123 Avenue Ledru Rollin
75011 Paris

2nd September 1988

Mr President and Mrs Reagan,

I am writing to you as a woman and as the wife of Nguyen Xuan Phong. As Minister and diplomat, he served his country loyally, accepting missions of the highest importance in the service of his government and faithfully executing the instructions given to him.

As Deputy Head of the South Vietnamese Delegation to the Peace Talks, conducted in Paris over seven years, he worked, in particular with Dr Kissinger, seeking a resolution of the war in Vietnam. In April 1975 he was recalled to Saigon by his government for consultations. He is still there today.

Released in 1980 from a re-education camp following, in particular, the intervention of Amnesty International, he remains today a forgotten person, with no papers and unable to leave his country.

Mister President, I have cried now for almost fourteen years, but without shame, because Phong is an honorable man, who acquitted himself in his functions with distinction. His "sin" was his love for his people and his country. This is no sin in my book!

His support for the involvement of your country at governmental level, and the cost of this to your countrymen and their families, never left his mind.

Phong was steadfast because he is principled, loyal and honest. And he believed! Now, he is forgotten.

Is it too late, Mister President, to say how much my children and I miss him, need him and want to care for him.

Today, I am praying to my God that He might support you in your efforts to re-unite our family.

Yours very respectfully,

Elizabeth Nguyen

President and Mrs Reagan
The White House
Washington

Attachment

Mr Nguyen Xuan Phong, 52 years of age, is from the province of Bentre, South Vietnam. He completed his formal studies at Paris, London and Oxford University, where he graduated in Economics and Political Science.

Mr Phong was a business executive before entering public service. Since 1965 he has successively served in various cabinets as Labor Minister, Secretary of State/Assistant to the Prime Minister, Social Welfare Minister and Minister for Returnees.

Mr Phong's last assignment was as Deputy Leader of the Delegation of the Republic of Vietnam to the Paris Peace Talks.