It is my pleasure to invite you to attend a speaking engagement that is scheduled in the area by the Montagnard Dega People this month. As you may already know, the Montagnards are the indigenous tribal people of Vietnam’s Central Highland’s. Their ancient culture, which has existed for almost two thousand years, is on the verge of extinction due to the Vietnamese Communists program of genocide that continues even to this day.







On the date/s noted below, the Montagnards will be “telling their story” at three separate location in northwest Pennsylvania and in Wheeling, West Virginia.







Monday March 24th at Gannon University in Erie Pa- Yehl Room in the Waldron Campus Center

Tuesday at Pittsburgh at the Quaker Friends Meeting Hall-4836 Ellsworth Ave, Pgh (Seats must be reserved in advance for this night only)

Wednesday at Wheeling Jesuit University, NTTC Auditorium - Wheeling W.V.

The program will meet each night at 7 o'clock.







These speaking engagements will allow the audience to glimpse into the tribes wonderfully ancient past and to get a taste for what their world in the jungles of Southeast Asia was like before the Vietnam War. The speakers will also shed some light on what life was like for them after the United States pulled out and they were forced to live and die at the hands of the Communist government. Finally, the various speakers will work collectively to explain the current situation that exists for those tribe members who are still fighting to survive and the political hurdles they face on an international level.



As you will please note on the attached brochure, Mike Benge, who was taken as a POW by the North Vietnamese during the "Tet Offensive" on January 28, 1968, will in attendance as a speaker. Mike, will not only discuss his experience as a POW, but will share with us his life while working with the Montagnards as the Provincial Development Officer in the Central Highlands of South Viet Nam prior to his capture.







I feel our efforts to bring Montagnard leaders and Human Rights Advocates who have been living and working with the Yards for decades, will make for a powerful event. However, as important as these “town hall, grassroots” meeting are for the Montagnards so that they may let the country know of their plight, your specific attendance would be of major significance. The "Vietnam Human Rights Act" was just introduce last week into Congress, which would begin to hold the Vietnamese Communists responsible for their continued crimes against the Montagnard people and the Christian missionaries who have paid dearly for their faith and involvement. Several of the speakers will address how the passage of this Act could be used in conjunction with the Jackson/Vanick Amendment (Bi-Lateral Trade Agreement for Vietnam) to give the Montagnards the support they need to save their culture.







If you could find the time to travel to any of the events and need further information or need to reserve a seat for the Pittsburgh program, please feel free to call or email me at (814) 677-2520 or surfer@csonline.net. I would also appreciate it if you forwarded this invitation to students, Professors, and faculty members who would benefit from attending.







Thank You,







Bernard Williams



814 677 2520