Persian Realm

Songwriters jailed in Vietnam

Songwriters jailed in Vietnam (bbc)

Vietnam jails two musicians for spreading anti-state propaganda, after they wrote songs critical of the government.

Vietnam dissident poet Thien dies in California aged 73

Nguyen Chi Thien, a dissident poet who spent 27 years in Vietnamese prisons, has died in California aged 73.

Sweat and tears: Has the US forgotten lessons from Vietnam?

Sweat and tears (bbc)

Has the US forgotten lessons from Vietnam?

The rise in so-called insider attacks by rogue Afghan security forces has highlighted the perils of joint operations in counter-insurgency. But former US soldier David Donovan, who fought in Vietnam, says lessons learnt long ago have been forgotten.

Journalist whose Vietnam image changed US policy has died

Shock picture (bbc)

Journalist whose Vietnam image changed US policy has died

Vietnam letters arrive home, 43 years after soldier's death

The last post (bbc)

Vietnam letters arrive home, 43 years after soldier's death

Forty-three years ago, US Army Sgt Steve Flaherty wrote a letter home to his mother from the jungles of Vietnam. On Saturday, his letters came home to the US.

Sgt Flaherty was born in Oiso, Japan, to an American father and Japanese mother.

Is Vietnam's revolutionary leader still relevant today?

Uncle Ho's legacy (bbc)

Film director Schoendoerffer dies

Oscar-winning French documentary-maker Pierre Schoendoerffer dies at the age of 83.

Oscar-winning French documentary-maker and journalist Pierre Schoendoerffer has died at the age of 83, the French military health service has confirmed.

Following military service, he volunteered to became a photographer during the first Indochina war, eventually becoming a war reporter.

His 1967 film The Anderson Platoon was presented with the Academy Award for documentary feature.

Paying tribute, President Nicolas Sarkozy said: "France will miss him."

Le Figaro newspaper said Schoendoerffer died in a hospital outside Paris on Wednesday after an operation.

Born in Born in central France in 1928, Schoendoerffer spent some time at sea before joining the army for national service in 1949.

During the 1950s, he volunteered to parachute into the besieged fortress of Dien Bien Phu to document the decisive battle of the French war in Indochina - which is now part of Vietnam.

After the battle, he was captured and spent four months as a Prisoner Of War.

Schoendoerffer first gained fame as a director for his 1965 film The 317th Platoon, which traced of a doomed group of French soldiers retreating through the jungles ahead of the final rebel offensive in 1954.

It won best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival, where critics praised it as being among the best Vietnam War films ever made.

His Oscar-winning Anderson Platoon also won an Emmy award in 1967.

Schoendoerffer also made his mark as a screenwriter with his 1975 film Drummer Crab - which won three Cesar awards in France, including best actor for Jean Rochefort.

Thanks Mr. Kadivar........Bravo

....for your thoughtful montage..........The late Feraydoon Farrokhzaad surely had an understanding and most probably some personal experience of "Pain".

This is a very nice blog..........It also shows that our lady nurses were more capable than our royal army in the battle fields...........

On behalf of all Vietnamese, Cong or otherwise, I thank you again....... God bless you and the dead King....