Veterans of Company 814 agreed to tell their stories to Karen Turner and Phan Thanh Hao in their Hanoi homes over a period of several years. In July 2000, the company invited them to film their 35th anniversary of leaving home to defend the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Hanoi cameraman, Lu Quang Vinh, captured this rare opportunity to hear the other side of an old war story.
As viewers will learn, these modest warriors displayed uncommon courage under fire, but suffered neglect in Vietnam’s post-war reconstruction. Yet, they are proud of their service and willing to share their memories with US audiences with the hope that their testimonies might help bring an end to all wars.
History of the Film
These stories challenge the dominant image of Asian women as passive objects, refugees, prostitutes, villagers on the run. As the film shows, they don’t die peacefully to serve an American, like Miss Saigon, but fight for their lives and their future.
Women of Company 814, Hanoi, 1996
Women on the Trail
Volunteers Leaving HanoiAbove, Women on the Trail and Volunteers Leaving Hanoi are two paintings by Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Ngọc Tuấn, who carried his paints with him along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, capturing scenes such as these shown here.
Production Team
Interviews with women from Hanoi Volunteer Youth Company 814 form the heart of the film. Middle-age veterans now, the women who tell their stories in the film worked with Hao and Turner over a period of years, from 1996 to 2007. In July 2000, the company invited Turner, Hao, and veteran, Thomas Gottschang, to the 35th anniversary reunion of going to war. Later, they invited the team into their homes to be filmed.
Phan Thanh Hao, Hanoi-based diplomat, educator, and translator, is most esteemed for her translation of Bao Ninh’s anti-war novel, Sorrow of War. She has assisted many foreigners to encourage reconciliation, and currently directs the IOGT Program in Hanoi, an international organization promoting temperance, peace, and mutual respect.
Karen Gottschang Turner is a historian and Asianist who has worked in China and Vietnam for over four decades. She has published a variety of works on comparative law, women’s issues, and directed two documentary films. Retired from teaching, she is a senior research fellow in the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. From 1996 to 2007 she spent extensive periods in Vietnam, working with Phan Thanh Hao, to conduct interviews and secure materials for these projects.
Above: Turner and Hao with women of Company 814, Hanoi, 1996
Left: Turner with Ms. Mau, Hanoi, 1996
Turner and Hao, Hanoi, 2007
Thomas Gottschang, a veteran, educator, historian, who wanted these stories told, assisted in all aspects of the project.
Lu Quang Vinh, son of a North Vietnamese combat photographer and experienced documentary cameraman, filmed the reunion and conducted several interviews on his own, using a mini-DV camera. These stories were new to him, and we are grateful for his commitment to this project.
Two veterans, Tom Gottschang and Ms. Mau, Hanoi, 2004.
Post-Production Team
Michael T. Barry Jr., Producer/Editor, is an educator, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He has directed and edited several award winning films, including “Universal Soldier: Vietnam,” with Karen Turner, and “U Street Contested.”
Suzanne Gottschang, Producer, professor of anthropology at Smith College with a focus on China and women in health and film, worked with the script and score.
D. Hoang, the pen name for our creative director, translator, and narrator, is an educator and filmmaker with experience working on women’s issues in Vietnam and the diaspora.
Dr. Tri Phuong, literary consultant.