Đoàn Văn Toại (1945 in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

– November 2017 in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

) was a Vietnamese-born naturalized American activist and the author of '' The Vietnamese Gulag'' (

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, 1986).

Biography

Doan became an antiwar activist, a supporter of the National Liberation Front and vice president of the Saigon Student Union in 1969 and 1970, and spent time in jails in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

for antigovernment activities as a student leader. After the invasion of the

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

and the end of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

in 1975, he became a senior official of the Ministry of Finance under the Provisional Government. He soon disagreed on purely professional grounds with a superior official and was jailed for 28 months. He left Vietnam in May 1978 and went into exile in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1989, he was shot and seriously wounded by two Asian males as he was walking in the area around his home in California. The shooting happened during a spate of attacks on foreign resident dissident Vietnamese and was widely believed to have been politically motivated. Doan's advocacy of the recognition of the government of Vietnam and proposal that the US government should establish diplomatic ties was not universally liked in the Vietnamese community and there was speculation that he was shot by anti-Communist protestors. Doan Van Toai was also the author of these books: *''Documents on prisons in Viet-Nam'' *''A

Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...

Memoir (Mémoires d'un Vietcong'', w/ Nhu Tang Truong, David Chanoff) *''Vietnam: A Portrait of its People at War'' (w/ David Chanoff) *''Portrait of the Enemy: The Other Side of Vietnam, Told through Interviews with North Vietnamese, Former Vietcong and Southern Opposition Leaders'' (w/ David Chanoff).

References

External links

About the author

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', July 13, 1986

Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Vietnamese dissidents Victims of human rights abuses Vietnamese activists 1945 births Prisoners and detainees of Vietnam Living people Writers of Vietnamese descent Government ministers of Vietnam French male writers Naturalized citizens of the United States {{Vietnam-activist-stub American people of Vietnamese descent

Biography

See also

References

External links