City of Martinsville issued the following announcement on Sept. 26.
Author Michael Murphy will be giving a program at the Martinsville Public Library about
his book “The Ashes of War” on Saturday, September 29 at 1:30pm. In this powerful
work about the tragic aftermath of the Vietnam War, author MH Murphy presents the
stories of Vietnamese people who fled their beloved country and those who stayed
behind and endured, creating a new life in their ever-changing country. The Ashes of
War begins in Saigon, in April of 1975, just before its surrender to the Communists. With
the war over, the victors set about punishing the vanquished. The policies, rules and
laws, enacted by the new government, made many South Vietnamese feel targeted, and
lit the fuse for an exodus unlike any other. Over two decades more than two and a half
million Vietnamese people fled their country, some overland, but most by water in
anything that would float. This created the greatest humanitarian crises in modern history
and coined a new term recognized all over the world, “Boat People.” Those who stayed
behind to create a new life in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam endured unthinkable
hardships, changes, and re-education. Charged, controversial—and incredibly prescient,
and this book tells stories of the Vietnamese people at the end of and after the war. It
speaks for the millions of Vietnamese who have had little voice, and still—decades
later—suffer the fate of what happened after “Black April,” April, 30, 1975. Please call the
Martinsville Public Library (217-382-4113) to reserve seats as seating will be limited.
Original source can be found here.
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