In short, those who fought against North Vietnam as members of the South Vietnamese armed forces, those who worked in the South Vietnamese government at all levels, and those associated with the US presence in South Vietnam, even loosely, were harshly retaliated against.

Following the war's end, the North had to find a way to forcibly relocate people from Saigon, which was bursting from internally displaced refugees, as well as force its socialist economic practices onto the Southern economy. They redistributed land and property from southern Vietnamese landowners and business owners. Shops, storefronts, and homes were forcibly seized without compensation and in many cases, entire families were uprooted, sent to "New Economic Zones." The NEZs were often in remote, rural areas either in the mountains or the jungles. Families were directed to farm in land that was often unsuitable for agriculture. Between 750,000 and 1 million were internally relocated. Many of the people who suffered under this program were ethnically Chinese, who were considered the bourgeois of South Vietnamese society. Will little to no real infrastructure in these areas, many died of disease or starvation. There were an estimated 50,000 deaths in the NEZs.

People were required to contribute their crops to feed the new military, embroiled in a new war fighting the Khmer Rouge, and food was therefore rationed to civilians. Farms and plantations were collectivized. The post-war economy was wracked by rampant inflation, as well as the forced changeover from South Vietnamese currency which became worthless overnight. The forced collectivization and central planning of agriculture ccontributed to the famine that wracked Vietnam in the late 1970's and throughout the 1980's.

All government employees at all levels, from low-level bureaucrats and politicians, to teachers and university professors, as well as all former and active South Vietnamese military personnel were required to report to reeducation camps. These camps were ostensibly about learning about socialist theory and "atoning" for your role in the war.

The lowest employees and enlisted men were to spend just a few days, mid-level officials and officers were to spend a week or two, and the highest officials were to prepare for up to a month. These men and women were told to bring enough clothes and personel toiletries for their stay. In addition to the forced indoctrination, these camps also doubled as hard labor camps, which involved back breaking jungle labor and mine clearing. Over 300,000 people would be sent to the camps. While many were indeed released in a few weeks, many South Vietnamese military personnel would endure the camps for years and even decades. The last generals were released in the early 1990s. Little food or medicine was available in the camps, and disease ran rampant. An estimated 165,000 died in the camps.

Your colleague's family may have been some of the boat people. Around 800,000 chose to flee Vietnam, by either the risky overland route into Thailand, or the sea lanes of the South China Sea. In often overloaded and rickety fishing boats, many not designed for high seas travel, the boat people would pay off local government officials and coast guards to leave the country.

Once at sea, they fended off pirate attacks, government attacks, and storms. It is unknown how many were abducted or sexually assaulted by pirates. Those who were lucky boats were rescued at sea by passing freighters and U.S. naval vessels. Many headed for Malaysia or Indonesia, where maritime patrols would oftentimes push the boats back out to sea. Most were interned in refugee camps for resettlement. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 400,000 boat people died, though the number could be much, much higher.

Disregarding deaths due to the post-war famine, between 1975 and 1987, Rummel estimates between 400,000 and 2,500,000 died. Though he is biased, his is an incredibly comprehensive accounting of post-war dead.