Published 8 July 20108 July 2010 · Main Posts On the NLF, ASIO and the Vietnam War Editorial team Michael Hyde’s excerpt from his memoir All Along the Watchtower (Vulgar Press) in Overland 199 is a tale fraught with intrigue, radical student politics and the tension surrounding the Vietnam War in Australia. But don’t take our word for it; see for yourself: Headquarters ASIO HQT 67/972 Michael Dudley HYDE Enquiries conducted by this Office have revealed that the Michael HYDE who resides at 7 Jasmine Street Caulfield and who is an active member of the Monash University Labour Club and the Monash Committee for Aid to the National Liberation Front is probably identical with Michael Dudley HYDE Born: 20th November, 1945 At: Waverley, New South Wales The heart of it was this: we set out to aid the enemy by collecting money for the National Liberation Front of Southern Vietnam. I sat in the middle of the lecture room, the usual place for the Monash Labor Club weekly meetings. One of the larger lecture halls, it was packed, standing room only. A wonderful collection of students wearing jeans, tights, leather jackets, miniskirts, caps and suits sat squashed onto sprung vinyl seats or cross-legged in the aisles. Some were there because they’d heard about our proposed sedition and didn’t want to miss the excitement. Others – ALP supporters, mostly – wanted to voice their opposition but thought our support for the NLF over the top, liable to drive people away from the movement. A few sat goggle-eyed, along for the ride but with little or no idea what was about to happen. And then the rest, the majority – smiling, watchful, on the edge of their seats – intent on taking the fight a big step further. It was, we thought, no use simply condemning the war and demanding our government stop its hostilities. If the US was the aggressor then it was logical to support the victims of that aggression: the Vietnamese people and their government, the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF), often referred to as the Viet Cong. Amy opened proceedings. She said she’d received a letter that she wanted to share. She’d spoken to the press; here was the first response. Dear Mrs. Amy, (slut) You should be rooted and burnt. Sluts like you should be locked up. If ever I see you at Monash or anywhere for that matter I will personally cut your bloody throat, you wouldn’t even make a good whore for the Abbo’s [sic.]. Our blokes are being killed overseas while you, you harlot are sending the Viet-Cong money. I write to you on shit paper to a bit of shit. Yours truly, Aussie. Read the rest of Michael Hyde’s memoir. (Of course, it’s better in print, accompanied by ASIO photos and documents, which you too can enjoy by taking out a subscription to Overland.) Editorial team More by Editorial team › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 28 March 20249 April 2024 · Main Posts Why we should value not only lived experience, but also lived expertise Sukhmani Khorana In the wake of this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, I want to extend the central idea of El Gibbs’s 2022 essay on 'lived expertise' and argue that in media accounts of racism, analytical expertise and lived experience ought to be valued together and even in the same body. 5 March 2024 · Main Posts Andrew Charlton’s school assignment Alex McKinnon Australia's Pivot to India exists for three reasons: so that when Andrew Charlton is interviewed on the radio or introduced on Q+A, his bio includes the phrase "he has written a book about Indian-Australian relations"; to fend off accusations that he is another Kristina Keneally engaging in electoral colonialism in western Sydney; and to help the Albanese government strengthen economic and military ties with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.