Last Night I Dreamed of Peace By Muhan

Last Night I Dreamed of Peace By: Muhan Wang Chao Guo Justin Chan Kenya Nii Mary Le

Mai Thuy Phuong • A medical specialist. • In the spring of 1968, Phuong was injured and captured during and American ambush when she was on her way to join the armed forces. • She escaped the jail and could not return home. • Phuong and Thuy were not actually aunt and niece. • They never actually met, but they referred to themselves as sisters to show affection to one another. “ I have never met this beautiful niece, but I love Phuong for her enthusiasm and heroic life. ” (47)

• Phuong was like a little sister to Thuy - “ Let’s still be as we were in the old days, young sister. ” (88) • Both Thuy and Phuong would celebrate their birthday together because Thuy’s birthday was on Nov. 26 th and Phuong’s was on Nov. 23 rd.

• Phuong and Thuy would write to each other and often dream about happy times before and during the war. “Together again, we will listen to the international music program each Sunday afternoon, we will scribble in our diaries, and our lives will still be full of dreams despite the bombs and bullets, the fire and smoke surrounding us. ” (88)

Tran Thi My Lien • A nurse at the clinic. • A close friend of Thuy’s. • Lien was often mentioned in Thuy’s diaries during the time of April 1968 and July 1969 when she was killed. • Thuy continued to write and reflect about Lien’s death in her diary. • Had a lover named “Cong” who was a young cadre. • Lien had heard that her mother was dying alone on January of 1969

• Lien’s older brother regrouped to the north and one of her sisters went to Saigon. • Her fifth sister-inlaw was shot, injured and was carried away. • Lien was shot and killed on July 30 th, 1969 when she was leading the injured to escape.

Xang • Xang helped tend to the wounded patients with Thuy and was one of the last staff members to stay behind with Thuy before the attack by the U. S. military on June 20, 1970. • Full name is Nguyen Thi Xang. • Xang was a cook for the clinic.

• After the clinic was bombed and it is was dangerous to leave the clinic alone, Sister Xang leaves with Sister Lanh on June 20 th, 1970 to go out to get supplements while Thuy stays back at the clinic to tend to the wounded soldiers. • “ Sister Lanh and Sister Xang leave, and I stand there looking at them, pants rolled up to their thighs, wading through the stream, my eyes blurry with tears…”(224)

Work Cited • Dang, Tram, Thuy. LAST NIGHT I DREAMED OF PEACE. Trans. Andrew X. Pham. Random House, Inc. New York: Three Rivers Press. 2007. • DEMOTIX. Northern Vietnamese Markets. 24 Mar. 2007. 14 June 2011. <http: //www. demotix. com/photo/307891/northern -vietnamese-markets>