Statistics

When I started setting up General Hieu's Page in July 1998, I thought it might contain only a few articles along with a couple of pictures. It is quite unexpected that it has expanded to approximately 600 articles (200 in Vietnamese, 200 in English and 200 in French) and approximately 300 photos (1/3 pertaining to General Hieu, 1/3 to other Generals and 1/3 to armored vehicles and miscellany). In technical terminology, General Hieu's Page has 25 MB (megabytes) comprising 900 files divided into 600 texts and 300 images. Furthermore, I only expected General Hieu's Page would get about a couple of hundreds hits, after I have made my round of inviting different members of my family, relatives, neighbors and friends. It is quite a surprise that after three years, it has crossed the landmark of 54 thousands hits! Averaging about 40 hits a day. They came in from all over the world; mainly, of course, from the United States; next in line, from Australia, Canada and New Zealand; then from France, Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium and Denmark; a few from Singapore, Finland, Russian Federation, Italy, Spain, Austria, Malaysia, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Mexico, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Argentina; even some curious people from Iceland, Ireland, Portugal, Israel, Brazil, Hungary South Africa, Virgin Islands and Costa Rica.

Introduction

A few readers went in General Hieu's Page because they have been introduced personally by its websmaster. A greater number of readers were referred to General Hieu's Page through links. It has been linked by approximately eighty webpages, about 50% Vietnamese webpages and 50% American webpages. Many readers especially found their way to General Hieu's Page through the linkage established by following Vietnamese webpages: Huong Hoc Duong, Saigon Bao, Doan Ket Magazine, Biet Dong Quan, Nha Ky Thuat, Viet Nam Chien Tranh va Lich Su, Lien Doan 81 Biet Cach Du and Houston Viet ; and the following American webpages: VietnamWar.net, Vietnam: Yesterday and Today, VNAF, Olive-Drab, Viet Nam War Museum, Grunt!, War Stories and In Honor of ARVN.

Furthermore, some readers heard there is a webpage on General Hieu and found it through engines search, such as yahoo, google, msn, aol, by searching with "general hieu", "general nguyen van hieu", "major general hieu", "major general nguyen van hieu", or simply "hieu". Some inadvertently stumbled into General Hieu's Page when they searched for "arvn" or "qlvnch". Some even bumped into General Hieu's Page when they searched for President Nguyen Van Thieu upon learning about his recent death in the news, because it was placed in the forefront!

In addition, General Hieu's Page is discovered because it occupies a vantage point among the articles listed in the category of Vietnam War in various directories such as: Military World, dmoz, Beebware.com.

A Great Monument

The reason people are interested in entering General Hieu's Page because it is a great work about a great man. Following are a few typical comments from approximately 300 feedbacks received on General Hieu's Page.

62. Hey, I visited your webpage and what I found is really amazing. It's pretty funny how a lot of kids my age do not realize the importance of the people who went before us and the people who fought in the Vietnam War that gave their life up for the generation of today. Most of us in our brand name clothes and other factors of enjoyment of the American life today tend to forget that everything that we have till this day is due to the fact that people like General Hieu gave his life for us back in the days. My dad fought in the Vietnam War, he was a pharmacist in Phuoc Long, one day he was telling me about all the stuffs that went on in our country when I wasn't born about the honor of some of the Generals back in the day that would kill themselves rather than give up to the communist. That is something which I admire immensely. General Hieu unfortunately didn't have the opportunity to fight for the South Vietnam before the war ended because of his assassination but I know that from his character and from what you said of him in this webpage he is a truly admirable character and would probably kill himself rather than be arrested by the communists. Anyway, I just want to say congratulation for such a great website, I wish there were more information on stuffs like that so I can learn more about the people that went before me. I was born in the United States so I don't know much about Vietnamese history, but I wish I could learn more, if you know anything about any website or anything like that please send me the address. I would sincerely appreciate it. (Paul KD)

147. I am very impressed with your website. It's attractively designed, filled with interesting information, poignant, and of great value in documenting information related to the war. It is a powerful addition to the body of information on Vietnam and the war available to students on the Web. Also, it is particularly important, I think, to have the Vietnamese point of view presented--there is entirely too much weight given in the body of information to the U.S. point of view. Keep up the good work. (Sandy Wittman, Vietnam: Yesterday and Today).

207. It gave me great pleasure, satisfaction and even profound sadness to read about the life, heroic military career, and untimely death of General Hieu. You are to be commended for insuring the memory of such a distinguished Vietnamese patriot and beloved relative will never be forgotten. I salute you and your outstanding Brother, General Hieu.

The expert production of this memorable site reflects great credit on your intellect and professional capabilities. I am very happy that someone thought enough of me to direct me to your famous Brother's Homepage. I have been saddened by reviewing and reliving the South Vietnamese fateful struggle for survival. It is necessary that we all be reminded of the millions of wonderful people who died to protect their Country, their loved ones and their way of life. Regrettably those sacrifices were in vain.

It was a distinct pleasure for me to serve in support of the Republic of South Vietnam. I was a pilot in the VMF(AW)235 Death Angels flying F-8 Crusaders from DaNang Air Base on bombing missions in North and South Vietnam and Laos in 1967. Many nights I have relived my combat missions and sometimes cry out in sorrow for abandoning my fellow ARVN soldiers and the innocent South Vietnamese people to the cruel Communist invaders. God forgive us for deserting our loyal friends. Semper Fidelis ! Mofak (Donald E. Cathcart Lieutenant Colonel, USMC[Retired]).

210. I liked General Hieu's homepage very much, because besides its military historical value, there is also room for feelings which is very touching. If every ARVN General had a similar homepage, many truths would be made known to many people, instead of being buried under the tomb. (Tran Do Cam, Doan Ket Magazine).

232. I just wanted to comment that you have an excellent Home Page. I thought it to be of great Human Interest and most informative. You are to be commended for helping to inform the public about the sacrifices of Vietnamese Patriots, such as your brother, during the late War. (E. Coleman, Jr., Command Sergeant Major, US Army, Retired, Formerly of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in South Vietnam).

234. Your webpage was very interesting to both my wife and myself. You did a wonderful tribute to a man who commands his country's respect. In 1969 the ARVN's took charge...I never knew any ARVN's and I wanted to say your brother is the first I have ever known about personally..It was so interesting to hear his story, it took me back 30 years to a time that was both good and evil.. I am glad we liberated So. Vietnam, and sorry we all lost friends, comrades and loved ones by doing our job.. Thank you for doing the tribute to your brother, it should be seen by all who were over there. (Art Garrett, Paratrooper, RVN 4/69-4/70).

245. I hadn't got the chance to visit General Hieu's Page for a long while; what a surprise to see the number of hits has reached the record number 33665, when I revisited it this evening. Each time I visited General Hieu's Page, I got the impression I was standing in front of a Monumental Memorial, and was contemplating each page that recounts the Epic History of our country. Furthermore, besides all these Greatness, Epopee, I got the impression I also see right in front of my eyes the Sacred Soul, Valiant Spirit of a great General, with his finger pointing up showing the way to his countrymen. Isn't it: In Life, Born As A General; In Death, He Became A Deity ? I am also extremely proud about the skills of a friend whom I knew way back when we were little boys. But allow me to have the right to doubt these skills which would not be able to accomplish such a huge and amazing project without the assistance and guidance of his Valiant brother's spirit! I respectfully lay everything in front of the memorial of Great General Nguyen Van Hieu, a great hero of our country in this modern time. (Francis Nguyen).

275. Your site is very interesting...what you have created is really quite unique.. there is not much on the web from the perspective of former ARVIN. (Prof. Steven Leibo, Sage Colleges).

276. I have visited your site and found it to be very interesting. There is not a great deal of information available in English regarding the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and therefore I appreciate the opportunity to direct my readers to your site. (Mike Ruffle, Grunt!).

283. We have not corresponded for a considerable time. Since I approached you for information regarding Vietnamese names for brothers, fathers and so forth, I now have 38 Chapters finished in my book. It is due for publication later this year. My work is historical fiction. However, its main characters have a basis in fact, only names are changed. I am in dire need of an ARVN hero. I plan to use the life of your honorable and honest general as the profile for my ARVN hero unless you have objections. Surely, you do not. I have enjoyed your site and the wonderful information found on it. It has provided me with an in depth understanding of ARVN organizational structure, unit identifications and much, much more. Thank you for the significant information provided. The site is the best I have found during my research. (Carle "Gene" Dunn).

294. For a long while, I got to visit General Hieu' Page again. If we just glance through this site, we would not notice the big difference between this site and some other sites regarding other men. After reading all the articles concerning General Hieu, I detected many values in Him that all the writers were able to touch upon a few. Taking the articles as a whole, it is a great enterprise depicting a great General. I also see that up to now, he has been given the rank of Major General, Lieutenant General, even General or Marshal, that still seems inadequate. In my opinion, may be a more exact word would be Illustrious General Nguyen Van Hieu. What do you think? I pray that you receive abundant help from the Holy Spirit in order to continue to work on honoring our Illustrious General, a Great Man of his people. (Nguyen Dinh Phuc, Vancouver, BC Canada).

302. While surfing idly the web, I bumped into your website. You are really qualified to be General Nguyen Van Hieu's brother. Although it's kind of late, I want to commend you for the time and efforts in coming up with such General Hieu's Page. I really admire you. General Hieu undoubtedly is satisfied where he is resting now. In all honesty, I don't like to write; I only like to read and to chat. But I cannot remain indifferent toward such a tribute to an individual like yours, which makes me admire you immensely. You, like your brother General Hieu, is very humble in attributing this work to General Hieu. I myself think that it is the work of someone who loves his brother and at the same time loves the Army as a whole in which his brother was a member. Don't feel inferior because you haven't undergone any military academy and thus lack military knowledge. Your articles are excellent and academic. Thank you for providing the information that any soldier needs to know about his commanders. Please accept my respect toward a person that I have never known. (Huynh Van Phuc).

..."Each time I visited General Hieu's Page, I got the impression I was standing in front of a Monumental Memorial", "The site is the best I have found during my research", "Taking the articles as a whole, it is a great enterprise depicting a great General"...

Therefore, I think that no other general in any armies in the world enjoys a webpage tribute as beautiful and as rich as General Hieu in the internet at this moment in time. General Hieu had lived humble, and now he is exalted. What an honor for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

Nguyen Van Tin
17 October 2001

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