Lasting for two decades from 1955 to 1975, the war in Vietnam left a deep and horrific trauma, with more than three million deaths—two out of every three of them civilians—officially reported by the Vietnamese government. But these deaths were hardly the end of Vietnam’s ordeal. Half a century later, even newborn babies continue to suffer from its lingering effects, paying a heavy price for a conflict they merely inherited.

That lethal legacy literally remains in Vietnam’s war-ravaged soil and its environment—people who went through the war, not only the Vietnamese but the Americans as well who fought in that war. The culprit is tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), one of the most toxic and poisonous chemicals known, and a component of “Agent Orange,” extensively used during the war by the Americans to clear the forest cover and expose their enemy, as well as to destroy the crops that sustained them. Between 1962 and 1971, about twenty million gallons of dioxin-imbued herbicides were sprayed from the air, in Vietnam, by American planes.

Not only did Agent Orange kill every plant that it touched within two days; its dioxin leached into surrounding waters, and into the fish and ducks that were staples of the Vietnamese diet. Soon, after the war, physicians reported a troubling increase in the incidence of miscarriages, skin diseases, cancers, birth defects, and congenital malformations among the people.

What took just seconds to deploy has damaged four generations of victims. The exact numbers remain elusive, but it is estimated that 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to dioxin, out of whom about three million became victims, including thousands of children in the second, third, and even fourth generations.

The suffering continues, and so does the war on the side of Vietnamese and other researchers who have taken up the fight against the devastating effects of Agent Orange. In Vietnam, that battle has been led by NGUYEN THI NGOC PHUONG (born 1944), the former director of Tu Du Hospital, the country’s largest obstetric hospital.

PHUONG came of age and became a doctor over the course of the war. At its peak, in 1968, she recalls that “When I was an intern, I delivered for the first time in my life, a severely deformed baby—it had no brain and limbs. It was horrible for me, I was nauseous, vomiting and shaking. And how was the scared young mother? She was in shock when she saw her baby. Since then, every day or two, I have witnessed such birth defects and mother’s sufferings. But, for many years, I didn’t know what caused these tragic events.”

That terrible mystery led her to undertake her life’s great mission: to find out the truth about Agent Orange, to seek justice for its victims, and to assist the afflicted in all ways possible. Prompted by a paper on the use of herbicides in Vietnam, PHUONG and her associates established that people in areas sprayed with Agent Orange suffered from birth defects three times more than in other places. She published her research and joined the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA). With over 4,000 members, VAVA seeks accountability for the damage done by Agent Orange and brings relief to its victims.

For PHUONG, the battle has not only been in the laboratory but also on the international stage. She has taken up the cause of Agent Orange victims with the American Public Health Association, among other forums, and supported legal action to seek compensation from chemical companies. She is widely respected wherever she goes, recognized for her sincerity and humanity, beyond political considerations.

At the same time, she has remained the ‘baby doctor’ she always was, a pioneer of in vitro fertilization in Vietnam, bringing joy and hope to thousands of Vietnamese families who call her “Dr. Fairy.” She has also served in the National Assembly, championing legislation on family planning and reproductive health.

In electing NGUYEN THI NGOC PHUONG to receive the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees honors not only a woman and physician of extraordinary dedication and talent, but also the spirit of public service and the message of hope she continues to propagate among her people. At the same time, her work serves as a dire warning for the world to avoid war at all costs as its tragic repercussions can reach far into the future. She offers proof that it can never be too late to right the wrongs of war, and gain justice and relief for its hapless victims.

Honored guests, ladies and gentlemen:

It is with deepest and sincerest gratitude that I accept the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award. I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation for electing me to receive this recognition.

Being chosen for the Ramon Magsaysay Award is not just my honor; it belongs to all of my colleagues and the peoples of Vietnam who have selflessly dedicated our lives to this cause.

Our journey began in 1976 at Tu Du Hospital, where my colleagues and I conducted a retrospective study followed by numerous surveys and case-control studies on Agent Orange / Dioxin in provinces across Southern Vietnam.

The results were both staggering and horrifying: we have established the causal effects of Agent Orange/Dioxin on birth defects in children of exposed mothers or fathers, as well as various types of cancers observed in people living in the sprayed areas during wartime.

Since 2004, alongside my dedicated and passionate colleagues in VAVA (Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange), we have been raising global awareness about the dangerous effects of Agent Orange, especially the dioxin contaminant, on reproductive health and its carcinogenic impact—effects that are still being felt four generations after the end of the war.

We have also been helping victims by demanding accountability for these horrors and by bringing them much-needed justice, including testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives on the long-term consequences of Agent Orange / Dioxin.

We hope that through our efforts, the quality of life of the millions of victims will improve; and their physical, emotional and spiritual wounds be healed. That we as a country will heal.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award will greatly encourage VAVA members and myself to continue our work, supporting and advocating for the Agent Orange/Dioxin victims as they face life’s profound challenges with remarkable resilience.

This prestigious recognition sends a strong and resounding message to the global community that we need international understanding not warfare; we need conflict resolutions and not weapons of mass destruction; we need peace.

I dedicate Ramon Magsaysay Award to the millions of victims of Agent Orange.

Thank you.

Vietnam is one of the fastest rising economies in Southeast Asia. As in other newly-emergent economies, social services have sadly not kept pace with impressive economic growth. A social concern that is inadequately addressed involves the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs). In recent years, government has enacted legislation for PWD protection and support services but the implementation gap remains huge for the estimated 13 million PWDs in the country. In such a situation, the action of citizens is vital, and where civil society is weak, as in Vietnam, the leadership of gifted, dedicated individuals is especially crucial.

VO THI HOANG YEN, born and raised in a remote village in Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, contracted polio when she was two-and-a-half years old. In many other cases, particularly in the rural areas, this condition would have consigned her to a life of dependence. But with a supportive family and her own courage and will, she succeeded in getting an education. Braving discrimination and the constraints of her disability, she earned college degrees at Ho Chi Minh University, and a scholarship brought her to the University of Kansas, where she obtained a master’s degree in human development in 2004. Turning her back on opportunities for a comfortable life in the US, YEN returned to Vietnam.

She had been exposed to the issue and practice of PWD rights in the US, and experienced the stark contrast in Vietnam: the barriers to PWD mobility, access, and employment; the cultural bias that fosters passivity and dependence; the lack of public awareness of PWD needs and rights. Despite her qualifications, her first job application was turned down because of her condition. Undaunted, YEN immediately set to work.

In 2005, with three other PWDs, she founded Disability Research and Capacity Development (DRD), a non-profit organization based in Ho Chi Minh City whose guiding vision was to create “an equal and non-discriminatory society” for PWDs. DRD embarked on public awareness raising activities; livelihood and life-skills training for PWDs; employment and job placement; and diverse other initiatives. Raising funds from international organizations, proactively working with government and the private sector, DRD systematically established its presence as the leading, most innovative PWD advocacy and support group in Vietnam.

Over the past thirteen years, DRD has directly assisted some 15,000 PWDs with skills and capacity building activities, scholarships, job placements, donations of assistive devices and computers, and, using social media, a website on laws for the disabled and a digital map showing PWD-accessible public infrastructure. DRD’s innovativeness was showcased in a pilot “motorbike taxi service,” with a hotline for free transportation for PWDs on specially-designed motorbikes. The project became so popular that DRD could not meet the huge demand. Moreover, DRD has worked with government and the business sector in crafting PWD-related policies and promoting PWD-friendly environments, as in buildings and transportation.

YEN is the quintessential achiever. Confident, hardworking, and articulate, she teaches at Ho Chi Minh Open University and has recently completed her doctorate studies in social work from La Trobe University in Australia, continuing to direct DRD even while doing her studies. It is YEN’s own drive to be able to live independently, and to see this in other PWDs as well, that is at the heart of her advocacy. Autonomy, inclusion, a sense of dignity, releasing and enhancing the capacities of the differently-abled—this is what she is about. Despite the continuing challenges and frustrating resource constraints, YEN remains inspired. She says, “PWDs write or call me, thanking me for helping them change their lives… This is what drives me to continue.”

In electing VO THI HOANG YEN to receive the 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes her dauntless spirit and prodigious energy in rising above her condition; her creative, charismatic leadership in the sustained campaign to break down physical and mental barriers that have marginalized PWDs in Vietnam; and for being a shining, inspirational model for the young in her country and elsewhere in the world.

First of all, I would like to offer a very special thanks to the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation for selecting me. I have never expected to be here tonight to receive this noble award and to join past recipients who I have long admired and respected. I could not believe it when I got the news! And at that wonderful moment, I thought of my late mother and her unconditional love and sacrifice for my education. I learned from her the value of gratefulness, empathy and sharing.

I also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the support of the Ford Foundation office in Vietnam for the IFP scholarship and their confidence in me, giving me the very first grants, helped change my life. I am also truly grateful to the support of my colleagues and volunteers at DRD as they are very much a part of my success.

Without them I cannot be who I am today.

For me, it is a great honor to accept this award on behalf of people with disabilities in my home country and other developing countries because I am one of them, who are considered as the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable of the vulnerable. It is all types of discrimination and the struggle of people with disabilities for a more decent life that have inspired me to do my best to make a change. This good cause transformed me from a helpless person with no future into a determined leader and a change agent with a challenging-but-worthy journey.

This award really reaffirms my belief that everyone is born equal in dignity and worth, and that everyone is entitled—as a human right—to live a life to the fullest extent of his or her abilities. It strengthens my hope that we can have more support and resources to build a better society that addresses the needs and wellbeing of people with disabilities.

We all want to live in a world of love, peace and happiness, but as Mahatma Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” If we make ourselves better persons, we will change our world.

Everywhere in Asia farmers are called upon not only to feed their growing nations but also to produce rice and other commodities for export. In Vietnam, efforts to meet this challenge are complicated by the troubling legacies of recent war and economic policies that stifled individual enterprise and inadvertently limited growth. Helping Vietnam’s farmers to overcome these impediments, and to thrive, has been the life’s work of VO-TONG XUAN.

Born to a poor family in southern Vietnam, XUAN learned English as a boy and won a scholarship to the University of the Philippines in Los Banos. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural chemistry and was appointed research fellow at the nearby International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Returning to South Vietnam in 1971, XUAN joined the faculty of the University of Cantho and headed the department of Agronomy. He completed his PhD at Kyushu University in 1975.

Still abroad when the Saigon government collapsed, XUAN elected to forsake safer and more lucrative possibilities elsewhere and returned home to resume his post at Cantho. Overcoming administrative and political obstacles in the now reunified Socialist Republic of Vietnam, he managed to extend his activities beyond the university and into the fields. A soil scientist, he explained, needs to be with farmers.

Understanding the complex environment of the individual farmer was the key, XUAN thought, to improving his country’s agricultural productivity. With farmers, he studied the intricate relationships between soil and water, plants and animals, machines, credit, markets, and government, indeed even between men and women—the whole “farming system.” This holistic approach yielded more practical solutions to farmers’ problems than those suggested by the more narrowly scientific approach, or by ideology. Through extension work and weekly radio and TV programs, XUAN introduced his innovations to farmers. They succeeded, and XUAN’s credibility rose.

XUAN pondered the lessons of “farming systems analysis.” Crop yields increase, he noted, when land tenure is secure and when the state interferes as little as possible in determining prices and distributing essential inputs. Moreover, farmers are more likely to invest in new tools and machines if they are permitted to own them themselves. Genial and self-effacing, XUAN worked patiently within the system to promote such reforms. His efforts were timely. New policies providing for long-term land leases and production incentives in 1989 led to Vietnam’s first post-war rice boom and yielded a large surplus for export. XUAN cautioned, however, that further reforms and vast improvements to the rural infrastructure are needed to sustain such a boon.

Despite the country’s isolation, XUAN assiduously cultivated Vietnam’s links to the outside world. He attended international meetings and arranged scholarships abroad for his promising young faculty members. With his help, international NGOs established grass-roots programs in Vietnam, and IRRI resumed its research there. In 1988, he helped to found the region-wide Asian Farming Systems Association. In time, XUAN became vice-rector of the university and won a seat in Vietnam’s National Assembly.

Today, 52-year-old XUAN uses his higher profile to plead the cause of Vietnam’s rural folk and to promote better training for the country’s up-and-coming scientists. Still a working scientist himself, he stays attuned to life on the farm and to promising new developments: nowadays, small-scale agro-industries are blossoming everywhere in the countryside.

In electing VO-TONG XUAN to receive the 1993 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the Board of Trustees recognizes his combining practical scientific research and effective advocacy to improve the lives of Vietnam’s farmers.

This is a great moment for me to be bestowed this award named after the great president of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay. President Magsaysay won the hearts of the Filipino people because “he cared for all people as individuals and believed in their dignity and importance.” His great ideals inspired my own thinking during my student days at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños during the 1960s. With my wife, I strove to belong to the circle of those who place the interests of the people above all things in life.

As a youth from a poor family, I had to work to supplement my parents’ meager income, to help take care of my two brothers and three sisters, and to support myself in school. As a newspaper boy, I hopped from one passenger bus to another early every morning. At night, I tutored children who were better off than I was. I learned to treasure the value of labor and I determined to work on the side of the less privileged people in my country. In particular, I was determined to help educate millions of Vietnamese in the vital field of agriculture, and to imbue them not only with technical competence but also with ideals that promote national development.

I presented my Doctor of Agriculture dissertation at Kyushu University in 1975, just before the end of the Vietnam War. I then found myself rushing home even as thousands of Vietnamese were fleeing in the other direction.

The first two months under the new government were full of joy and anxiety: joy because the Vietnamese nation was finally unified, but anxiety because of uncertainty about whether people who worked under the old government would be welcome to participate in the postwar reconstruction. But the new university leaders started assigning me responsibilities and I soon found out that the ideas of my life converged with the goal of the new government: “For the happiness of the people.” This ideal has given me and my wife magical strength to overcome most of the difficulties and inconveniences in our life.

Peace in the Mekong Delta allowed agricultural scientists to infiltrate areas that had been untouchable during the war. We walked through thousands of hectares of burnt rice fields, withered forests, and deserted meadows. We traveled by sampan, bicycle, and motorcycle; sometimes we had to cling to the door of the last passenger bus. Yet we did not feel exhausted. On the contrary, we felt happy because each day we grew professionally and accumulated practical experiences that were not available in our textbooks. From these encounters with reality, I could see why the lack of appropriate science and technology was the main cause of the backwardness of agricultural development of the Mekong Delta.

I therefore concentrated on two things: first, training agricultural graduates and agricultural extension agents in research in food production, particularly pest-resistant rice varieties and integrated farming techniques on difficult soils; and second, transferring appropriate technologies to government administrators who administered the country’s food production plans.

At the university, I integrated classroom instruction with scientific research and extension work. Outside the university, I concentrated on multifaceted agricultural extension projects: from weekly TV programs to informal lectures during provincial or district cadres’ meetings; from discussions with top political leaders to talks with farmers. Eventually, I was able to convince the government to adopt agricultural policies that stimulate farmers to use new technologies for improving household incomes. Today I feel happy seeing the successes of our students who have become young cadres working in the agricultural offices of their respective localities, and I am even happier seeing the smiles of our collaborating farmers.

Obviously, these successes do not belong to myself alone but to a larger body of people. Being elected the 1993 Ramon Magsaysay awardee for government service, I recognize that this great honor must be accredited first to the doi moi (renovation) policy of the Vietnamese government leaders who have approved and supported my ideas, and to my colleagues and sympathizers who have been collaborating with me in putting my ideas into reality. Many high officials in the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Agriculture, the provincial and district governments, and the University of Cantho have been promoting my work and reiterating my faith in the bright future of Vietnam. My collaborators include colleagues at the University of Cantho; undergraduate and postgraduate students now working in various agricultural organizations in the country; scientists in various provinces of Vietnam; many foreign experts and leaders of several international organizations; many newspaper, radio, and TV reporters; and, of course, the farmers of Vietnam themselves.

Finally, I wish to dedicate this honor to my parents, to my wife and three children, and to my brothers and sisters who have sacrificed long days, weeks, and months without their son, husband, father, and brother so that I could devote my time to serve other people. My wife, particularly, has been the most steadfast home base, always managing things to make sure that any plan I am involved in can be accomplished.

The road ahead is still far and full of humps and potholes. But the path we have chartered, I believe, will create a new environment for the Vietnamese people to move faster toward prosperity. I pledge to try my best to continue the work I have chosen for so that I can be forever proud of this prestigious award, and so that I can live up to the expectations of the people I mentioned above and of the Ramon Magsaysay Ward Foundation, to whom I am very grateful. I beg your continuing patience and valuable support to help me fulfill my ideal.

Events engulfing Vietnam over the past three decades have compounded the dilemma of concerned intellectuals seeking sources for their national inspiration. Traditionally schooled in Nho hoc, or Confucian learning, they were cut adrift from their origins by the system of education that accompanied French colonial rule. As this elite was oriented toward French, it lost touch with the peasantry and left them vulnerable to Communist persuasion. 

Minister TON THAT THIEN, by contrast, relentlessly has sought to digest the essence of Western scientific method and wed it to Vietnamese cultural values. Freedom of thought and expression he found were essential to this pursuit. His convictions led him to act with perceptive courage and staunch individualism as writer and editor, professor and government official. 

Born in Central Vietnam in 1924 THIEN from early youth was steeped in the history and classical teachings of his country. After World War II he earned a degree at the London School of Economics. Graduate work at the Institute of International Studies in Geneva was interrupted by a call to join the Vietnamese delegation at the 1954 conference that led to independence for his country. 

THIEN enlisted promptly in the new government in Saigon, serving as Press Secretary to the Premier. Differing later with the authoritarian conservatism of the Diem regime, he left to complete doctoral studies in Geneva. Unlike other disaffected idealists who found haven abroad, he returned in 1963 to serve as Director General of Viet Nam Press. Moving to private journalism as a political columnist on the Saigon Daily News, he went on to found with like-minded colleagues the Viet Nam Guardian, becoming its managing editor. 

When the Guardian was suppressed in December 1966 THIEN continued to write for the London Economist, The Far Eastern Economic Review and Forum World Features, among others. He also taught and in 1967 became Vice Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Van Hanh University, where he helped organize the study group that is probing Vietnam’s past for guides to the present. 

With the appointment of Tran Van Huong as Premier in April 1968 signaling more popularly responsive government, THIEN accepted the post of Minister of Information. His first act upon assuming office was to lift press censorship, explaining: “Why have 25,000 Americans and more than 100,000 Vietnamese died in this war, if not for freedom?” 

In electing TON THAT THIEN, editor and now Minister of Information of the Republic of Vietnam, to receive the 1968 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts, the Board of Trustees recognizes his enduring commitment to free inquiry and debate.

I deeply appreciate the very great honor you have done me by associating me with the name of one of the greatest sons, not only of the Philippines, but also of Asia. Ramon Magsaysay is an Asian, and a nation builder no less great than such men as Meiji of Japan, Mongkut of Siam, Sun Yat-sen of China, Gandhi of India, and Phan Boi Chau and Phan Chu Trinh of Vietnam. He belongs to that breed of men of whom every Asian feels immensely proud.

“It has been my great fortune to have met the late President Magsaysay in December 1956 and to have watched him working for the freedom and the uplifting of his people. I was received by him in his office at Malacanang, and I could see that this office was crowded with people from the barrios seeking redress. I realized that they would not have come there if they did not trust him and if he had not seen to it that they could reach him freely. That was an image which has remained deeply imprinted in my mind. Thus, President Magsaysay has been a source of inspiration to me. As a social scientist and one committed to social reforms in Vietnam, I have learned much from the work done by President Magsaysay for his people, and especially from his motivations and his style. One could not watch him go about his work, even when one did so from afar, without being struck by his lack of concern for what other people might say about him or do to him. He was only concerned about the freedom of his people, and he realized that there could be no real freedom for the Philippines unless every Filipino, especially those from the barrios, could freely make his voice heard, either in seeking redress, or in contributing suggestions for the improvement of the government of the country. President Magsaysay understood that there could be no real freedom for his people unless they were given the opportunity of acquiring knowledge through education and free access to information. Being one of those in Vietnam who share President Magsaysay’s ideals, philosophy, and determination to work for the social transformation of my people”

“I confess that I was highly pleased on being told that I had won an award associated with Magsaysay’s name, and especially with what he stood for. I am only one of many, among whom is my friend and editor of the Viet Nam Guardian, Nguyen Van Tuoi, who have been encouraged to persist in this undertaking not only by the memory of President Magsaysay, but also by the example of a man who, to me, is a living image of President Magsaysay in Vietnam. That man is our present Prime Minister, Tran Van Huong, whose origin, life, ideals and determination that Vietnam shall not fall under communism, are so similar to those of the great man from Zambales”.

Mr. Tran Van Huong was born into a very poor family; in fact he was the son of a kitchen hand. But he has risen to his present position by sheer force of will and an unshakable determination to acquire a good education. Like President Magsaysay, he is motivated by a deep love for his country and people and fully realizing that the quality of a nation is the sum of the qualities of its citizens, he is determined to see to it that all Vietnamese are given the opportunity to acquire freedom and knowledge in order to uplift their country.

Without Mr. Huong, I would not have the chance of turning into reality a long-cherished dream: that of contributing actively and effectively to the enlargement of freedom in Vietnam and in Asia, and of adding my share to the fight for freedom being waged everywhere in the world. Today, freedom, like prosperity and happiness, is indivisible. The Magsaysay Award Foundation should remind us all of that truth.

Escaping in late 1950 and early 1951 from Communist persecution of Roman Catholics in Kwangtung Province in South China, Father AUGUSTINE NGUYEN LAC HOA and 2,100 of his parishioners lived precariously for eight years in Cambodia. In 1956, the priest searched in 25 countries for a more permanent solution for his people but found only sympathy and no answer to their problem. Forced again to move by communist guerrilla harassment and finally Cambodian recognition of Communist China, many of the stateless refugees sought sanctuary on their own in the new Republic of South Vietnam. A few who could afford the long voyage left for Taiwan. Learning from the priest of their plight, the government of South Vietnam offered to the remaining 450 facilities to migrate, citizenship and a homestead. 

On March 17, 1959 Father HOA and his weary flock arrived at Binh Hung, the remote place on the southernmost Camau Peninsula where they had permission to settle. Swampy, mosquito-infested and imperiled by guerrillas entrenched in surrounding mangrove forests, it was barely habitable, but the land was fertile and fish were plentiful in waterways crisscrossing the delta. 

In three months of relentless toil that spared no adult or child, a village was raised above the flooded land and the first rice crop planted. The guerilla-wise priest, himself a former soldier, also drilled every man to be an aggressive fighter. When the Viet Cong struck, the villagers fought back, armed only with fishing knives and wooden staves. With the few weapons then supplied by the government, the defenders suffered losses but never defeat in the frequent raids and ambushes that followed. Father HOA taught them no battle could be won by standing still; day and night patrols moved out learning every place for ambush or hiding and engaging the enemy on his own ground. 

The fighting spirit of the little band earned government recognition as a Village Self-Defense Corps, qualifying it for military aid. Refugee Chinese Nationalist soldiers, Montagnards from the central highlands, Nung from the north, and local Vietnamese were recruited to join the defenders. Urgently needed supplies began to arrive regularly by helicopter. Government agencies, Catholic Relief Services, CARE and others helped. In three years, Vietnamese moving in from outlying farms for protection swelled the population of the village and adjoining hamlets to over 1,500. 

As military commander without rank for Hai Yen Special Sector, the priest worked closely with Buddhist and Cao-Daist leaders—whose adherents were most numerous in the area—to promote security measures in villages. Though the Viet Cong were not eliminated, his Corps of Sea Swallows—by late 1963 numbering more than 1,000—extended relative security over 200 square kilometers to 18,000 inhabitants. 

This year, when the military command was given to regular army officers, Father HOA welcomed the change. Now 56, he devotes his energies to his spiritual duties and schools, and serves as adviser-chaplain to the Sea Swallows, admonishing any who tire of the long struggle: “For our freedom, if we are tired, we cannot be free.” 

In electing Father AUGUSTINE NGUYEN LAC HOA to receive the 1964 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, the Board of Trustees recognizes his extraordinary valor in defense of freedom, strengthening among a beleaguered people the resolution to resist tyranny.

There are wonderful surprises that come our way, at one time or another, in our life. And to me this prestigious award is the greatest and most wonderful surprise of all. 

I am here today to receive this great honor of the Magsaysay Award, not on my behalf, but on behalf of the men and women who have fought, and are still fighting, under the insignia of the Sea Swallows. The great benefit of this Award will go to the Sea Swallows who are enduring great hardships to maintain tranquility and security for the thousands of inhabitants in our swampy area. But the glory of this Award should go to no one else but 203 Sea Swallows who have offered their lives voluntarily to the cause of freedom and justice for all. 

As for myself, I am only a simple priest who tries to do his duty in administering to the people of my area. Normally, a priest would simply administer to the spiritual needs of his flock. But in the area where we are, we have to do more. 

There are those who have suggested that we should be like the early Christians—to allow ourselves to be killed for our faith. But experience has taught us that communism does not allow us the luxury of martyrdom. Yes, I can tell you from personal experience. I have tried. I spent over 12 months in their jails. The god-hating communists are not satisfied by merely taking our bodies—what they want is our souls. 

Fighting really is the minor part of the struggle against communism. The most important part is the struggle for the minds, the hearts, and the souls of the people—all people, especially the communists. And it is precisely on this premise that your great President Magsaysay was able to defeat the Hukbalahap rebellion. 

Many have asked me, if that is the case, why are we not winning in Vietnam? My answer is simple. The misplacement of the order of importance. The Magsaysay Way is: winning the people first, winning the war second. I am afraid in Vietnam today the order is reversed. I can talk plainly like this because I am a soldier as well as a priest. Weapons are important. Fighting is necessary in order to protect the people from being physically harmed by the armed communists. But arms are useful only for defensive purposes. Our offence is to rely solely on winning the people, because as soon as the people understand what communism means, and as soon as they have faith in our ability to protect them, and as soon as they have confidence in our integrity, the battle is won. 

When fought as a conventional war, we really have no chance to win. How can we explain to a mother when her child is burned by napalm? And how can we expect a young man to fight for us when his aged father was killed by artillery fire? Indeed, how can we claim to be with the people when we burn their homes simply because those houses happen to be in the Viet Cong controlled territory?

You may say that it is easy for me as a priest to think of love above war, but facts have proved that love is the only way for us to win. It is the only way for us to survive. 

In conclusion, I want to extend our deep, deep appreciation for the great honor and benefit you have bestowed upon us. May God bless the people of the Philippines. It is my sincere hope that you will continue to promote the Magsaysay Way, the only way that the world can be peaceful and free.

For 38 years GENEVIEVE CAULFIELD has befriended the blind in Japan, then Thailand and now in Vietnam, sharing with all she met the deep conviction of man’s brotherhood and the “kingdom within” which led her across the sea. 

Blind from infancy, she taught herself to live like other people, to be independent and useful. Prompted by an example of prejudice stemming from ignorance of another people’s way of life, she decided at the age of 17 to contribute to international understanding by learning to know the Japanese while helping their blind. 

For 15 years she prepared for this undertaking, surmounting countless obstacles that would have daunted a less determined voyager. Qualifying as a teacher of English, she did practice teaching of the blind, proved she could earn a living and move about alone. 

Arriving in Japan in 1923, she first lived with Japanese families to learn their customs and language. Supporting herself by teaching English, she also trained blind people to read Braille. After the close of World War II, she returned to Japan to help school the adult blind and other physically handicapped. 

When she learned that those without sight in Thailand were considered useless, she spared no effort until there had been created a Bangkok School for the Blind. Financed partly from her own savings when it was opened in 1938, the School now is well-established and has won regular government and private support. Refusing repatriation, she kept classes going throughout the war and now gives vocational training and helps pupils find suitable work. 

An invitation from the Government of Vietnam led to her most recent effort for the blind; the opening of an elementary school for the sightless in Saigon in 1958. It is now being enlarged to include a rehabilitation center for boys. 

Over the years she has made periodic lecture tours in the United States, sharing with her countrymen the understanding that is the fruit of affectionate labors. Now at the age of 73 a commuter between three Asian countries, she continues to support herself by teaching English, while working with the blind. 

In electing GENEVIEVE CAULFIELD to receive the 1961 Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding, the Board of Trustees recognizes her international citizenship and guidance to full and useful lives of those in other lands afflicted like herself.

During my rather long life, I have had many surprises, but I can say with truth that I have never been so utterly astonished as when I received the telegram telling me that I had been selected for the Ramon Magsaysay Award. 

My first reaction was to take a quick look backward at my modest accomplishments, and to wonder why the people who have really done all sorts of things in Asia had not been chosen instead of me. But even though I knew my unworthiness, I was filled with deep satisfaction that I, even I, was to receive the Magsaysay Award. 

From the end of the war, I followed with deepest admiration the determined and wisely directed struggle of your great President against the forces of disruption and subversion which were threatening to take over your country. His outstanding leadership, not only in Asia, but in the entire free world encouraged and inspired those of us who were looking forward to a better world after the ravages of war. Then came the news of his untimely death. To me, as to many others, it was a personal loss as well as a blow to the cause of freedom. 

You can imagine, therefore, how happy I am to know that, from now on, my name will in an humble way be associated with that of this outstanding statesman and truly great patriot. 

I need not tell you that I regard this Award as a trust, to be used in the cause of international understanding, and to help blind people here in Asia to assume their rightful place in the world that needs them. I do not look upon it as an award to me, but to all those in Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, without whose help and understanding I could have done nothing. 

Thank you once again, and be assured that this Award is, and will continue to be, a stimulus for me to put forth every possible effort to work for international understanding and for the welfare of the blind, as long as Almighty God gives me life and strength.