Category Archives: English Version

Jack London’s To Build a Fire

English Version

By Michael Dotobuildafire

Each of Jack London’s short stories is a valuable lesson about life and natural laws. As said by the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau: “Man is (physically as weak as) a reed, but he is a reed that thinks.” (L’homme n’est qu’un Roseau, mais un Roseau pensant.) The history of humankind is that of persistent struggles for life. Facing the powerful and mysterious nature, men are so tiny, weak, and fragile. However, thanks to the strength of thoughts and will, men have subdued and controlled nature to exploit its energies to serve the needs that have been increased. Ideas help men’s ability to develop, and a strong will helps men’s strength multiply. Except for the universe of which the mystery we have not discovered yet, anything on earth must have its limit; so are men’s strength and ability. Continue reading Jack London’s To Build a Fire →

Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

English Version

By Michael Do62cf9d7dd7f1d5cec28414493b31091c

If there is any distance between life and death, then what may happen with a dying human’s thoughts in this very moment before he gives up the ghost?

In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce told us the story of the wandering soul of a man whose body was swinging like a pendulum beneath the timber of the Owl Creek Bridge. Continue reading Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge →

About the Author Michael Do

English Version, Nhân Vật

NTUGraduateBorn in 1946 in Quang Tri Province (Central Vietnam).  Graduated from Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Polwar College (1st Class, 1966-1969); Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (Valedictorian) from Van Hanh University, Saigon; Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, Master of Science in Engineering Management from National Technological University at Fort Collins, Colorado.

Admitted to the US as Political Refugee in May 1990. Worked for Lockheed Martin, Advanced Micro Devices, National Instruments, Motorola;  Math Teacher at Pflugerville Independent School District. Retired in 2014. Continue reading About the Author Michael Do →

The Nation’s Existence Power and The Duty of the Youth

Commentaries, English Version

Michael Do speaks to the Vietnamese American Students Association/University of Texas at 30-4audienceAustin and the Vietnamese Youth League at Austin in its first meeting and on Channel 10/ACTV.

Dear young fellow Vietnamese Americans.

It is my great pleasure to be attending this very important event as your new Executive Board is introduced to the community and is beginning its new term with full strength and hope.
I would like tonight to talk about one subject that you might be very interested in: “The Nation’s Existence Power and The Duty of the Youth.” Continue reading The Nation’s Existence Power and The Duty of the Youth →

The truth must be respected

English Version, Nhân Vật

Michael DoPresidentNgoDinhDiem

Ref: Ngo Dinh Diem: Washington’s Frankenstein Monster?” by ex-Col. Herbert Schandler. Vietnam Magazine, Vol. 19, Number 3, July 2006

Dear Editor,

I was very surprised when reading the article: “Ngo Dinh Diem: Washington’s Frankenstein Monster?” by ex-Col. Herbert Schandler. Very soon after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Vietnamese Communists themselves published hundreds of books and documentation in which they proudly confessed that they had initiated and commanded the war in Vietnam since its beginning. Continue reading The truth must be respected →

Give back dignity to our soldiers who fought the Vietnam War

Đời Lính, English Version

Each year, the Texas Tech University Vietnam Center in Lubbock, Texas, hosts the annual conference on the Vietnam War that attracts hundreds of scholars, researchers, high-ranking officers, diplomats, and members of the U.S. policy-making institutes.

The 2001 Annual Conference,” The Advisory Effort and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam” lasted three days from April 19 to 21, 2001  in Lubbock. Michael Do was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Saturday lunch at the Hall of Nation of the International Cultural Center.

This is the full transcript of Mr. Do’s speech. Continue reading Give back dignity to our soldiers who fought the Vietnam War →

Polwar in the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces

Đời Lính, English Version

Michael Do’s Paper presented at the 4th Triennial Symposium on Vietnam. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, April 11-13, 2002

A. Introduction

The rise of Communism marked a great turning point of human kind. The Russian October Revolution in 1917 and later the creation of the Soviet Union opened a new “Sad and Bizarre Chapter of World History”, as described by President Ronald Reagan. Continue reading Polwar in the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces →

Vietnamese War veteran recounts horrors of prison

Chuyện Tù, English Version

NEWS 8 Austin features Michael Do in a short interview on April 30, 2008

By: Bob Robuck

The University of Texas Vietnamese Student Association observed the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon on Saturday with a banquet and vigil called Black April.
The fall marks the day the United States pulled out of Vietnam, ending the war. Continue reading Vietnamese War veteran recounts horrors of prison →

The Forgotten

Đời Lính, English Version

Response to the movie Regret to Inform produced by Ms. Barbara Sonnerborn

Michael Do

Ms. Barbara Sonneborn is the widow of an American soldier who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1972.

After the war, she went to Vietnam to visit the place where her husband died and to make the movie Regret to Inform, in which she was convinced that the Americans had fought an unjust war against the “innocent and peace-loving” Vietnamese.

The film was largely objected to by the American veterans after it had been published. Michael Do joined three American veterans in a discussion panel on PBS/KLRU to express their disappointment regarding the propaganda in the movie.

This is the letter Michael Do wrote to Ms. Sonneborn.

Continue reading The Forgotten →

Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace

English Version

Michael Donecklace

Once there was a little girl whose name was Cinderella…

Millions of pretty girls all over the world have read passionately this fairy tale and must have dreamed of having a fortune as that poor girl had in the story. The pursuit of happiness is quite a righteous aspiration of any person, male or female. But on what criteria should happiness be defined and how can one gain a really happy life? That’s the question! Is vanity a true value of life for which we may have to pay a high cost? It’s the main idea that Guy de Maupassant wanted to address in this short story, “The Necklace.” Continue reading Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace →