~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam actor considered for resettlement

HANOI - A Vietnamese actor vilified by the government for his roles in two Hollywood movies about the Vietnam War is being "favorably considered" for resettlement in the United States, an official said Friday.

Don Duong, 45, has been savagely criticized as a "national traitor" in the state-run press for appearing in the recently released U.S. movies "We Were Soldiers" and "Green Dragon," which Vietnam claimed distorted its history and harmed the country's image. "Authorities are considering Don Duong's application favorably," a Ministry of Public Security official said on condition of anonymity. The official declined to say when a decision would be announced.

Duong applied to emigrate to the United States with his two sons about a month ago, the official said. The state-run media led a strident campaign against the film "We Were Soldiers," starring Mel Gibson (news) and based on the first major clash between U.S. troops and the North Vietnamese army in November 1965, a bloody three-day battle in central Ia Drang valley. The official army newspaper, People's Army, said Duong had tarnished the image of the Vietnamese soldiers and people and had "sold his conscience cheaply and become a national traitor."

Duong played North Vietnamese commander Nguyen Huu An. The film, not officially approved in Vietnam but widely available on bootleg DVDs, depicts both sides fighting fiercely and suffering heavy casualties. Duong also played a Vietnamese refugee in the film "Green Dragon," which costarred Patrick Swayze (news) and Forest Whitaker (news) and was directed by his nephew Timothy Bui, who is based in Los Angeles. Last month, Duong offered a passionate defense of his work in an open letter to his two sons, ages 16 and 11, so they "can know the truth, to affirm that I am always and forever not a traitor."

By Tini Tran - The Associated Press - December 13, 2002