History of the Diaries…History of the Diaries…

Deepika SharadAn TangPhuoc PhanCaroline DownsNg Tin Hon

22 years old U.S military intelligence specialist.

“Whitehurst’s duties had included taking a last look through the accumulated captured documents and destroying those of no military value (Pham).”

Fred Whitehurst – Viet Nam Fred Whitehurst – Viet Nam 19701970

In 1970, while burning the documents, he was stopped by South Vietnamese translator, Sergent Nguyen Trung Hieu from burning the second diary, “Don’t burn this one, Fred. It has fire in it already (Pham).”

He kept the diary

Fred Whitehurst: 1970-Fred Whitehurst: 1970-1990s1990sThe third diary was brought to the

base after Thuy’s death in 1970. “Human to human, I fell in love with

her (Pham), ” Whitehurst said after reading the diaries.

Against the military rules, Whitehurst took the two diaries with him to the U.S. in 1972.

Cont.After returning to the U.S., his

search for Tram’s family was unsuccessful, so he kept the diaries in his filing cabinet.

He later became a forensic scientist in the FBI, and it was even harder to approach Vietnamese embassy.

He kept the diaries for 35 years.

The 2nd and 3rd diaries were

kept, the 1st one was burned.

Fred Whitehurst: mid Fred Whitehurst: mid 1990s1990sWhitehurst quit his job at the FBI due to

some conflicts, and restarted his mission for finding Tram’s family.

Hoping that publishing the diaries would help in finding the Tram family, Whitehurst gave the diaries to his brother Robert, who was also a Vietnamese veteran and had married a South Vietnamese woman.

Rob also fell in love with the diaries and encouraged publishing them.

Publication: 2005Publication: 2005 Rob and Fred took the diaries to a conference at

Texas Tech University in March 2005.

They gave the copies of the diaries to an Air Force Veteran, Ted Engelmann who was traveling to Hanoi in April 2005.

Engelmann, with the help of a staff member in Hanoi Quaker office, located Dr. Tram’s mother

The diaries were published in Hanoi on July 18, 2005 under the title Nhật ký Đặng Thùy Trâm, and the book was a bestseller.

The young generation was attracted to the book, which was not a typical heroism diary; it had romance and emotions.

Last Night I Dreamed Last Night I Dreamed of Peaceof Peace

The diaries were translated to English by Andrew X. Pham with help of his father, Thong Van Pham.The diaries were translated into English and published in September 2007.The diaries have been archived at Texas Tech

University, Vietnam Collection. The diaries have been translated into at least

sixteen different languages. In 2009, a movie about Dr. Tram named Đừng

Đốt (Don’t Burn) was released.

Đừng Đốt (Don’t Burn)Đừng Đốt (Don’t Burn)

Started Casting: 2008Release date: 2009Director: Đặng Nhật Minh, famous

Vietnamese director.

Đừng Đốt (Don’t Burn) cont.Đừng Đốt (Don’t Burn) cont.

The actors and actresses were all unknown before the movie released.

The director wanted to improve the realism of the movie by avoiding preconceptions.

AwardsAwardsFukuoka Film Festival in Japan: Highest

Viewer Rating AwardBong Sen Vang (Golden Lotus) Award4 Awards from Canh Dieu Vang (Golden Kite)

Festival in Vietnam: ◦ Best Sound Effects◦ Best Main Actress (Minh Huong)◦ Highest Viewer Rating◦ Best Director

Ratings on IMDB: 7.2/10.0

Works CitedWorks Cited

The Vietnam Center and Archive. http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/resources/tram_diary/

Dang, Thuy Tram. Last Night I Dreamed of Peace. Trans. Andrew X. Pham. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007. Print.

Look at Vietnam. http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/04/dont-burn-highlights-dang-thuy-trams-spirit.html

Vietnam Media Corporation. http://vietnammediacorp.com/vmc/FeatureFilms/85/

Vietnam Travel Look. http://www.vietnamtravellook.com/news/entertaiment/160-dont-burn-to-represent-vietnam-at-oscar-2010.html