Noble people bridge Vietnam - United States

In many conversations with the press as well as public speeches at conferences, American writer and journalist Lady Borton has expressed that she always considers Vietnam her second homeland. At the age of 83, she still travels to many places, actively works and participates in social activities. Many journalists and scientists consider her a noble person who is the bridge between the two countries of Vietnam and the United States.

In late 1968, working as a nurse for the Quaker Humanitarian Organization, Lady Borton came to Vietnam to participate in volunteer activities, supporting civilians affected by the war in the Quang Da area. From 1970, she became a freelance writer and photojournalist. Due to her wider scope of work, she had more opportunities to interact with both civilians and revolutionary activists in the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam. Her real-life experiences on the battlefield helped her understand more about the war that the United States caused to the Vietnamese people.

Self-taught in Vietnamese and having spent more than half a century living in Vietnam, the female writer has devoted much of her time to researching the history of the country half a world away from her homeland. In particular, Lady Borton has a deep understanding of President Ho Chi Minh, General Vo Nguyen Giap and many other famous people of Vietnam. “When I was young, I knew nothing about Vietnam on the other side of the world, I was very surprised and did not understand why a powerful country like France lost to a small country on the world map at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. And my America too, got bogged down here day by day. From the initial unfamiliarity, I was curious to learn more. Every day, information about that distant, resilient country seemed to have a magical attraction that made me want to go there. And then, I fell in love with Vietnam, the country I voluntarily consider my second homeland,” said the female journalist.

American writer and journalist Lady Borton, April 2025.

Up to now, she herself cannot remember the number of times she has traveled back and forth between Vietnam and the US. With her love and passion, she has made many contributions to the Vietnamese journalism and publishing industry with her writing, editing and translation works. Confiding in us, the American woman whose Vietnamese name is Ut Ly said that every time she comes to Vietnam, she feels like she is returning home because of the warm welcome from everyone.

Lady Borton's confession reminded us of the meeting at the home of writer Nguyet Tu (died September 2024) on the occasion of Lunar New Year 2018. That day, the two writers had a working day to finalize the content of the manuscript for the reprint and addition of the bilingual book "Uncle Ho with Children and Women". Witnessing the two writers working and talking, if there were no difference in appearance between Asians and Westerners, they would be like two sisters, completely close, intimate and with a strange understanding of each other. That day, although she had just recovered from a serious illness, working with her close friend made writer Nguyet Tu feel better.

She said: “In 2008, the bilingual book at that time called “Uncle Ho with Women and Children” which I wrote in Vietnamese and Lady translated into English was published for the first time, marking our cooperation. I have known her for a long time, but that was my first official working together. I am extremely impressed with her journey of collecting valuable information and documents that she found in the archives of many countries about Vietnam and Uncle Ho. Working together, we understood each other very well and coordinated quite well. That is also the reason why many years later, we joined hands to produce many works that were dear to both of us. I think that Lady Borton is one of the Americans who understands Vietnam the best.”

As for the “very Vietnamese American” writer, with a smile always on her lips, she always seemed to be full of vitality. She was ready to answer our questions. Completely natural, sincere and kind, those were the feelings she brought to the person she spoke to.

When asked about her most satisfying works, she pondered for a while and then said: “First of all, the books about leader Ho Chi Minh - beloved Uncle Ho of you and me. There is nothing to discuss because my heart always turns to him, even though when I came to South Vietnam for only a few months, he passed away, I did not have the opportunity to meet him. I have met many people who had contact and met President Ho Chi Minh, heard touching stories about him. Through their stories, I truly admire the leader not only of Vietnam but also of enslaved people around the world. I really want to bring through my works an accurate and complete view of President Ho Chi Minh, the person who led the Vietnamese revolution to victory from the strength, ideals and determination created by the unity of the entire nation. I also want to let the whole world know about a small but very heroic country of Vietnam!”

Some of the works about the country and people of Vietnam that contributed to Lady Borton's reputation in the press and publishing world include: "After Sorrow", "Ho Chi Minh - A Portrait", "Ho Chi Minh, a Journey"... Among them, "After Sorrow" is one of the books she often mentions first when asked.

According to her, the core things recreated in the book's content have changed the way people look at the war that America caused in Vietnam. Especially, there are many touching stories about Vietnamese communists who devoted themselves, fought against many hardships, dangers and were willing to sacrifice when participating in the resistance war to liberate the nation that she witnessed with her own eyes.

Photographer Tran Hong (far right) and his American friend Lady Borton (middle). Photo: TRANG TUAN TU

Talking to journalist Lady Borton, we learned that in 1980, for the first time after the war, she returned to Vietnam to carry out a long-cherished project: Completing “After Sorrow”, a book about her time in rural Vietnam during the resistance war against the US with many touching stories recorded in her diary. In this book, Vietnamese friends told the American writer-journalist about their specific work when they were involved in revolutionary activities, participating in the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam to fight against the invasion and oppression of the US and its henchmen. From Lady Borton’s perspective, everything appeared real and touching.

The female journalist confided: “After the war ended, I felt that I still had many things I wanted to do in Vietnam. My Vietnamese friends kept me company. The people I had saved or died in my arms made me yearn to return. And even the American veterans after the war also wanted me to accompany them in their contacts... “After Sorrow” was completed and published in 1995. Just a few months later, Vietnam and the United States resumed relations. I was happy that my book had somehow helped normalize relations between our two countries.”

We learned that Lady Borton had worked as the interim director of the Quaker Organization in Hanoi (1990-1991); Chief Representative of the American Friends Committee in Vietnam; Editor-in-Chief of the English Foreign Affairs Magazine “Vietnam Cultural Window”... The female journalist had repeatedly expressed her wish to stay in Vietnam long-term. However, due to visa regulations, when her visa expired, Lady Borton had to leave Vietnam to return to her home country or go to a third country while waiting for an extension. On this issue, she happily cooperated without a single complaint.

However, starting from the end of 2018, Lady Borton left Vietnam for a long time without a clear reason. Then came the years of the Covid-19 pandemic, when news about her was almost silent. Many Vietnamese friends were worried, speculating that her health and age might not allow her to travel "shuttle-like" between the two hemispheres as before. Surprisingly, before the Lunar New Year 2023, we learned that she had returned to Ho Chi Minh City and continued to participate in many activities.

Through journalist Nguyen Hac Dam Thu, her close Vietnamese friend, we learned about and admired this “strange” American woman even more. Born in 1942, she never married and devoted her entire life to social activities. Having studied at many prestigious universities and experienced many different jobs, she accumulated a rich amount of information to create many valuable works. The quality of those products “by itself” brought public recognition that Lady Borton was a writer, translator, journalist and culturalist about Vietnam.

To conclude the story of Lady Borton, we would like to tell the story that Colonel, photographer Tran Hong, former photojournalist of the People's Army Newspaper, recently shared when Lady Borton unexpectedly visited his "Memories and Legends" photo exhibition. "When the exhibition staff called me to inform me that an American woman wanted to meet, I immediately thought of Lady Borton. I moved as fast as I could to get there, and it was indeed Lady Borton. She was carefully writing a few words in her notebook. Having just arrived in Hanoi from the US, Lady Borton immediately came to the exhibition and said that she was about to complete a passionate project. I know that she paid for most of her trips and social activities in Vietnam with her own money. How precious!"

MINH THU

Source: https://sknc.qdnd.vn/nhan-vat/quy-nhan-lam-cau-noi-viet-nam-hoa-ky-503861