VUFO commemorates late American peace activist Rennie Davis, a Vietnam's loyal friend

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) on April 15 held a memorial ceremony for Rennie Davis, an American peace activist and a loyal friend of Vietnam.

Malie Nguyen

Dieuhuong270198@gmail.com April 16, 2021 | 09:54

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Rennie Davis, one of the leaders of the peace movement in the United State in the 1960s and 1970s, in opposition to the U.S’s involvement in the Vietnam War, who made contributions to fostering the friendship and solidarity between the Vietnamese and American people, passed away on February 2, 2021, at the age of 80.

Head of the America Department (VUFO) and Secretary-General of the Vietnam-US Society Bui Van Nghi said the ceremony was held to express respect, affection, and regret to Rennie Davis.

VUFO commemorates late American peace activist Rennie Davis, a Vietnam's loyal friend

Leaders of VUFO and Vietnam-US Society at the memorial ceremony. Photo: Tuan Viet

According to Nghi, Rennie Davis left a deep impression in the hearts of leaders of the Party, State, and people of Vietnam as well as many international friends. At the Paris Conference in 1969, Rennie Davis directly proposed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Head of the negotiating delegation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Nguyen Thi Binh about the Peace Treaty between the people of America and Vietnam.

Due to health reasons, Binh couldn’t attend the memorial ceremony. Through the Vietnam-US Society, Binh extended her sympathies to Rennie’s family. She said Rennie Davis was an untiring activist, an excellent leader and organizer of the peace and anti-war movement, and a great, loyal, and close friend of the Vietnamese people.

She wrote: “For me, Rennie Davis embodied a person with ideal, tolerance, patriotism associated with love of peace, humanity and true international solidarity, relentlessly fought for democracy, progress, peace, and justice for everyone and for each person, for the American people and for all humanity. Rennie had a special affection for the country and people of Vietnam and always believed in Vietnam’s struggle for national independence, freedom, peace, and unification.

Photo: Tuan Viet

“The sentiments and legacies left by Renni Davis will continue to be a flame lightening up the belief in the friendship, mutual understanding, and respect for peace, cooperation, and development between the people of Vietnam and the US in the present and future”.

Former Vice President of the Vietnam Peace Committee, Standing Member of the Vietnam-US Society Nguyen Van Huynh, who worked with Rennie Davis many times, shared “In commemoration of Rennie, we promise to continue fulfilling his wishes as Professor Edavid Farber had said: Rennie always desired a more just and better society. And for this, he fought by peaceful solutions”.

On this occasion, to pay tribute to Rennie Davis's precious contributions to the cause of fighting for peace, solidarity, friendship, and social progress, and to the relationship between Vietnam and US people, VUFO presented him with the “For peace and friendship among nations” insignia.

Rennie Davis’s contributions to the peace in Vietnam

Rennie Cordon Davis was born on May 23, 1940, in Lansing City, Michigan, the U.S.

In the 1960s, Rennie Davis was a well-known peace activist, one of the founders and leaders of the organization "Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)" and a coordinator and director of the National Mobilization Committee to End War in Vietnam (NMCEW).

In 1967, Rennie Davis along with other 7 American peace activists visited North Vietnam for the first time to learn about the life, work, and fight of people here as well as to see with their own eyes the war crimes caused by the U.S.

In 1969, he returned to North Vietnam for the second time as a representative of the American peace movement to help bring American war prisoners back to the country. From 1969 to 1973, he many times came to Paris (France) to meet with the delegation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam during the peace negotiations.

In particular, in 1969, as a representative of the peace movement and American students, he went to Paris to meet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Head of the negotiating delegation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Nguyen Thi Binh to introduce the initiative of the American students on the Peace Treaty between Vietnam and the American people. The initiative received support from Vietnamese delegations and was then signed in late 1970 and announced in January 1971.

In 2013 and 2015, Rennie Davis was invited by VUFO/ the Vietnam-US Society to visit Vietnam.

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Malie Nguyen