Hëb

“Led by Prince Sihanouk, Cambodia, then a French colony, became an independent nation in 1953. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Cambodia prospered and was self-sufficient. However, many people were not happy with Prince Sihanouk’s government. Many regarded the Sihanouk government as corrupt and self-serving, where the poor got poorer and the rich became richer. Various nationalistic factions sprang up to demand reforms. One of the groups, a secret Communist faction—the Khmer Rouge—launched an armed struggle against the Cambodian government.”
― Loung Ung, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

“In the war, I had seen much worse, more horrifying things than this, but what haunted me for the rest of my life was how the Americans, during that month, had destroyed our land with Agent Orange.”
― Bảo Ninh, Hanoi at Midnight: Stories

“What the poet Nguyễn Duy wrote is so true. At the end of each war, whoever wins, the people lose.”
― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Dust Child

“A soldier’s life is hard . . . but to our youth, there is glory in fighting the war.”
― Bảo Ninh, Hanoi at Midnight: Stories