Supporting Characters

tran van khe

MUSIC PROFESSOR & LIFELONG FRIEND OF LUU HUU PHUOC

Tran Van Khe befriends Luu Huu Phuoc, Tuyen’s brother, in 1940. Both musical prodigies, the men complement each other’s talents; their songs and performances inspire a generation of students—including the Saigon Sisters—to rise up and join the movement to fight the French.

Tran Van Khe plays the dan tranh in an American family's home, after becoming friends with the author while in the United States on a scholarship in 1988.

After teaching in France for many years, Tran Van Khe returns to Ho Chi Minh City and establishes a museum in his home filled with Vietnamese musical instruments. He also writes his autobiography, and is photographed here signing Patricia Norland's copy (June 20, 2012).

Tran Van Khe at his home/museum in 2012. He passed away in 2015.

MLLE LANH

TEACHER OF vIETNAMESE, LYCÉE MARIE CURIE

Wearing ao dais of local silk and her hair coiled in a bun, Mlle Lanh awakens her students to the glories of the Vietnamese language and literature. While staying on the political sidelines, she is unsurprised that her classes spur students on to join the resistance. “I did worry about the girls,” she admits, “but we could not stop them.”

The Lycée Marie Curie July 9, 1949 “Distribution Solennelle des Prix” listing Mlle Lanh, with her full name, as teacher of Vietnamese.

Mlle Lanh on one of the occasions when she would escape the heat of Saigon with a visit to Cap Saint-Jacques (now Vũng Tàu). c. 1948.

mme ourgaud

TEACHER OF literature,
LYCÉE MARIE CURIE

Mme Ourgaud is a cherished teacher of many of the Sisters, and one of the first to recognize and support Thanh’s prodigious talent. She encourages and even marches alongside students who seek Vietnamese independence from France.

Mme Ourgaud at Lycée Marie Curie in 1948, in a photograph provided to the author by Thanh.

Mme Ourgaud (center) participating in a Jan. 1950 demonstration with students including Trang (right) and Tuyen (fourth from left).

Mme Ourgaud (back, center) with students including Le An (front, far right), Sen (front, second from right), and Trang (front left, in dark skirt), c. 1948.

LE MINH

LE AN’S HUSBAND

Le Minh and Le An live apart from 1963 to 1975, receiving only one or two letters a year from each other. While Le An moves around with her artistic troupe, Le Minh fights in the South for much of the war, “always at the front, the zone of combat.”

Le Minh with (left to right) his wife Le An, Trang, and Thanh (c. 1990). The husbands of the Saigon Sisters supported their friendships and participated in many of the group's gatherings.

LAU

XUAN’S HUSBAND

“As schoolchildren,” Lau asserts, “we awoke to the revolution. Revolution was our first love.” After meeting Xuan during the Marxism-Leninism course in the resistance, he studies at the London School of Economics and embarks on a remarkable career as an executive with Esso, a journalist and publisher, and a spy.

Lau and Xuan, considered "the" love story among the Sisters, at their home in Ho Chi Minh City in 1990.

Lau (right) at a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City in 1990, accompanied by (right to left) Mlle Lanh, Oanh, and Lien An.

MME ME

OANH’S FRIEND & mentor

As part of Mme Me’s work with the National Liberation Front, she travels in western provinces to mobilize people against the government in Saigon. “It was up to us,” she affirms, “to explain the revolution, explain that we had been invaded and this was our duty as citizens.” Oanh looks up to Mme Me, who becomes vice minister of social welfare in the provisional revolutionary government, and they nurture a long friendship.

Oanh (left) sits next to Mme Me at her home, joined by two social work colleagues (1990).

Mme Me and her son at home in Ho Chi Minh City in 1990. On the wall behind them are photographs of three of Mme Me's sons, who died in December 1967, February 1968, and March 1968.

FATHER JACQUES

OANH’S MENTOR

A Belgian priest who arranges scholarships for young Vietnamese leaders to study at Catholic schools abroad, Father Jacques Houssard helps Oanh pursue a degree in social work at Viterbo College in Wisconsin. “Father Jacques inspired students to serve our country,” Oanh reflects. “He changed us.” Through his friendship with Ngo Dinh Diem, Father Jacques also captures the currents of hope and despair in 1950s Vietnam.