Every year at this time, Vietnamese in exile on United States soil and all around the world reminisce the unforgettable date of 30 April 1975. Though the cold war may have been won, the struggle for democracy continues in a land still beset by the ravages of communism. The march towards freedom, democracy and liberation for Vietnam is a long a sturdy one, but one that will be seen to fruition by those who truly believe in the principles of democracy.

It is often said that the final frontier of the cold war is the border between North and South Korea. More often overlooked, ho%vever, are the human and civil rights violations occurring in Vietnam, a devastated land often forgotten by the United States Government and the American people. For those politicians who feel that any economic advantages that Vietnam purports outweighs any cause for alarm about civil or human rights abuses, the faces of the poor, the sick, the oppressed and violated may prove them otherwise.

More than three decades ago, a war was fought in the farthest reaches of Southeast Asia, a war of liberation and a war for the Western ideal of democracy. In a time when the pulse of American people did not support this noble idea, and in a time when domestic foreign policy was not concrete or clear, a war was lost. Troops were not greeted home with ticker tape parades as in times past, and the cause of freedom became an exclusive property of the West.

Since then, affairs concerning the Vietnam War have been kept in limbo. No one has wanted to relive the painful experiences of American GIs and the Vietnamese people. They were the ones who had bitterly witnessed the truth and reality of war, and some politicians have found it more convenient to simply ignore their cries of injustice. Often, unfair allegations of military impropriety and cowardice surfaced in the media and on the minds of the American people. How egregious were these claims, that the men and women who forsake their lives for the cause of freedom were called cowards by those whose way of life they aimed to protect ?

The Government of Free Vietnam (GFVN), through a long and sturdy struggle has fought to eradicate communism and the evils associated with it by opening the eyes of a people who have lived under a veil of ignorance and oppression for far too long. Education and awareness of the ideals of democracy are the first tools in f'ighting this old Cold War beast. In this silent war, the GFVN fighters ask the world to join its efforts in the spirit of bringing peace, harmony and freedom to this strategic part of Southeast Asia.

The GFVN cordially welcomes and requests the presence of true friends at this momentous and historical meeting this spring at the Indochina Frontier Zone. Become a part of history by taking stand against bureaucratic rhetoric on Capitol Hill and take an active stand on an issue that formed the very foundation of the United States, the struggle for freedom. Your support would be greatly appreciated not only by those in Vietnam struggling for the cause of freedom, but by veterans and constituents at home.