As concerns the Katu of Quang Nam I have had recourse to three sources; (1) interviews with

elders who experienced the conflict, (2) an account written by Briu Liec, the current chairman
of Tay Giang district (himself a Katu) and (3) an account by Quach Xuan, a communist cadre
who was himself stationed in Dong Giang (then Hien district) during much of the conflict
period. What is immediately striking with both of the "official" communist accounts is how
vehemently anti-french they appear. the french "enemy" almost appears to dominate these
accounts even more than the U.S. and their "Puppets".

interestingly, Cadre xuan, even writes about the very same events as Le Pichon, but
nonetheless describes a radically different scenario, one in which -- as early as the 1920s --
the katu hate the french above everything else. Le pichon himself (whom xuan calls michon),
and his superior Sogny, are both described as cruel and hated by the locals. The resistance and
hatred against these french "lackeys" moreover, is described as so strong that those katu who
cooperated (with the french) would be murdered by their own kin. According to xuan, even
traders associated with the french would be murdered (partly because of their affiliation with
the oppressive power of the french). The communist picture is clearly a very different picture
from that which was presented by le pichon. In the end, however, i trust the picture presented
in recits et lettres more than the retrospective images given by cadre xuan and briu liec (both
of which do not have very direct personal evidence of the french oppression). Furthermore, i
believe that the entire emphasis on the french (rather than the U.S.) goes to show that the
entire liberation narrative was principally geared towards the french colonial power -- and was
latter simply re-used in the 2nd indochina war (( jag har en pong hr )). Both the communist
accounts speak of the "struggle for liberation against the french" but, as a matter of fact, cadre
xuan's account does not mention a single violent encounter between the communist cadres
(etc.) and the french during the entire 1945-1954 period.