat in Umbria, Italy, when she set aside a book about food and wine to take up a more personal story: barely fifteen when her older brother, Pete, was killed in Vietnam, she had wondered for years if reports were true that friends led him to his death.

  That afternoon in the Italian countryside, she turned to the story of the brother who died and the family that didn’t talk about it. The writing of Finding Pete became a bridge from the past to the future, leading the author to initiate a sister-city relationship between her home in California’s wine country and her brother’s in Ninh Thuan Province, and to launch a feasibility study of lavender farming in Vietnam. She proposed the Book of Remembrance, a sculpture honoring civilians killed in war, for the new headquarters of the U.S. Institute of Peace, on the War and Peace corner of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

  She lives in Sonoma, California.

  A READING GROUP GUIDE TO FINDING PETE

  Questions for Discussion

  According to a 2005 United Nations report, conventional warfare has decreased in recent decades and the nature of violent conflict has changed. Increasingly, civilians are at risk, either deliberately targeted or caught in crossfires. In the “Author’s Note” to her book, Jill Hunting says that some survivors of civilians killed in war go forward with “a chamber deep within sealed up.” What does this description evoke? What benefits can we anticipate from opening up such chambers?

  Finding Pete is a researched memoir. Half of the book is about the author’s quest to learn what happened to Pete. The alternating chapters are the story of his life in Vietnam as reconstructed from his letters. The book is structured like a detective story. In your opinion, what was the most important discovery that the author made in the course of her research? How does the author change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes? In Jill’s journey of healing, what was the “tipping point”?

  What event in the book was most moving for you? What was the most powerful scene in the book?

  After graduating from Wesleyan University, Pete Hunting joined International Voluntary Services (IVS), an NGO on which the Peace Corps was modeled. In college, he had studied Chinese and government. He thought his job in Vietnam would be to teach English. What might have motivated young men and women to join IVS? What were some of the risks for IVSers in Vietnam? How might these have been similar to, or different from risks faced by other Americans there?

  If you had been faced, as Pete was, with the decision to extend your IVS contract, join USAID, join the military, or return to the U.S., what would you have done?

  The book features Jill Hunting and her family, along with Pete’s co-workers in Vietnam, and his girlfriends in the States. Who in the book do you relate to? Why?

  The author’s reserved New England family didn’t talk about Pete’s death. Her mother tells her that all of Pete’s letters have been destroyed in a basement flood. How do you feel about the author’s mother? What would you have done in her shoes? Has she unwittingly closed out the rest of the family, or do you think she has consciously chosen to shut them out? Did you find yourself criticizing her, empathizing with her, or both?

  Pete didn’t know it, but his letters were eyewitness accounts of U.S. policy in the making. Reading them, you can feel the war coming closer. Has this book had an impact on your view of the Vietnam War or war in general? Was Pete a “typical” or an “atypical” American? True or false: Pete personifies what the U.S. lost in Vietnam.

  The subject of Vietnam touches people deeply, even after all these years. How is this book like other books or movies about the Vietnam War, or war in general? How is it different? What are some ways that war can divide families?

  What is the significance of the image that closes the book?

 

 

 


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