My spy-pilot life

[vinhtruong]

I’ve been flying on treetop for 15 minutes; absolutely no enemy eye could follow us. I must have planning whatever the TOT should be the last light on the earth; this critical moment all six agents should be in touch on foot with the landing zone, and the complete darkness should be then re-airborne for my bird.



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Suddenly a strong down-draft let the helicopter seemed hit the green-dark carpet, I did jerking up increasing engine power passing above the tall tree in front of us. I felt confident because in the West range of mountain the weather was fair but in the East range, the huge cloud Cumulonimbus covered the half of Crest Mountain, which means heavy rain over there. We were over far West from DMZ, nothing stranger except terrible quite, no human activities, no road or trail, no villages, no reference points for navigation, only all hills with green grasses on them sticking together like half eggs stretched to the north, surrounding with numerous creeks.
We were less four minutes from target LZ now, no sign of landing zone, everywhere was carpet-forest and high mountainous. I tried the best to pretend smiling and turned the controls over to Lt Hue, my perfect copilot and I little bit bent down for pulling parking brake while I ran through a checklist. As an aircraft commander, I thought I was a pretty darn good pilot. Experience had given me that conviction. I was also responsible for many more tasks than just flying the helo: managing the overall flight, monitoring radio traffic and agents team, navigating on the map, balancing airspeed versus time-to-target, and interfacing with the folks in the back. But, however I had no reservations about letting Hue fly the machine. He was not only a fanatic about mission preparation, but a damn good stick as well. It was clear to me now that under the pressure of impending secret-infiltration, you could count on Lt Hue. I had secretly been wondering about that Captain Richarson teamed us up for the secret infiltration, because I hadn’t flown much with Lt Hue before. He was such an incorrigible joker that it was hard to imagine him getting down to business.
At a higher level of our helicopter was Ban Karai Pass, I smoothly raised the nose of the aircraft to left side range, avoiding enemy eye could detected by track following. On the top of mountain-slope, I saw a big stone just enough space for touching only one landing gear and the rest should be hanging in the air. This was the only choice and pretty good for Team-infiltration. There were few clouds in the dark sky, which was fine for us but even better for the Team. I prayed to some nebulous God of War as we cleared land and turned right down over the LZ.
“Just please don’t let us lose an engine!”
A helicopter H.34 idle the engine, free falling like a huge monster rain drop and abruptly precise quick-stop liked an eagle clinging nest. Right landing gear was touching on a stone, I saw and counted six agents jumped out real fast and embraced together for not falling down to valley.
Why my bird, obsolete H-34 helicopter would become a Project-Delta trade mark. Just because it was old that didn’t make the H-34 bad “The best helicopter ever made for that ‘mission impossible’ was The H-34”. Remembered Master Sergeant Donald Duncan, instructor STRATA teams leader, He flew few SOG Huey mission, said:” The pilot H.34 sat right on top of that big 32 cylinders radial engine, and when you went in, you at least had some iron between you and them. And it was really rough and tough and rugged. How ‘tough’? “You could blow cylinders out of it and still get yourself home”. Because it was a tall ship, the H.34 could hover against a hill with one wheel and its blade wasn’t as likely to hit as was a Huey’s, allowing it to lift men from steeper slopes. Inside the bottles nosed H.34 were grungy filthy, oily birds, with exposed innards where mechanic crew-chief had cut holes to get easy access to some parts and never bothered to close it up. The H.34 had only one door on the right side, which made it relatively blind on its left, especially to the rear. For armament, a Queen-Bee bird carried a single rusty World War II belt-fed 30 caliber machine gun hung from a bungee cord in the doorway with a thousand rounds stacked in an old can under the gunner’s seat.
After all, this was an excellent infiltration. We took off and lowered the nose smoothly for getting high speed, now we swept quickly into the night. Lt Hue turned the dime light on for enough light according manual book said for suitable our visions.
Now we started worry about gas in the only forward tank, because I had a planning to land at high hard-level, so I did decide order the crew-chief fill up only two tanks instead three tanks. Therefore, I had plenty of time for my anxiety. ”Oh God…might I’m suffering mental distress!” I didn’t have waiting until cruising altitude, careful and smoothly pull back the mixture level to a reference point that I had had mark when warming up the engine on the home ground for saving fuel. We continued climb at 200 feet per minute with low engine power for economic regimes RPM. I glanced down at the all over dark, nothing sparkling in the night. And there was still above DMZ Western Mountain, slithering just below a surface that looked deceptively inviting.
I glanced down at my watch. It was 6:50 PM, but the night was completely covering the earth in the remote mountain area. The instrument warning light on of the center and rear gas tank just been cut off, now we fixed our eyes on the warning light in forward tank, it was residual 600 pounds. Suddenly aircraft bumpy-vibration shake, we couldn’t see anything except the darkness wrapping around. At time, a bright dazzling light with fierce piercing my eyes far away in front of us at a moment and return the complete-darkness and obscuration, simultaneous reflected in my helmet earphone “Chiezz..Chiezzz…Chiezzz”
With my experience as an all weather-pilot, We must fly through this huge thunderstorm cloud with the notorious vulnerable name “Cumulonimbus”, The quantity Fuel 115/145 octane contained in forward tank just endurance 45 minutes more and ‘conk-out’. That’s it! I must have only way keeping constantly heading 145 degree in magnetic compass, altitude at 4.000 feet…can not go up or down, and can not deviate right or left, for save gas consummation.
In the darkness, I can hear some rain-drops beating so hard in front our windshield. Ahead of me abrupt glaring light bright-up, and right in this moment my earphones in my helmet hissed: Chiezz chiezz .. .chiezz and everything in ‘tic-tac’ recovering back in the horrible darkness. Now it seemed to me, we were in the mass of body-water pouring on top of my bird that was too old so water can come through, now we are getting wet, all flying suit soaking with water but I didn’t feel cold at all. I heard the sound of engine so different noisy, the exhaust flashing flame blue and brazen. The four flexible blades above were spinning faster or lower? Some abrupt up-drafts then down- drafts, suddenly the bird seemed to quit, her nose swung down to right, I was afraid the heavy torque could cause tail rotor come-out; I eased back on the airspeed to reduce the risk of blade-stall. All instruments in the panel spun around on the most of both horizon artificial, the gyro-compass rotated, I couldn’t see the number steady appeared; altimeter go up then down 500 feet per minute. As a Delta Force pilot, though having so many experiences, but in this time the engine lost power that flashed into my mind terrified me. Now I must concentrated for the basic instrument flying procedures, I neglected all instruments performed by the gyros and focus only on the instruments less influenced by static magnetic caused by bad weather. The ‘ball and needle’ that I frequently crossed check, the heading synchronize by ADF needle to Hue province air radio station and correct-adjusted altitude with very smooth maneuver coordinated with air- speed by eased collective pitch slightly up and down.
I needed a limited point of reference or the darkness would just overwhelm me. And still, there was no way to know when it was all going to end. So, even though I was trying to convince myself not to scare about it, but these images of endless…would continue to ambush my mind.
At this time, I knew that I was no longer invincible. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. In the space of few minutes, I had gone from feeling as indestructible as my humming-bird in a strong velocity. Things were going to terrible. Actually, I had flown with partial instruments.
(In this moment of inspiration, I recalled: John Paul Vann was died by crashing in the likewise status ‘vertigo’ to disorientation, due to “blade-stall” in the same occasion of us). I was beginning to feel cold, too much blood concentrated on my head, I was not a superman, my lip became dry and bitter, my throat so dry; again the water can infiltrate to the cockpit, wetting my flying suit. I may have a fever, feeling cold and hot mixing at the same time. I can feel the passage of sweat through out the pores from my backbone and forehead.
The bird was still terrible shaken, bumping and twisting, I afraid the rotors should saying good by and by? The most down-draft causing the aircraft nose turn back, I so worried these repeated-circumstances; if I flown a fix wing aircraft, the risky will less than rotating wing which was vulnerable in blade-stall at high and low speed as well. However, I tried to keep still patiently, frequently cross-check the crucial instruments on panel such as: altitude, airspeed, and the heading (ADF needle).
The engine drowning normally, the bird became level stabilized with few light-oscillations. We hoped through out of the thunderstorm cloud. How can we see outside for estimating our position, just the darkness wrapped around us with the dim lights from instrument panel and bright dazzling light from exhausted. But earphones in my helmet, occasionally hissed “Chiezzz..Chiezz…Chiezzz. We couldn’t see the glaring light in front at all, that means: was the Cumulonimbus behind of us?
I had just recovery to comfortable status. Now the fuel-empty-obsession turned on in my mind, not only me but Hue as well, our eyes always fixed at low fuel warning light come-on. We had about 300 pounds of fuel now; if the warning light come-on we can fly maximum of 20 minutes with this quantity of fuel, we can fly to Khe Sanh. I must make a decision right now. Anyhow I must maintain this altitude 4,000 feet for avoiding any unanticipated crests mountain underneath and deviated to heading 140 degree for closer ashore of Ai-Tu Airfield, Quang Tri, at least far away from mountain area for less danger in case emergency. I was still wondered whether landing at Ai Tu for refill or to Khe Sanh for relax? Because I actual didn’t know where we are in the darkness with light rain, but I did estimated that below was the annexation of Ho Chi Minh Trail system narrow camouflage by the triple jungle canopies bypass designed to keep supplies moving south by simple conveyances as bicycles.
In the obscuration, I imagined our helicopter H.34 settled onto the tarmac a dense cloud of fog enveloped our bird like the hand of a giant ghost. The earphones in my helmet, Hue echoed me loud: “having a hole!” maybe Hue saw the oil-lamps of a certain village on the ground, he means I should managed the bird come down through the cloud-hollow for contact flying rule; tomorrow I will brief to him about risky-vulnerable even though in the daytime. The fuel-consummation couldn’t permit us to react like that with brutal maneuvers. And He was ready for check-out for becoming Aircraft-Commander, and flight leader as well. As a Standardization Instructor Pilot, I was planning tomorrow check ride with him some forced landings (autorotation at night under 30 percent moonlight) without landing light, I felt foreknowing he will become an above the best pilots in “my Combined Area Studies Flying-Group” (CIA)
With my own experience in weather, we were cruising at the same altitude at 4.000 feet for a couple minutes, there will everything clear, yet! down there numerous gleaming-light along the sea shore to Quang Tri, Dong Ha, and airfield Ai-Tu, but I made decision heading to Khe Sanh for mission accomplished. I felt so much comfortable now, even if the low fuel warning light come on We were still plenty time reaching to Khe Sanh. All we are feeling so happy!
In the fresh clear air, I took a last cigarette in my upper flying suit pocket, slowly light it up and enjoyed, trying to let everything behind...
” Hue, you got the control!” I saying

(More than four decades later, now I remembered to recall in the past: Lieutenant Hung got hit by ground fire 88 holes, Lt Khoi got 53 holes, Lt Hue got 47, and myself got 21, but luckily all were A.K47 bullets; the price that we paid because we must save our reconnaissance Teams due to the heretical unit name:” C.A.S Flight Group”… out in the hand of enemy. Says Major Scotty Crerar: “Neither impossible ground fire nor un-flyable-weather stopped Cowboy (mine) and Mustachio, (Lt Hung) dozen of SOG men survived purely because “can’t” was not in these pilots, “vocabularies” They were absolutely fearless”. And some SOG men said “It was really rough and tough and rugged “how tough?” You could blow cylinders out of it and still get yourself home!” Sadly, one thing extraordinary happened that it was 100% we got killed because the bad weather, none from enemy with combat bullets. And the images of “Helicopter H.34 Queen-Bee” pilots Missing In Action that flashed into my mind terrified me and I couldn’t hold my tear shed out “because they were died but I was still survive”, including Master Sergeant Ralph-Reno, Staff Sergeant Donald Fawcett and Officer Operation, Captain Edwin- Mc-Namaras
In the year 2.004, U S Media, the radio had announced the recovery of the full crewmembers-remains of The Vietnamese Air force: Lieutenant Long, Lt Tung, and Master Sergeant Lanh. These were all my dear comrades who’d been listed as Missing- In-Action in 1966; the numbers matched up, a total of Three Queen Bees. Yet they would be making that final journey in flag-draped coffins, carried by solemn honors guard of our brothers in arms. No, it wouldn’t be easy at all. They were buried with military honors at Arlington-Cemetery. Yet as I listened to that song, I mourned our lost comrades who would help me remember the lightest moments of the darkest hours, and details of each man’s life that I could hold in my memories.
I nodded and thanked them silently. Now my last salute to theirs final resting place in a clearing surrounded by maple and pine trees.
Alas! We never seem to learn from our forgiveness for what they had done. “Sacrifices often are unappreciated by those who benefit from them”
I was angry about having sacrificed my young to the Wise-Men’s stratagem (American-First) for many years; my war flying experience still remained like a huge undigested lump in the back of my mind. I did not know what to do with it, when someone asked it with my own know-how-concept. If the real power from US administration had kept their promises, Southern Vietnamese might now be enjoying prosperity and democracy similar to what has developed in South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Even now I became a green-fresh US citizen, but still very clear to me that I am not among the self-loathing Americans who notice people in other countries looking to us for leadership and see nothing but neocolonialism and imperialism; I accept the premise that the United States has a legitimate, even inescapable, role to play in the world today)

Suddenly, the warning light of low fuel came on, but I still very patient at 4,000 feet, in front of us gleaming light showed up, I have plenty time to reach Khe Sanh (actual Huong-Hoa county) I easy descent to 2,200 feet, planning over Khe Sanh at 1,700 for safety and spiral steep-approach to landing. Now I saw two parallel bright light joining concurrent together at one point for landing path, I was sure one Dodge 4/4 and one Jeep there. My landing light was never brighter than tonight.
We were in a hurry to wash ours hands, face and go town to take dinner. I saw in the mirror that seemed I had aged somewhat older 10 years more and so ugly. This ‘sweat-game’ made me become bald very soon and one certain day, I will do not have any hair for combing. This town had only one single Route 9, population about 3,000, most people over here were French ‘coffee planters’, but the plantation closed due to the war. William Colby recruited them to travel every few weeks along Route 9 to the quiet village of Tchepone, Laos 30 miles away; despite keeping their eyes peered. The planters brought back little intelligence between infiltration parties were small and crossed Route 9 at night. After 1962 due to less security and too far from Quang Tri province, President Diem dissolved it then become the sheer name on the map “Khe Sanh”.
All the houses neighbored together in both side of Route 9, spreading from East West about half kilometer. One single small restaurant, there were already William Colby, Major Kinh, Capt Phu, Doctor Captain Tri, Lieutenant De and our CAS flight-crewmembers just arrived. We ate steamed rice with chicken fried with onion and hard green pepper very spicy, and drink whisky mark Black and White Cat. Everyone wore black peasant-pajamas dress, with cover hood in the back, material deluxe made from Okinawa, but no one looked-like peasant at
(continued)

[vinhtruong]

HCM’ Trail or Harriman’s Super-Highway?
(Or W A Harriman was a real Cog-in-the-machine, a freewheeling diplomat)



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For North Vietnam, the Trail was what the great Prussian philosopher of war Carl Von Clausewitz called a “center of gravity”. This refers to an enemy’s “hub of all power and movement, on which everything depends” Clausewitz asserted that a commander able to identify and disrupt the “centers of gravity” could strategically impair the enemy’s ability to wage war.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a communication and transportation system that considered of a North VN logistical supply network, command-and-control structure, and troop staging areas. Geographically, it was located along a complex network of paths and roads stretching from North Vietnam through Laos and into South Vietnam. There was also a Cambodian extension. The Trail was one of Hanoi’s strategic keys for fighting the war in the South. It provided a decisive logistical advantage, as well as the benefit of moving forces quickly from sanctuaries in Lao and Cambodia to battlefields in South Vietnam. The foremost authority on military geography, John Collins, has noted that “the Ho Chi Minh Trail…was nothing more than a skein of rustic traces through the wilderness when it opened in the late 1950s. Dedicated men, women, boys, and girls
bent bandy-legged beneath heavy loads trudged down those paths, all but ignored by senior officials in the United States and the Republic of South Vietnam (RVN) because the invoices were unimpressive: a little rice, a few pitted handguns captured from the French, homemade weapons pieced together like Rube Goldberg toys. This depiction of the Trail changed dramatically in the 1960s, after a series of establishment 559, 759, and 979 Groups, initiated from the axis of evil’s scam, the cohesion of the KGB/CIA unit
According to Geneva agreement on 20, July, 1954, all Communist cadres must return to North Vietnam, above 17th parallel. At Qui Nhon harbor, the ships from Socialist Communists countries such as Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, were anchored at the piers for pick them up to North. However, they still remain on spot of few for standby in new events.
Soon after William Colby’s 1959 appointment to the ever more important Saigon station; there began a troubling reappearance in South Vietnam of Old Communist Viet Minh (allied patriots) fighters who had emigrated to the North in 1954, after the French-Indochina War.
At its April, 1959- 15th Plenum, the North Vietnamese Communist Party Central Committee had voted in secret session to return covertly to South Vietnam thousands of such Viet Minh veterans. These infiltrators were to work with party cadres who’d remained in South Vietnam to execute a conquest intended from its inception to be deniable and thus undercut any rationale for foreign intervention. To infiltrate on such a scale, the Central Committee created a special Army unit, the 559th Transportation Group; the numbers commemorating its May 1959 founding which in tandem with North Vietnam’s Trinh Sat secret intelligence service would train people and move them southward. From his headquarters in North Vietnam’s Ha Tinh Province, the infiltration commander, Brigadier General Vo-Bam, cautioned, “This route must be kept absolutely secret”
Therefore, when the first group headed south in August, 1959, they wore untraceable peasant garb and carried captured French weapons.
The returning Viet Minh marched 15 kilometers each day among busy detachment of Army engineers sent to improve and expand these simple footpaths they called the Truong Son Route
(Long Mountain Chain Route) because it meandered through a similarly named mountain chain, Westerners often would call this network the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
CIA found gathering information about the Truong Son Route difficult. Indeed, this landlocked Laotian wilderness was largely unmapped, with misty valleys so blanketed by jungle that flyovers and aerial photos disclosed nothing. To find what was there required putting men on the ground. Because Harriman would like to check out and verified the North Vietnamese Troop had actual presented there for the accept-cooperating the “War-Game” or not. Therefore, CIA recruited French coffee planters at Khe Sanh on South Vietnam’s northwest frontier to travel every few weeks along Route 9 to the quiet village of Tchepone, Laos, 45 kilometers away. Despite keeping their eyes peeled, the planters brought back little intelligence because infiltration parties were small and crossed Route 9 at night. Harriman also ordered CIA to insert agents-teams “Loi-Vu” to Province Attopeu at Southern-Laos for checking the presentation of Hanoi’s and Pathet-Laos’s troops there.
In short, Harriman was very pleased due to Soviet’s subordinates [Hanoi] were well collaborated, it’s was discovered by Loi-Vu agent recon-teams that reported a presentation of North Vietnamese 959 Group there in such for training Pathet Laos units, and protect the trail for southern infiltration.
During events Kennedy administration expanded CIA’s covert effort to detect Communist infiltration and insinuate an expanded network of CIA saboteurs and agents into North Vietnam.
National Security Memorandum 52 authorized the CIA to employ Army Green Berets and Navy SEAL to train and advise the South Vietnamese who would execute Colby’s covert missions.
In my view point, until those negotiations were under way in Geneva and on July 23, 1962, resulted in the “neutralization” of Laos. How it came about is a complex story, and in hindsight, the results were lamentable. Harriman was stubbornly host-sponsored this Geneva agreement in his method-War-Game on the side of a “strongman” (Soviet Union) Therefore I should named it “Harriman-Highway”
WW II brought Harriman into the U.S government, and he launched a four-decade career as a powerful and freewheeling diplomat. During the war, he represented the Lend Lease program to the British and the Russians, serving as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s special envoy to Winton Churchill and Joseph Stalin. In 1943, Harriman was appointed ambassador to Moscow. This was the beginning of “a long-standing interest in U.S-Soviet relations” and his conviction that he knew how to deal with Moscow. Following WW II, Harriman helped shape American foreign policy in the early days of the Cold War.
In his “The Eurasia Great Game” stratagem, especially in period surrogate to Indochina. One used the so-called Harriman doctrine: “To stoop for conquering his goal” with Soviet Union, in addition with his books “Peace with Russia” and “America and Russia in a changing World”. Therefore, He let the elite pilots from Navy and Air Force to sacrifice their lives for his clique wealthiest narrow interest with their plights facing the “ self-miserable-disgraced tactical ”in Hilton prison at Hanoi such as created unbelievable the so-called “Rules Of Engagement”, and Jane Fonda was a ROE’ guidance counselor of Hanoi side (see in chapter Operation Lam Son 719)
So from that date above, personally it seemed to me with no doubt, I should named Harriman’s Super-Highway, instead of Ho Chi Minh Trail from the debut that ‘Laos’s neutralization day, on July,23,1962. Unsurprisingly when He met president Diem at his Palace in Saigon, with his prejudicial standpoint ‘axiom 1’ in his mind, during one hour briefing, He closed eyes as sleep on the sofa beside ambassador Frederick Nolting; though Nolting politely trying made some moved agitation for wake him up. When he opened his eyes, He wouldn’t promise anything, He boasted: I worked with Kennedy administration, but not with God! So nothing for guaranty”, He continued “I thought with my fingertips-feeling that Soviet should be seriously applied its Laos agreement stipulations”, voicing an implied as ready cohesive Axis of Evil with Red Menace. Also the key figure at Geneva was William A Harriman. Moreover, Diem’s frustration was a flatly turn-down a tempting established agreement with United States protecting South Vietnam likely South Korea by the then Kennedy administration. Thus, in this way, consequently whether U.S Troop invaded South Vietnam and sooner or later they will pull-out, not like at South Korea they left 50,000 troops, and Berlin they left 300,000 troops, according his anticipation “axiom number 3:”that the U.S could not have won the war under any circumstances, so honorable U.S troop will withdrawn eventually.
This betray was perfectly orchestrated and preceded by a campaign of denigration and disinformation in favor of the strongman Communist, which was fostered by most of the mainstream media and intelligentsia in the Western world. The venal critics were also disparaged GVN’ armed forces because they had needed American assistance in order to prevail. Meanwhile American troops were stationed in West Germany precisely because NATO could not stave off Soviet or Warsaw Pact aggression without American help, while in South Korea there also were American troops positioned specially to help that country deal with any aggression from the north. And nobody suggested that, because they needed such American assistance, the armed forces of West Germany or South Korea should be ridiculed or reviled. Only South Vietnam was singled out for such unfair and mean-spirited treatment.
Right after Kennedy and Diem assassinations, intelligence from COMUSMACV initiated joint planning with the South Vietnamese government for cross-border operations. Harriman implied operations were limited to those areas in Laos: a commencement build-up his named-Highway started in west of 17th parallel, just below Provisional Military Demarcation Line. Harriman:
“favored sending” non-U.S patrols” into Laos to try to find out the size of the military buildup”. He stood firmly to protect it against U.S advisers taking part in these patrols. Was it a clever diversion? – keeping their axis of evil’s scam on track. Leonard Unger, then U.S ambassador to Laos, weighed in. He informed the National Security Council (Michael Forrestal) that He wanted to keep MACV out of Laos. The State Department was closing ranks (Harriman’s stance was different, as for Bushes’ based count on Defense Department not State Department)
The Joint Chiefs harangued Defense Secretary McNamara to lift the ban. “The border restrictions were limiting the effectiveness of military operation in Vietnam.” In March 1964, at the urging of the Joint Chiefs, McNamara requested authorization for “hot pursuit” by South Vietnamese forces over the Laotian line for border control. This was contentious for Harriman, but it was increasingly doubtful that he could prevent a ‘change in U.S policy’, against the secret craps game agreement with Soviet Union. The Joint Chiefs were building a case for “crossing fence” that McNamara and Mac Bundy, the special assistant to the president for national security affairs, found convincing.
Still, Harriman had to be dealt with, as M-Forrestal told Bundy in April. President LB Johnson had been coaxed into supporting ‘hot pursuit’ and Bundy was about to send a telegram to Saigon authorizing it. Moreover a testified statement that Michael Forrestal of the National Security Council staff cautioned Bundy that: “To send the telegram without A Harriman’s approval is just asking for trouble!” Even if the telegram had already received Johnson approval but that was not enough? It still required an “endorsement” from Harriman. This is bullshit, unbelievable? So as we have seen, even generals who held commands in Vietnam (in Iraq too) admitted to uncertainty of that war’s objectives. A 1974 survey of generals who had commanded in Vietnam found that “almost 70% of the Army generals who managed the war were uncertain of its objectives.” Historian Walter A. McDougall has described the delusionary do gooding Wilsonian uplift, and “welfare imperialism” that accompanied America’s 1960 march into the Indochinese quagmire. The National Security Council declared it a goal of U.S policy in Vietnam to “create in that country a viable and increasingly democratic society”. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, who had more faith in technocrats than in infantry colonels, “put more than a hundred sociologists, ethnologists and psychologists to work ‘modeling’ South Vietnamese society and seeking data sufficient to describe it quantitatively and simulate its behavior on a computer”. The struggle for the third worth, he said, “might well have to be considered the social scientists war”.

Why Harriman wasn’t as a foreign policy advisor like he did in Truman administration in 1950. Why? He wasn’t a member of National Security Council like Micheal Forrestal, or Secretary, Dean-Rush? As a diplomatic-wizard, He was real a Wise-man Leader such Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas described. I supposedly would say: He was real policy-maker, command and control by his own-mastermind staffs. But with me, it seemed a ‘magical-Wizard’ because He tucked away in the shadow obscurity as a political witch-hunt; He was sure known what if everything will be happened in horrible-tragedies by his magical power referred to his outcome-plot-preplanned, and consequences effect when U.S troop pull-out of Indochina. Therefore, he hired Henry Kissinger for his representative [on his behalf] and tucked behind the political platform, keeping out of the public political spot-light, giving way to influence to George H W Bush, wise-man of next overlapped generation, continued his stratagem “Eurasian Great Game”
By way of conclusion, it is one thing to promise [U.S administration] and another to perform [Harriman]. A. Harriman was so prominent that he eclipsed every president like Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson at the sphere foreign policy platform. In this period how could I be in complete ignorance of his cunning plot; He wasn’t an honest man through and through. He’s a complete stranger to me, and two opinions at complete variance with one another. Therefore, the aftermath of the war in Vietnam was as grim as had been feared; in a time of such crisis, turn its back on South Vietnamese people. Saigon Fall with disastrous consequences but enhanced in the vocabulary-dictionary treasury such as “Boat People” “Reeducation Camp” “Killing Field”… and also on, all the sacrifices of my SOG’ fellows American comrade in arms had made there too.
(continued)

[vinhtruong]

(Why 327 Americans MIA on Làos, only 10 would be released by Hà-Nội?)


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“…An English-speaking North Vietnamese officer told Glenn to watch carefully, then they cut Paul Miguez’s belly open, and his intestines fell to the ground. The officer took a flame-thrower from one of his men, stuck the nozzle in Miguez’s stomach and literally melted him alive, burning him horribly while the young specialist four watched. The NVA officer told him to tell his Green-Beret friends that this is what waited for them in Route 559 [Ho Chi Minh Trail] along corridor Laotian/ Vietnam.
A number of recon-men doubted the story, thinking perhaps the One-Two had hallucinated; but they knew never to discount anything. A visiting SOG lieutenant colonel from Danang badgered the traumatized youth, even calling him coward. Then he turned his bile on Zabitosky, demanding to know why he hadn’t landed, and when he was told the Huey had been shot full of holes, he called Zabitosky a coward, too, why the Queen-Bee fearless, carried it out?.
“OK, Colonel,” Zabitosky said “ tomorrow morning, I’m going back in there with nothing but three Americans and three Yards, some body bags and ammunition. And if you would like yourfirst tour of Laos, seeing as you have not been to Laos, I want you on the lead ship with me.”
The Colonel went along but tried to scrub the insert when they took ground fire; Zabitosky already had talked with the pilot, who disregarded the colonel’s pleas. After all, Zabitosky was the operation commander, not the colonel. The colonel did not get off the helicopter with the recon team.
But miraculously, another circle Queen-Bee spotted the missing One-One, Pilton, and extracted him. Meanwhile, Zabitoslky found the team’s back trail, followed it 600 yards to a hill crest, looked over and could see gear strew where the team had been overrun. A little farther on he found black streaks where a flamethrower had scorched the ground and trees, then just ahead something was smoldering., It turned his stomach. The hideous, sadistic murder of an unarmed man surprised Zabitosky, who explained, “That was the first time I ever knew the NVA to do anything like that.” Several Montagnards lay there, too, burned to death. It was another dangerous day before Zabitosky got Miguez’s body out; enemy pressure was so great he had to abandon the Yard bodies.
Chief SOG personally relieved the ‘bellicose colonel’. Paul Miguez, who displayed incredible courage while his captors burned him alive, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
SOG recon team saw the Miguez incident as proof of what lay in store for them if captured alive; such inhumanity was borne out again and again, with particular confirmation coming from the June 1967 Hatchet Force raid in target Oscar-Eight [ forward operational Base 559 Group].

And another story like below:
“….Lieutenant Jerson was carried on; Howard was so drained that he was almost hallucinating. He laid there, silent, holding Jerson and puffing a cigarette a door gunner had given him. One pilot leaned back to give him a reassuring pat, but in his mind Howard kept seeing bodies falling, left behind, bodies of gallant Montagnards that he’d tried so hard to bring out. Almost out of his mind, Howard thought about killing the pilot though he knew that was not right and he didn’t have a weapon. Then, mercifully, he passed out.
He awoke briefly in a field hospital to find his hands bandaged, his face covered with ointment, and learned Lieutenant Jim Jerson had died. But nobody could tell Jerson’s family or Robert Scherdin’s family that good men had not given their all for them.
The recon company commander, Captain Ed Lesesne wrote Howard up for the Medal of Honor for the third time. There would be no downgrading, no minimizing his role to make a superior sound braver, just the truth.
By the time Howard at last received the pale blue-ribbon American patriotism had plunged to its nadir and in the antiwar mood of the times. The media told no one of his indomitable courage. The networks and major newspapers did not report the ceremony. It was as if it did not happen.
In 1955, every school-kid knew Alvin York’s and Audie Murphy’s names. In 1970, no one had ever heard of Bob Howard’s valiant deeds, though his body bore more scars than Navy, Lieutenant John F Kerry, leader activist of antiwar movement with three awards of the Purple Heart for his service in Mekong-Delta combat, but no bleeding, no scars, and no a minute in hospital as Senator Bob Dole said;(Kerry met a criteria requirement such as graduated at Yale university in the prejudice of the First Skull and Bones generation [W A Harriman] and the Second one {George H W Bush] He was selected by them. Thereby upon his return, based on his strong feelings that his fighting men were being sacrificed for a mission in which all generals get lost the objectives, so no longer believed. However he voluntary involved in the effort of veterans to stop the war; it’s also based axiom three that explained the war-solution from earlier 1960 in all universities).
Not surprisingly POW were still imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton at that time, took a dim view of his antiwar activities. Where they were held, beaten, and tortured for years. They were the honor soldiers, much of that time served after they refused to accept freedom on terms that violated the POW code of honor governing the order of prisoner releases.
Howard chest more true values-decorations than either of these acclaimed heroes. Altogether, Howard served five tours in Vietnam, mostly in SOG, never once shrinking from the sound of guns. “Whenever someone asks me that day why I volunteer engaged to become Project-Delta Force, Flight Queen-Bee Group Commander, SO., I tell them, it was for the honor of having served beside such SOG’ gallant men…as Bob Howard!”
So who brought our Americans fellows in arms having the feeling self-loathing Americans, and the false guilt about the noble cause of the Vietnam War? You should be recognized who when you finished this “The New Legion” master piece.

Haunting memories of brave comrades, by Stryker Meyer North
(County Times staff writer, served in the Special Forces from 1968-70)

“When I die, if the Lord gives me a moment to reflect before I breathe, my first thoughts will be not of my loved ones, nor my children. I’ll reflect on and thank God for Sáu, Hiệp, Phước, Tuấn, Hùng, Sơn, Quang, Châu, Cầu, and Minh. Captains Tưởng and Thinh and lieutenants Trung and Trọng will follow them in my thoughts. Then, I’ll think of my loving wife, our talented and unique children, ardor-folks!”

Why the Vietnamese men before my loved ones? Without the courage, strength and fearless verve as combatants in America’s secret war in Southeast Asia, I wouldn’t have returned to the United States.
Today, on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, I’ll pause to salute those warriors , men most Americans will never hear about, including the more than 3 millions U.S troops sent to South Vietnam during America’s longest and costliest war.
There are many who do not respect or salute the Vietnamese who fought in Vietnam. That’s because our country has failed to educate them about the Vietnamese, the country they sent us to and its history and customs. As Green-Berets, we fought side by side with them, laughed with them and learned about theirs families, their dreams and hopes and fears.
The first group was members of Spike-Team Idaho, a reconnaissance team that ran classified missions into Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam under the aegis of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observation Group …SOG. Green-Berets, Navy SEAL and US Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance troops manned several special operation commands throughout South Vietnam.
I joined Spike Team Idaho in May 1968, after six members of the team disappeared in a Laos target area. Three U.S Green Berets and three Vietnamese mercenaries were never heard from again and remain listed as missing in action today. By ’68, Idaho operated out of Phú-Bài, 10 miles south of Hue. In May, there were 30 recon-teams there. By November, Idaho was the only operational team left in camp. The enemy troops in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam were well-trained, fearless and well-equipped.
Captain Tưởng and Thinh and Lieutenants Trung and Trọng were helicopters pilots who flew Sikorsky H-34, which we called “QUEEN-BEES,” into landing zones where enemy soldiers tried
to knock them out the sky. For several months in ’68, the Queen-bees were the only aircraft flying SOG teams “across the fence” deep into enemy territory. In Laos, the CIA estimated there were between 30.000 and 40.000 North Vietnamese troops keeping the Ho Chi Minh Trail open, bringing supplies from the north to South Vietnam… and fighting SOG troops.
During my 17 months on Idaho, we always left targets under heavy fire from North Vietnamese troops. The ride home was in Queen-bees and every time we asked for one, it came, regardless of enemy fire. There are many Green-Berets alive today thank to the incredible flying skills of Vietnamese Queen-bee- pilots. And without the Vietnamese or Montagnard team members, there would have been more than the 161 killed in SOG operations.
Sáu was the Vietnamese team leader on Spike Team Idaho. When I landed at Phú-Bài, Sáu had been fighting for Special Forces nearly five years. Weighing less than 100 pounds soaking wet, Sáu had a remarkable sixth sense: He could smell the enemy. In the jungle he moved with complete stealth and silence, often cursing his larger American counterparts. Hiệp was the team’s interpreter, who sometimes corrected U.S troops on their English, as well as speaking Vietnamese, French and some Chinese, Phước, Châu, Sơn and Hùng all signed up with Special Forces when they were 15 or 16. After hundreds of hours of intensive training, their age didn’t matter as they stood tall in combat.
On October, 7, 1968, Spike Team Idaho, after trying to escape from North Vietnamese trackers, was attacked by NVA soldiers, who opened fire on full automatic. Sáu had warned they were near. Although none of the Americans heard anything; Sáu, Phước, Hiệp and Don-Wolken were on alert, with their weapons on full automatic, ready to go.
In those firefights the first seconds are crucial. The submachine guns we carried fired 20 high-velocity rounds in ½ seconds. Sáu, Phước and Hiệp reloaded and drove the NVA back down the jungle-shrouded hill. We gained fire superiority, but the NVA never stopped coming at us. After a while, they were firing at us from behind stacks of dead bodies. They came at us from 2:00 pm until dusk, time and again rushing us, trying to overrun our position. We had Air Force Phantom jets, AD6 Skyraiders and helicopter gun-ships dropping bombs napalm, rockets and cluster bombs and make strafing runs. That was the first time I could recall smelling burnt human flesh. By dusk, we were low on ammo, hand grenades and rounds for our grenade launcher. Captain Thinh flew his H-34 to a slight rise above our position, hovering in deep elephant grass …thick-bladed grass that grew more than 8 feet tall. Because the grass was thick and NVA tried to close in on us again, it took us several minutes to get to the Queen-bee. When I arrived under it, I looked up at Captain Thinh, sitting there looking as calm as a Rocky Mountain breeze in springtime, and he smiled. Finally, we were loaded and he yanked us out of there. Sáu, Hiệp, Phước and I fired off our last magazine of rounds and threw our last grenades as we pulled out of the landing zone, again under heavy enemy fire. With a few minutes we were at 4.000 feet, returning to Phú-Bài. We were safe and unharmed. The Queen-bee had 48 holes from bullets and grenades in its side panels and propellers. The new American on the team quit the next day. Sáu, Hiệp, and Phước are dinner before I arranged for Sáu and Hiệp to return to their families that night.
That scene unfolded hundreds of times over the course of SOG’s history; I carry a deep, haunting guilt for having left them in South Vietnam

And why 327 Americans Missing-In-Action on Laos, only 10 would be released by North Vietnam? As we knew those circumstances above, when they captured green-berets on the battlefield…they must kill them for security aftermath: “Because we must kill them before they tried to escape.” NVA’ at level squad or platoon boasted like that. For instant: “according to his opinion is shared by SOG’ former adversaries. The North Vietnamese Nguyen Tuong Lai, an NVA officer who’d served on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, said SOG’ Green Beret “effectively attacked and weakened our forces and hurt our morale, because we could not stop the attacks. We understood that the American soldiers were very skillful and very brave in their tactics to disrupt infiltration from the North. Another former NVA told writer Al-Santoli that the SOG recon teams were unquestionably American’s finest fighters in war. So SOG’ MIA list should be hard to alive, except when they reached at high unit level of military army force, but at low level NVA they killed them first and reported their runaway to escape later.
How can in United States Americans know that situation on that spot? They know very little about Vietnam War, even though it ended just over three decades ago. That is in part because it has been seen by those who opposed the war, or at least opposed their own participation in it, like Lieutenant John F Kerry, an antiwar activist, as in their interests to portray every aspect of the long struggle in the worst possible light and indeed in some cases to falsify what they have had to say about it. In addition, this extends from wholesale defamation of the South Vietnamese and their conduct throughout a long and difficult struggle to Jane Fonda’s infamous claim that repatriated American prisoners of war who reported systematic abuse and torture by their captures were “liars” and “hypocrites.” Fonda tried to don’t know Paul Miguez be burned alive, Senate McCain two time attempted suicide, POW endured years of torment in Hanoi, Hilton. How can she keep on thinking about that video of Eastern-Europe newsmen: In Hanoi Hilton, it was a POW, naval aviator who had been forced before the cameras while being held for seven years in cell cage; While reading a prepared statement, he had blinked his eyes repeatedly, sending out a Morse code message: “TORTURE.” I thought this scene helped to endear Jane Fonda in the hearts of so many millions of America’s Vietnam War era veterans.
Because who know she was worked as a counter-espionage in Permanent Government during the CIP performance in Vietnam like a referee or counselor of Rules Of Engagement in the war-craps on the enemy side.
As a “New” Eurasian-Great-Game but “Old” activists antiwar from 1st generation Skull and Bones initiated by William A Harriman, though he passed away on July 26, 1986, still a lingering sense of guilt, was once again appeared in publicity: In February 2004, a controversy broke out about whether President George W Bush had performed his duties with the Alabama National Guard. Around the same time a photo emerged of a young Lieutenant Navy John F Kerry sitting near Jane Fonda at an anti-Vietnam war rally. The front page of the New York Time ran a short piece about the issue headlined: For Kerry and Bush, VIETNAM YEARS LOOM. The piece stated, “In Kerry’s case, conservatives are working hard to shine an unflattering spotlight on his antiwar activities and his record on defense and intelligence matters in the Senate…” Conservatives for one side Leading Democrats for the other? It’s seemed not fair. Why didn’t the story describe Bush’s opponents as ‘leading liberals’ but still voted for Iraq-War?
As the war in Iraq began, the New York Times turned its focus to the actresses, actors in a tragedy stage player from protesters against the Vietnam War. In late March, ten days into the Iraq-War, a play was written about the protesters in America headlined, Decades later 60s icons still by their message. The play described what the leaders of the 1960s anti-Vietnam War protests were doing today as the nation once again was at war. It filled readers in on the activities of the folk singer Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, Pete Seeger, along with Hayden, was shown in a 1972 picture captioned, “Experienced Old Hand”. It closed with a quote from Joan Baez’s manager describing her impact on audiences today. “While her message is the same and is consistent with her message of three, four decades ago, it seems to resonate differently with different segments of the audience” Peoples don’t seem to be as interested in hearing her basically antiwar views as others, and yet the majority seem comforted hearing those views expressed by someone they grew up hearing express those views. The play was laced with a fond nostalgia and wrapped in sympathy. Nowhere did the words “Liberal or Left-wing appear”
Time magazine wrote its account of the protest movement: Voices of outrage. They’re energized and organized. But can US antiwar protesters survive their-own diversity?

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

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We’re in competion with U-2, and R.F-101 for snapshot on treetop by helicopter?
In contrast to the generals, some Pentagon civilians, and South Vietnam ARVN headquarter began to realize that bombing North Vietnam was futile because of the Hanoi regime’s ability to feel free and safe guaranty by ROE’ masterminded Harriman on course of his imagination highway in keeping supplies such moving south on foot, and via also simple conveyances as bicycles.
The photo above indicate a group porters have crossing a spring on dry-season with heavy ammunition antiaircraft shell from the end of convoyed bicycle trail to a higher point on the crest of mountain as AAA positions (Operation Lam Son 719 they carried shell-152mm).
What if reconnaissance U-2 or RF 101 Woodo couldn’t clarify the rivers scenery; actually the porters were camouflage by tree-branches with foliage, their fumbling efforts at using an awkward way to cross-forward.
Now, pilot trying to pass away as fast as better, photographers took snapshot as much as better, a crew-chief with free duty respond a spontaneous attitude by flapping his hand as if hospitable? It shouldn’t be an unconscious manner? If they’re equipped with weapons, I don’t think they have enough time for shooting to us. If you ask me for respond.
Aerial photos on Ho’s Trail by Helicopter H.34 on treetop snapshot
Vietnam is a vastly diverse land. In the South a vast flooded Mekong Delta, broad coastal plains, thick mangrove swamp, tangled jungles, and it has steep mountains chain from North to South; so every year having flood. The jungle was too dense for large operations, but pretty good suitable hidden place for our SOG reconnaissance teams and the enemy too. You had to literally hack your way through vines and thick foliage, moving very slowly, mostly in small units like squad, team-sized, platoon-sized, may be company-sized patrols. Fighting in triple-canopy rain forest teaches you how to fight in triple-canopy rain forest. Fighting in mountains teaches you how to fight in mountains. And you should learn a lot simply shooting and getting shot at a lot, and working closely with others like team-work on a combat mission. But there isn’t a great deal of carryover from any of that one to the other. The biggest lesson, in fact, is learning how to be open to surprising new experiences a then turning that openness into resourceful and creative ways of dealing with the challenges you face.
Recon-team was to interdict the North Vietnamese troops coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos and Cambodia and infiltrating through the mountain and rugged terrain of the jungles into the populated regions near the coast. Recon-team did actually encounter large numbers of the enemy in the jungle, but they reported to forward operational base the detail information for bombardment, avoiding in fight contact, except for self-defense. Their mission was to search for indications of them, their infiltration routes, or base camps or other places they might be using as sanctuaries; and they frequently found unoccupied enemy positions, often clever bunkers tunneled under thick bamboo clumps, providing them with a natural cover so why in battle of Ap-Bac 1963 the enemy had a safe cover in the lest casualty.
At Khe-Sanh, today June 14, two helicopters H.34 assigned to U.S Project-Delta Special Force, unmarked camouflage by color match with mountainous wild-leaves. The weather is OK for this season just light fog will clear very soon. The morning breeze shed out from stone mountain bringing enough cool; surrounding thick foliages were standstill, now and then the fresh sea-wind floating to mainland carried some warmer humidity, few cotton cumulus drifting to west hanging on the crest of mountain; higher some cirrus stay-unmoved in the clear blue-sky demonstrated the weather today should be very good for our aerial photos. We will to compete with higher altitude photos of Woodo R.F.101 and U.2 in contrast to treetop helicopter H.34.
With this weather, I feel convinced that might God formed for us appeasing our anxiety.
Yes, we plunged over ‘razing-mode-flight’ along Ho Chi Minh Trail and a foremost is snap-shot over Group 559, forward operational base headquarter [Oscar Eight]. In the mission clearance order recommended that we must take picture from west DMZ to the South at Kham Duc, and Ben Het. But I can’t do it, in-fact the very hot spot like Oscar-Eight, I must go this first and the rest later, I don’t want the enemy being ready for welcome us with every kind of anti-aircraft artilleries!
About 40 kilometers northwest of South Vietnam is the Ashau-valley, Oscar Eight encompassed the Highway 922 turnoff from Highway 92. More USAF planes were downed at that road junction than any place in Laos which isn’t surprising since burrowed deep into the hills of Oscar Eight, defended by belts of antiaircraft guns, was North Vietnamese General Vo Bam’ 559 Transportation Group’s forward headquarter. This is the Ho Chi Minh Trail’s Control Center.
We frequently inserted recon-team over-there, refocused on its operations across the border and tapered off in country missions except in the Ashau-valley which remained SOG haunt, situated beyond a barrier of imposing mountains that masked it from coastal enclaves 60 kilometers away at Phu-Bai and Danang. The Ashau-valley stretched 35 kilometers northwest to southeast ending at Atep high land on the Laotian border. 3 kilometers wide in places, the Ashau bottom was grassy, flat and so open it was eerie; flying overhead you could feel eyes following you. Two abandoned airfields and three ghost camps haunted the valley floor, while its major road highway 548 connected with Laotian highway 922 from adjacent Laotian base areas the North Vietnamese built a network of 40 high-speed trails into the valley. Northern Ashau’ Tam-Boi mountain contained immense chambers hewn from solid rock and fitted with heavy iron door, so well constructed that they withstood B.52 strikes.

The plan was to insert at dusk so the enemy would have no daylight left to dispatch a reaction force or trackers, giving recon-team a full night’s head start. If they stumbled into enemy on the LZ, my courage Queen-Bee pilots would swoop in to extract them while the Huey gun-ships fired mini-guns and explosive rockets for air closed support.
In March, 1966 at dusk, when Queen Bee inserted at very hot LZ right in enemy’s heartland. Immediately alerted emergency mission, our Queen Bee plunged in the shower of bullets AK47, picking-up Sergeant Brown and Huston, another Queen Bee dropped rope-ladder due to no space for LZ, picking-up Alan Boyer meanwhile under shower-bullets of AK47, Boyer got hit and fall. Dead or alive, he was in enemy hands.
In the middle, 1966, one recon team was encountered a concentrated NVA ambushed. One hour fighting, later, team tried to hide to a hill crest, where there were some rock-stones easy to defend and preferred to Queen Bee pilots to put one landing-gear for picking them up. Apparently, few of them were wounded they would suicide by frustrated captured in the daylight. At night U.S pilots would gave-up. Lieutenant Hung, nickname “mustache”, by himself, an alone Queen-Bee, no copilot, no crew-chief, no door gun, in the dark of night, but just the very himself inserted them in, his conscience pricks him and his knew-how where-about a team located spot. He landed one gear on a hill crest slope picking-up all team members in the red glaring spot-light of from every individual gun-bullet, from everywhere concentrated to spot-light LZ. At last, an unmarked H.34 landing on operational home base with 88 holes of AK.47- “unbelievable”
Say Major Scotty Crerar: “neither impossible ground fire nor un-flyable-weather stopped Queen-Bee pilots…They were absolutely fearless!”

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The plight of SOG’ Recon-team
Meanwhile SOG’ MIA numbers continued to climb, especially on Harriman’s Super-Highway corridor. On 31 July 1969 a six man SOG team led by Captain Dennis Neal and Specialist Four Mike Burns, was overrun 20 miles into Laos, near Highway 921. When last heard, one man’s voice radioed, “Help...help…help….for God’s sake….help” Later, our Queen-Bee rescue team found no bodies, no sign of any kind.
Then on 13, November 1969, on corridor of Harriman Highway as well, Staff Sergeant Ronald Ray, ‘One-Zero’, and Sergeant Randy Suber ‘One-One’, were overrun 15 miles west of the Ashau-valley near Laotian Highway 923. Dead or alive, they were in enemy hands. The price was too high for the so called ‘verification check’ the craps: “I feel hatred towards the checking NVA presentation on Harriman Highway in his ambitious narrow interest stratagem.”
By way of conclusion, I just determined that Harriman was working a scam, like some wicked wizard from a children’s fairy tale.

DeLuca knew SOG’ attempts to ransom POWs. The most unfathomable impediments, Tony DeLuca thought, were political limitations that crippled POW recovery attempts in Laos and Cambodia. For instance, despite a friendly government taking power in Phnom Penh in 1970, U.S,-led SOG teams were not permitted to search Cambodia for POWs after the 30 June,1970, in post-invasion pull-out. Why? Even Harriman retired from a freewheeling diplomat 1969, but his next generation, wise-man George W.H Bush continued on course of his Eurasia Great Game’s stratagem that means still keeping untouched Ho Chi Minh Trail development in manpower and material military equipments build-up there. Naturally, the U.S embassy in Phnom Penh and the Joint Chiefs still reserved approval authority for any Cambodian Bright Light, but not a single U.S-led rescue mission was approved after 30 June 1970. And also the situation was hardly more accommodating for POW Bright Light into Laos. Since November 1969, the U.S ambassador required advance coordination for POW rescues beyond SOG’ 18-mile sector; records do not reflect how many requests were denied, but not a single SOG POW rescue mission was approved in Laos. The plight of the POWs and MIAs grew and grew on DeLuca’s conscience. The truth was, he concluded, the United States was going through the motions but there was no high-level emphasis; no one would ever be retrieved. In this gut, DeLuca knew something had to be done.
In the course of Vietnam War, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Americans pilots and crewmen had been shot down and captured by Communist North Vietnam. They had parachuted into the waiting arms of the Hanoi, crashed in Laos and been hunted down by the Pathet-Laos, endured years of torment in Hilton prison at Hanoi, and been used as pawns by the Soviets. Very few of them had escaped, few had lost their youth through years of captivity, and few had never come home. And from the moment of each one’s capture, each had surrendered his future to the unknown. None had known when or if they would see freedom again.

On 18, February, 1971, the first of 6 SOG recon-teams inserted into the Ashau-valley to support of operation Lam Son 719, to tie down North VN forces and gather intelligence for when the ARVN returned along highway 922 coming out of Laos. Initially the Ashau diversion had been assigned to the 1st Brigade 101 Airborne division, which was to storm the Valley with four battalions, the specter of heavy American casualties apparently scotched that, instead a hand-full of recon-teams were giving job originally planned for a 2,000 men paratroop unit. (This genius Intelligence-War Strategy was repeated in WWII, the perfect coordination command and control between US Ambassador W A Harriman to Soviet Union and Lieutenant William Colby in the Hot-Spot) The Ashau-valley had never been hotter. Captured documents revealed the North VN had moved 11 counter-recon-companies, there to reinforce Landing-Zone watcher, tracker-dogs rear security units and infantry battalions plus two antiaircraft battalions defended this area.
Both SOG and the Air Force had suspected as much with USAF intelligence determining Oscar Eight contained the largest depot outside North Vietnam. Sergeant John Meyer who ran recon near Oscar Eight, recalled, “The area was really hot. I mean, every team that went in there got the shit shot out of it”. Just before the 1967 raid, U.S signal intelligence each day detected 2,300 radio messages emanating from there to North VN, a volume unparalleled throughout Laos. General Westmoreland believed an NVA Field Army headquarters that controlled all enemy operations in South Vietnam’s 1 Corps was located there.
Oscar Eight’s terrain favored the enemy, with the only suitable LZ in a wide bowl, surrounded by jungle high ground containing antiaircraft guns and bunkered infantry. The raid began with a dawn Arc Light by nine B.52s. Flying Covey, Master Sergeant Billy Waugh watched nearly a thousand 500 and 750-pound bombs walk across Oscar Eight, setting off 50 secondary explosions. Incredibly, the bombs had barely stopped falling when he could see NVA running from their shelters to roll fuel barrels away from a fire. Waugh radioed SOG Lieutenant Colonel Harold Rose at Khe-Sanh, “I’ve got people out here scurrying around. That sonvabitch is loaded” As the smoke cleared… Another Arc Light B.52 struck a cargo ammunition depot at the low-level of limestone “Co-Roc” setting off 2 hours secondary explosions. This is a great NVA command and Control sanctuary headquarter got hit at limestone Co-Roc, creating non communication for two weeks and less-pressure at Khe Sanh at least in during the lunar-Tet.
Those craps of Arc Light by 9 B.52 carpeted bombardment on 9 August, 1968 on Oscar-Eight, just damaged few cargo supplies; however no one human-being get hurt thank to Soviet camouflage fishing boat transmitting advance alert message to this headquarter, according to ROE craps. I considered that a “Non-Vulnerable Bomb-Game”. In turn of Soviet’s subordinate [North Vietnam] launched 107 or 122 mm Katyusha rockets, for instant at Danang Air Base. The house-wife of my Airmen family quarters, they had felt a Germany hospital ship “Helgolan” or “Hope” likely a key symbol referee for the “launching rockets-game”. One certain day, when hospital ship [Hope or Helgolan] was leaving Danang Harbor to the ocean; they were sure 100% that night Communist Hanoi launching rockets into Danang Air Base. And at the morning of that day, at the breakfast time, some high speaker in U.S Main-Compound was echoed lousy some noise that they didn’t know what the hell’s means. However, they were waiting until at 4 or 5 PM of that day, they came to Danang-Harbor, if Hospital-Ship leaving, they’d hurry up returned to the Air base and harangued to their husbands: “To night! Viet Cong launched rockets to our base, I must escaped in snatching all children to down town if you don’t scare O.K, staying here and died!!!”
They’re right, before that happened, about 10 minutes, high speaker at Main Compound once again repeated many time and let G.I have known, having enough time. And how many rockets will hit; but according ROE, there was never more than 50 rockets for every launch-craps-event.

Peering through the mist of fog, two helicopter H.34 looking like two whale have been sleeping, for sunbath on the grassy flat slope, their bodies sweated all over with morning moisture from the atmosphere condensed into drop on the cold aluminum camouflage surface. From our shelter-tents, on proceeding to the helipad through the haze dimness visibility, I could see our crew-chiefs busy scurrying around with their maintenance duties. Master Sergeant Mai was busy with his grease gun; he greased the main rotor component; meanwhile Sergeant Vang hand-pumped to refill all tanks. Apparently, we couldn’t care about flying safety operation because a special secret infiltration. However I reminded Vang must leave a quantity of fuel at the bottom of each fuel-barrel due to water subsided.
“Hey Sergeant Vang … Did you check these expired date of six fuel barrels on this 4/4 truck?” I said.
“Yes I did…and the suction-tube of hand pump wouldn’t reach to the bottom, it have a foot above the bottom for safety…no sweat I take care of it, sir!”
Vang wore black-pajama garb of peasant made from Okinawa, that remind me in 1962 when we came here [Khe Sanh] all flight crewmembers must worn those black-pajama garb; had turned in their dog-tags, military I.D cards of South Vietnam, even their U.S, cigarettes, which were replaced by Asian brands, absolutely none carrying with U.S weapon made. All crewmembers equipped with Swedish K submachine guns and Belgian-made Browning 9mm pistols, all of which, of course, had been acquired clandestinely so a serial-number check would lead nowhere.
And in down-cabin was equipped with one packet of explosive C-4 for self destroying helo when emergency forced landing.

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

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Why? Why? Because we worked with a clandestine agency called “Combined Area Studies”.
As you see above, Harriman was stubbornly protected a commencing developed Ho Chi Minh Trail with P.O.L parallel. Now, another thing different is in the map geographic named Khe Sanh replaced instead of Huong-Hoa County in the past, its belonging to territory of Quang-Tri province. Population over here [Khe-Sanh] was about 3,000, the most were French coffee planters, habitation along Route 9; but in-fact due to not security, the Diem regime would evacuated them to safety area along Mieu-Giang River to La-Vang Catholic-hamlet, belonging Quang Tri territory as well.
I saw Vang look like just get out from the river, he sweat too much from his hair to forehead, all over his eyes like just crying.
“Stop pumped! Relax for a while I help you pumped it” I said
“For save time and save fuel, I told Lt Hue and Lt Khoi should refill at Dong-Ha for sparing a quantity fuel over-here.”
I must have a short briefing to Master Sergeant Donald Duncan and Lieutenant Nha from LLDB [Vietnamese Green beret]
I said “All of you must check sure your harness-belt secure while you hanging out of the chopper for snapshot pictured. After take off , I must practiced a ‘Lazy-Eight’ like U-turn but not really U-turn, because we don’t have enough horizontal space for U-turn, around over-there just were stone shield hewn from solid rock both side like giant-tall walls along of large spring, like we are concealed in deep of a canyon, Mt Tam-Boi. Thereby only one alternative is vertical I-turn when we couldn’t go ahead because it would crash into the shield rock-wall. I deadly certain sure with all of you that the above us, there’re all belt antiaircraft artilleries ready for shooting down any aircraft flyover. We used tactical flight as the small fishes hidden in the bottom coral sharp rock. This is only way for survive, rather got hit surrounded by jungle high ground containing antiaircraft guns and bunkered infantry!”
“Now Hue and Khoi take-off right away, I will… after 20 minutes. When you all set refueling at Dong-Ha trying contact with us on frequencies…FM…, VHF…, and UHF at guard frequency, Lt Hao my copilot take care of it …if have you any question…Ah one more thing…always radio on even though grounded for refueling at Quang Ngai.”
Sergeant Vang recheck for armament, a Queen-Bee H.34 carried a single rusty World War II, belt-fed 30 caliber machine gun hung from a bungee cord in the doorway with a thousand rounds stacked in a old can under the crew-chief’s seat. The H.34 had only one door on the right side, which made it relatively blind on its left, especially to the rear. When enemy A.K 47 bullets slugs hit its carvernous troop compartment, it sound like a wash tub being beaten with a base ball bat; but this tub could take a lot of hits…still O K, as flight crewmember of Project-Delta, this time we are equipped with Carbine M.2 instead of Swedish K submachine guns; meanwhile Duncan equipped with A.R.15, much lighter and more power ammunitions. Because He was tall and strong, so he carrying so much stuffs on his harness belt, more cartridge magazines than anyone, plus flashlight, binocular, maps, first-aid-kit…and camouflage-scarf showed-up his handsome to enemy.
Last year, I was checked out by Master Sergeant Donald-Duncan. Duncan and Captain Richarson, J.3 Operation of 1st Observation Group Commandos to explore the growing Ho Chi Minh Trail for becoming a Flight-Group-Leader of Project-Delta Forces. I recalled this very Master-Sergeant Duncan, specialist instructor selected me become the leader, due to recently all my fellow senior pilots were washed-out because to much hesitation and so much safety flying. During two weeks checking-out operational flight-maneuvers. At western area of Dong Ba Thin Camp, Nha Trang were the mountainous, jungle-covered terrain, natural clearings for helicopter landing zones were scarce and likely don’t have any in the most crest-ridge of mountain. Suddenly, while flying, in down cabin, Captain Richarson radioed “infiltration right here”. I didn’t see any LZ available around, my spontaneous reflection, quickly I idled the engine RPM, made a spin autorotation with steep descendent…at last, I made accuracy precise ‘quick stop’ and putting one wheel right landing gear on a big rock, meanwhile left landing gear and tail wheel agitated in the air. I still keep high power 2,800 RPM about 10 second, I hear the echoed voice from Richarson: “Touch and go 10 seconds that’s good enough, we go home now”. Shortly, I was passed this tough-hard flight examination. From now on the 1st Observation Group Commandos in Project Delta put my nickname “The Cowboy Pilot”.

Now proceeding razed-mode flight, I am imagining six years ago (1958) In that year our ARVN called Aluoi-valley and when U.S troop coming built one more airfield called Ashau Valley. This valley, when I was a rating pilot of 1st Observation Squadron at Danang Air base, everyday I flown reconnaissance mission by a tiny Cessna L.19 Bird-dog, mission air cover from Laotian/DMZ border to southern likely to visit and contacted by SCR-300 transmitter with many out-posts along on corridor of Laos/Viet. So I was never forgotten the name of those out-posts likely the name of my children; From north to south like Satram, Liton, Tourut (Tourut, now it was North Vietnamese General Vo Bam’s 559 Transportation Group forward headquarters, the Ho Chi Minh Trail’s control center) Aluoi, Ashau, Atep, Con-Gia, Aro, Poste 6, Ro, Chalang, (Chalang, now was a Camp Kham Duc. But Danang was far from Laotian border, so ‘Shining Brass’ needed a Forward Operating Base (FOB) to house recon-team, fuel helicopter, and launch operations. A quick map study decided it: They’d locate the FOB with Group of Special-Force border surveillance, a camp at Kham-Duc, 60 miles Southwest of Danang, only 10 miles from the Laotian border. As scheduled and desolate as the adjacent Laotian wilderness, Kham Duc in a bowl formed by jungle hills that held ground fog and rain for days and weeks making this isolated camp probably the most weathered in locate in South Vietnam. But despite weather problems for the time being Kham Duc had to be the “Shining Brass FOB”) Dak-Prau, Dak-Pek, Dak-gle, Darto, and Ben-Het out-posts.
That day I had flown 3.000 feet altitude in space cool air safety, now I will flying like “razing mode” with my heart beaten rock and roll, flying overhead, I could feel eyes following and the unwelcoming with every kind of weapons. [But we swore just AK 47 bullets only] I recalled sometimes I landed at Aluoi 200 meters airfield with full flap 60 degree, high down draft turbulence, once my friend crash there because strong cross wind.

After took off, I should refreshed a practice “Lazy-Eight”. I radioed to down cabin “everyone must in harnessed in secure position” I took the nose of helo heading straight down right into the bottom of a hill, even high speed waiting very closer…then I pull up the helo-nose vertical-straight to blue sky…the air speed decreasing gradually until 25 knots, I used right rudder-pedal smooth pressure on that, the nose of helo dropped down vertical on spot “I turn”. That’s fine. “I wished don’t be nervous while facing with cruel enemy!” I did know nobody down in cabin like that, but I must practice it for saving their lives too. “May be NVA troops enjoyed to see that fabulous performance and forgotten to shoot us? On the ground base, I also explained to my crew-members, why frequently I flew alone in dangerous missions, but today I needed a full crew; because we accepted facing with individual weapon like A.K, and if I got hit, copilot could bring aircraft to home base for saving lives of peoples on board. Over-there, Oscar-Eight, we had faced with two antiaircraft battalions covering their operational base, so we didn’t having any choice unless flying very low level.
Often in case emergencies like insertions or picking-ups recon-team, I experienced use H.34 Army model, because it lighter with installed equipments, [instruments just pilot side only]
I now need H.34 Marine model with ‘Tacan instrument’ guiding instrument, double panel instruments, and armor protection below for pilots and engine. Marine model was always loaded but heavier.
I recalled when I passed the flight examination from Project Delta Force 1964. My squadron commander, Major Nguyen-Huy-Anh gave me an authorization clearance of selected to anyone in squadron for forming my special Kamikaze-flight-group and aircraft too. Of course I had chosen the best-experience crew-chiefs and pilots. However the most should be single non-liable with family burden. We considered ourselves like bloody brothers, yet we’d been through things together that most siblings never shared. We had laughed hard, fought hard, and no one and nothing could come between us. I would have done anything for them, and they would have done the same for me. Now everyone must have particularly necessity specific duty for our country. In reality we are the unknown heroes. All flight missions were top classified secret, low level flight avoiding radar detecting. More bad weather, more surprise enemy were the most impossible missions that we made; at night 30% moonlight, 100 feet above the treetops. These concealed flight missions, nobody even in Vietnamese Air Force known, except SOG, Combines Area Studies LLDB. The USAF and U.S Army Aviation saluted our impossible missions. We are the young guides rating pilots but patriotism eagerly defends our country more than anyone else.
We’re on course heading to Oscar-Eight, flying treetops not because avoiding the detected-radar but let enemy non ready alert welcome us coming with various kinds of anti-aircrafts. Heading 155 degree in gyro-compass, bumping up and down to follow surface relief of terrain, in my left side The Sa-Tram ghost out-post haunted on the grass-hill abandoned since 1961, in-front us the Mt Tam-Boi, down the valley on the side of cliff, a spring flowing to the south was another located ghost out-post ‘Liton’ I opened broader my eye and feel the sun’s rays baking my face, inhaling the scent of the forest below there. Flying as low as better to blind the enemy’ eyes following us. At high level like a belt anti-aircraft on bowl valley, there were immense hewn from solid shield rock, where Oscar-Eight was located.
Like any major challenge in life, a same scene but at different altitude, different time, one was cool and one was hot, now so open it was eerie; flying overhead I could feel eyes following. I have to take it in bits and pieces. I don’t try to tackle the whole thing at once. So, even though I was trying to convince myself not to worry about it, but those images of below there would continue to ambush my mind. Everything below was drastically changed a lot since the forest was so much devastated by new human activities. Instead of so many trails and route heading to south, many new bridges crossing shallow river, farthermost, below canopy, numerous sanctuaries installed, more depot cargo but camouflage with covered forest leaves became brownish, more smoke, fume, vapor exhalation. Some crop garden mixed with various corns, potato, yucca cassava…U2 and R.F-101 how could detected, except our low level helo flying can snap-shot it by Duncan and Nha, the sheer photographers. How we could distinguish enemy group crossing on a dry-river with supplies moving by porters or military unit with weapons in hand instead of branches of trees with leave in camouflage to tract of ground for grazing.
Who guaranties for Hanoi to take by force or legal authority to overrun and to dissolve South Vietnam by axiom 1? I meditated that’s not Soviet Union, none China Communist but our big treachery-brother [Harriman and Bushes]. A horrible ‘war-game’ wasn’t real war. Had the U.S really wanted a military triumph, it could have easily achieved it, with benefit of hindsight. It has become clearer that the U.S goals were more ambitious than a superficial, bogus military victory.
All Communist countries have faulted U.S intervention in Indochinese as evidence of American arrogance of power, attempts by the United States to be the World’s policeman, or World’s Nanny. As for myself, I assumed that the United States like a Casino’s dealer pretended having goodness which He would protracted the play-game by sacrifice of little bit money to all players, or used a magical trick for taking money from this player giving to another looser, nurturing the game. At last, when the game was over, all the monies from the players should be in the hand of U.S magical dealer! In the Indochinese War, the United States had aided to support French at 1949 Secretary State Acheson persuaded president Truman French-aid 15 million, four years later proposed two billion; but recently OSS 1945 U.S parachute at north-west sanctuary ‘Pat-Po’ helping out Ho Chi Minh thousand of Carbine and machine gun BAR, and training psycho-arms-platoon of Vo Nguyen Giap; South Vietnam captured so many cadres of COSVN, CIA forced to release them. Airborne from South Vietnam just intended to seize the Quang Tri citadel were the so called make mistake bombardment on them because Vietnamese Airborne acted wrong time and way on spot They preferred the Vietnamese Marine to seize it on time table agenda.
Now the war game was over by the fall of the Republic of Vietnam [axiom1] on the cruel April 30, 1975 was not because of its Armed Forces unwillingness to fight or because of its government corruption. It was simply a trade off for economic and political gain superbly orchestrated between the superpowers, the United States, The Soviet Union, and People’s Republic of China.
“Alas! Sadly, the Republic of Vietnam was used as merchandise in this exchange!”
(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

http://hoiquanphidung.com/user-upload/users/HQPD_1292285928.jpg

I am trying to open my eyes broadly, broader in keeping in mind to ready accepted individual weapon bullets than antiaircraft gunners. Keeping this very low level flight avoided out of blind spot shooting, usually AAA’s enemy with direction up to the air, not at bottom to valley for the readiness shooting the fighter-bombers flyover.
Now I though should flight directly at the route in front of us, short-cut enemy sight seeing reaching straight right on a shallow river flowing back to Xe-Pon River, to northwest at quite closer a city Tchepone.
Suddenly, I downed the nose helo for acceleration airspeed passing the below river over one group of peoples might be porters, scurrying around crossing of rocks of river for grazing. Dedicated porters bent bandy-legged beneath heavy loads trudged down those paths, they were camouflage with bushed-leaves. When we passed by, Duncan saw some flapped hands to him, they didn’t fired because they didn’t carry gun.
The echoed in my helmet, Sergeant Mai laugh in saying “How you think”
So busy, I chewed up microphone hissed my muffled voice “Communist Hanoi welcomes you! Because you are his comrade buddies”
I could hear my crew chiefs, sergeant Mai, echoed me loudly: “Duncan and Nha are busy for snapshots, but I’m free… I did by my reflection of courtesy that’s it!” “Now I’m ready for the next”
I thought these flapping hands were encountered like auto-suggestion-out of knowledge by reflection not for hospitality.
Now we are passing on the nasty road, father discovered a bull-dozer with big and straight exhaust, dozen peoples scurrying around. They were at work, no one see us. I wish we will get the exciting pictures by Nha and Duncan. We’re just reaching the ‘hot-spot’. At this point, I knew I was no longer invincible. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. In the space of eight minutes just passing Oscar-Eight, I had flown from feeling as indestructible as an iron dragon to fragile as a hummingbird in a forest fire. Hoping things were going to shit. I hold the flight-control harder, my lips closed, flying with tail rotor flexible like small fish in the deep coral sharp rock, as the hard skeleton ourselves for preventing the big fish predator. I tried to keep razing closed on the left flank of the rocky mountain hewn for in right side hatched door Duncan and Nha easier took snapshot. Above us, on top of cliffs, at right side, I could see some human activities, as hanging some military clothes, some pylon antenna, telephone wires, bunkered infantry up there, of course containing antiaircraft guns I sure guessed. But everything were very quite standstill, might be enemy was never believed we are a guest without invitation! Unwelcome? I felt convinced because we couldn’t see antiaircraft at all; in turn enemy couldn’t see us too.
I had a good view from atop the helo, began to feel a bit comfortable with the calm situation. Suddenly, I hear behind the tail rotor one pair of high-explosive blasts “Palmm… Palmm.” I lower the nose helo increasing air speed; the moment passed quickly, and my thought drifted back to reality. “Oh God, Just please don’t let us lose an engine!” I prayed to some nebulous God of War as we are razing close the cliff right over the left side. We badly need natural obstacle. There’re a few thin stratus clouds hanging lower on the valley, which was fine for us but even blind spot for enemy. Now we could hear the crisp, rattling sounds of AK-47 echoing in the valley, but far away behind us. I did not utter a word, and think as like welcome fire crackers.
Shortly, I could feel my heart again thumping in my chest. It seemed to me that “enemy having alertness” I have seen some straight lines of smoke at right side of the river shooting at us. They can’t reach us, but fall to explode right in middle of river. I think…there was B.40 or B.41 with short range. The time passed too slow among so much and anywhere the explosive blasts, rattling sounds of AK47. Now in front of us, high-explosive blasts formed many vertical-pylons of smoke we could smell the bad odor. I couldn’t have any orientations where for escaped, just continued flying as fast as low I can, concealing behind all natural possible obstacles for passing this hot area. May enemy shoot to us by mortars? I never forgot the Russia 120mm mortars that burst in an extremely large fragmentation pattern. Now I can see two parallel-projectile, dark-white smoke impelled too fast forward to us, from the above the cliff at right side. First, I think again B.41, or B.40, so they couldn’t reach us. But when I realize it not…so too late, the air blast projectile I can hear in my helmet. Two terrible explosions at left side on the cliff about fifty feet made helo shaking, and their smoke could envelope our helo in the moment. That’s individual air missile like SA7, SẠ5, or SA3? If it was 85mm or 75 mm guns, they would never have smoke behind projectile. However, at last we are passing there, don’t worry. I take a deep breath getting little uncomfortable. Now we see a lot peoples likewise a full company or battalion took bath or laundry in the river. Oh…Oh everyone hurry to the bank…once again the rattling sound of AK47 but too far behind from us.
I am not a man believes in Omens, but there were many various weapons trying to kill us, and so again I prayed to some nebulous God of War again and again as bring us out of here as sooner.
Now, over-here, everything became very vulnerable quite, I reduce engine power, the cliffs were higher. The Tam-Boi mountain became our risk with a huge iron high wall in-front of us, like giant barrage and the river narrowed it, and rough-twisted to right like stopping-fence. Impatiently I am trying concentrated on my smoothness flight maneuver keeping the same high airspeed… faster…enough speed I pulled the nose of helo straight up to the blue sky, my body stick in the seat, we can feel my face longer, sagged, and heavier. The air speed decreased gradually till 25kts, I used pressure on right rudder pedal, helo nose dropped vertical down to I turn. I maintained airspeed moderate.
I hear at down cabin my crew-chief Mai complained they are so exhausted, please let them relax for a while. I should know that, so I flown over a density virgin-forest, lest human activity and surrounding there for few minutes. “O.K everyone laid on the cabin floor relaxing five minutes, and continued mission!”
Now I have time asking the rescue helicopter hadn’t contact with us. Co-pilot Hao said, they had asked for us every five minutes.
I took helo back to the trail at our left side over the jungles below with tall-thick canopy trees. The route like a long red snack rambling to southeast, sometime Duncan took snapshot through below the foliage blurring some roofs bamboo made-stored depot cargo-houses. The road continued down to slope and disappeared. I couldn’t see anything except everywhere was green thick forest. We’re get lost the trail; I tried come up little bit for finding it, but no hope…the basic secret operation mission regulation couldn’t permit us to return for searching. I changed direction to the left 30 degree for three minutes, and 60 degree to the right. I planned to continue flying this same pattern till seeing it, but absolutely not climbing higher. Five pairs of eyes are focus on the unknown road below suddenly Duncan echoed radio to me: “direction two at clock in-front of us”. Abruptly I turned helo to right and jointed it at once, and continued keeping parallel of its on left side. Now the terrain appeared clear and flat grassy, not single road, but four roads wandering to the south like four red snacks in parade, at time they changed colors mud-black and camouflage with grassy. I make decision selecting the one in left side for lest vulnerable and good vision for pick snapshots from right side helo’s door. Automatically, I should fly razing the tall-eeriest grassy reeds. Now the woods, under a dense growth of trees appeared numerous a cluster of cargo-bamboo-house. I must leaving the road, but flown parallel with it far away to left side over the thick woods. The wind from northeast so strong, it increases my helo lift performance and helps with the noise, reducing the time the enemy can hear us coming.
Now in the bottom grassy floor of Ashau-valley, once again, at this moment, I knew I was no longer invincible. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest again. Why Hanoi didn’t build the road in closer mainland to Laotian border, and I preferred to flyover the triple jungle canopies below concealed North Vietnamese troops? Our recon-teams operated mostly in Laos and DMZ discovered a new road coming out of Laos just north of the Ashau-valley pointed dangerously toward the populous coastal plain north of Hue; very heavy NVA forces made penetrations also but impossible, it was as if a curtain were being lowered to conceal enemy activities.
We don’t need mock assaults into rugged jungle landing zones, but at least safe for us to flyover. Razing flight would be reaching hill to hill toward that new position. It would be very hard to distinguish enemy concentration from antiaircraft batteries in such a melee. Over-here I couldn’t just cowboy, managing with brutal maneuvers meanwhile Duncan and Nha in snapped the scenes. I am passing on the corner of the thick wood, discovered too many roofs-concentrated troop quarter compounds, the leaves covered above became brownish and barren. The images of multilateral that flashed into my mind terrified me.
I thought Duncan and Nha took so much interested pictures, I hear sound of AK right far on my left, just on the road recently passed. The moment passed quickly, and my thoughts drifted back to reality. Although We used to hear them like a music rock and roll [because too far from us] This road on my left side will be crossing a shallow spring, I heading the helo to closer it, due to the thick and tall trees parallel both side will be great for the need natural obstacles. We peeled through the road crossing a creek, it seemed two parallel references wild-creepers bounding the equal distances, some knots with red color rags hanging on it…the truck driver just driving in the middle of two references line on the bridge submerged with water on the stone-rocks, preventing driver disorientated out of track. Oh no! Beyond the spring appeared a thatched bunker, I saw a person wore a short pant proceeding to the bank of spring, another guy laundry in plashed water. They don’t have enough time to see us, so why they won’t welcome by rattling AK? At last, we were passing very safety. Now we passed on the un-thick barren-woods with shrub branches and bushes. Oh! Not woods! A plot of land NVA used for growing vegetables, some corns, some rows of potatoes, yucca cassava… I am sure that U.2 or R.F 101 photos couldn’t discovered these things like sheer our own eyes. There were very strange in Vietnam War’s history! But right in the middle of the plot appeared a ‘scared-crow’ worn NVA uniform. But the hen-parrot didn’t scare this NVA uniform they together celebrated in free-eating.
Now this road will crossed a dry-weather spring. The scene was so different, everything so calm, no wild creepers for references, emerged on the same level of the dirty road with perfect arranged stone-rocks joined two banks of the spring; so We could considered it like ‘emerged-bridge’, and it seemed unharmed for us with no guard-bunkers.
Now we started at flat, grassy bottom of valley and so open, it was eerie. Keeping razed-flight, my right side was Aloui’ abandoned airfield and two ghost camps haunted the valley floor with major new road connected to north Laotian. With no choice, I must heading helo to the west of Laotian concealed in mountain. Though, there were not hot like at forward operation base 559 Group (Oscar Eight) but over-here I flown any altitude, even very low on the flat, grassy bottom will easy been shooting down, because both sides of valley so numerous antiaircraft batteries standby we couldn’t escape. However they were thought all tactical fighter aircrafts will come from the east. Technically, with my experience, it isn’t surprising since burrowed deep into the both side hills of valley, defended by batteries of antiaircraft guns were always in alert. Geographically, NVA established all AAA batteries at east-flank hill. So I made decision fly on the far west side of the valley.

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

NVA’s Trap was usually wide, clear LZ: Down here, once I looked for missing SOG men. Shining Brass operation were the most consistently dangerous SOG missions, not just because recon-teams went behind enemy lines into an area bristling with antiaircraft guns, but because the enemy could lie in ambush for them. The enemy often turned on a captured pilot’s survival radio’s beeper or laid out his marker panel to draw rescue aircraft into a trap. In some cases, a North Vietnamese soldier would don a captured pilot’s flight-suit and helmet, fore pen flares and wave, then collapse. When a rescue Queen-Bee came in to get him, it was blown to bits by antitank rockets: B.40, or B.41. In several instances SOG Shining Brass were aborted at the last minute when a downed pilot managed to slip an odd word or two into his radio conversation, tipping off his rescuers that he was in enemy hands. Before inserted an infiltration team we had a special agreement of secret gestures by hands or foots while Queen Bee made approach to the LZ [the trap was usually wide and clear LZ].
I recalled from a hovering Queen Bee into thick Laotian jungle above few recon-men wounded, give some sense of what our crew flight personnel faced. “When you get out of a H.34, rescue helicopter, knowing that you’re going to rappel down and you cannot see anything but the tops of trees ; you have no idea what’s down at the bottom of those trees or underneath that canopy waiting for you”. But there was no option.
Once the rescue-team was on the ground, heavy antiaircraft fire might drive away the Queen Bee. A Green Beret medic who rappelled onto a crash site tied his rope to a tree to prevent my helicopter’s departure; which was only sick humor, since my crew chief Sergeant Vàng could cut the line in a second.
Now, over this odd-rough-terrain, I had to change the tactical flight. Hurry up I radioed to my crew chief:
“Take out two hatched emergency-windows at left side…Now we change tactical flying position attitude.”
“Let them know, Duncan and Nha moved to left side at windows for taking snapshot!” Because at the barrier flank from east of Ashau Valley having many kind of AAAs like 12.7mm, 14.5mm, 23mm, 37.mm, 57mm, 75mm, 85mm; Keep heading 155 degree to Atep-Tabat. However we were still following up along the Ashau Airfield and its ghost camp. We could easy figured them out among the green of jungle up to the hills, appeared scattering some fresh pink earth like the mouth of frog [AAA’s bunkers]. Now we were flying over the barren hill. Abruptly the terrain changed likely the end of the hills-relief. Spontaneously, I dive the helo to the right down to flat floor valley. The enemy had lined the mountain valley with 20 antiaircraft artillery pieces and thousands of automatic weapons, making it a deadly flak trap for the slow-moving H-34s. Other hostile troops had surrounded the ghost-haunted Ashau Camp and were continuously raking it with automatic-weapons fire from the surrounding hills. The tops of the 1,500-foot hills were obscured by an 800-foot ceiling, we’re flown under tunnel, limiting aircraft maneuverability and forcing pilots to operate within range of hostile gun positions, which often were able to fire down on attacking aircraft.
Actually, everything scared in my eyes, my right landing gear seemed to crash on antiaircraft position, my mind was in panic situation, and main rotor-blades might cut the antenna wires. I can see the antenna pylons scattered with straight bamboo antennas too. Now I can see the liked big frog’s red mouth with the fresh red earth curbed around bunkers. We could see one North Vietnamese soldier wore military-T-shirt, he did know we are here. Two barren cannons great guns were up to sky, why they were not bounding twisted around by wild-creepers look like we had passed recently over them? I thought we should have valuable pictures of both from Duncan and Nha above just 30 feet but so ‘sorry’ no gunners on the platform-spot. In this West-frank of valley was less AAAs than East frank. We could see numerous of ‘Red mouth Frogs in the far eastern. We all were panic in wishing the gunners on the far-east frank didn’t see our camouflage Queen Been because we are the unwelcome-guests and in their down-wind from the sea-breeze. They couldn’t see and hear from us.
Still maintain at right side of valley, many roads wandering to southeast but the color dark gray muddy. Despite they are, I was still keeping far away from them but frequently cast on eyes follow them. Because not some but thousand enemy eyes followed us, they could figured out where we are not due to the camouflage Queen-Bee but than a engine droning nearer, hoping NVA didn’t heard us because the wind from the ocean flew strong velocity to the West mountain rank.
Now we discovered two oxen-carts camouflaged with green leave bushes proceeding south, I managed little bit closer for observation. There were not oxen-carts but human being pulled them. Two persons bent bandy-legged behind heavy loads trudged up to slope. How we can tell peoples in South Vietnam believed that scene? We are afraid come closer and so we didn’t care what the hell inside of the carts. Two carts were just intruding in the tall reed grass.
Now we are out of Ashau-Valley reaching at high land Atep-Tabat closer Laotian border, all roads joined together formed single road but smaller, hard for follow up. Right away I headed helo to that easy-missed-road which was trans-color back like a Red-Snack wandering in the woods. We were worry missed her, so our ‘ten-eyes’ concentrated on that. The tri-canopies of jungle concealed her for a while and completely unseeing it. Once again I follow the own pattern procedure how to search her, I take 30 degree to right first, about 3 minutes and take 60 degree left… Eventually we find her. I am flown closer and frequently contact flight with her, enemy don’t have enough time for shooting us. We are at west Bach-Ma (French White-Horse resort for R and R) about 15 miles. The road appeared very clear under the sun being hard and slicing through the noon haze. Heavy activities were beneath a green forest, everywhere were clear and flat high plateau-land. It was eerie! How altitude, position, what flight maneuvers, reactions prevented the helo get hit by ground fires? That’s big question in my mind always obsess me.
Repeated-factor applications were the only method: accelerated airspeed, flight razing-mode pattern, sometime the helo would hit the ground or trees. At this point, we knew, we were no longer invincible. We could feel our hearts thumping in our chest for long, in the wished swift-space of few minutes passing. As for me, even though I was trying to convince myself not to worry about it, those images of helo shot-down would continue to ambush my mind.
In-front of us, now so many roads appeared concurrent to a village, county? I keep followed a broader road in the right side closer the heavy woods. If I felt so much risk, I would turn to hide over natural obstacle (woods). Once again, I see one person bent bandy-legged behind heavy loads trudged down that path. Suddenly, we found out one strip parallel with that road emerged a line-pipe it seemed POL from northwest to southeast. That we guessed it! Now we detected so many big and small houses scattered along both side of a small spring. They were military quarters or cargo depots? Who know? Theaters, auditoriums…Oh! Oh they were playing ‘volley-ball’, crowded spectators peoples down there. Automatically, I increased airspeed though I was used in almost maximum engine power.
But everything sound completely quite. Because they were enjoyed the volley ball game, and do not have enough time for reaction. We were just passed the very hot spot, but quite, nothing happened…now the atmosphere became fresher, I began to feel a bit comfortable with this situation. I had a good view from the helo cockpit, but there were just too many of things must worry. Our mission was not accomplished yet. That moment passed quickly, now my thoughts drifted back to reality. I reduced airspeed to normal RPM, and followed the single road to south like never left a sweet-lover behind, but hoping not for my whole life?
Ahead, there were a numerous squared heaps of earth. What that? Opened ammunition depots? Down there showed-up many crossing-roads in zic-zac around many large bamboo and thatch-houses. Right in the middle located a biggest house, on the thatch-roof that we see covering by the green color nylon, for what? For preventing rain shower or made reference point for us not get lost in orientation? The fearless calm me like the hell. Oh I do know they were busy for watching volley game.
Right here, recently the Yards in a recon-team discovered a huge of heaps rocket-missiles 122mm and 107mm Katyusha, made from Soviet Union, and 140mm China made for target Danang Air Base, but bitterly the yards just took snaps pictures, not authorized to destroy them? That why CIA hired montagnard tribe-men not our patriots Vietnamese like LLDB [Vietnamese Green Berets] Though disadvantage in operation, the CIA-funded Mountain Scouts penetrated Laos, however, these courageous but illiterate. Montagnard tribe-men could not comprehend map reading and couldn’t associate what they discovered with a recordable location. However the crucial purpose was that they are absolutely to obey CIA orders. Because this is a scam war-game for credit-interest of two super powers; instead of the sacrifice of both peoples in South and North. The tragedy initiated by U.S Company Dynasty. These 122mm rockets were the unwished gifts to Danang habitants who wouldn’t accept these gifts as a token of their scam. How long that last the protracted war was terminated? The mastermind of Averell Harriman and Bushes calculated in the secret-plan of crammed “Pennsylvania-Game” likely coaches that Kissinger was in position quarterback, and Donald Rumsfeld was linebacker.
Meanwhile U.S forces and South Vietnam forces have searching and killing enemy, in contrarily CIA protected them, and nurtured the war, except CIA, William Colby’s pro-government but not on the counterespionage side. Their goals might: U.S forces must having “combat-training”, and CIA concerned “American First”, welfare-imperialist? Between creditor and debtor: U.S and Soviet.

I must relax little bit, I let my copilot took control. For years as spy pilot experience, this area was nothing to snap, all the thick tri-canopies jungle without any human clue activities.
“You get it…and managed flown whatever Duncan and Nha could easier snap-photos”
I smiled and turned the control over to Hao. That’s O.K, as my copilot usually to fly little bit higher than me. “Oh no sweat, none eerie down there” I said. But too long I had no reservations about letting Hao fly the machine. He was not only a fanatic about mission preparation, but a damn good stick as well. Tomorrow I will check him out for become an Aircraft commander of Project-Delta force; the final test flight examination was “autorotation at night without landing light in the condition 30% moon-light.”
Abruptly, a flock about thousand parrots projected up from below foliages, few of them get kill by main rotor, theirs feathers bleeding dropped down on my windshield.
“You’re a wicked-wizard” I yelled high voice for pumped out the unrefined air staying too long in my lung, instead of should be taking new batch some another fresh pure air in the atmosphere. In the cockpit, I start a first cigarette of the day, I feel so exhausted, but maintained these precious moment to comfort myself. I remember today I forget say prayed as my wife often to remind me the must for every mission like read in check-list procedure before take off or landing.
The sun was shining and most of the fog had burned off. The big blades above were continued spinning created the monotonous sound, a dull uniformity. I would like go to my bed now! But how can. Yet in spite of my sometimes obsessive personality, for a special operations pilot who should have been at the point of the spear. I felt like I’d just had my wings clipped. At that very moment I was supposed to be flying a Queen Bee on a lightning raid into the heart of Oscar-Eight [559 Group headquarter] The brothers enemy were always trying to shot me down meanwhile I was just to defend the South Vietnam’s sovereignty. In fact we are not enemy, both of us from north and south, were really the “venal new-legions” by two super power of Soviet and U.S but neocolonialism both Communism and imperialism binding with their war production. They needed to resolve blowing-out in liquidation all delete war materials in this dumped-area. “Oh God, this axis of evil will not find a safe haven here!

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

(Conflict between the acting and permanent Government) Abrupt down-draft wind made me came back to reality, the river below us, there was Ben Giang and far east at right bank of river was Ben-Hien, there were a old French ‘out-post 6’ near to Laotian border to the ‘out-post Ro’ on the Route 14. The French built this route for explored timbers and intercepted in dissolution the revolution of Can-Vuong’s Revolution-Movement.
Today, we have the chances flying passed two revolution-movement’s cradles: one was at northeast Mt Coroc, north of DMZ, at Lap-Cap Pass. The King Ham-Nghi revolted-movement, there’re a cradle buried with jewel-gold; and below here, there was a smuggle traffic of opium and gold from Laos to Thuong Duc County.
Now, the terrain below us, with my spy flying experience, I must take the control and fly lower keeping farther the bank of river, and followed a small foot-path sometimes wider, and twist narrower. The ground level was easy up to slope appearing a big plot with a lot parallel furrows. On there were mixed in various vegetable, plus corn and potatoes, yucca casava…Under a big tree-shadow, some stored cargo-houses were there, I should be sure that there’re the NVA locations But the crop was the most evil state due to the flock of starving wild-parrot frequent food-attacked; even though there were having two scare-crows worn military uniforms but hungry parrots didn’t mind scared.
NVA’ units had excellent psychological-warfare forward to the montagnard tribe-men, so why they keep isolating far from montagnard neighboring; these terrains though at high level but so much evidences NVA’ activities, a small foot-path became wider road by setting down of thousands…thousand of a foot. Now the foot-path crossing by a ‘monkey-bridge’ (a bamboo-made bridge bound together by bamboo skin strings, they didn’t use nail down there. I was sure Duncan who never forgot took picture this bamboo bridge, clear enough with 35 meters high). Beyond the hill were numerous new-bamboo-houses located arrangement both-side of the small spring. There were easy to distinguish between house of tribeswomen and NVA. Because the houses of tribesmen were old and arranged on a village with I uniform shape, and the floor house above the ground level 7 feet, underneath they raised poultry, hogs, cattle…And they raised the crop specific only corn, or yucca cassava, or rows of sweet potatoes…They didn’t need to conceal them by camouflage.
Now we’re flown over a crop-plot of tribe-men. For thousands of years the montagnard had practiced the primitive agricultural technique of downing trees, then burning them to fortify the soil with ash; that’s only the fertile substance; they’d grow row crops there until they’d exhausted the nutrients, then move on and do it again, leaving a patchwork of squarish clearings at various stages of re-growth across the countryside. These snap-shots, Duncan should have explanation the differences between NVA and tribesmen row crop plots to Captain Richarson, operation executive officer.
The abandoned Chalang out post was deep in the intersection of creeks surrounded by grassy hills. I recalled in summer 1962, three unmarked H.34 that engaged operation “hit and run” at the first light of the day, were air-assault landing from three crest-ends of creek; three killer-teams had intent to capture NVA general Nguyen-Don but failed. After 7 minutes, we got a general NVA fatigues, one jean pant, and some condoms…my landing gear touch-down on the new unknown grave melee in row yucca cassava trees. Now, there was D-1 Binh-Tram [sanctuary], only about 20 miles northwest of Kham-Duc, where Laotian highway 165 almost reached the South Vietnamese border. In the northern of two recon-teams was authorized to operate in. Recently, the rockets and mortars pounding the Marine and Air Force installations at Danang, it was suspected, came from this D-1, Binh Tram [NVA troop sanctuary]

On 18, October American newspapers were reporting the 1st Air Cavalry Division’s violent clash with the NVA 66th and 33d Regiment in the Ia Drang Valley, the first major U.S ground combat of the war. But no one would read about the momentous, top-secret doings that day at Kham-Duc [Shining Brass] this is the first U.S in a very just “combat-training” according from the masterminded of wise-man A Harriman. Who knew his anticipation standpoint? And so why General Westmoreland managed the Vietnam’s War was uncertain of its objectives.
In front of us, a devastation-jungle appeared a grey-marshy road, few Molotova-Trucks in muddy stuck. Crowded peoples there, they unloaded from truck to buffalo-carts, beyond a bull-dozer with huge exhaust straight on the sky might stuck in the muddy too. From a red-road color stemming from many grey-mud-roads, we saw many tree-trunks emerged on marsh. Beyond the muddy, some Molotovas were proceeding very slowly with heavy loads to up slope, disappeared under the woods’ foliage shadow. We were swiftly flying over, no one having enough time for seeing our scared-faces, but I did think Duncan and Nha were so busy for their duties!
Now we were over an abandoned Dak-Prau out-post located at altitude 4.500 feet, at the left side near Laotian border, the highest mountain of the South Vietnam was Mt Ngoc-Linh at the top level (6200 feet) too many helicopters crashed over there due the high-velocity turbulent weather. I had two complete crew members of the elite-Queen-Bee were perishable crashed over there, included Master Sergeant Ralph-Reno, Staff Sergeant Donald Fawcett, and operational officer Captain Edwin McNamara. We found out all remains, except only Ralph Reno. Our chopper-pilots called “the Evil Triangle” over here.

*****************
Conflict between the acting and permanent Government
Because Harriman was not close to President Lyndon B Johnson, the most problem was political conflict the least US foreign policy. Thereby right after Johnson took office, and in March/1964 he was given charge of African affairs at Department of State, and next year he was appointed ambassador at large. Johnson would like keeping him out of his sight; because such as his vice-president position, Johnson knew who killed Kennedy (In the photo with Diem, Johnson explained to Senator Humbert Humphrey “We are involved an assassination this man…now this happened right here!” Harriman is noted for supporting Cabot Lodge the coup against President Diem in 1963 on behalf of the number Three-post of the State Department; President Johnson’s confession in the assassination of President Diem could indicate some complicity on W. A. Harriman’s part. Till 2005 in the book “The secret History of CIA”, high officer in CIA, confirmed, William R. Corson confessed by from Harriman secret order”.
So Harriman’s Super-highway [HCM’ Trail] was well developed due to refusing to approve by himself, none-authorized incursion against enemy sanctuaries in Laos. Theoretically, although Hanoi still denied it had a single soldier in Laos, by October 1965 its security, engineer and logistics troops there numbered at least 30,000 not to mention an additional 4,500 men passing through each month on their way to South Vietnam. About two hundred truckloads of supplies rolled down the Ho Chi Minh Trail monthly, and by the fall of 1965 the U.S Air Force already knew the enemy had spun its 900-miles road system the length of Laos, all the way to South Vietnam’s Central Highlands. On 2 October 1965, fresh U-2 photos disclosed new roads in Laos, while other aerial photos included our helicopter H-34 flown on treetop seeing new truck traffics, and discovering few emerged and submerged stones-bridges passing over. In contrast 1959 till 1963 were very few activities that I had flown many missions along Ho Chi Minh Trail. NVA build construction on surface road, by a group combined 30 to 40 persons, carrying a weave basket from strings of bamboo threading; inside basket with soil, stones, rock, and may be grass, foliage… to fill the holes of low level (In 1978, I did the so called route construction hard labor when I was a POW at near Vietnam/China border) That the way’ NVA road construction. And beside on it, a French made-bulldozer at War War-1 with the big and tall straight exhausted-chimney had been passed by back and forth. In flight low altitude passed over in posture of view bird, a hasty snapshot at a moving scene that we couldn’t distinguish male or female workers under their flat-hats.

By a long-standing interests in U.S-Soviet relations, Harriman’s conviction that He knew how to deal with Soviet in the so ridiculous craps ‘CIP and NLF’; it was fashionable the then so called ‘National Liberation Front’ assigned for favor Soviet (The Soviet Union of course desire to see Communist established at an early date in Laos and South Vietnam, and would regard this development as opening up new opportunities in the area of Southeast Asia as a whole) According a North Vietnamese history published in 1994 also emphasized the importance of the Laotian corridor. [Harriman protected it with any price for his prejudicial standpoint ‘axiom 1’ means abolition GVN] By January 1971, read this account, “ the supplies stored by the various troop supply stations (the Binh-Tram) of Group 559 in the campaign’s area of operations had risen to 6,000 tons, which together with the High Command’s supply reserves was sufficient to support between 50,000 and 60,000 troops in combat for four or five months. In addition, more than 30,000 tons of supplies were stored in Group 559’s warehouses along the strategic transportation corridor” [that means during General Westmoreland was on charge Vietnam War as field commander, no allies troop were there, except the Strategic Air Command carpeted the bombardment campaigns with real meaning ‘Rolling-Thunder’(only demolition plans for plotting prudently the farsightedness “International Super Highway” to Indochina network World system, according NVA colonel Bui Tin in his diary: Route 559 damaged at 0,18%, less than one percent) But sure not like so much different with ‘Linebackers’ later on in 1972. Commented Lt General Dave Palmer perceptively: “Linebacker was not Rolling Thunder”- It was real war. And again the Hanoi agreed. “This war was different than the first war of destruction,” observed a history of PAVN, contrasting Linebacker with the Rolling Thunder campaign earlier in the war. So why general Giap was relieved even though this time the enemy massed larger forces and made massive attacks right from the first day of operation, their intent to launch the Easter Offensive on March 30, 1972 was completely fail.
It’s a coincidence, the truth was itself demonstrated: early March 1972, Soviet General Pavel Batitski was in Hanoi to assess (inventory) NVA request for military support. While fierce ground fights were raging along the DMZ, in the Central Highlands, and on the approaches to Saigon. This time the NVA massed larger force, using many types of modernized technical weapons and equipment. Right after Soviet General Batitski left Hanoi. At noon, on 30 March 1972 the long-anticipated NVA offensive began in Military Region 1 with widespread attacks by fire. By midnight about 4,000 rounds of mortar, 122mm rockets, and 122mm, 130mm, and 152mm artillery fire had inundated friendly fire bases across the front. In contrast with hindsight, by December/30 1972, after eleven days of B.52 attacks on Kham Thien, Hanoi. They fired 1,242 SAM and had none left. And that is why? Of course, Soviet and United States actually got a conspiracy of silence, peace agreement in January which had been under pressure of these Two Super-Powers. (China washed away by the Soviet Union) This is a debut at prepared movement in which Soviet Union would take over her influence all three countries in Indochina peninsular.
Meanwhile, because of the expansion of the battlefield [into Cambodia] NVA requirement for combined arms combat operations demanded the transportation of an ever-increasing quantity of supplies and technical equipment. So how do you think the U.S Seventh Fleet’ radar couldn’t able detected 759 Naval-Group smuggling supplies, the small-boats [PRC made] navigated to Sihanoukville? However, CIA clearance let ARVN destroyed Three boats of Navy Group 759th in decent-interval three different spots equivalent interval-distance for seeing good in logic-looking; such as one in further south at Camau, 1962; one in the northern near DMZ, 1972; and one right in middle Bay Vung Ro, north Nha-Trang 1965.
Now, NVA’ supplies overwhelming over top of every sanctuaries; and a clearance for the Cambodian incursion there was also no longer any doubt as to the importance of Sihanoukville to the NVA. The forces conducting that operation captured large quantities of confirmatory documents, including ship’s bills of lading and trucking company records that laid out all the incriminating detail. In the past situation gave NVA forces almost free rein in that country, and of course Cambodia and Laos had been used for years as sanctuaries for NVA forces, routes for the infiltration of men and material, and base camps providing a full range of support, including medical, logistical, and training facilities. At the same time, the advent of the Lon-Nol’ government resulted in closing Sihanoukville Harbor, and renamed Kompong Som Harbor, to the enemy, throwing supply back on the Ho Chi Minh Trail as his sole line of communication for all forces in the South. That in turn both concentrated the interdiction target and made the enemy more determined to protect his remaining line of communication under the ROE’ umbrella for their scam. Given the scattering of North Vietnam troop’s logistic traffic, the interdiction tactics of the past no longer seemed sufficient. “The dispersal factor has been accomplished perfectly.” Molotova-Trucks in dim light move at night [according under the umbrella of ROE] they move to one place, stay and hide, unload, then pick-up another truck and move on down, hiding in the canopy, so it’s just an extremely difficult problem”. To overcome those tactics, the Seventh Air Force decided to create choke points, areas that could not be avoided and through which they would make it almost impossible to move, and forget the rest. All this was a part of the aerial interdiction campaign aimed at the enemy’s logistics offense, but…only CIA selected target, the pilots just push a button to drop bombs.
On the basis of circumstantial evidence, the small group of young officers, may be included Lieutenant John-Kerry, working under General Alexander Haig in the White-House, part of Kissinger’s National Security Council staff, seems the likely source. Perhaps Haig himself was the principal author, a prospect congruent with his later involvement in and reaction to the operation. This like a relay-control box directed by Permanent Government – Company-dynasty as the masterminded brains of a coach George H.W Bush, the grit of Donald Rumsfeld a linebacker, but every member of the team-work had to have the skills of Henry Kissinger a quarterback. These were the ultimate team work effort.
Four key-targets were chosen, each a rectangle measuring one by two kilometers and sited at one of the prime input areas used by the enemy: (1) the Mu-Gia Pass, (2) the Ban Karai Pass, (3) the Ban Raving Pass, and (4) an area just west of the DMZ. A series of new sensor fields using improved technology was installed, and upgraded drones with higher altitude capability were going to be used to monitor the sensors. The target boxes were scheduled to get 27 B.52 sorties (9 Box B.52) a day and 150 tactic air sorties, sufficient to ensure ordnance arriving every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, for the next 60 days. The risk, said CIA, was that “we’re putting the B.52 right up in the SAM envelope” the area the enemy had covered with surface-to-air missiles. The bombing would be impressively supplemented by E.C-130B gunship, including this year B-57G’s, old airplanes given a new life and a new mission with the addition of multiple sensor capabilities in secured watch out once untamed Hanoi undisciplined.
Infiltration of enemy troops was being tracked closely. For most of 1970 it had been running at about 60% of the previous year’s numbers, then in late October that changed dramatically. CIA briefed on 19 infiltration groups headed for COSVN and due to arrive in February, along with 17 gap groups. General Abrams was told: “when we fill in the gap groups? That comes up to 14,450 moving into the COSVN area in one month. This is an all-time high since back in 1968”. It appeared that the manpower to match the enemy’s vigorous logistical offensive was now on the move. So they seem to be able to work on the roads, keep the trucks going, still fire the anti- aircraft, still move the supplies, and unload and load it, backpack it, and all that. So I would say that they’re right on schedule. I don’t think it means that somehow they’re going to screw it up.
When all supplies was completely O.K in the South from DMZ, Harriman’s staffs produced “The Rules Of Engagement” twining with the use of those forces still in Vietnam, was further curtailed by what was known as “The Cooper-Church” amendment to the defense appropriations bill, a measure denying funds for U.S ground force operations in Laos and Cambodia. (Which bore their names by Kentucky Republican Senator John Sherman Cooper, and Idaho Democrat Senator Frank F Church) progressively with “Case-Church” amendment later says that South Vietnam must do nothing. No military equipment, no American forces, nada, zip. And finally with the scam as the same Iraq-War in seeking a remedy for: “That exhausted the patience of the American people” and gave pressure on Congress forced withdraw combat troop after the project of WIB had done while been inventory. “Of course the Congress holds the purse strings.”

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

The Cruel April, 1975: Saigon Fall: Thereby, this left the enemy’s sanctuaries and lines of communication once again safe from American interference, this time by Congressional action influenced by Harriman overlapped to next wise-men’s generation including Bushes, and Bush’s senior staffs as: Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Cheney, Theodore Shackley…formed WSAG (Washington Special Acting Group) to the end by “the cruel April-1975”—Saigon fall.
Meanwhile, the enemy was contemplating his next round of dry season operations with overwhelming supplies. That was one thing. But there was something else, much more extensive and perhaps more risky, in the minds of Harriman’s staff-planners, a thrust into Laos to interrupt the enemy’s buildup of supplies and perhaps preempt his planned offensive. Much earlier in the war, when he still had an abundance of American troops and firepower, Abrams as same as Westmoreland, had looked hungrily at the enemy’s cross-border base camps. “You know!” He told the staff, “We would really have this thing by the neck if it wound up all being conducted in Laos, fighting over the goddamn caches. That’d be the climax of the interdiction. A lot of it smashed up en route and all that, and then finally when they get down there at the end of the line, we move in and scarf it up! It could have quite…ah!” That was in the spring of ‘Monkey-year’ 1969, two years earlier, and a lot had changed since then.
Now “Cooper-Church” 1970 amendment leashed his ground forces, American troops had in any case been drawn down by more than 200,000 and all the emphasis was on passing the burden of the war to the South Vietnamese (a continuous troop rotation withdraws for saving many Airlines avoided bankruptcy likewise during in second’s Iraq War)
This situation gave enemy forces almost free rein in that country, and of course Cambodia and Laos had been used for years as sanctuaries for enemy forces, routes for the infiltration of men and material, and base camp providing a full range of support, including medical, logistical, and training facilities. I recalled when I had been attending at Maxwell Air University, Montgomery, Alabama 1967. Every coffee break times, too many classmates asked me so various question about Vietnam War…What I thought of the war…? The immensity of the war at that time was too much for me to respond accurately their questions. And I recall telling them that:
“I thought it made no sense to try to defend South Vietnam so long as the border areas of Laos and Cambodia were conceded to the enemy. I had no quarrel with resisting the spread of communist governments, but I could see no strategy being applied that had prospects of success.
Nevertheless, I remember telling the interviewers that my patriotism was stronger than my unhappiness about poor leadership” But now I knew by policymaker as Permanent Government.

Suddenly, the Changing Nature of the War, presented at a commanders conference in mid-April, it began with this observation: “The nature of the military conflict in South Vietnam has been under change since Tet-Offensive of 1969 or General Abrams took over from General Westmoreland. In my vision that was to another period between US combat troop “coming” and now beginning “withdraw” such as from “Search and Destroy” now “Clear and Hold” for withdrawing. Although shifts in the level of violence, type of military operations, and size and location of forces involved are characteristics of this change, the allied realization that the war was basically a political contest has, thus far, been decisive”. Abrams had not lost track of the importance of that lifeline. When Director of Central Intelligence, Richard Helms (George H W Bush always behind him in the reign of second Skull and Bones generation, aiming for a plot to Watergate’ scandal) visited Vietnam, Seventh Air-Force commander General Lucius Clay described his job of the moment as carrying out instructions given him by general Abrams “He wants that Ho Chi Minh Trail in such a shape that a crow has to carry his rations to fly over it!”
That task was now more difficult due to the drawdown of U.S forces and budget constraints. Two years earlier, General Clay recalled, some 30,000 sorties a month were available for use throughout Southeast Asia. Now that was down to 14,000 sorties (only 45%) Meanwhile, the enemy had expanded his road and trail network, which gave him many more options in movement of supplies to the South, and increased antiaircraft defenses along Harriman’s Super-Highway (Ho Chi Minh Trail) Thus it was planned that 70% of the air effort would be applied against enemy lines of communication during the dry season offensive and, for the first time, all available B.52 would be used almost exclusively in the Laos interdiction campaign. The successes achieved in pacification and security within South Vietnam made this approach viable.
Increasingly threatening North Vietnamese air defense now brought the complex of “Rules Of Engagement” into even greater prominence. These prescriptions or more often restrictions governed where and under what circumstances aircraft could retaliate, what forces could be employed in the DMZ and for what purposes, and a range of other situation. According axiom 1, based on Harriman doctrine on a “strongman side” of war-game, ridiculously, one bitter but insightful joke of the day was that the reason the Air-Force used two-seater aircraft was so one man could fly and the other could read him the Rules Of Engagement. Deception replaced coherence.
During these later years a common practice was for MACV to request, often in advance of anticipated enemy offensive, certain “authorities” which were often temporary relaxation of existing Rules Of Engagement. “It may be necessary to hammer at Washington planners again about our authority in the southern half of the DMZ” where they were allowed to operate only with very small elements, General Abrams observed in May-1969. He also foresaw the need to request authority to use B.52 in the DMZ. “It that goddamn artillery outfit is going to have a wingding on Ho Chi Minh’s birthday, may be the day before we’ll have Roosevelt Day or something and run B.52s through there to help the 84th or whatever it is get ready”.
General George Brown, noting that the Rules Of Engagement permitted his air crews to strike enemy installations from which they had taken fire, said, “We’re trolling all the time”. What the Seventh Air Force commander meant was that they were running aircraft in with the expectation that they would be shot at, thereby permitting them to unload on the enemy missile and gun emplacements. “We can always entice them into shooting at us”. General Brown affirmed. Sometimes, though, that proved too dangerous a tactic. In March 1970, MACV reported, F.105- Thunder-chiefs targeted against an interdiction point on Route 7, east of Ban Ban in the Laos panhandle were fired on by four surface-to-air missiles. The aircraft took evasive action and thus suffered no damage, (this case designed for war-game between air-defense and counter… for pilot practiced training) but as a result of the incident instructions were issued prohibiting operations within the SAM envelope. Unfortunately that action also ruled out strikes against the best interdiction point on Route 7. It has been determined that none to cut cargo carrier system off from struck into enemy due to the existence to ‘nurture a protracted war’ or let enemy supplies continue flooding to South – what a ridiculous war! No, the WIB’ ambitious was exploited how to take evasive action test by sophisticated sensor-electronic-devices, when the pilots heard in his helmet sounds like: “SAM… SAM … SAM” reacted rough jerky-turns to escape. I dare said a plot for nurture to war-protraction in the axis of evil scam.
When this was briefed to General Abrams, he reacted heatedly. “The Air Force does not have the authority to attack that site, even when it’s fired at, right?” He asked General George Brown.
“No, No, sir! We can’t attack that!” General Brown confirmed.” Under those circumstances” said Abrams, “I just don’t see how you can call on people to go up there to work. That’s the whole point in this thing, the lack of authority to attack that damn site, or any other site up there in that area that opened up on you. Of course, we’ve tried to get the authority, and I’ll be goddamned if I understand why we can’t, because the photo recon guys that go in North Vietnam, they can attack anybody that shoots at them from North Vietnam.” Also we couldn’t attack the site have been installed air surface missile because few Soviet technician at work; we can’t attack, MIG on the parking lot or moving in taxiway unarmed, unprovoked and even on the air with Soviet instructor pilot being training or unequipped fire power. Who know…who tell? The secret agreement with China and Soviet wasn’t military and industry targets that are not the objectives because their personnel in there.
Referring acidly to comments by the Pentagon press secretary on the matter, General Abrams said: “All this crap about we can take whatever action’s required to protect our own forces, protective reaction, all kind of great patriotic speeches have been made about that! And if the principle doesn’t apply here, I’ll be damned. Of course, I suppose there are policy questions that I don’t know about. Anyway, I must say, from a rigid parochial position, this is very difficult to understand”. So as, have seen we, even generals who held commands in Vietnam admitted to uncertainty of this war’s objectives?! What the hell of war?
Controversy over the Rules Of Engagement, and the application of those rules, would continue throughout the remaining years of the war. Resumption of bombing in North Vietnam on two occasions and expansion of offensive action there to mining of the key ports were among the most momentous decisions of the war, and among the most efficacious. Meanwhile, North Vietnam for a number of years enjoyed a rear base spared the ravages of war.

North Vietnam “double-cross”, Colonel Bui-Tin maintains that, despite all the allied effort, North Vietnamese mediatorated: “operations were never compromised by attacks on the trail” Even though B.52 attacks sometimes caused major damage, he admitted, “We put so much in at the top of the trail that enough men and weapons to prolong the war always came out at the bottom”.
However, much of the allied air activity that occasioned these concerns had to do with interdiction of the enemy’s logistical offensives. At MACV there was respect and even compassion for the enemy’s tireless efforts to move the goods. When an intercept revealed that two transportation battalions supporting a way station on the trail had only 58 operable trucks out of the 133 assigned. A deadline rate of about 56%, General Frank Mildren, deputy commander of U.S Army, Vietnam sized that up. “Well, you know,” he observed, “We have a hell of a time maintaining better than 70% in hard surfaced motor pools, lighted conditions, shed to work under, goddamn, all the support they get. And these poor guys are out in the woods getting bombed, driving over lousy roads in the dark-night. I’m surprised if they keep 50% or 60% running. That would be pretty good under those conditions.
What interested Abrams most about all this was what the enemy intended, “You’re got a story going around that he’s opted for protracted war” he reminded at a June 1970 WIEW “You don’t need all this tonnage for a protracted war. We’ve got a lot of things here that just don’t add up! Either we’ve been kidding ourselves before, or something. How about this protracted war, and then here’s all this damn tonnage?” Before that question could be resolved, it was time to anticipate the enemy’s next dry season campaign and the logistics offensive preparatory to it. Countering that would be more difficult, in part because the complex of roads in use by the enemy had expanded dramatically, from 750 kilometers as recently as 1966 to 3,700 kilometers in 1970, and work continued on further expansion. MACV was thus faced with countering a stronger enemy effort with a reduced force. The solution was to allocate a planned 70% of fighter sorties to interdiction, a higher percentage of a smaller total than in earlier years. That meant fewer sorties would be available for South Vietnam, but it would be worth it if interdiction could really make a difference.
But there is evidence of periodic substantial success in the interdiction campaign in a history of PAVN published in Hanoi. “Because of the expansion of the battlefield [into Cambodia and Laos], our requirement for combined arms combat operations demanded the transportation of an ever-increasing quantity of supplies and technical equipment ”said this account” At the same time, however, the enemy’s AC.130B aircraft established control over and successfully suppressed, to a certain extent, our night-time supply operations. The number of Molotova-Trucks destroyed by enemy aircraft during the 1970-1971 dry season rose to 4,000 of which the AC.130B by itself destroyed 2,432 trucks (60.8 percent of the total number of trucks destroyed during a period enemy had stored overwhelming more than 30,000 tons of supplies in Group 559’s warehouses along the strategic transportation corridor) Our supply effort, conducted during a single season of the year and using a ‘single supply route’ could not respond adequately to our requirements”.
It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the enemy, especially after Sihanoukville and the southern supply route through Cambodia were closed in 1970. “It was the only way to bring sufficient power to beat on the fighting in the South” confirmed Colonel Bui Tin, and thus an absolute necessity. Of course MACV understood that reality full well, expending over the years of the war an immense effort in analysis, tactics, aircraft, sensors, ordnance, and manpower in an effort to constrict the enemy logistical flow. In the end the results seemed to mirror a famous comment, supposedly CIA’s (Richard Helms) take on the whole war “Everything worked, but nothing worked enough in the plot of WSAG’ mastermind”
General Alexander Haig [sent by the WSAG (Washington Special Action Group) to fresh-look into what was happening in the war zone] arrived in Vietnam. Haig’ some discussions with Abrams and others were prickly, his unsavory habits relentlessly political. “I’d hate like hell to think that the President Nixon was justifying his actions on faulty information, or lagging information” said Haig, voicing an implied criticism. That apparently related to Nixon’s announcement that the operation targeted COSVN headquarters. (It’s violated the ROE with his counterpart Soviet in war game?) Haig maintains, and frankly this is what he was getting from his cabinet and from the briefings we were getting, that it was ‘ambiguous’ Well, yes, agreed the MACV briefer, “It was ‘ambiguous’ at the time”. Obviously there was unhappiness in the WSAG over some procedural matter, perhaps an assessment of the North Vietnamese outlook on negotiations, even as the operation itself was proceeding admirably!
Those at MACV had their own concerns about ‘ambiguity’ and they weren’t shy about bringing them up with Haig. “We have two of your messages” he was told. “One of them says
‘go get ‘em’ and the other one says ‘hurry up and get out’. What’s it you people really want?” “Well” Haig responded, “Its go get ‘em’ until the end of the period”
Virtually on the eve of the Cambodian incursion President Nixon had announced another huge decrement of U.S forces in Vietnam, 150,000 over the next year, and Haig sought some sympathy for Nixon’s predicament from those at MACV. “What the president really wrestled with was, we were pressuring ‘for God’s sake don’t announce another troop withdrawal in the midst of this mess here’. And he said, “Well, it’s still ‘ambiguous’. I’ll go all out with 150,000,
And if Hanoi really means they want to settle, there’s some signal in that announcement”.
It was still ‘ambiguous’. Besides the Haig visit there descended upon MACV in the middle of this operation what Abrams described as “that whole goddamn flood of messages” from Washington. One suggested expansion of South Vietnamese armed forces above the 1.1 million levels that was already proving extraordinarily difficult to achieve in both manpower and budget. Another asked for a plan to reduce South Vietnamese forces 100,000 to save money. Yet another message stressed ensuring that Colonel Cavanaugh’s work was utilized in targeting the air effort. Steve Cavanaugh ran the Studies and Observation Group conducting clandestine reconnaissance and the like. “What the shit do they think we’ve been doing?” Abrams exploded. “I mean, what were we doing it for? Just to give Colonel Cavanaugh a job?
Eventually, Ho Chi Minh Trail as a sole line of communication for all forces in the South that Harriman mastermind and his next overlapped wise-men’s generation [Bushes] were to always protected the Trail. After the Cambodian incursion there was also no longer any doubt as to the importance of Sihanoukville to the enemy. The forces conducting that operation captured large quantities of confirmatory documents, including ships bills of lading and trucking company records that laid out all the incriminating detail. At the same time, the advent of the Lon Nol government resulted in closing Sihanoukville Harbor and renamed Kompong Som Harbor, to the enemy, throwing him back on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. That in turn both concentrated the interdiction target and made the enemy more determined to protect his remaining line of communication.
Crucially, on 26 January 1971 (before Operation Lam-Son 719 started) the text of an intercepted enemy message was forwarded to McCain and Abrams. “It has been determined that the enemy [South Vietnam and her allies] may strike into our cargo carrier system in order to cut it off” the document read.” Prepare to mobilize and strike the enemy hard. Be vigilant!”

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

William Colby & the Secret War: For telling the Colby’ stories, we must emphasize a ‘tactical’ triumvirate of like-minded leaders: Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, General Creighton Abrams and CIA Chief William Colby in operating the Vietnam War. However, in sharp contrast to a powerful ‘strategic-figure’ in the covert-dark commanded and controlled yet no one known him – William A Harriman, a Cold War architect, a masterminded of ‘Eurasian Great Game’, a surrogate war to Asia from Europe to Korea/Vietnam-wars and the last period of Middle Europe, or Central Asian, and also his initiator into the Skull and Bones Society, along with his deputy Prescott Bush (father and grandfather of two Bushes-presidents)
William E Colby (4 January 1920 to 28 April 1996), intelligence officer, was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Elbridge Colby, an army officer and educator, and Margaret Mary Egan Colby, an ardent Catholic who guided her son in the path of that religion. William Colby was also influenced by his father’s liberal views and by the family’s peripatetic movements to locations as diverse as China and Vermont, where he studied at Burlington’s high-school. He had learned to ski as a high-school student. He attended Princeton University, where he felt himself to be an outsider, educated as he had been at public schools and presenting, at five feet, eight inches, topped by eyeglasses, the appearance of a young man unlikely to win acceptance through athletic prowess. He graduated with an A.B in 1940.
In 1941 He was voluntary joined the US Army and in 1943 the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).The OSS trained him for special missions, and he served behind enemy lines in French and Norway. In an effort to prevent German troops from being redeployed through Norway to be used against advancing Allies forces in Germany. He led the raid to destroy the ‘Tangen’ railroad bridge- a daring and spectacular success, though the bridge was soon rebuilt.
In 1944 then-Lieutenant William Colby had parachuted into Nazi-occupied French as one of the OSS’ most elite operatives, to help the Resistance disrupt German defenses behind the Normandy beaches. A year later, as head of 100-man sabotage unit, he was sabotaging Norwegian rail lines to prevent German units from reaching the Reich before its collapse.(By sympathizing the Norway-foster, He got the chance in Vietnam war trying to help this country to send personnel and P.T Nasty boat involved into the so called the incident ‘Gulf of Tonkin’?) While several of his OSS colleagues became founders of US Army Special Force, Colby joined the new postwar civilian intelligence agency, the CIA. His career progressed steadily.
In 1945 Colby married Barbara Heinzen; they had four children. He obtained a law degree from Columbia University in 1947, the same year that Congress approved the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). After working for a short time in a law firm, Colby in 1949 joined the new agency. He served in Stockholm (1951-1953) and then in Rome (1953-1958), where he helped to arrange the secret subsidization of political parties to prevent communist electoral victories. Most of the recipients were centrist or slightly left of center, a political alignment that proved effective in combating communism but that gave Colby the reputation of having endorsed the “opening to the Left”.

According to “Commando-Vaught” for Second Indochina Wars/1954-75, in April 1959, and “Aid to Russia 1941-46” of WIB-Bones investment (Website: VietnamGear.com, surplus C. Rations were used in both Korea and Vietnam) Thereby in 1959 to 1962, Colby, a mediator with W A. Harriman at WW-II, was now assigned station chief in Saigon, and headed the agency’s Far East division from 1962 to 1967. Then from 1968 to 1971 he directed the Phoenix program in South Vietnam, and head of the entire CIA later. According to Prados, a historian and author of 10 other books on national security, Colby thought the United States could win the war by supporting President Ngo Dinh Diem. Unfortunately the Skull and WIB Bones in the then Kennedy administration did not and encouraged the generals who overthrew and killed him and his brother. The intrigue in Washington [Harriman’s mastermind order to kill Diem] Langley and Saigon surrounding 1963 coup was a rat’s nest; Prados struggles manfully, with only partial success to penetrate it.
In Phoenix Program, which sought to identify and eliminate communist activists (The Viet Cong) at the village level. Colby felt that the program was superior to the use of military force, which he believed was too blunt an instrument and alienated the Vietnamese. Nevertheless, estimates of the number killed under Phoenix range as high as 60,000 people. (Colby put the number at 20,587). Phoenix has also been defended on relativist grounds-the Viet Cong assassinated nearly 40,000 of their enemies in the period from 1957 to 1972. But none of these arguments could prevent the program from becoming a focal point of the antiwar movement. Although Colby maintained that the deaths characteristically arose in combat and not as a result of cold-blooded murder, critics of Phoenix labeled it an assassination program and a crime against humanity. At a General Conference of the United Methodist Church held in Atlanta, the majority of delegates approved a statement calling American involvement in the Vietnam War “a crime against humanity” then rejected a resolution that would have condemned “the appetite of North Vietnam to wage cruel and inhuman war”.
After Phoenix, Colby rose within the CIA’s Washington bureaucracy, and on 4 September 1973 President Richard Nixon appointed him director of the agency. During his tenure the press and Congress turned on the CIA, accusing it of crimes and misdemeanors ranging from assassination plots to espionage against Americans at home. When in 1975 both houses of Congress set up inquiries into the activities of the intelligence community, Colby offered significant if limited cooperation. For example, he handed over to the Senate committee- chaired by Idaho Democrat Frank Church (Frank Church and New Jersey Republic Senator Clifford P Case authored an Amendment, which bore their names Case-Church Amendment of 1973 caused President Ford has his hands tied double knotted. That’s says American must do nothing. No military equipment, no American forces, nada zip – at the direction of the then Godfather George H W Bush, emperor-II of Skull and Bones Dynasty) details of the CIA’s recent operations against the left-leaning government in Chile. The agency’s attempts to sabotage the Chilean economy had contributed to the downfall of South America’s oldest democracy and to the installation of a vicious dictatorship. Colby’s candor on such matters shocked colleagues in the CIA, some of whom never forgave him for opening up the activities of what was, after all, a secret agency.
His only daughter, Catherine, had died after a painful illness in April 1973, and colleagues speculated that the tragedy unlocked what some regarded as Colby’s already overdeveloped Christian-conscience. Though he sternly denied that his daughter had opposed Phoenix, perhaps Colby did want to atone for his part in the program. It is also clear that he disapproved of certain of the CIA’s activities that he called “deplorable” and “wrong” and wanted them stopped. In any case, he realized that a display of flexibility in his dealings with Congress would increase the agency’s chances of survival.
With CIA morale at a low-ebb, Colby’s enemies began to line up. On the Left, a coalition of muckraking journalists, Vietnam War critics, and ambitious legislators refused to give him credit for attempting to open up the agency. On the Right, conservatives such as Barry Goldwater disliked Colby’s liberalism and concessions to the Church committee, Colby had become politically vulnerable, and on 30 January 1976 President Gerald Ford, under pressure of second generation of Skull and Bones, replaced him with George H W Bush (behind political platform, Godfather A Harriman was working to derail George H W Bush’s head of CIA by slotting him as director). Colby had introduced some significant reforms, such as the prohibition of assassination as instrument of national policy and the practice of informing select members of Congress about the CIA’s activities, but his intelligence career was over, because he was always on noble cause of US administration side, wasn’t on Permanent Government side. But personally, I should presume that all plan setting up above was originated by the next Skull and Bones’ generation [George H W Bush] described by Evan Thomas and Walter Isaacson.
Colby’s life continued to be eventful. In 1978 he published his memoir, “Honorable Men” in which he defended himself against the Left over Phoenix and against the Right over his decision to clear the air while director of the CIA. He was right as for the Skull and Bones, it’s seemed to me, they don’t have “Honor”, however they should have “Duty” and “Country”- In 1982, following the enactment of stringent secrecy legislation in the administration of President Ronald Reagan, the US government began proceedings against Colby for making unauthorized disclosure, in the French-language edition of his memoir, about American efforts to retrieve secret codes from a sunken Soviet submarine. His agreement to pay a $10,000 fine in an out-of-court settlement barely covered the cracks between Colby and his enemies on the Right.
In 1984 Colby divorced his first wife and married a former diplomat, Sally Shelton. He had resumed legal practice and lectured widely, taking up a new cause- the campaign for a freeze on nuclear arms. On a spring day in 1996, Colby went down to the waterfront near his weekend home in Rock Point, Maryland, and launched his canoe into a stiff breeze. Until his body was found several days later with no evident signs of foul play, the press had one more chance to speculate about the fate of a man whose manner of death seemed to conjure up the enigma of his life.
May 14 1996, the remains of former CIA Director William Colby were buried with military honors, Monday at Arlington National Cemetery. After a private service for family and friends, an urn bearing Colby’s ashes was transported by horse-drawn caisson to its final resting place in a clearing surrounded by maple and pine trees. For Tuesday, a public memorial service is scheduled at Washington National Cathedral.
Army marksmen fired a 21-gun salute, and a bugler played taps as a flag was presented to Colby’s wife, Sally Shelton-Colby. William Colby, 76, disappeared April 27 while canoeing near his Rock Point, Maryland, vacation home. His body was recovered eight days later.

From a certain contemporary press report:
Autopsy finds Colby likely collapsed before falling out of canoe: May 11, 1996.
Former CIA director William Colby died from drowning and hypothermia after apparently collapsing from a heart attack or stroke and falling out of his canoe, the state’s medical examiner said Friday. Colby’s body was found Monday after an eight-day search that included helicopters, divers, dogs and sonar equipment. Colby, who disappeared April 27 while canoeing near his waterfront home in southern Maryland, was found lying facedown in a marshy riverbank.
-An autopsy found that Colby, 76, had suffered from hardening of the arteries, Chief Medical Examiner John Smialek said in a statement.
-The death was ruled accidental, rather than from natural causes, because even though there was evidence Colby was ill before falling out of the canoe, in the final analysis it was the drowning and hypothermia that killed him, said Jeannette A Duerr, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Hypothermia is a dangerous drop in body temperature.
-No blood clots were found, although they could have dissolved during the week-long search for his body, the medical examiner said.
-Autopsy also showed that Colby had died a short time after eating, and that he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.07 percent due to having wine with dinner. No drugs were found in his system, the medical examiner said.
John DeCamp, a lawyer from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Colby’s close friend and confidant, said Colby’s death was not an accident. He stated that Colby was prepared to disclose that missing P.O.W’ were working for a dope smuggling operation orchestrated by General Colin Powell, Pentagon official Richard Armitage, and George H W Bush. This former CIA director disappeared in an apparent boating accident, and a body was later discovered (minus the life jacket, Colby’ friends, his wife as well insisted he always wore while boating).

From a contemporary press:
Former CIA director William E Colby wasn’t the sort of fellow who liked to be addressed as the Mr. Colby “Call me Bill, please,” He asked in his affable way.
In his last media interview April 23, four days before he collapsed and drowned while canoeing near his southern Maryland weekend retreat, the ex-spy chief appeared more youthful and vibrant than you might imagine a 76 year-old should look like who began his long intelligence career as a commando parachuting behind Nazi lines with the Office of Strategic Services in WW II. Nor did Colby seem beaten up by his extensive experiences in both the Vietnam War and the Cold War, two terribly different yet impossibly intertwined American conflicts.
“I’ve been lucky” Colby said, smiling modestly, insufficiently summing up on the streets of Washington his life and CIA career. It was appropriate to chat with the retired spymaster over a cup of espresso at a sidewalk café near The White House; Colby would insist on paying, of course. Besides his tenure as director of central intelligence in the early seventies, Colby may be best known as the head of the CIA’s Far East Division during the hottest period of the war in Vietnam
“I’ve defended (Phoenix) as a necessary element of the war!” Colby said: The communists, curiously enough, say it was the most effective program ever used against them…The Phoenix, I always thought, was not all that effective. But if you have a secret Mafia inside your population you better find out who they are, and that was what Phoenix was all about, to identify who they were. And if so (they should) either be captured, convinced to surrender, or in a fight, shot. It was a war”.
In seeming contradiction to the bloody and corrupt tactics of that assassination spree, there is evidence to support the notion that Colby wanted to help the Vietnamese people. He supported the broader Pacification Program, which encouraged and helped villagers to protect their hamlets rather than live as refugees and see their homes destroyed by Viet Cong attacks-or American bulldozers.
“ We would take people out of the refugee camps and put them back in their old villages, put some protection around them, give them some guns to protect themselves, begin to rebuild the village, or the bridge, or the irrigation ditch or whatever was necessary, and they would start up their lives; really decent lives. That was the strategy of the Pacification Program” Colby said.
After leaving the Republic of Vietnam and the battles that ultimately consumed the small nation, Colby continued to ascend the ranks of the CIA. The well-known architect of many of the Agency’s dirtiest tricks became more and more open about them. When appointed director, he revealed so much to Congress that some of his colleagues whispered that Colby must be a KGB asset. President Gerald Ford soon dismissed him from the job after only two years, in order to appease the critics.
Of the nagging conspiracy theories suggesting CIA involvement in President Kennedy’s assassination, William Colby was in Vietnam in November 1963. He said: “Olive Stone came to see me once to get the material released that the CIA had, and I said I believed in releasing it, may be save the names of a couple of agents.”
“Believe me, if the CIA had anything to do with the murder of our president, I would have discovered it in the early seventies and I would have revealed it. I revealed a lot of other-thing”
“He’s should be killed due to knowing so much secret dishonest schemes of the Axis of Evil [Permanent Government scam] In 2003, author Mickey Herskowitzs praised Prescott Bush in “Duty, Honor, Country” instead of a deserved prize for William Colby because he didn’t have prosecuted in “Trading with Enemy Act in 1941, December” like Prescott Bush in 1943.
(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

(In the Chapter William E Colby & The secret war: The Vietnam War could be fully understood only when one really experiences the hardship of dense jungle ground-operation, feels the adrenaline rush, faces the invisible enemies, escapes the harrowing death, and fight alone behind the enemy line...! But they are all the excitements of warfare adventures)

For carrying out the Eurasian Great Game, there’d resumed the Vietnam War in second period (1954-1975) Indochina Wars; So right after the Geneva Peace Agreement that divided Vietnam into North and South was signed in 1954, Mr. Allen Dulles, Director of the CIA, assigned Air Force Colonel Edward Lansdale to South Vietnam to assist Premier Ngo Dinh Diem in consolidating his position in the South and organizing paramilitary units that had been left in place in North Vietnam before the Communists came to power. Colonel Lansdale assumed the post of Deputy Director of the Office of Special Operations that was directed at that time by Brigadier General Graves Erskine. His mandate was to take charge of secret Counter-Insurgency Plan’s operations in Vietnam as he had done for Philippine President Magasasay who was successful in exterminating the rebel forces of the Huk Communists during the 1950's. Colonel Lansdale’s organization in Vietnam was called the Saigon Military Mission and it included Major CIA Lucien Conein, Agent-19 a professional spy who would play a very important role in the political upheavals that characterized the First Republic in South Vietnam.
Just before the North was handed over to the Communists many Vietnamese civilians were recruited by Colonel Lansdale. Most of them came from the Vietnamese ethnic minority known as the Nung and some were native to Mong Cai Province, which is situated near Hai Phong Habor. Others came from areas near the Chinese border, however, they were all sent to Long-Thanh County for training in the basics of counterinsurgency. By the time Vietnam had been officially divided in two, the Nung had been well trained and assigned to small teams. Subsequently, the warships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet put troops ashore near the areas that the Nung recruits called home and ordered them to infiltrate and remain inactive in place until they received further orders. Weapons, radios and gold were pre-positioned in secret locations to be retrieved when needed. One of the undercover spies at this time was a man named Pham Xuan An [Triple-Cross] but Colonel Lansdale was not aware that he was an agent of the Vietnamese Communists who had infiltrated our organization.
In every special operation conducted behind enemy lines, especially those that included cross-border missions into North Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia, the participants were usually divided into two groups: the operations team which was usually nicknamed the “Team” had the duty of actually going ashore to carry out the mission they had been given and the support team, which had the responsibility for providing the transport that would drop off and retrieve the operations team as well as provide fire support when required. Infantry teams did not have an inherent transport or fire support capability by either air or sea and therefore could only undertake duties that fell into the category of the former. By contrast, the Air Force, which did not have its own operations team, could only participate by providing transport and support. As for the Navy, it was unique in that it could undertake both special and support operations because in its make-up was an inherent capability to perform both tasks mentioned above.
The special operations that were carried out by the various teams such as the Thunder Tigers, Black Dragons, Air Commando, CAS Queen Bee flight Group, Squadron 219 and the Delta Force took place within the territory of the South Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia while the later incursions into North Vietnam were undertaken almost exclusively by the existing units of the RVN/Navy. The operational elements of the Navy were the SEALS and a transportation-support unit which was known as the Sea Patrol Force (SPF). In an operational sense SPF was considered a unique unit of the Special Forces that could undertake special missions inside North Vietnam. Those missions included shelling targets on shore, capturing and detaining fishermen to develop intelligence and distributing pamphlets, etc… all without the assistance of any other force. Both the SEALS and the SPF operated under the authority of the Coastal Security Service (CSS).
Below there was a TRATA Team, and some cross-checks of Communist Hanoi’s presentation on Laos territories in readiness for the War-Game “NLF and CIP Craps

Standby for alert-operation
My crew-chief, master sergeant Mai who I admired not only his skill experiences but also his quick reaction in any cases emergency, It is therefore I’d chosen him as a leader of crew chief Team in my new Flight assault infiltration in Project Delta Force of US Green beret.
Just yesterday, when STRATA’ reconnaissance Team captured a prisoner, then I was receiving an order to fly to pick-up him back home base for investigation. The engine was missing fire and lost power RPM. Mai was rose his arms to his neck stand for turning it off. I was stayed clinging in my cockpit-pilot chair waiting. He has opened in front access-door, did odd things for more than five minutes and then made me a signal to turn on the engine again. Great job, it was running great. I’d had no time to investigate his talent now but later after this came back flight mission.
For forty five minutes, I’d landed with NVA prisoner, wearing a khaki uniform and shoes instead of Nam-Dinh rubber tire sandals.
Mai stood nearby looking on the prisoner who was conducting into a Dodge. I ran toward Mai, puzzling asked him:
-Eh Mai! What effective medicine you doctor gave to this camel? He quickly answered:
-So easy! Replace a spark-plug to any cold cylinders. That’s all!
He quickly held my hand, pulling me without having any other question, to a tree shade and whispered:
She asked me almost anything about your private life. Have you any affaire with her?
I quickly asked:
-Then what was your answer?
-I said that you’re unmarried, twenty five years old, happy single, free… what a stupid to tell her that you’re married!
She also asked me:
-You guys are going home, aren’t you? But when you guys going to depart?
I answered:
-Probably not hence we’ve changed job and location.
She gave me this piece of paper, telling me to deliver it to you immediately after you landed.
-Let me see it!
“Vinh, I need to see you tomorrow at 9 AM at the side of the creek as usual, OK? “
Only a simple message but I’d had to read over and over again, and still want read again.
Her home was only five hundred meters from helicopter landing pad. I saw her youngest brother Cu-Ty Playing in the front yard and called him. Every time I came here,
I’d given him MM chocolate but not this time because I’d had no time to stop by Quang-Tri to purchase it. So I had to give him my emergency technical chocolate candy, thinking of post effect of constipation this four-day nutrition could bring to him.
-You deliver this piece of paper to your older sister Ni, OK? I slipped to his hand a chocolate candy.
My message gave her an appointment at 10:00 instead of 9:00 as of her wish because I’d had to check ride flying for First Lieutenant Hao’ refreshment practice due to VNAF regulations, recommending her that I would shake my wing over her house’s roof when done for her readiness.
I used to wait her at the spring side in advance as usual but this time, she already there stood waiting for me.
-Had you waited for me long hadn’t you?
She forced a smile saying:
-I’ve just coming here!
I recognized a mild essence ‘Soir de Paris’ perfume that I’ve just given her and contradicted myself for not wanting her to use, instead of preferring to enjoy her own natural pleasant scent. Suddenly I fear to look at her serious and anxious sad face today which looks like older age with deep eyes and pale cheeks totally contrast with her lovely behavior brightly appeared in her grace eyes last visit. My feeling was bolder than my practical flying with Hao who had ceased flying more than two weeks as Air Force regulation required. More violation if there were in emergency- circumstances such as off-engine quit for forced-landing. I got sweating and filled with concerns in our minds
My love affaire with her had lasting for more than six months but we’d actually met each other here just a couple times, due to my next busy militarily duties upon reports from STRATA’ reconnaissance Team after its mission, and for standby emergency alert on the other side of Viet-Lao boundary
On many standby-days at this Huong-Hoa district, I went around for mountainous hike during off-duty time. Doctor Capt. Tri of LLDB (Combined Area Studies) one day asked me to go hunting. I picked up a Czech assault machine gun from my tent. When passing a dry fall as if there was a good luck when I saw a young lady doing her laundry at the fall side. Her long dark hair covered her shoulders. A little noisy sound made her turning over and looked stunning at my face. I’d felt uncontrolled before her glint eyes; took off my hat and smiling cheered her:
-Welcome lady!
She was shy trying to say some words back and continued doing her laundry. I stepped up asking nonsense question:
-You’re doing your laundry aren’t you?
-I’m doing laundry for my parents.
-How clean beautiful water is!
-Yes, the up source water in this dry season comes without dirty red color.
I felt disappointing of hunting. I asked to leave, later quickly coming back, fearing she’d not being there, with a bar of Cadum soap for her as an opening gift. When I came again, she was ready to go home. I ran toward, dropped the soap into her basket and told her the effect of using this soap. She was puzzled as if being uncovered by people. I had sputter, doubted nobody would doing laundry everyday:
-Will you come back here tomorrow?
-Tomorrow here this time! She surprisingly answered.
-How you’ll answer if your parents have questions of your everyday laundry? I was up to a trick and asked.
-I take advantage of hot sun and clean water. By the way I have a big size family.
-I’ll come early. Is that OK?
She looked down, shy and quickly went home. I’d kept a decent distance for her comfortable, walking slowly until her sight disappeared.
&

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

At ninth visit that day, fog covered mountainous Khe-Sanh area but I found out the ‘rendezvous’ because every tree, rock, bushy mimosa and other plants, wild red fruits were well known familiar to me. Those fruits were sweet but shouldn’t be Adam and Eve’s forbidden fruits. On winding down hill trail, I suddenly remembered a phrase of a poem: “The dark night is accomplice of love” But how about the foggy day? No poet mentioned about it. May be “Fog makes no sin”.
Sitting on a block of stone waiting long for her appearance, on the scene within very slow minutes passing calm mix with my terrible heart beats. My flying-suit became so wet because so much stagnant fresh heavy fog, I was worried for her safety on the way to come here. I opened broadly my both ears to listen to even a light noise. Abrupt tiny noise made me concentrated seeming very similar a small wild animal pads-on on the dead leaves. Suddenly, a noise was closer and clearer like foot steps, I’m sure confident that was her steps closer. I was just kidding, made a Tarzan howl by both hands but it turned out to be a turtle dove sound. Finally she ran quickly toward me:
- This is me …you are there...you are there?
I teased her by continuing my howl to answer: “Hu…Hu…Hu…Uh…”
I thought she wouldn’t be lost because this beautiful place is her choice. The Khe Sanh’ fog melt away very late, as early as noon by wish to be cleared. After that would be a lot of sunshine without a slight wind. That’s local weather. But it was better than hot Lao’s wind which was tough enough that the colonial French used it as a punishment for prisoners of Lao-Bao’ prison.
Today she appears so beautiful with nice cloths. Her oval face looks similar to her mom’s. Her small high nose looks like Virgin Mary’s, probably came from her mom’s long kneeled praying in front of St Mary’s portrait. There was a beauty dimpled on her right cheek, a beauty uneven upper tooth on her left mouth side. She dressed a black Thai’s style Maxi-Robe, a white shirt fitted to her fluently small shoulders with innumerable buttons. Her long hair was tighten into two plaits covered those shoulders. Her face that day looks naïve, younger than her actual age of 17, she looked at me with her bright eyes as if she’d known I was distinguished her beauty fashionable and justified for her making up. A chain of bean rosary hung on her chest as a proof of a devout religious woman.
-You’re beautiful today like a student of elementary school asking for candies!
-What you’d give me now?
Her surprisingly question made me thinking of a next gift will be a tiny decanter ‘Soir de Paris’ perfume for her which I didn’t bring that day.
-Next time OK? Sorry, I bring nothing today.
-I like your silken purple scarf.
-Oh no, it’s full of my sweat.
-It doesn’t a matter for I like it.
I faithfully followed her request without fearing her thought of my unsanitary lifestyle and quickly told her:
-Keep in mind to wash this dirty scarf with extra detergent!
She quickly took it and hung around her neck without knowing my concerning of it’s odor on her
Fog was begun slowly melt down. Everything appeared in likely fairyland. From the sky looks down normally but more fairy looks from earth I thought.
-Come down into the water for fun!
I came with her into the funny noisy sounds of waves beating walls of rock caused by our swimming. She walked like a fairy flying on cloud. Her Maxi-robe twisted with waves on walls of rock. I look on and murmured myself:
-For makes no sin please!
But there was no more fog now. I struggled myself between sin and saint nights after nights about a life of a spy pilot, short and risky as her mom frequently told her:
-Make no friend with that risky pilot guy!
Her mom was right, as many local folks such as my chauffeur, that no mother would ignore her daughter’s happiness. I was assigned leader of any Delta Force pilot flying from CAS (Combined Area Studies) that I was qualified after one month check-out for professional qualification. Then I chose a risky flying-team as her mom had said:
-with criteria such as… Live short life, no future, self-destructive, undependable…
That means an unmarried, brave, well-trained guy who’ll go into death more than live.
-How slowly you walk!
Her urging made me awaked but my boots kept me slow from full of slippery rocks and pockets of deep water that make it dangerous.
-Be careful!
But too late, I don’t know if her loud warning made me falling down painfully on rocks, so quick to this day of my life. I stayed lying, eye-closed and quiet when she asked:
-Are you all right?
-Oh pity on you! She blamed herself for my falling, pulled me up.
-Let me have a rest. I feel terrible pain! I refused.
I felt my head got inflammation at the rear caused by internal bleeding. She saw a bruise on it and reported:
-Your head was swollen injured!
-No problem! I’ll be OK, Don’t worry! I said.
She sat down, rubbed her hands on my head which was now on her thigh. That made me feeling better but I exploited by keeping on pain. Her sweat dropped on my face with no taste, no odor that I’ll never forget and didn’t know if it came from hot weather or from her concerning for me. I gazed at her anxious face now more beautiful as I wished. I asked myself to quell my temptation when I was with her. I rose up sitting.
-Let down lying for good!
-I kept lying long enough to make your legs numbed.
She helped me standing up from behind. I felt something warm and not really soft stuck on my back and wishing this moment to be halt. I took off my boots and hung them on my neck by their laces. I pulled her hands:
-Have a shower at the fall with me for fresh air!
She agreed. I prepared for myself this morning an under-wear and a short pant for this event. I asked her:
-Have you any swimming stuff?
She was shy, answering that she was OK, that this warm season would dry her cloths quick enough before coming home. We swam side by side to deeper water. I felt disappointed myself for my junior swimming level when I was watching her advanced swimming styles. I frustrated when diving deep under her only to see nothing more than her Maxi robe twisted by her attractive legs.
-I suddenly felt bad probably from my injury.
-Have you able to walk?
-Probably with your help.
She held me tight. Her body stuck to mine well enough to turn my pretending into real failure! I finally lay on the sand.
-How you fell now?
-Better!
-Come on! Relieving your head on my legs!
-I don’t want hurting them.
-No problem!
I enjoyed her sweat again, feeling tender. I opened my eyes, seeing her ever before beautiful face never ever seen on earth.
-Are you looking at my red beauty mole?
-Yes very pretty. A good fortune for you future!
-You can read fortune, can’t you?
-I’d learned some from the books of Dr. Pascal. He insisted red beauty moles like rare plants which should be growing on deep woods.
-I have another one on my left breast. Is that area deep and is it good too?
-Yes. Empress Cleopatra had shown her breasts to Emperor Ceasar and said: “With
my red nipples, I shall giving birth a bright prince, future king of his own subordinate country for you!
-So mine! Is that good?
-You’ll be First Lady!
-You’re kidding!
At this same spot last time, we were taking shower under creek-fall. My perfect pilot eyes witnessed many chicken skin spots, unknown color around a lemon grain size spot under her wet thin fabric.
I think other way today that those small spots would be gems on Adam and Eve era’s fruit. I wished I can eat that fruit even if being go to hell later! I found everything from her is overwhelmingly far gracious than my wife.
-Are your legs hurt? Let me go up sitting!
-Staying put. I’m fine. She said after several times forcing me to stay put and then she told fairytales. Her local dialect made my ears twisted, but my hearing skill got better until being addicted.
-Let me rolling-turn my flying-suit into a pillow now so you should be able to tell fairytales later OK? I insisted and she agreed, because I was worrying her numbness.
Her local dialect began: “A long time ago, there was a king hunting in a forest.
After chasing a wild animal, he got tired and was trying to take a break. Suddenly he saw the climbing plant and a wild watermelon at the end of it. He quickly ate part of it, threw it at the side of the trail and urinated into it. Early next morning, little girl Ut came to collect dry wood for her family cooking had randomly saw and ate the rest of it for reducing her thirsty. A few months later, her belly was bigger and she after all gave birth to a nice boy. Seven years later, the king came hunting back there and got only a young phoenix at the end of the day. When the king went to collect the wounded bird, a six years old boy brought it for him and said:
-You shot this bird, right?
All high ranking mandarins, many of them teachers of the king had come up and praised the boy as the same time:
-This boy looks exactly like your Majesty at childhoods!
The king, with his sixth sensitive organ, had immediately loved the boy, carried him to his home. Ut his mother nervously came out. The boy pointed his finger to the king and introduced to her mother:
-He is the king!
-Who’s father of the boy? The king asked.
-Ut told the king the story of the wild watermelon seven years before. The king murmured himself: “I’ll ask my father to make her queen-.probably this is my fate”.
Get pregnancy from digestive organ is always a fairytale those old days but how about getting pregnancy from streamline this science era? Why she deserved upper part of the streamline for me? A thoughtful person like her must be romantic and that is the real meaning of human lives.
I respected and considered her like a luxury tea cup for display only, not for use to prevent damage. A heroic pilot- the world is small under pilot wing- like me is great in missions but feeble in front of her. She is immense!
The sound of helicopter was clearer and closer. Lieutenant Khoi probably came to get me back for an emergency mission. I thought.
-Honey, I’ve had an emergency flying mission. I must go back the camp now.
&

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

-Come to the block of stones. I have to ask you many things. Ni said softly.
She made me tremble trying to make no eye contacts with her sad eyes. She patted my right ear and said:
-What’s wrong made your ear red? She softly asked.
-Probably this new pilot helmet is too tight.
-Nobody up on the air for you to show your new helmet! She lovely chided.
I had no discussion with her about this new helmet type which has a deeper goggle than the old one for better services. Her fingers patted on my hair for my great felling:
-Your hair was full of sweat after a lengthy fly?
I no longer felt tremble when a human two way circuit went through my hair strings and tremble again when her hands pressed my cheeks:
-I couldn’t sleep last night, hoping sunrise soon so I can tell you many things but now I forgot all. I had a dream last night seeing you howling me as usually as last times from my back yard.
After ending my confusion of her local dialect “chộ” for dream, I urged:
-Continue please!
-I ran so quick that I’d struck at large water jar hurting my leg right here…
-You poor pity lady! Let me see it.
I had no first aid kit there so I’d just applied my bare hands on her injury, concerning, caring. I just thought ridiculous about the beauty of montagnard women well over the urban women. For a moment I wished to have a honeymoon with her. She looks very similar to a young sexy French lady on the beach of Canne (in France) in her robe and high heel shoes. I waked up from being hypnotized.
-Yesterday, Sergeant Mai told me that your family had planned an engagement for you to a well educated, well to do and beautiful girl. Is that true?
I thought she just made up a story and trying my best probably last tactic to uncover as much as possible my private life:
-My risky spy pilot life had giving me no chance even to think of, let alone to having a fiancée, for her own risk of being a widow.
-Why you’d chosen a strange job? Why not a teacher for safety? She asked loudly, sadly and frustrated.
-I answered for fun;
-If I was a teacher, I’d never having a chance met you today.
-Sergeant Mai also said that you guys are going to change mission and area. Is that true?
-Yes, we won’t be spy pilots but ranger pilots instead.
-What difference between them? She asked, curiously.
-Spy planes fly over enemy’s territories with explosives on board for in case emergency destroy all, Sweden tiny arms, no sign. Pilots wear no uniform. Ranger planes fly over their own land with their own uniformed pilots. I explained slowly.
-I pray St Mary every night for your safety. She sighed as imploring with her breath and sad face.
-I fly on the air, closed to heaven; so I’ll pull you up there. Don’t worry! I teased.
-Hey, it’s never easy to go to heaven. No kidding on this.
-Huong-Hoa district is inside the country. We helicopter pilots can land everywhere. Don’t worry!
She looked more relax but asked me:
-Look like have you something to concern about?
-I’m worrying about my mission tomorrow!
-You guys will leave here tomorrow, right?
-You’re too careful.
-For our own lives!
-I couldn’t sleep since that night.
At 18 years old, she knew that and comforted me:
-Let play stone throwing game!
I lost that game. I comforted myself, as a pilot who eats on earth but works on air, I couldn’t be lost. I remembered a theorem aerodynamic equation ‘1/2GSV2’ which is defined can help me win.
Now I tried again and did a lot better with a thin plat-stone gliding on the water surface. She applauds: -“What a pilot is!”
My nostrums were almost broader for a proud moment. I asked her:
-You look pale recently. Have you any health problem?
-I don’t know. I’ve had fewer sleeping recently, may be I was praying much more.
-How you feel! You OK?
She slightly shook her head, sadly looked up quietly. I had no guilt because I had made no promise. I’ve treated her like my home-front montagnard younger sister. I kept myself no commitment. I want to go back to my jobs but having self struggle between sin and saint matter. I’ve acted noble-minded as I chose Lieutenant Vui for partnership and spared him from dangerous missions for his family burden. I try to do the same on her. I told her:
-Yesterday I came to your back yard intending to inform you that I’ll be here the day after tomorrow but when I was going to howl, your mom just came out from back door. That made me being choked and difficult to sleep all night.
-Have you feel better now?
-I’m fine. I touched her hair pin and had question:
-Why you wear only the same chrysanthemum shape hair pin. May I give you another one next time? Or you just like it?
-I like what you like. You forgot that you said this white pin was beautiful when you’d first met me. That’s why I wear it even I have more than one.
-You might give me a double white chrysanthemum shape hair pin next time. I like that shape. Let’s sit on flat stone surface. I’ll give you a good food.
I concerned all cakes in thinking about my stomach upsets last times with her different kind of cakes that I ate. I remembered every time we pilots flied to Quang-Tri for lunches, paying by an American official, I just watched good foods and pals having lunch without touching my chopsticks. They’d thought I was lovesick. This time I asked:
-Do you bring chopsticks?
-Two pairs, fish sauce, six shrimp cakes…
-You did forget green pepper, didn’t you? I wished.
-I did bring them, an important seasoning. It’s a good smelled spicy.
-I have to confess this to you. I got stomach upsets last times because of eating too much salty and spicy food from your holding hand that I couldn’t refuse, now…
She looked being sulky, tears on her cheeks. I shook her shoulders. She removed my hands. I didn’t know what to do. I felt failure and weak but thinking myself as another Napoleon of this era. Suddenly, she glanced at me with forgiveness:
-I got risk of your unwashed hands so I used my hand for better sanitary, you know?! You say no thank but blaming on me! You’ve had taking cares only by me from our first day. And you…She complained lovely.
-I just used my hands for massaging my wound. I did what you wanted. From now on I won’t let you disappointed on me.
-You said like I was daughter of the bitch. All I wanted was just good meals for you and a saying of thank for my cooking skill.
I thought this-highland-folk was too conservative unlike urban folks. Her bamboo shoot fingers wide opened each cake covered by banana leaves; satisfied with green pepper mild spicy odor. I was scary on latter one, doubted myself on my effort to suffer this crusade.
-Did your mom know your well prepared meal?
-Sure, she already knew our relationship. She understood me, smiled and even reminded me to cook correctly.
-I have chopsticks this time so it’s up to your taste. No stomach upset because white rice is good for digestion.
-Good foods! Real good!
I felt numbed at my buttock caused by long sitting on stone so I asked her to move:
-Honey, let go hand washing and take a hike for better muscles.
She responded well. We walked on dead leaves. Noisy sounds from them made me thinking of self defense and survive class in Okinawa which teaching of many wild vegetables printed on thick set of game cards.
-Is there myrtle fruit here?
-No, there are only wild fruits.
-Go finding them and try their tastes.
-Don’t eat them much. They cause… not able to flying. Don’t eat this sour wild red-berry!
-That’s why people called “bride” (berry in Vietnamese) but not “banana” or “mango”!
-Why?
-Because all brides are shrewish talking. I mean sour or berry.
-Included me on my daughter in law duties?
-You are not berries but acrid.
-Which one you like?
-I like acrid for well full, no berry for stomach upset.
-God help this village you know. Wild fruits are good remedy-medicines which used as treatments for sore throat, laxative. They grow everywhere this dry season.
-My military school taught me: Any fruit or leaf that monkeys and birds can eat, people can eat safely too.
-Yesterday, I saw your plane flying over my roof and landing for a while after that. I thought you came back to pick something you forgot. You’re right? She asked jealousy and interrogative.
-Supersabre F100 of US Air Force intercepted my plane yesterday back and Capt.
Richardson had ordered me to take off immediately after landing. STRATA’ Team was encircled tightly by a NVA’ regiment on top of the hill; I tried to rescue evacuate them and don’t have to report it to radar center.
-Where is that center?
-On the top of Son-Cha Monkey-mountain, Danang. A duty electric-technical operator found out not my plane IFF on his radar and asked Seventh Fleet, Pacific US Air Force and VNAF for code call-sign number. After that, he made a mandate dispatching intercept procedure for return to forced landing in the nearest airfield (Khe-Sanh) and after all ordered to shoot down if my aircraft continue flying in crossing border, made no return-landing.
-What is code number IFF on the radar screen?
-IFF means Identification Friends or Foes, a number for every plane taking off except my secret mission. I’d head cursing from Sergeant Duncan, urging me continue for the sake of our comrades in great danger. But I wouldn’t. I must return.
-Why not flying back for rest?
-I’ll being shot down due to no code number. But I continued following as secret order for international intercept; at the same time two F100 knew who I am for that mission impossible and went back to their Udon airbase in Thailand. Firstly I found two aluminum objects reflect from afar that I suspected Mig-21 until they closed in front of me as closed as I could read letter USAF on their fuselage. After I’d landed, two supersabre F.100 saluted me by making ultra pass-supersonic sound and came back to Thailand. My job was a rescue mission to save Strata’s Team which had lost for over two months and was encircled by a NVN regiment. A member of the Team was missing after exchanged fire with enemy not found yet. The rest five of them were waiting for rescue. Their wounds were severed. I flied alone with Duncan because of that, no copilot, no crew-chief.
-You were crazy! Who’ll rescue you if you got shot at time, wounded and who will bring your plane back? She screamed lovely.
-You’re right but I needed my plane still in light weight which was able to land from high level to save one ranger who lost his HT1 radio but still having his red piece of plastic-panel. Suddenly Duncan loudly called “I saw SOS word appeared on green-carpet on signal in the middle of thatch on a hillside” .I shouted: “Where?” He answered: “At 4 o’clock direction for heading way”. I immediately made a sharp turn to the right, seeing letter SOS appearing on a green carpet. At the same time I had heard five others called for help. I turned off radio for easy to flight maneuvers.
-Very interesting but I has concerned and kept praying to St Mary for your safety.
She cut short interrupted at my story.
-OK from now on I’ll never tell this story again!
-Please continuing! Since ghost fearer always wish to listen to ghost stories. Please, please!
-After only one round of flying. I found Red piece of panel hanging on a tallest tree, a man making right code signals. With flying experiences, I kept engine at 2,700RPM for the plane staying put on the top of the tree and released hoist-cable down with the help of Sergeant Duncan. Suddenly cable got trouble and at the same time the sounds of AK machine guns noisy came from other hillside and there were several sounds of AK from behind too. The fuselage tail bump probably got hit as I experienced before. I loudly urged Duncan. “Get secure your belt, came out and bring him up by your hands at any cost or he’ll be captured”. I saw Duncan at work. The rest of the Team was discovered by the enemy, the fuselage got more hits and the main blades got hit too. I increased to 2,800RPM to prevent the plane from shaking and kept it staying higher altitude setting. I also let the blades of the propeller cut small branches around the tree. Duncan finally pulled him into the plane and I came to the next target LZ. Duncan nervously reported that the man got blooding on his head. I’d heard the Team leader, Duc calling for landing at his advantaged yellow smoke on LZ spots. I shouted: “No yellow. NVA troops will see if…” He responded: ‘No problem. They already knew we were here” I’d heard enemy’s heavy mortars and machine guns shot from below the valley, more intensified. I landed on hill top by my one right landing gear on the rock, another and tail wheel shaking on the air. I never did the wonderful precision quick-stop like today. Thank God! I saw Duncan was pulling the rangers one by one. The last one was Team leader, Deo-Van-Duc made a wide pain smile. I took off risky from East Truong-Son mountain range, on HCM trail to the South; below here was a particular trail reserved for bicycles route, in contrast to generals, ARVN headquarter, some Pentagon civilians began to realize that bombing North Vietnam was futile because of the Hanoi regime’s ability to keep supplies moving South via such simple conveyances as bicycles, each bicycle can carry 400 pound of cargo, heading to South Eastern of Hoa-Son village, Minh-Hoa district, Quang-Binh province, above the DMZ, 17 parallel. There’re rumors saying that many treasures from Emperor Ham-Nghi were buried deep inside along Ma-Cu mountain chain of Hoa-Son area.
Just after landing at Phu-Bai airport, there was C123 transport plane which brought them home for resting relaxation at a tiny camp on Island Bich-Dam, Nha Trang province. Dr Tri himself took care of them. He ordered them a couple spools of rice-gruel soup each meal for their health diet regardless of their protest. And after regaining their health very significantly, they were allowed to come back to mainland.
-Pity on them! How cruel for not giving them more food to eat! She said.
-The doctor was right. If they ate more food, they had died by stomach overloading and my heroic rescue was nonsense, you understand?
-Let’s go home! My mom was anxious for us after dark.
-OK let’s go.
I held her hand with anxious going through well known trail. Before coming to route 9, we had to take off mimosa thorns and another kinds of durst trying to clinging on her Thai’s maxi-robe. She feared being seen by her neighbors and feared most of their report to her parents which was followed by punishment. Like reading my thoughts, she asked:
-Why you look so sad and talk a little today?
-I’m thinking of my next plan and responsibilities on my next fly. I half smiled and lying myself for not telling the true that will be able to make her frustrated.
&

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

I returned to Khe-Sanh in the middle of 1964 for aero-photographic mission competed with U-2, RF101 Woodo and H34 helicopter, Three of us taking pictures from Mu-Gia Pass to Benhet especially Forward-Command post of NVA, Group.559; RF101 Woodo reconnaissance plane has flying level of 10,000 feet, Spy plane U 2 for much higher than that H34 helicopter on the treetop.
I let Hao controlled our plane to Khe-Sanh, listening aggressive and happily to Hue province Radio station music. I thought she would be very happy seeing me after two years long waiting. I courteously took control over Hao’ duty to flying myself for faster to old home-coming:
-Take a break! Let me get it. I saying
I recalled in the past in which she usually said “I’m anxious every time hearing plane flying over, often to be frustrated when it was not your. My mom understood that and gave me comfort”. I pressed her:
-How you distinguished my plane to others?
-Your plane sounds lovely! Other planes sound more roughly. There’s how different between female ears and male ears?
-Right! Passenger plane high level usually is much higher altitude and therefore quieter.
I made a fast low pass approach landed with full speed for hurry to Khe-Sanh, clear sky and well known green hills in front of me. I imagined how her happy face will be when the sounds of the blades cut to the air that she was breathing. The close the plane on Khe-Sanh, the faster my heart was beating. Aircraft descending if so on like this, my eyelid was blinking fast as informing something strange ahead. There are changes below. No even house base. There is just wild high grass. No spot of her home. I was confused in front of sun flare and my tears came out in full:
-Hao, let go landing for your practice.
I saw colored Thompson, Major, was waiting for me at this only a US Special Camp in this area. I came right down to a local tribe minority-soldier for information. He told me that local government had ordered people to moving out of this area to Cam-Lo for security reason.
-How long had they moved?
-Two years.
Major Thompson called me in his briefing-room for immediately meeting. In front of maps, he recommended proudly that our aero-photographs (air-photo snapshot) of Forward Group 559 Command post headquarter should be very clear, instead taken from U 2 and FR101 at high altitude level are rending indistinct. The enemy is never matched our high-tech of U2. It was foolhardy of us to go flight as lower without air cover. Do you agree?
- Yes! Everyone, unanimously had proud of agreeing at this.
-Is there gasoline here? I asked Thompson in very serious attitude.
He said six barrel containers of gas were just come from Quang-Tri this morning by Dodge. I counted myself that means 1,200 liters, excluded water under bottoms, only less than 1,000 liters of them useful. I reminded Major Thompson this amount of gas was enough for only one plane. He said 115/145 gas will come for him tomorrow by a convoy.
I went to the landing pad to examine. I reminded crew-chief Vang who will fly with me today.
-Sergeant Vang, did you give away dregs-water from the bottom of the gas tank? I cautiously asked.
-I gave away almost one quarter!
-Try pumping three full gas tanks. “I let you at home today because this mission will be very dangerous. Give me two safely belts for Duncan and First Lt. Huynh-Thuan-Nha of Special Unit LLDB. Let me pump them. Come to First Lt. Hao tent and tell him taking care himself for relaxation, bring back to me his HT1 radio for spare. I fly alone today”. I said.
How feeble but also romantic a man who is going to dye for love instead of his country?
Is anyone considering him a dummy hero? I felt frustrated of this devastated formerly my lover’s land. For this occasion, may I have luck for discovery an enemy nest: the forward Command Post of Group 559 where my reconnaissance mission spotted as outpost “Liton” and “Tourout” which located deep at a fall between walls of two upright hillsides full of anti-aircraft guns and traps along deathly the Aluoi, and Ashau valley
“Heroic acts make hero!” I thought of a traditional folk saying. I looked at the fall. A romantic rendezvous that I must fly over each taking-off and landing with my wet eyes and linking to a beginning verse from Kieu poetry of a legendary poet:
“As watching such things as making sick at heart!”
I felt bad of thinking she lost me but in reality I lost her instead. Where is she now? I felt myself crazy one time coming back to that romantic creek for clinging view of its sky and touching of its rock-blocks, its mountainous roaring and desert mute in despair, for reviewing what was lost now. All now is still live in an open-minded romantic pilot who was struggled up and down in many live and death battles of an endless war on his country. That was a torn, sad and bitter land of the whole country, not the South alone.
A local montagnard soldier friend of her family told me that after a short stay in Cam-Lo, her family had moved to La-Vang parish, I recalled a folk verse:
“Who ever go to La-Vang-Parish!
Tell her my hello if she was there!”
But that was a sorrowful, pitiful, grievous voice of a dramatic, tragic and deadly empty desert. Only the lovely eyes of that beautiful woman are still living in my mind, forever.
If the spirit moves me with the forest of my heart where wild-flowers of my feeling for her were entirely platonic grow. There are blossoms of remembrance Forget-me-nots so blue. And purple velvet pansies. To tell my thoughts of you; and roses that will always bloom. Whatever be the weather Whose fragrance is the memory of days we spent together

The Long-term agent team: the Secret War
To command the clandestine VNAF squadron that would penetrate the North, William Colby sought out a flamboyant pilot with a thin Clark Gable mustache and a penchant for black flight suits. Though only thirty years old, already he was a Lt Colonel and commanded Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut Air Base and seemed willing to fly anything, anywhere-but did that include piloting unmarked C.47 deep into North Vietnam, Colby asked?
The pilot smiled and said “When do we start?” The gutsy flyer eventually wound head his country’s Air Force and go on to be South Vietnam’s president-Nguyen Cao Ky (Permanent Government don’t worry about dignity of the leadership, because South Vietnam eventually be dissolved later on, according the ‘Axiom-1’) Ky recruited his best pilots, included myself, but months of training would precede their first operational flight. To help them, the CIA brought in National Chinese instructor pilots with hundreds of missions over mainland China very similar to what Ky’s crewmembers would fly-100 feet above the treetops, at night, under 30 percent moonlight.
CIA air experts at Takhli, Thailand, were tasked to help Colby plan the North Vietnam aerial penetrations; he couldn’t have found a more capable group. Colonel Harry Aderholt, likely the most experienced special operations officer in the Air Force, had just finished the CIA’s Tibet airlift, where unmarked C.130s had penetrated Chinese-occupied Tibet to parachute supplies and guerrillas to the pro-Dalai Lama resistance. On loan to the CIA for secret projects since the Korea War, Aderholt’s Thailand based organization had just been redirected to support the CIA’s expanding guerrilla force in Laos, using Air America planes, when the infiltration analysis job was assigned.
Assisting Aderholt was probably the CIA’s finest aerial infiltration planner, USAF Major Larry-Ropka, Studious, intense, a perfectionist, Ropka had planned all the Tibet flights, and if not one plane was lost, it was largely because he applied his whole being to such a task.
With 90 percent of the North’s population arrayed along its coastal lowlands and Red river Valley, Major Ropka could see that any approach from the Tonkin Gulf-the ‘front-door’-was certain to be met by MIG and antiaircraft gun. Therefore, he planned aerial infiltration routes through the less-populated mountainous border with Laos- the ‘back-door’- where terrain masking and electronic confusion were most effective.
To improve the ‘back-door’, Ropka had Air America planes in Laos climb to 5.000 feet, where they would appear on North Vietnamese radar, fly a ‘back-door’ approach, then descend to low level, below radar, and turn back to Thailand. After dozens of false alarms, the North’s air defense network would stop alerting fighters and antiaircraft units, and wouldn’t be able to distinguish between Ropka’ feints and the real infiltration flights, which were soon to begin.
The first airdropped group, Team “Atlas”, never came up on its appointed frequency; the plane that delivered them disappeared. Colonel Ky personally flew the next airdrop mission, inserting Team “Castor” deep in North Vietnam. Three months later Hanoi held a much-publicized trial for three Atlas survivors. Then Team Castor went off the air, and CIA handlers realized Team Dido and Echo were under enemy control, so they were played as “doubles”. The last team parachuted into North Vietnam in 1961, Team “Tarzan”, was presumed captured.
Recently U.2 pilot, Captain Power was shot down and captured on the Communist territories. Despite such losses, at least Colby now had an infrastructure for conducting his secret war that he could improve and build upon. But something beyond Colby’s control unexpectedly came into play. Two months after Agent Ares paddled ashore; another CIA component of George Bush’s class, expedition landed half a world away, in a debacle forever to be known by the name of its locale, The Bay of Pigs. The catastrophic failure of the Cuban-exile landing so embarrassed President Kennedy that he appointed General Maxwell Taylor Commission concluded the Cuba project had escalated beyond a size manageable by the CIA. It recommended a worldwide review of other CIA enterprises to learn if any had grown beyond intelligence operations and if so, switched them to military control. That action had been seriously hurt by the adverse tendency of Skull and WIB members.
Some chronicle’s accounts have tied George H.W. Bush to support work in the CIA’s 1961 Bay of the Pigs invasion. Recently, if any vice president in US history could fairly be known as “the secret-arms-deal vice president”, he would be the one. George H.W. Bush, Zapata offshore drilling Company, formed in the 1950-the firm is said to have scouted for the CIA in pre-Bay of Pigs surveillance of Cuba. Zapata Offshore organized a subsidiary to carry out Kuwait’s first deep sea oil drilling in 1961. Here analysis has to rely on implication and common sense. Adamson, Loftus, The Nation magazine, and the U.S journalism effort named Project Censored all posited some direct George H W Bush – CIA connection emerging between 1954 and 1963. Zapata provided commercial supplies for one of Dulles’ most notorious operations: the Bay of Pigs invasion which will be the main target of Kennedy based on seized under the Trading with the Enemy Act. The government acted against, seized the assets of many companies related against the alien property custodian under 1941, December of Trading with the Enemy Act such as Zapata de Mexico, Zapata International, Sea-cat Zapata, and Zapata Overseas. Why they want make money by exploitation of oil? Seven decades ago Hitler would like to exploit by “Synthetic-Fuel” for guaranteed national question on to reduce the dependence on foreign oil. Hydrogen fuel cell technology truly becomes a viable alternative.

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William Colby’s growing secret war fit the commission’s criteria perfectly; during the summer of 1962 the CIA agreed to transfer these Southeast Asian programs to the military in 18 months, dubbing it Operation Switch-back. But on the very day scheduled for Switchback-1/Nov/1963- South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated. Then three weeks later, President Kennedy was assassinated as well; further delaying the transfer. The military had yet to create a unit to absorb the CIA programs.
After two presidents’ assassinations (Kennedy and Diem), under OPLAN-34A, issued on December 15, 1963, McNamara having instruction, intended to send only a symbolic message, limiting targets to “those that provide maximum pressure with minimum risk”. However, despite McNamara’s insistence that OPLAN-34A missions commence on February 1, 1964, it wasn’t until 24 January that “Military-Assistance-Command, Vietnam (MACV), finally organized the covert unit to take over the CIA programs; soon it would be the largest clandestine military unit since World War II OSS. Commanded by an Army colonel, it would include elements of all services, from Army Green- Berets and Navy SEAL to USAF Air Commandos, operating as SOG, the Special Operation Group, and a descriptive label that made a mockery of security. A few months later the unit was renamed, yet its acronym remained SOG, only now, SOG stood for Studies and Observations Group, a supposed gathering of quiet analysts devoted to academic study.
The Studies and Observations Group was neither subordinate to MACV nor its new commander, as General William Westmoreland; it answered directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in the Pentagon, often with White House-level input, Skull and Bones encircled in controlled around J.F Kennedy. Only five non- SOG officers in Saigon were even briefed on its top-secret doings: Westmoreland, his chief of staff, his intelligence officer (J-2), the Seventh Air Force commander, and the commander of US Naval Forces, Vietnam.
SOG’ charter authorized operations from South Vietnam and Thailand into Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam, with contingency planning for northern Burma and China’s Kwangsi, Kwangtung and Yunnan Provinces, plus Hainan Island. Officially SOG would answer solely to an office in the Pentagon’s high-status E-Ring called SACSA, (the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities) a two-star general whose small staff responded only to the Joint-Chiefs’ operations officer (J-3), with unprecedented direct access to the Chairman of the Joint-Chiefs. Any money SOG needed would be buried in the Navy’s annuals budget.
Heading SOG’ secret war and bearing the title Chief SOG was a WWII paratroop officer who’d come into Special Forces in the 1950s, Colonel Clyde Russell. A veteran of combat parachute jumps in France and Holland with the 82nd Airborne Division then commanded the Europe-based 10th Special Forces Group, then the 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. With OPLAN-34A allowing no time for contemplation, Col Russell’s Saigon staff fell back on the tried and true and structured SOG like the old OSS, into air and maritime sections because these are the ways agents are transported- plus a psychological operations section similar to the OSS Morale Operations Division.
The CIA offered Col Russell the agency’s unique logistic channels for exotic hardware, such as suppressed weapons and wiretap devices, via the agency’s top-secret Far-East logistics base at Camp Chinen, Okinawa. Nearby was another office created by Operation Switchback, CISO, or the Counter Insurgency Support Office, which provided specialized logistics aid to SOG and Special-Forces.
Another CIA contribution was a clandestine C-123 transport squadron from Taiwan, flown by Nationalist Chinese pilots; known as the First Flight Detachment, these four SOG airplanes bore removable U.S insignia and formerly had flown with Nationalist China’s top-secret 34th Squadron, which had been penetrating mainland China for more than a decade, inserting and supplying agents and dropping CIA sensors. The 34th Squadron U.2s had flown over China since 1960, spying on the Lop-Nor nuclear test site and Kansu missile range. First Flight’s C-123s had proved a tough target for SAM and MIG, penetrating the mainland two hundred times.
“First Flight” evolved from the Civil Air Transport Service (CATS) a CIA airline founded in 1949 to evacuate Chiang Kai-Shek’s followers to Taiwan. In 1954 CATS by C-119 supplied encircled French paratroopers at Dien Bien Phu, and then in 1958 supported a coup attempt against Indonesian strongman Sukarno. CATS thin cover side became Nationalist China’s 34th Squadron.
In addition to the covert Chinese squadron, the CIA turned over its three-year-old long-term agent program, which by 1964 had airdropped 22 teams into North Vietnam. Of these only 4 teams: Bell, Remus, Easy and Tourbillon- plus the singleton Ares-remained intact. Meanwhile, the agents to be inserted were being instructed at Camp Long Thanh, 20 miles east of Saigon, where Green Berets and CIA officers taught them intelligence and sabotage techniques, rough-terrain parachuting, weapons handling, Morse code and survival-skills to sustain them for years in North Vietnam. As a SOG officer coldly confides “most trainees were not capable of going
Any where and we had to get rid of them; at the same time, we couldn’t turn them loose in South Vietnam because they’d been briefed and was briefed again on operations in North Vietnam”. The solution was to do with them exactly what they had been trained and paid to do: ’parachute into North Vietnam’
The six-man Team Remus parachuted in April 16, 1962, near Dien Bien Phu to ‘establish a base area from which intelligence collection activities could be launched’. It was together ‘enemy military, political, and economic information; located supply drop zones and safe areas for possible infiltration of additional agents; collect available documents; and recruit sub sources and support personnel’. In 1964, Remus reported that it had sabotaged a couple of bridges, McNamara was elated. W Colby recalled that the Secretary of Defense “was just as excited as a baby” over such reports.” I remember him thinking this was a big deal, like that’s going to change the course of the war”. Because it was believed to be successful, Remus was reinforced five times. With the 1966 change in the agents’ mission, the team began to make excuses about why it had provided so little useful information. In 1967, SOG ordered the team to ex-filtrate two agents. They claimed it was too dangerous.
Intelligence collection by observation and exploitation of locally recruited sub sources, nothing remarkable was ever reported, according to SOG documents. Nevertheless, Team Easy was reinforced four times with a total of 23 men. When alerted that some of the team members were for exhilarated, Easy “went off the air” and stopped all radio communications.
Team Eagle was inserted near the border with China on June 27, 1964. Its mission was to conduct sabotage operations on North Vietnam Routes 1 and 4, the Mui-Nam-Quan rail line and the Mai-Pha Air Base. There was no evidence that Team Eagle ever carried out any of these operations. It was also supposed to produce intelligence reports on these targets. According to a SOG assessment,” The information received was of little or no value”. In 1966, Eagle was tasked with the road watch mission. The result, according to SOG, were the same “The mission was not completed”. In 1968, the team was instructed to move south for exhilarated. Eagle reported it was not able to get itself in position to be exhilarated. Contact with the team stopped shortly thereafter
The final team considered operational in late 1967 was Team Red Dragon. Inserted on September 21, 1967, this seven-man team was located in Northern Province of Lao-Cay and Yen-Bai (Hoang-Lien-Son). These provinces were situated in Red River Valley along the Chinese-North VN border. Major rail, road, and water routes ran through these provinces. Team Red Dragon was to conduct sabotage and intelligence missions. According to the documents, it was largely unproductive and its security status was a matter of question since its initial radio contact. Apparently, there was a serious disagreement over whether the team had been captured and forced to work for the North Vietnamese as a double agent:” U.S personnel were convinced the Team was under Hanoi control, while the South VN counterpart case officer felt otherwise, ”Contact was maintained in 1968, but Red Dragon went off the air in 1969”
In May, June and July/1964, they were airdropped as Teams Boone, Buffalo, Lotus and Scorpion. All were captured. The few quality agents-in-training reinforced the in-place, Teams Remus and Toubillon.. SOG began recruiting fresh agents for a 21 week training program at Camp Long Thanh. It would be a slow start.

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After President Kennedy’ assassination, according the secret orders, many U.S military build up increase in intensity, magnitude; Impatience was driving the program, Bone-man McNamara had called for the first OPLAN-34A raid by February 1, 1964, incredibly, just seven days after SOG’ founding. Such insistence instigated perhaps the strangest episode of Vietnam’s cover war. Each proposed OPLAN-34-A operation had to weave its way between Defense, State and the White House for approval due the conflict was still between government administrations (Kennedy and Johnson) and Harriman, with each stop liable to change, restrict or delay SOG plans. Colonel Russell found this “a tremendous operational handicap” and complained that, “By the time we got it back, we were out of implementation time and the restraints were too many and too frequent because the president wasn’t policymaker”
OPLAN-34A perplexed Russell, because deniable attacks on objectives having little military value did not make sense. ”I don’t feel that the objectives of OPLAN-34A were clearly spelled out”. Colonel Russell later explained” So we didn’t know exactly what we were trying to do”. But this was not his only problems and so all generals as well. The secret agreement with China and Soviet wasn’t military and industry targets that are not the objectives because their personnel in there.

After President Diem’ assassination, strange chaotic-event take place, a certain evening of summer 1964, suddenly U.S helicopters flew to pick-up all U.S advisors in three Camps: Buon Ho, Buon Mega, and Boun Sapa to Ba Me Thuoc, highland province for the so called ‘urgent-meeting’ and typically during that night all Vietnamese officers were killed by highland minority (Rhade-Montagnard) After that massacre, the tribe Rhade’s soldiers were equipped with Carbine M.2 (automatic-firing-weapon) for their self-controlled, while ARVN troops were still equipped M.1. I was angry about having sacrificed my youth, professional flight operation to the traitor of U.S Special Forces from this Project-Delta. I was so frustrated
(However after four decades, by chance I found-out by discovering in the internet: authors Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas, “The Wise-Men” Six Friends and the World They Made, book published in 1986 coinciding the death of the last Wiseman W A .Harriman, a leader among Six-Friends and the world they made at July 26, 1986, and his deputy Prescott Bush (death in 1972) Finally, by way of conclusion, I will just state my conviction that the war in Vietnam was a just war created by these Six Friends for their conspiracy in the Old ‘Eurasian Great Game’ And now resumed by George H W Bush for the New Game)
To support OPLAN-34A’s hit-and-run coastal attacks, the CIA had replaced its old junks with 88-foot high-speed Norwegian Nasty-class PT boats, bringing in former Norwegian skippers to help SOG SEAL instruct the new Vietnamese crews. Developed for 47-knot runs from Norway’s fjords to nip at passing Russian ships, the Nasty PTF (Patrol Type, Fast) were light, heavily armed and bat-out-of-hell fast, the naval cigarette boats of the 1960s. Accustomed to tiny runabouts and junks, however, our Vietnamese simply couldn’t master the Nasty boat at a tricky high speed maneuvers.
Within SOG’ Naval Advisory Detachment- a dozen SEAL from Boat-Support-Unit-One at Coronado, California; and five Marine Force Recon men-were plenty of eager volunteers to crew the Nasty for raiding the North, but political deniability absolutely precluded using Americans; indeed, throughout the war no SEAL ever would be allowed north of the 17th Parallel.
But, a SOG staff officer shrewdly observed, the Norwegians weren’t Americans. However, any Caucasian at the throttles of a covert boat in Asian waters flew in the face of plausible denial; How could a Norwegian possibly explain his attacking the coast of North Vietnam? But in the rush to get the raids under way the absurd became the acceptable; thus, due to impatience, SOG’ first covert attacks on North Vietnam would be led by Norwegians.
On the night of February 16, 1964, three Norwegian-piloted Nasty attempted to land Vietnamese frogmen to demolish a bridge, but heavy coastal fire drove them away, aborting the mission. A few nights later another swimmer demolition was attempted, but it, too, failed, with eight Sea-Commando swimmers lost (with my speculation, these are serious allegations U.S counterespionage in advance warning, because this concurrency scam)
By early summer the swashbuckling Scandinavian skippers began displaying a tad too much joie de vivre for their sedate SOG superiors. As one warned, “They were getting in trouble in Da-nang, so there were definite fears in Washington circles that the whole program would be blown, because these people were getting involved with Vietnamese girls and the police in Da-nang”. With new urgency, Vietnamese boat crews were prepared to take over from the Scandinavians, but not before the latter got in a final few licks.
By July, SOG’ Nasty and Vietnamese Sea Commandos had demolished five targets in North Vietnam, followed by two hit-and-run, over-the beach attacks on 9 and 25 July. On 30 July, SOG launched its biggest bombardment ever, employing five PT’ Nasty against radar sites so far north, they were closer to Haiphong than to Danang, an action SOG headquarters praised as “well executed and highly successful, with secondary explosions”
Two days later, when word came that North Vietnamese PT boats had attacked the U.S destroyer Maddox?, in what became known as the “Tonkin Gulf incident”. Although he made no reference to the SOG raids, of which he was informed, President Lyndon Johnson warned Hanoi that another high-seas attack would have dire consequences, and ordered the destroyer Turner Joy to reinforce the Maddox.
I will discuss the ‘Axiom-2’ “The U.S had no legitimate reason to be involved in Vietnamese affairs”, in the dominant interpretation of the U.S-Vietnam War that was produced by the Triumvirate, composing William A Harriman, Prescott Bush, and Robert A Lovett; and introduced to teachers at most schools and universities as the basis for explaining the war, subsequently taken up by the antiwar movement during the late 1960s.
So, Tonkin Gulf Incident was the good-reason for the U.S troop invasion and retaliation on Vietnam soil.
Although Hanoi still denied it had a single soldier in Laos, by October 1965 its security, engineer and logistics troops there numbered at least 30,000 not to mention an additional 4500 men passing through each month on their way to South Vietnam. About two hundred truckloads of supplies rolled down the Harriman’s Super Highway, parallel with its P.O.L pipe-lines (Ho Chi Minh Trail named by Western-countries with specific political purpose, in contrast Hanoi named it Route 559) monthly, and by the fall of 1965 the Air Force crews already knew Hanoi had spun its 900-miles road system the length of Laos, all the way to South Vietnam’s Central Highlands. On 2 October 1965, I flown on the treetops along Ho Chi Minh Trail, from Tchepone to Target D-1, only about 20 miles northwest of Kham Duc, and Master Sergeant Donald-Duncan hanging in the door side took the pictures; meanwhile RF-101 Woodo, and U-2 fresh photos disclosed new roads in Laos, while other aerial photos snapshots by H.34 showed new truck traffic.
SOG’ capabilities in North Vietnam had been expanding apace with the rest of the war. By 1966, SOG’ Nationalist Chinese aviators of the First Flight Detachment were penetrating North Vietnam’s night sky almost monthly. In addition to parachuting supplies and reinforcements to the five established agent teams, First Flight had inserted another three teams. Even the H.34 Queen-Bees got into the act, in November 1965, when they landed Team Romeo in the southern panhandle, near Mu-Gia Pass. The four new agent teams plus the five surviving ex-CIA teams- Bell, Easy, Remus, Tourbillon, and the singleton, Ares- gave SOG nine teams and 112 agents in the enemy’s heartland.
SOG had reinforced all the old CIA teams except Ares, with some so expanded that they were almost small platoons. SOG was planning to reinforce Ares by sea, the same way that I wrote on infiltration by sea; as he’d been infiltrated nearly five years earlier, but using high-speed Nasty boats. During the three years the CIA managed the agent team program, 18 of 23 teams were lost, mostly upon landing; by contrast, excluding the malingerers SOG purposely dumped into North Vietnam in the spring of 1964, SOG had lost not just one team, although a few individual team members had been lost in parachute accidents or clashed with NVA patrols. It was an impressive turnaround.
SOG sought authority to establish a resistance movement in North Vietnam and combine it with a SAFE areas program.(SAFE was the acronym for Selected Areas For Evasion) The program evolved from a Strategic Air Command plan to recover nuclear bomber crews from remote regions of the Soviet Union, in turn an idea not without precedent. During WW II, the American OSS and British Special Operations Executive (SOE), working with Tito’s guerrillas, maintained enclaves deep in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia for bailouts and emergency landings. Likewise, during the Korean War, the CIA had guerrilla bands on many offshore islands where crippled airplanes could ditch and fliers could bail out. Actually, SOG wanted similar SAFE areas west and north of Hanoi, where pilots could bail out and receive medical aid, food and protection, then be retrieved by helicopters from Laos; when properly armed and supported by tactical air for rescue.

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Short Term Road-watch And Target Acquisition (STRATA)
Although, at Honolulu meeting, William Colby trying to persuade with President Johnson for canceling to drop small teams in North Vietnam but in vain; yet in contrary Defense Secretary McNamara having secret ordered from…putting more teams along Laotian border, in the rugged mountain country above “Three Passes” were the target for infiltration. STRATA recruits received training similar to that of the long-term agents at SOG’ secret base, Long Thanh Camp, but were segregated for security purposes, then housed at Monkey Mountain FOB in Danang. To confuse the enemy analyst, the 14 STRATA teams were randomly numbered Team 90 through Team 122.
From OP 34’s Diversionary Program, other operations run by MACVSOG served to support the efforts aimed at convincing Hanoi that it had a serious internal security problem. One of these, the STRATA team program, which was also run by OP 34, did not have this as its primary mission, but reinforcing was a by-product of its operations. The original authority for the Strata project can be traced to a May 1967 Pacific-Command message. The first two Strata teams were inserted into North VN at the end of the year. The area of operations for Strata was South of the 20th parallel, approximately 150 miles North of the DMZ, where the teams were to collect intelligence on the road network leading to the Three Major Passes feeding into the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. While the long-term agent teams had been assigned a different task in 1966 to collect intelligence on these, the few that had survived in place had accomplished very little. Therefore, “It was believed that the emphasis on short stay-time and mobility in Strata team training would enable them to survive and to be successfully exhilarated”
Strata Teams were composed of 5-10 indigenous personnel transported by VNAF/ USAF helicopters… missions were to be for 15-30 days. 24 such Teams were sent North in 1968. The Strata Teams targets can be seen along the Laotian/Vietnam border. Beside their primary mission was to watch a road, a path, or whatever and the ability to find the ex-filtration-site. Strata Teams were assigned secondary mission that included planting mines, capturing prisoners, and distributing “Psyop-materials” [antenna censor]. In the enemy heartland, the agents were said to have rarely gotten close enough to a road to actually observe a truck or identify a target worthy of an air strike. They did, however leave psyop materials in the areas where they were inserted. These materials had to do with the phantom resistance operation, the “Sacred Sword of the Patriot League.” Typically, this involved leaving a leaflet that denigrated a particular cadre in the area. The idea was either to run him down or to convince NVN security that notional groups were real and operating in this area. It was diabolical, but SOG analyst, black propagandists and counterintelligence experts put their heads together and plotted to combine all SOG’ real and imaginary assets “ in an integrated effort to exploit Hanoi’s almost paranoid fear of any perceived threat to their control of the population” The result was Projects Urgency, Borden, and Oodles.
While the Strata Teams were not accomplishing, all their intended missions, the fact that they penetrated North Vietnam 24 times in 1968 obviously had a reinforcing effect in terms of the Diversionary Program such as: “To add credibility, personnel presence is implies by the par dropping of ice block-weighted personnel parachutes to be found after the ice melts, hanging in trees”
Again, the message to Hanoi’s Police Force or whoever else found the parachutes was, “You’re too late...You just missed them!”
Another ploy: Pseudo-agents being inserted from both the ‘Borden’ and ‘Urgency’ projects were led to believe they would be met at their designated drop zone by members from one of ‘Oodles’ phantom teams. While these pseudo-agents may have believed they were actually going to meet up with an established team, OP 34 intended simply that they would corroborate other evidence that the phantom teams were real. Finally, radios that sent messages out from these fake teams were air-dropped into North Vietnam. This completed the communications loop. Messages were coming in and answers were being sent out. Additionally, devices known in the trade as agent-harassing devices were air-dropped into North Vietnam to cause their security forces to react. The objective was for the enemy to search and find the device but not the agents using it.
In light of all above, what use were Strata operations? How did this affect Hanoi? That means to believe that it told the North Vietnamese, “We can come into your country at will…We can put flags and leaflets on the trees at will!”
In effect, it was real evidence of spy-commandos, as Hanoi referred to them. As with other MACV-SOG operations that involved physically crossing into North Vietnam, however, the Strata program came to an abrupt halt at the end of 1968. In 1969, Strata were refocused on Laos and Cambodia. The objective remained intelligence collections, not deception.
STRATA teams were launched clandestinely from Nakhon Phanom Air Base in Thailand. They were delivered there by SOG C.130 Blackbirds and, like the American teams secretly staged there, stayed out of sight inside panel trucks or the SOG operations building. After changing into NVA uniforms, the STRATA men climbed into 21st SOS “Pony” helicopters then it was a half-hour flight across the 65-miles, narrow neck of Laos. The helicopter HH-3s had to climb to 10,000 feet to get out of range of antiaircraft gun concentrations, and then flew on instruments through the turbulent wall clouds above the Truong-Son mountain-chains, then penetrated North Vietnam at low level to avoid SAM sites and obscure their landing-zone approach. It was some of the trickiest helicopter flying in Southeast Asia.

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In November 1965, SOG inserted by helicopter the ten-man Team Romeo into an area immediately north of the DMZ. Its mission was to conduct area reconnaissance for collection of intelligence information; perform the road watch mission, and conduct harassing and sabotage activities. Its major target was North VN Routes 103, which was believed to be a major route for infiltration of men and supplies to the South. How well did Romeo do? According to SOG documents, after mid-1966 its accomplishments were insignificant. The Team has not furnished any reportable information during 1967 and 1968.
Team Hadley was also infiltrated just north of the DMZ to conduct the road watch mission against North VN route 8, which connected route 15 to route 81, 12, and 121 in Laos. These routes were considered major troop and supply infiltration routes to the South. Hadley was also tasked to watch the Ngan Pho River, a principal water supply route. The team had initial problems, because of enemy detection. However, after that its response to messages from SOG was almost immediate. Still, there is no evidence that Hadley reported useful intelligence or identified potential air-strike targets.
In 1968, all radio contact with the team ceased. At the same time, the interrogation of a recently captured NVN prisoner of war revealed he had knowledge of the capture of a SVN agent team in the Remus area of operation in June, 1962. On May 13, 1968 Hanoi confirmed this by announcing the capture of a SVN agent team…all facts presented left no doubt this was Team Remus.
Ares was the CIA’s only singleton agent to survive. Those sent into North Vietnam after him were never heard from. According to the records, a case officer encountered Ares at the Refugee-Debriefing-Center, Saigon, on August 29, 1960 and assessed him as a capable man motivated by desire to revenge himself on the authorities of Hanoi. He was subsequently recruited.. Ares was inserted into North VN by sea in early 1961, up near the Chinese border. At first, he was considered very productive, providing information on North VN documentation, the Uong-Bi Power Plant, highways, bridges, Haiphong Harbor and other miscellaneous items which he was able to observe or gain information on through debriefing of his sub sources. However, by 1966, SOG began to wonder about his reporting and supply requests. When told to find a suitable drop zone for supply, Ares proposed alternative ways to supply that suggested he was trying to get SOG “to expose additional assets”. When SOG attempted to exhilarate Ares, he “failed to comply”. Nevertheless, Ares stayed in radio contact until 1968, as Hanoi continued to play the game.
The policy-conflict between ‘Democratic administration’ and ‘invisible Permanent- government’ resolved by President Johnson to announce, he would not seek reelection, because he don’t want his name in the U.S president defeat to the Vietnam War. Thereby, in his historic televised address of March 31, 1968 He ordered a bombing halt above the 20th Parallel in North Vietnam. Applying an expansive policy interpretation, the State Department insisted that SOG aircraft, too, cease flying above the 20th Parallel, in effect abandoning Six of SOG’ among eight long-term agent teams.
SOG leaders argued against abandoning them, warning it would erase any doubts Hanoi harbored about America’s covert sponsorship and unmask the “Sacred Sword of the Patriot League as tool of the imperialists. Observed Major Scotty Crerar, “If you’re not admitting you’re doing it to begin with and getting away with it, why stop it?”
Nonetheless, the cutoff of aerial supplies and insertions took effect the day after LB Johnson speech, April’s Fool’s Day. The irony did not go unnoticed in Saigon, where Chief SOG Colonel Jack Singlaub wondered to what extent the North Vietnamese had been playing SOG’ agent handlers for fools.
Unquestionably, Hanoi had captured some teams and was playing them back as doubles, but which ones? Several CIA and SOG handlers had long been suspicious. Colonel Singlaub felt an obligation to extract loyal teams, but if he was to confront the State Department [Permanent Government or Skull and Bones Harriman, and George H W Bush] he had to know exactly which agent teams were worth the political fight and physical danger of retrieving them.
At last, Colonel Singlaub convened an ad hoc panel of CIA and MACV J-2 experts to conduct a two-month review. The day their assessment began, SOG’ map of North Vietnam displayed eight blue pins, representing the current location of eight teams.
Suddenly, it all ended on October 15, 1968 with a “Frantic call from Washington” to Colonel Cavanaugh, “Do you have any STRATA teams across the border?” a Joint Chiefs staff officer demanded. SOG then had two teams in North Vietnam, Cavanaugh reported “You’ve got to get them out…You’ve got a day!” the JCS staffer demanded, explaining President Johnson was about to announce his total bombing halt. Once again, Robert Kennedy fell to an assassin’s bullet in 1968 caused Johnson in his panic-historic televised address his announced he would not seek reelection and ordered a bombing halt above the 20th Parallel, in effect abandoning six of SOG’ eight long-term agent teams.
“It was asinine”, Cavanaugh said later, “Nobody in Washington cared about a handful of people up there!” Chief SOG said it was impossible to retrieve the STRATA men in 24 hours, promising only, I’ll get them out as fast as I can” Due to operational inertia and weather delays, he could not make good on his promise until 23 October. The Washington bureaucracy raised not a peep.
From their first insertion until the final extraction thirteen months later, STRATA teams penetrated North Vietnam 26 times. Though hardly a returned man was wounded, STRATA lost 24 men MIA- including Two entire teams- the inevitable result of bad weather that delayed even emergency extractions an average of five days and made any contact likely to be lethal. Approximately one quarter of STRATA’ 102 agents were lost.
As of November 1, 1968, SOG was no longer authorized to run agent operations of any type in North Vietnam. Yet some minds at SOG headquarters began brainstorming: If SOG wasn’t allowed to run a genuine agent network, perhaps it could create a false one. It could be said that all SOG’ agent programs were changed decisively by President Johnson’s election-eve 1968 bombing halt, which caused them to cease, shift or begin anew in different ways. As well, though, the halt signaled a decisive change in the war, leaving U.S policy undefined until the new Nixon administration took office almost a year later and weighed its own options.
Richard Nixon had run on a promise to bring the war to honorable troop withdraw end but refused to disclose the secret plan by which he’d make that happen. The new strategy-fashioned by Nixon’s national security adviser, Henry Kissinger-would commence in early 1969 on behalf of Harriman in performance the secret game “Pennsylvania”, and the secret bombing of Cambodia. And SOG would be in the thick of it?

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Operation Loky and Sacred Sword of the Patriots League (SSPL)
We pay attention about Colonel Jack Singlaub as SOG chief, described the three week program as follows: We would spend our time feeding them well, fattening them up [Permanent Government’ conspiracy of silence when they were released, Hanoi easy identified them by physical healthy, and put them in the reeducation camp; because this is a War-Game for Axis of Evil’s scam] so to speak: “we cured any medical problems they had, whether it was rashes or whatever. This indicated that things were better in the resistance area than they were in their own village. We collected information from them and provided them with information about the Hanoi government on corruption, etc. So when they went back, they were healthier and certainly had more poundage. We’d give them very high-calories foods. But we spent a lot of time discussing the fallacies of communism, and they would tell us about acts of corruption and dishonesty among officials. We would then be able to broadcast very specific cases to create disruption inside”
According to Harriman’s mastermind and his staffs, John Paul Vann as I said can drive a tank but couldn’t carry a tank on his shoulder because his rank Lt Colonel never command at least a regiment, brigadier, division or more, and Colonel Singlaub don’t know how weary caused by physically, mentally exhausted as by hard work lack of nutrition and paled people in North Vietnam even cadres. So when they returned to his homeland appeared clearly that they were just out from the imperialist arms, Hanoi wouldn’t eventually see through the ruse? In light of this fixable with ‘Three Axioms’ that Wise-man Harriman had produced to universities for introducing in late 1960 as the basis for conducting explained the war (There was never a legitimate non-communist government in Saigon, and all the activities in North Vietnam were just defeated, with purpose: motivated arrogantly Communist to infiltrate and overran South Vietnam, through Highway Harriman (Ho Chi Minh Trail). He was just on a strongman side in the war game between CIP and NLF (National Liberation Front and Counter-Insurgency Project)

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

Project Sanitary “was to be an expansion of SSPL [Sacred Sword of the Patriots League notional resistance movement, CIA named it by Vietnamese heroic history] activities through the use of a redemption coupon leaflet… They were designed to convince the North Vietnam security elements and people that the SSPL efforts were extensive, to have popular support, and to entice the people to conceal the coupon for possible reward”. This project was also stopped in November 1968 due to Johnson…and He wouldn’t be on the seat of power. He turned down second term because two among three in his triumvirate fell to the assassin’s bullets.
The SSPL, begun in 1965, also contributed to the Diversionary Program. Its two operations were both directly linked to and supported the OP 34’s triple cross. Once abducted, the fishermen or other North Vietnamese picked up on shore were told that they were in the hands of the Sacred Sword of the Patriots League, a secret patriotic movement, and were to be taken to liberated territory along the coast. The abductees, for security reasons, were informed that they would have to be blindfolded, bound, and put below deck. They were also told the trip would be purposefully long to mask the real location of the SSPL villages. The gunboat would then head to Paradise Island (Cu Lao Re Island in the map, east from Chu-Lai 20 miles) a trip that often took several hours. Once in one of the island’s coves, the captives were brought on deck, their blindfolds were removed, and they saw before them a liberated village somewhere along the coast of North Vietnam. This was only the beginning of the subterfuge. Next came their indoctrinated
The main purpose of this elaborate charade was “to convince them they were in a liberated coast area of North Vietnam. When they were sent back, they would spread the word that there was a real resistance movement and liberated areas in North Vietnam”. The detainees stayed in the liberated coastal village for approximately three weeks. During this period, they met only Vietnamese who spoke a northern dialect. They spent their time eating, talking about life under communist rule, and learning about the SSPL. Some of the detainees were taken into the hill of the island to small villages “resembling types found in the hills of North Vietnam. The purpose of these locations was to…lend credibility to the guise that the SSPL secret zone was located in the highlands of North Vietnam”.
In the final days before their departure, the detainees were told of other SSPL cells operating in their region and given secret ways of contacting them. This, of course, was for the edification of the North Vietnamese security forces that were sure to interrogate the detainees once they returned. Finally, they were given gift kits to take back with them. With cloth, soap, and other such items in short supply in North Vietnam, the gift kits were snapped up by the fishermen. Also included was transistor radios all tuned to the Voice of the SSPL frequency, which the detainees had heard everyday of their stay on Paradise Island. Once their stay was over, the detainees were again blindfolded and returned to North Vietnam in the same manner they were brought to Paradise Island.
In 1966, its most active year, 353 North Vietnamese were cycled through Paradise Island. Between 1964 and 1968, a total of 1,003 detainees were indoctrinated there. OP 39 proposed ways to expand the project to make it even more credible. They believed that one could maintain this fiction for only so long. If something more plausible were not added, Hanoi would eventually see through the ruse. OP 39 proposed several ways to make the operation more realistic and Washington approved some of the more modest ones. For example, when detainees were taken in armed this was encountered between North Vietnamese junks and SSPL boats, the “detainees were tried by an SSPL court, found guilty of crimes against their country, and sentenced to death. It was then granted under the pretext that the SSPL was an organization devoted to peace”. Next the detainees went through extensive indoctrination, and “prior to their return, they made statements condemning their actions and took the SSPL oath of allegiance”. This was then used in SSPL propaganda broadcast. A second example involved “detainees who appeared to be sincere in their desires to assist the SSPL cause”. Some were “recruited as SSPL agents… trained in making crude leaflets and methods of spreading the word of the SSPL. In addition, they were assigned low-level missions to collect intelligence”. A few were sent back to “organize defections to South Vietnam among friends”.

Project Urgency, the maritime element of SOG’ diversionary program, recruited captured fishermen as pseudo agents- and to keep it all the more confusing, occasionally recruited the more reliable ones as real agents, too. At its start, Project Urgency built upon two real agents, recruited at Paradise Island and code-named Goldfish and Pergola, who were specially trained and landed on North Vietnam’s coast in late 1967. They never came on the air and failed to arrive at their rendezvous to be extracted by Nasty boat. To inaugurate the Urgency deception, SOG disseminated the myth that the presumably captured Gold-fish and Pergola were just the first agents of a whole new network. Then Urgency recruited eleven low-level agents at Paradise Island and returned them, plus two pseudo agent to convey disinformation. SOG also found ways to incriminate many other fisherman agents who would do little more than generate interesting debriefs. Then there came the double sting: The most zealous Communists among the fishermen brought to Paradise Island were returned to North Vietnam far away from their homes, with money and false messages hidden in their clothes that would implicate them in especially insidious ways.
“By way of conclusion, Operation Loky and Project Urgency were humiliating!” that anything what the Permanent Government wanted to. Of course the masterminded Skull and Bones had insight that reality full well, expending over the years of the war an immense effort in analysis, tactics, sensors, ordnance, aircrafts, and manpower in an effort to constrict the Hanoi logical flow. In the end the result seemed to mirror a famous comment. I supposed the WIB and Bones take on the whole war: “Everything worked, but nothing worked enough or failure”

********************************


The Double Cross and Triple Cross:
At last, all the teams that OP 34 assumed were legitimate were actually under the control of Hanoi’s Ministry of the Interior. Some of them had been run back against first the CIA, and then SOG. Hanoi had instituted what British’s John Master-man had described as a “double-cross system.” During WW II, he ran such an operation against Nazi-Germany for MI 5, Britain’s security service. In his account of that exploit, Master-man explained that the double-cross system was much more than simply “A number of isolated cases” of doubled agents and “did much more than [just] practice a large-scale deception”. Through The double agent system [MỊ] actively ran and controlled the entire German espionage system in this country.
Experts in deception operations argue that both the deceiver and the deceived must contribute to the operation if it is going to succeed. Neither the cleverness of the deceiver nor the receptivity of the target of the deception is sufficient by itself. It takes two for a major deception operation to work. Certainly, this was true of the operation run by North Vietnam against SOG. Hanoi succeeded because of SOG’ mission uncertainty, inept operational concepts, a lack of expertise, and inadequate procedures for agent recruitment, motivation, and training, another words agents were either enthusiastic and inexperienced or lackadaisical and inexperienced, while plus Hanoi’s own skill in running a double cross, but with KGB help CIA was in useful acted Triple-Cross such as agent Pham Xuan An, Bui Tin …
An agent operating inside North Vietnam had to be highly motivated and highly trained. It was a difficult environment, high mountain, gusty velocity wind, a few individual team members had been lost in parachute accidents due to carrying so much weight with him ( SOG purposely just dumped them into North Vietnam), given the nature of the Hanoi regime. However, agent recruitment, motivation, and training were endemic problems that plagued OP 34 from its inception in 1964 until the Diversionary Program was established in late 1967.
The quality of the individuals recruited for long-term agent program was at best uneven. While some were patriotic and zealous, the OP 34 leadership believed they were more the exception than the rule. There were many difficulties with the recruits, motivation being at the top of the list. Low agent commitment was a direct result of the recruitment process.
But as strange as it may seem simply by Colonel Russell’s solution to the problem was just to send them up North by ordering McNamara; Russell “didn’t expect them to come up on the air”
And communicate but to “surrender immediately upon landing, which they did”. There was only one reason for sending them, according to order from high command (Permanent-government). After all chief of SOG:” We had to get rid of them…Our solution was to put them up North!”

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

Meanwhile Hanoi’s Skill at Running the Double-Cross System:
The double-cross system that North Vietnam ran against MACV-SOG fit the tradition of similar operation run against Western intelligence organizations by their communist counterparts throughout the Cold-War. Like other totalitarian communist states, North Vietnam placed a high premium on internal security, counterintelligence, and control of the population. It was a ‘counterintelligence state’. In such regimes, there is overriding concern with domestic security matters. Intelligence and police forces abound, and their mission is to counter any and all internal security threats. In the intelligence lexicon, this is referred to as defensive counterintelligence. It involves identifying, apprehending, and neutralizing saboteurs, subversives, spies, commandos, counterrevolutionaries, and any ordinary citizen who might express even minor opposition to the party’s authority. Regimes like Hanoi take all these matters quite seriously. In fact, they tend to be paranoid about the whole business of conspiracy, espionage, and subversion.
To ensure internal stability and control, totalitarian regimes establish and maintain massive police, security, and intelligence services. Organizational redundancy is their hallmark. This was certainly true of the former Soviet-Union, which served as the model for other communist states. From its inception, the “search for enemies, their discovery, and elimination was an overriding state objective”.
North Vietnam adopted this approach to counterintelligence and internal security. Like its Soviet counterpart, it was fixated on these matters. According to expert-officers in Defense Intelligence Agency worked to help the United States counter the KGB and its surrogate services in other communist states, such totalitarian political systems “display an overarching concern with enemies, both internal and external. Security and the extirpation of real or presumed threats becomes the premier enterprise of such systems”. To defeat these enemies, counterintelligence states make a ‘very heavy commitment of state resources.’ “This fixation demands the creation of a state security service that penetrates and permeates all [of the country’s] institutions.”
Hanoi maintained such an apparatus. Its sine qua non was organizational redundancy, tight control of the population, and total vigilance. The apparatus extended from Hanoi down through each of North Vietnam’s administrative levels to the lowest units, the villages. The People’s Police Force (PPF) was at the base of Hanoi’s internal security system. Under the authority of the Ministry of Public Security, the PPF was to discover, prevent, and repress all sabotage and subversive activities, and to control, neutralize, and reeducate all counterrevolutionary elements. To this, it was accorded broad powers to search, detain arrest, seize evidence, apply coercion, and use weapons to exterminate spies, counter saboteurs, and unearth plots of subversion.
At the village and at higher administrative levels, the PPF maintained a close liaison with its counterparts in the local militia, military, and intelligence agencies. Here is where organizational redundancy came into play. Each of these other agencies had internal security responsibilities and powers that overlapped those of the PPF. So did the Armed Public Security Force. Under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defense, it had among its duties the protection of all key facilities against sabotage; security of the border areas to thwart or detect infiltration by commandos; and surveillance, detection, and suppression of counterrevolutionary activities by ethnic minorities in the mountainous region along the Laotian border. These were the groups that the first three chiefs of SOG proposed to employ to establish a resistance movement up North. Although Washington did not see their potential or disregard them, but Hanoi apparently did.
As one moved up the state administrative structure through the districts, provinces, cities, someone found parallel representatives of each of these village agencies. This was redundancy with a vengeance. Finally, at the ministry level, in addition to public security and national defense, the Ministry of the Interior had a major responsibility for combating subversion, espionage, and sabotage by spies and commandos infiltrated into North Vietnam, more and more redundancy.
This apparatus allowed Hanoi to conduct a massive defensive counterintelligence campaign.
It was, as William Colby explained: “total permeation of the society…It leaves nobody free.”
SOG’ long-term agent teams were pitted against an imposing security apparatus. The agent teams, given all the problems that plagued OP 34, hardly stood a chance. It was a total mismatch.
“I can best sum-up my personnel perspective to the result seemed to mirror a famous comment, supposedly War Industries Board’ Bones take on the whole war “Everything worked, but nothing worked enough”
According to “Commando-Vaught” for Second Indochina Wars/1954-75, in April 1959, and “Aid to Russia 1941-46” of WIB-Bones investment (Website: VietnamGear.com, surplus C. Rations were used in both Korea and Vietnam) Thereby in 1959 to 1962, Colby, a mediator with W A. Harriman at WW-II, was now assigned station chief in Saigon, and headed the agency’s Far East division from 1962 to 1967. Then from 1968 to 1971 he directed the Phoenix program in South Vietnam, and head of the entire CIA later. According to Prados, a historian and author of 10 other books on national security, Colby thought the United States could win the war by supporting President Ngo Dinh Diem. Unfortunately the Skull and WIB Bones in the then Kennedy administration did not and encouraged the generals who overthrew and killed him and his brother. The intrigue in Washington [Harriman’s mastermind order to kill Diem] Langley and Saigon surrounding 1963 coup was a rat’s nest; Prados struggles manfully, with only partial success to penetrate it.
In Phoenix Program, which sought to identify and eliminate communist activists (The Viet Cong) at the village level. Colby felt that the program was superior to the use of military force, which he believed was too blunt an instrument and alienated the Vietnamese. Nevertheless, estimates of the number killed under Phoenix range as high as 60,000 people. (Colby put the number at 20,587). Phoenix has also been defended on relativist grounds-the Viet Cong assassinated nearly 40,000 of their enemies in the period from 1957 to 1972. But none of these arguments could prevent the program from becoming a focal point of the antiwar movement. Although Colby maintained that the deaths characteristically arose in combat and not as a result of cold-blooded murder, critics of Phoenix labeled it an assassination program and a crime against humanity. At a General Conference of the United Methodist Church held in Atlanta, the majority of delegates approved a statement calling American involvement in the Vietnam War “a crime against humanity” then rejected a resolution that would have condemned “the appetite of North Vietnam to wage cruel and inhuman war”.
After Phoenix, Colby rose within the CIA’s Washington bureaucracy, and on 4 September 1973 President Richard Nixon appointed him director of the agency. During his tenure the press and Congress turned on the CIA, accusing it of crimes and misdemeanors ranging from assassination plots to espionage against Americans at home. When in 1975 both houses of Congress set up inquiries into the activities of the intelligence community, Colby offered significant if limited cooperation. For example, he handed over to the Senate committee- chaired by Idaho Democrat Frank Church (Frank Church and New Jersey Republic Senator Clifford P Case authored an Amendment, which bore their names Case-Church Amendment of 1973 caused President Ford has his hands tied double knotted. That’s says American must do nothing. No military equipment, no American forces, nada zip – at the direction of the then Godfather George H W Bush, emperor-II of Skull and Bones Dynasty) details of the CIA’s recent operations against the left-leaning government in Chile. The agency’s attempts to sabotage the Chilean economy had contributed to the downfall of South America’s oldest democracy and to the installation of a vicious dictatorship. Colby’s candor on such matters shocked colleagues in the CIA, some of whom never forgave him for opening up the activities of what was, after all, a secret agency.
His only daughter, Catherine, had died after a painful illness in April 1973, and colleagues speculated that the tragedy unlocked what some regarded as Colby’s already overdeveloped Christian-conscience. Though he sternly denied that his daughter had opposed Phoenix, perhaps Colby did want to atone for his part in the program. It is also clear that he disapproved of certain of the CIA’s activities that he called “deplorable” and “wrong” and wanted them stopped. In any case, he realized that a display of flexibility in his dealings with Congress would increase the agency’s chances of survival.
With CIA morale at a low-ebb, Colby’s enemies began to line up. On the Left, a coalition of muckraking journalists, Vietnam War critics, and ambitious legislators refused to give him credit for attempting to open up the agency. On the Right, conservatives such as Barry Goldwater disliked Colby’s liberalism and concessions to the Church committee, Colby had become politically vulnerable, and on 30 January 1976 President Gerald Ford, under pressure of second generation of Skull and Bones, replaced him with George H W Bush (behind political platform, Godfather A Harriman was working to derail George H W Bush’s head of CIA by slotting him as director). Colby had introduced some significant reforms, such as the prohibition of assassination as instrument of national policy and the practice of informing select members of Congress about the CIA’s activities, but his intelligence career was over, because he was always on noble cause of US administration side, wasn’t on Permanent Government side. But personally, I should presume that all plan setting up above was originated by the next Skull and Bones’ generation [George H W Bush] described by Evan Thomas and Walter Isaacson.
Colby’s life continued to be eventful. In 1978 he published his memoir, “Honorable Men” in which he defended himself against the Left over Phoenix and against the Right over his decision to clear the air while director of the CIA. He was right as for the Skull and Bones, it’s seemed to me, they don’t have “Honor”, however they should have “Duty” and “Country”- In 1982, following the enactment of stringent secrecy legislation in the administration of President Ronald Reagan, the US government began proceedings against Colby for making unauthorized disclosure, in the French-language edition of his memoir, about American efforts to retrieve secret codes from a sunken Soviet submarine. His agreement to pay a $10,000 fine in an out-of-court settlement barely covered the cracks between Colby and his enemies on the Right.
In 1984 Colby divorced his first wife and married a former diplomat, Sally Shelton. He had resumed legal practice and lectured widely, taking up a new cause- the campaign for a freeze on nuclear arms. On a spring day in 1996, Colby went down to the waterfront near his weekend home in Rock Point, Maryland, and launched his canoe into a stiff breeze. Until his body was found several days later with no evident signs of foul play, the press had one more chance to speculate about the fate of a man whose manner of death seemed to conjure up the enigma of his life.
May 14 1996, the remains of former CIA Director William Colby were buried with military honors, Monday at Arlington National Cemetery. After a private service for family and friends, an urn bearing Colby’s ashes was transported by horse-drawn caisson to its final resting place in a clearing surrounded by maple and pine trees. For Tuesday, a public memorial service is scheduled at Washington National Cathedral.
Army marksmen fired a 21-gun salute, and a bugler played taps as a flag was presented to Colby’s wife, Sally Shelton-Colby. William Colby, 76, disappeared April 27 while canoeing near his Rock Point, Maryland, vacation home. His body was recovered eight

Behind the political deceptive-platform
Intelligence reports in May 1964 contained more evidence of “extensive enemy military activities in Laos” As result; the Joint Chiefs received permission to “authorize COMUSMACV
To initiate joint planning with the South Vietnamese government for cross-border operations and to proceed with limited covert intelligence patrols in Laos”. The Chiefs finally got their way. However, the restrictions placed by Washington on these intelligence collection operations made it clear that the State Department [Wise-man A Harriman, though number 3 in this Department] was still in the game. Cross-border operations were limited to those “areas in Laos between Route 9 and the 17th parallel [Provisional Military Demarcation Line] adjacent to the border, and the area east of Tchepone”. This was a relatively small part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but considered the critical entry point. That critical zone reserved for dumping spot all military material obsolete of both Soviet Union, (debtor) and U.S (creditor) cast-off WW II, will be in targeting of incoming Operation Lam Son 719 in 1971. Continuously, batches by batches, years by years those repeated materials for war production were initiated money credited by U.S Company Dynasty that U.S had bank loans to the Russian Revolutionary government since Russian revolutionary government until now [under Aleksandr Kerensky a $325 million credit to be spent on war materiel exported from the United State]
Forcefully “No U.S advisers could lead the teams” As for “The Vietnamese that crossed the border were” not to wear South Vietnamese military or other uniforms”, and they could engage the North Vietnamese troop only in “self defense”. Our Combined Area Studies flight-crew must be strictly discipline.
Consequently, due to the Gulf Tonkin Incident in 1964, most Americans canvassed in spring of 1965 as Lyndon Johnson officially sent U.S combat-troop into battle for the first time, sup- ported the commitment, after the war was terminated. However, American overwhelmingly repudiated the intervention as having been a blunder. But roughly the same proportions of the nation hold in retrospect that, once involved, the U.S ought to have deployed all its power to succeed.
Post war opinion poll showed that American blame their political leaders for denying victory to the U.S forces in Vietnam by imposing restraints actions. A survey conducted in 1980 for the veteran administration disclosed that 82% of former U.S soldiers engaged in heavy combat there believe that the war was lost because they were not allowed to win.
In conclusion, I named William A Harriman who was a real U.S policymaker. General
William Westmoreland who command U.S forces in Vietnam 1965-1968, seriously criticized president Johnson, [of course how he knew Harriman was a very-culprit’s South Vietnam dissolution?] for intensifying the war effort too slowly, refusing to approved incursion against enemy sanctuaries in Laos, along Ho Chi Minh Trail plus P.O.L lines parallel, and Cambodia, giving the South Vietnamese army inadequate equipment. He also faulted President Nixon and Henry Kissinger for having abandoned the South Vietnamese regime by conceding to a cease fire accord in January 27, 1973 that permit North Vietnamese troop to remain in the South. So why it forced Saigon fall?

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

THE SO CALLED A PRETEXT OF “MIA AND ORANGE AGENT”
Aerial-defoliation: W.A Harriman was a businessman, diplomat, politician, and a significant figure in Soviet-American relations during WWII and an architect of Cold War. Despite his intricate-nature-cohesion to Republican background, but his ambitious will becoming in the list of the presidents of United States history; so why He chosen a Democratic Party avoiding Nelson Rockefeller defeated him at least in the almost no one else in the Company-Dynasty (In the past, he served as governor of New-York for just one term until Republican Nelson Rockefeller defeated him in 1958)
As a Democrat, he should concern to look after the various class-wealthy businessmen, during that episode in his life of Cold War, in the chunk two as one of the worst event in Vietnam War. For preparedness ready to U.S invasion (1960-1963): some Food-Companies have had the production the billions “C-Rations” for U.S combat troop incoming consummation in South Vietnam [Defense Supply Center Philadelphia and Southern Packaging Storage C.O, VietnamGear.com, surplus C Ration were used in both Korea and Vietnam] and as likewise Middle East, a hundred million “rescue-C-Rations” but not put ‘pork-meat’ inside the cans for the readiness to the incoming of U.S troop involved Afghanistan War later.
Shortly thereafter, many giant U.S corporations muster themselves into the South Vietnam. U.S capitalists (not yet capitalists in branch war-machine complex-industry such as War Industries Board of Bush’s dynasty) thirty seven companies produced the chemicals agent dioxin of herbicides (poison-gas), like Dow Chemical, Occidental Petroleum, Monsanto…used to the so called defoliate Viet Cong sanctuaries. Therefore, President Diem very please and President Kennedy had authorized an experimental program of aerial spraying of herbicides, at first alongside roads, rail lines, and outside military bases to deny the Viet Cong use of the thick jungle to conceal troop movement and ambushes. Obviously, South Vietnam regime was very pleased for that campaign.
VNAF helicopter H.34s took part with USAF C.123s in the Ranch-Hand operation; a box of three transports C.123s, fitted with 1,000-gallons chemical tanks and spray bars under their wings, had begun spraying in 1962 under an operation called “Rand-Hand.” Apparently, the preplanning of the protracted war widened in 1965. Therefore the USAF C.123s increased a box five C.123s in the “Hot-Tip” operation, in spraying of strong herbicides alongside corridor of Ho Chi Minh Trail. But inland of Laotian border that Hanoi called Truong Son Tay means West Ho Chi Minh Trail parallel with East old-Trail. From now on, aerial spraying was increased dramatically, and the Ranch-Hand flights were employed in tandem with offensive air operation. The C.123s began spraying suspected guerrilla strongholds hidden under triple-canopied jungle growth herbicides were also used against crops believed to be grown for or by the Viet Cong.
During Operation Ranch-Hand took part with helicopter H.34s spraying alongside roads or rail lines only. But C.123s dispensed a variety of color-coded herbicides. Agent Orange, introduced early in 1965, proved the most effective and was used most extensively. An average 11,000-pounds load could be dispersed over a 300-acre area in about four minutes. Within days the leaves started turning brown. Entire trees died in only five to six weeks. Over the door of the Ranch-Hand ready room at Tan Son Nhut air-base, hung a plaque bearing the inscription Only You Can Prevent Forest
Naturally, herbicide spraying became extremely controversial. Critics equated the practice to the use of poison gas in WWI, and the Viet Cong and Hanoi exploited it for its propaganda value Local peasants did not comprehend the purpose of herbicide spraying. All they knew was that their crops were being destroyed.

Two high beam of flashlight concurred to one spot, the engine oil leaked of usual pre-flight inspection. I and my crew-chief were wondered how serious this helo could flying with the mission during two hours oil consumption. Very strange, the first time we had to inspect the spray bars gears component like the flapping-wing with numerous nozzles, extended with fifteen meters each side. Today we have flown formation two H.34s to spray alongside of rail road line from Long-Khanh to Long-Binh right in middle of thick jungle.
Yesterday, before leaving my 211th Squadron, I rode on my scooter by passed two helicopters equipped with strange spraying gear bar component, seeing them like sleeping of two fly-dragons on the grassy field. We have only fifteen minutes to take-off and should on target TOT just right a moment the sun appeared. We had a briefing yesterday by U.S advisor, Lt Colonel Kentroity saying in the early morning, the air was stable, and when we sprayed that agent chemical having fall slightly vertical to absorbent entire of the foliage of the tree with full effect
At the dusk, the air humidity gave us some fresh wet breezing on my ears, I had auto-suggestion that prejudicial itchy in my nostrils, the odor of orange agent spreading everywhere in the atmosphere from two hated-H-34. I realized the way from my squadron to helipad, every small trees were died became barren branches without leaves after theirs brownish; even we closed entirely the ejection-pumps, but still consequent effected air gas only.
Lieutenant Dien started engine, he flies H.34s Army A-model so powerful than mine with Army color dark-brown. I flies U.S H.34s Marine model been somewhat heavier but more instruments equipped, with color dark green Marine. However, we must fill up only two gas tank for able take-off with full plastic-tank chemical fluid orange inside the cabin.
“Butterfly Two… One radio check! Over”
“Butterfly Two …reading you five by five, ready for take-off! Over”
I taxied the helo to runway and take-off (these runways like cross with 60 meters each. The French Air Force made it with the inscription plaque “Heliport” and with the risk when take-off because around so many antennas though they had red light on the tops). For maintaining good engine regime, I managed to make a running take-off. Even carried only two gas tanks, but I must used at 2,800 RPM and 51 torque PSI that H.34D could able airborne due a hot-temperature day.
We jointed together for combat formation, avoiding crowded area and climb-heading right 90 degree in compass. I saw the red-blue flashing lights of three C.123s just took-off, might be they had the same mission like us, but alongside of Saigon’s river tributaries to Vung Tau.
The war intensified in coordination with the number of U.S combat troops come into South Vietnam and also the communist Hanoi continued developing the Harriman’s Super-Highway. The NVA groups infiltrated to South were strictly controlled by “Fence electronic McNamara” Every box of “Hot-Tip” composed five C.123s sprayed on them, look like correct and readjust-tracking a path of straight route over them; and monitoring the sound-activities by hundred-thousand antenna devices been air-dropped alongside. Some antenna were hanging on the branched of triple-canopied jungle by theirs propellers or penetrate pierced into ground floor. NVA troop moving safely meanwhile at their vicinity some box B.52 were pretended with carpets bombs, the so called was a campaign with the “roller-thunder” (just noisy-listen only – no harm)
We’re flying in formation at 1,000 feet, keeping this level because heavy aircrafts traffic in this busy space between two crowded airway, Tan Son Nhut and Bien Hoa Air-bases. The sky was still dusk in closed visibility, but I could familiar with some stratus clouds scattered in front of us. Now we’re over Chau-Thoi hill some patches stratus flowing back on me.
Today we have a good chance discovering the twilight, the dim, scattered light from the horizon and the period during which the light for life prevails…the miracle of God. I could see farther to the horizon through few hazed clouds sometimes in the vagueness, obscurity. Few dazzling light with my fiercely piercing look keep me in blind in few seconds. Abruptly I closed my eyes and opened them broader again. Now in front of my cockpit windshield, there is all over the glaring light prevails reflected above on the surface of the thick stratus cloud, in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness of the sun. “Darkness vanishes forever?” I pulled my sun glasses down from my helmet with no choice to piercing look straight to the half sun appeared that was a few moment actual a huge round dazzling brass-dish glaring over the horizon. This was another beginning day. As God said, welcome peace for every one on earth. How can the selfish capitalists whose neglected their narrow interest, derailed the help out the jobs for humanity not for kill weapon machination but economic interest for humankind.
I was myself prompted by or showing a sense of guilt: a guilty conscience to destroy all beauty forests of my country. I must being responsible for an offense of wrongdoing. In-fact I had having a feeling of responsibility for some real ruin-devastated forest offense in the next few minutes spraying would be occurred. How can...How can…If it was both an intellectual change of perspective and an emotionally satisfying experience to jettison the guilt about the war destruction? Could I turned down this spraying mission and accepted to go to jail caused discipline? I dismissed this, because I could see no point in doing that, for I did not believe that the war was at a moral level sufficiently low to require civil resistance. The war, as I understood it then, was not in itself an evil; if there was evil, I thought it was in how ineptly.
My wickedness action was scarring deeply in my mind, compulsive preoccupation with a fixed ‘devastated-defoliation’, unwanted feeling haunted somewhere in this cockpit to scare me. I couldn’t glance below over the forest but guilty. I knew below them many beautiful bushes, creeks, wild fruits ripped which once I recalled at Khe Sanh in a rendezvous romantic spot with my tribe-girl Ni, those foliage were a coverage a couple of us concealed our clinging shadow together with small birds made the lively chirping sound. This scenery was painted representations on my mind, and in my mind cannot enough describe the scene. As the morning fog, the air humidity but fresh and pure with perfume of wild flowers spread everywhere in the hill creek rock in my Forward Operation Base at Khe Sanh. There’re so romantic and very impressive.
I felt sent cold shivers down my back by guilty, because very soon I will push the button for defoliation, destroying every the foliages below us. I was the image of frustrated, it repents me that likely I used the razor blade cross-cut on my tribe-girl face. I felt ashamed to do so… something, of doing something wrong or to be lost of all sense of shame? God wasn’t tolerated that crime. More shameful when I realized that Madame Wangari Maathai, a respect lady at Kenya country in Africa had received the Nobel prize of winning. She became the first-lady in Africa continent, selected by United Nation for deserving this precious-reward. Because she was a spearhead to struggle in the movement “planted million…million trees, for evergreen the Africa continent. She was to take in part strengthening the peace and happiness to the world. She was prevails over 194 candidate-ladies and getting the prize as the 1, 36 million U.S dollars reward.
Madame Wangan Maathai established a trustee organization composed all ladies members with the name “Evergreen-Belt Movement” for redeeming the space devastated forests. She tried to persuade earnestly all the poor-ladies growing planted the 30 million trees that all the other countries imitated like example or specific model. She said: This planting program might decrease the threat of forest-devastation, and protecting the wild-life for wild-animal, created the resources and good environment for mankind.
As a distinguished lady, more talent, genius, she outdid all her husband who could not contain himself, and hasn’t no more patience than to her divorce due to her unbridled

We’re on the target, over a thick jungles keeping from rail road track in sight. Every where the fresh exposed green foliage were completely inundated with sunbath; I hated myself, just close my eyes and felt shame in guilty, the Bad-omen sun’s rays baking my face, but inhaling the pure fidelity scent of the forests; beneath of them, birds chirped and the waters splashed and bubbled, and as always in the memories of Khe Sanh are being engraved on my heart. We had to spray both side of rail road track, Lt Dien at right side and mine in the left. We descended to 300 feet for axing spraying performance. Now we continued descend to 100 feet for spraying, heading to west avoiding sun rays. There was very secure because a full Army battalion was underneath there for us protection. Along side with the track, I discovered some soldiers scattered by groups on nearby of the lines.
“Butter-fly Two on right side, starting now…from East to West over”
I radioed to Lt Dien for preventing the glazing sun pointed directly to our eyes. I saw Lt Dien at my right, the hazed smoke cloud from his helo was spraying look beautiful but I couldn’t see my helo, “it should be the same shit”. Only eight minutes, the red-warning light come one. We’re run out of liquid chemical. Now the fresh pure air were gone instead the bad odor penetrated to our nostrils. We flies back to 180 degree for check out the outcome though they don’t have the effect yet. Soon aircraft became lighter that air speed faster we get. We continued climbing back to home base. Mission was accomplished.
In this operation, USAF C-123s used different orange chemical agent. Particularly the “Hot Tip” operations beginning of 1965 with five C-123s flight missions, each on carried 11,000 lbs could destroy 300 acres forests. After one week, the testing forests in the lab-zone, all leaves becoming brown, and fall down from barren branches; that was affected by agent dioxins spread to nearly area beyond a diameter one mile, and after that about 5 or 6 weeks the entire trees were completely perished.

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[vinhtruong]

Capitalism had always relied on government by its preponderated prevail upon toward world wide, to enforce these protections. Shrewd manipulators, like clique wise-men [A Harriman and Bushes] running world war strategy, are adept at using the good reputations of Americans to cover their bad narrow interest intentions. In Vietnam War, they had plan to, when the U.S troops coming for combat training that created so many jobs saving many businesses developed in war time for instant Civil-Airlines prevented bankruptcy and well development in “Jet-Engine Age” On the course of final decisive schedule table they forced Congress to withdraw the troop for a space to take a break time for inventories and seeking the cause another provocative war again and again so on, likewise the next should be Middle-East for example.
So look like the Vietnam and Iraq War produced cogent reasons for surrogate of similar policy, so whosoever said U.S was stuck or defeat the war, they don’t mind, it was just keeping silent, but were very happy to exploit the huge, profitable lucrative market in war industrial production. For the people of the South Vietnam, the about face of their only friend and ally during the time they needed them most, was a terrifying, shocking, and painful experience. And moreover on all the sacrifices Americans had made there as well.
Right after on September/21/1960 National Security Council established a institution on the segment-side of Pentagon, for study and examination; there were already having the direction of post of Vietnam War after ‘Three’ anticipated stand-point: [axioms] (1)-There was never a legitimate non-communist government in Saigon. (2)-The U.S had no legitimate reason to be involved in Vietnamese affairs (3) The U.S could not have won the war under any circumstances
Subsequently, taken up by teachers at most universities was as the basis for explaining the war. So why in this book “The New Legion”, I brought up two battle, Ap Bac and Lam Son 719 to remind the readers these two unofficial actions of U.S stand-points of the war involvement: Battle Ap Bac, the U.S didn’t have yet the legitimate reason for involved the war, though suffered some casualties (2, Jan/1963) yet She must wait until fabricated the so called “The Gulf of Tonkin Incident”. And the operation Lam Son 719, U.S troop had being withdrawn more than a half (almost 300,000 troops) but wait until “Paris Peace Talk” This was legitimate time-table for honorable withdraw for predominantly influence around the world even if forced the US combat troop to retreat.
A cruel April 1975 in Saigon fall created by same senior staffs with Gulf War [George H.W Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld; So why it seemed to me that these wars were alike in a general way but not exactly similarity] Historian George C.Herring in an article called “America and Vietnam: The Unending War in the winter 1991-92 issue of Foreign Affairs, thought otherwise. “Such was the lingering impact of the Vietnam War. Herring explained: “That the Persian Gulf conflict appeared at times to be as much a struggle with its ghosts as with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. President Bush’s eulogy for the Vietnam Syndrome may therefore be premature. Success in the Gulf War (First-War) no doubt raised the nation’s confidence in its foreign policy leadership and its military institutions and weakened long-standing inhibitions against intervention abroad. Still, it seems doubtful that military victory over a nation with a population less than one-third of Vietnam in a conflict fought under the most favorable circumstances could expunge deeply encrusted and still painful memories of an earlier and very different kind of war.
Deeply in the Skull and Bones mastermind, herbicide spraying became extremely controversial. Critics equated the practice to the use of poison gas and Hanoi exploited it for its propaganda. Subsequently they, in the Vietnam postwar plotting on the course of the “Road-Map” for resuming negotiated with Vietnam, they sought the reasonable-pretext “ Agent-Orange and MIA”, after twenty years of closed door hostility (1975-1995) the same their anticipated plan with China 20 years of hostility, after Korea War (1952-1972). The chunk Two of Eurasian Great Game have had some coincidence likewise Inchon Operation cog-wheel to Operation Lam Son 719 blowing out obsolete war material on the spot battlefield. Wizard-Harriman was promised of cheating at B.29 support Dien Bien Phu and B.52 when Hanoi violation Paris agreement accords, stemming from OSS covert operation during WWII by Agent 019 Lucien Conein and now still a lingering sense of guilt by CIA, Richard Helms have done ever pull that trick again.
(I’m not writing in condemnation of the U.S decision to abandon the South Vietnam in the battlefields more than three decades ago, nor it is written to vindicate the leaderships of the GVN, but is written only to set the records straight. Vietnamese citizens who left the country in April 1975 have become Americans and have accepted the tragic disaster of 1975 as their fate. It is a concept deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture. The U.S and its ally, the GVN, were never defeated militarily by the communist Hanoi in Vietnam. Instead, the U.S was the architect of a new geo-strategy at the time global politics needed a change, and America’s socio-political situation must be reconciled.)
As for poison gas dioxin in Agent-Orange become a sharp political tool of U.S to return back Vietnam. Somehow there was the U.S to feel a special responsibility for healing relations between our two nations or at least at a time when Hanoi was in danger of becoming another Beijing. As for me, the fact that when we say the word: “Vietnam today I mean not just a war but a country, at long last, a place where, as I hoped more than three decades ago, “America turned and veterans helped in the turning”. If U.S do thus, as a “straight talker,” I am pretty sure that our mutual experience in transcending the “Vietnam trauma” was one important factor that our willingness to meet domestic challenges is as important a test of national will as our willingness to engage in warfare.
This pretext of negotiation “MIA and Agent-Orange” was ‘light-blow’; can you prove that my opinion is wrong? Instead of poison chemical agent in ‘food-can’ dropped by regular parachute (they can parachuted precision-accuracy on spot by sensor’ altimeter setting at very low altitude) At Khe Sanh besieged, 5000 Marines encircled by four NVA divisions, plus two artillery, armor supported regiments) and the rescue mission of Vietnamese Sea-Commandos to save the lives of Lieutenant Colonel Hambleton and Lieutenant Mark Clark in 1972, bail-out right in South DMZ.
The Strategic Air Command played the role so different with air campaign such as “The Rolling-Thunder” and “The Linebacker” together with Operations “Ranch-Hand” and “Hot-Tip” the nature of orange agent must so much stronger. Wherefore in Unites States, a General Conference of the United Methodist Church held in Atlanta, the majority of delegates approved a statement calling American involvement in the Vietnam War “a crime against humanity” then rejected a resolution that would have condemned “the appetite of North Vietnam to wage cruel and inhuman war”.
United States conscience pricks her to feel a significant responsibility for healing the wound of Vietnam War on sustainable development to be held in Vietnam in turn Vietnam should clarifying the MIA situation. Sir Jerry D.Jennings, deputy Secretary of Defense, and Co-chairman Soviet-U.S of POW and MIA announced that Soviet was better let Soviet Veterans recruited by U.S government for cooperated searching in document archives stored in KGB with the cause figure out U.S MIA during Korea and Vietnam War. Jennings informed that Washington has still been doing the same with Vietnam side.
Recently, Moscow agreed letting US examined the Soviet Defense Department’s document-archives, and determined of 264 U.S troops missing in action in the Korea War. Soviet was also informed to U.S the document included U.S shoot-down in Vietnam. In turn in favor with privilege, U.S did the best letting Soviet about information of 163 Soviet soldiers were missing in action from Afghanistan War and with numerous civilians of Soviet missing during the Cold- War.
Much has been made of the U.S high technology that she could discovered all alloy-material by satellites or aircrafts during the period search and discovery aircraft remain in Vietnam. So why She gave the coordinate spot on which a huge submerged bomb about 15,000 pounds called CBU-BLU 82B dazed-cutter-bomb dropped by C.130 Hercule, but due to some discrepancies when hit ground its wouldn’t exploded. The Press Trust of India and AP radioed that: Vietnam dismantled in separation a warhead from a huge unexploded-bomb, after 30 years of war. As a Project Delta pilot I conjectured that at the middle of year 1970, according to CIA, the sensors reflecting to McNamara’s electronic sensor fence that controlled the level NVA groups-infiltration if so heavy. There should be a yellow warning light alert; consequently U.S Army at Central Highland would like a must landing zone at anywhere even right in the middle of thick forest, for in case intercepted NVA before they come closer in green area, so why this BLU 82B bomb was badly needed for making a Big-LZ, the size least equal a soccer-field. Whereas BLU-82AL/pressure 1,000pds/square inch used at Khe Sanh, South Laos: Aluminum is a silvery while a ductile number of the boron group of chemical elements, it has the symbol AL, its atomic number 13 power and polystyrene (FAE) consist only of an agent and a dispersing mechanism and take their oxidizers from the oxygen in the air.
Right after local regional force was authorized. They expensed 20 days with 38 weapon-expert specialists made on trail to bring it down from the hill crest, after they accumulated about 3 tons of explosive powder. This bomb usually dropped by parachute and exploded over the surface to blow-out destroyed everything equally one foot-ball yard made helicopter landing zone. I conjectured the long tube first in touch-hit with the ground-surface, might hanging or broken on the foliage before free fall to the ground or may be the parachute wasn’t opened. Thereby that bomb pointed through a 2/3 in the earth. Out of explosive power the iron remnant was two tons. They brought back to Hanoi stored the PAVN’ museum.
According to U.S forces, more than 15 millions tons of bombs, mines, artillery shells, and various ammunitions were exploited in Vietnam War. But 10% among them didn’t explode scattered everywhere in land of Vietnam. I’m sure that the U.S should to redeem this financed aid support instead of “Orange Agent”. As for those exploded devices created many accidents effecting to wounded even perished few peoples, in majority the children. Statistically in Vietnam from 1975 there was had 38,000 perished victims and 100,000 wounded by them. That’s why like I have conjectured, U.S government gave aid to Veteran association 5.000,000 dollars in term de-exploded ammunition plan.
In the past Vietnam used ‘Agent Orange’ like political weapon for U.S must paving path a specified sum of dollars in redemption but fail without scientific evidence. Once Vietnam claim, a demand as of right, because the victims of dioxin as they experienced on Ho Chi Minh Trail operation, they were under the cloud spraying from aircraft with color orange. Thereby in U.S side they said: It’s so ambiguous, the mist wasn’t this color but dark white like water. The orange was just painted cross outside of barrel container. The substance liquid inside the barrel didn’t having this orange color. Agent-Orange translated by Vietnamese was familiar with the U.S and Vietnam. This is a regular herbicide, this agent chemical was the first time in used at Vietnam, on date 13/Jan/1962 in the operation called “Ranch-Hand”. Station was at Tan Son Nhut Air Base.
In the summer time of 1962, two helicopters H.34s (028 and 511). I and my wingman Lt Dien have flown the defoliation mission on course of railroad track line from Trang Bom, Long Khanh; Counties underneath having a full army battalion for ground protection. My eyes witnessed my wingman spraying with a mist of dark white color. It wasn’t orange color at all? This Orange agent was used spreading to 1967 and 1968 and terminated at 30/June/1971.After 1971. This activity-event Ho Chi Minh Trail was in status-commission 100%. I dared named it like Harriman’s all weather Super Highway with Blood-POL along its corridor. Significantly that emerged a coincidence of “Cooper-Church” amendment 1970 (anticipation with Case Church later 1973) to the defense appropriations bill, a measure denying funds for U.S ground force operation in Laos and Cambodia. This left the communist Hanoi’s sanctuaries and lines of communication once again safe from American interference. This time under pressure of Congressional action behind it was haunting by a Second Company-Dynasty generation reigned by George H W Bush Meanwhile according to a 1994 history published in Hanoi, the quantity of supplies shipped from North Vietnam to its forces in the South was four times that shipped in the entire previous year. Even so that was miniscule compared to what was sent south from the beginning of 1974 until the end of the war in April 1975, a total during those sixteen months, reported the Communists, that was 2.6 times the amount delivered to the various battlefields during the preceding thirteen years.

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

Thereby according to many Americans would not like hearing it said that the totalitarian states of China and the Soviet Union had proven to be better and more faithful allies than the democratic United States, but that was in fact the case. Washington Post wrote that “It is almost unthinkable and surely unforgivable that a great nation should leave these helpless allies to the tender mercies of the North Vietnamese, but that is what we did!” South Vietnam cannot survive without U.S military aid as long as North Vietnam’s war-making capacity is unimpaired and supported by Soviet-Union and China.

U.S used various and different categories herbicide agent. They were contained inside the barrel, capacity about 50 gallons with different color as such called by the color of the barrel. For instant, agent purple, agent white, agent green, agent orange…Agent Orange deposited in the barrel painted orange-mark, composed two liquid agent 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T was two substance associated with botanical hormone in phylogeny, as result an Auxin like acetic acid. Agent Orange was made as powder, one mixed with petroleum or diesel. It’s simple ready to spray from aircraft.
However, in the past one tried to constitute an agent composed 2, 4, 5-T, that created another substance but couldn’t eliminated out of them. This was “Dioxin” which was among a mass of chemical substance. It was usually called 2, 3, 7, 8-TCDD. Unsurprisingly Dioxin was a poison chemical gas for illness effect. Dioxin when absorbed in the human body, it was stayed in the fat-greased parts. But dioxin should be automatically come out by immunized self-help body reaction; dioxin come out annually for a period of seven years, the body human being should be O.K. But male specially wait until dioxin self released by unabsorbed. And female the dioxin would come out by the nutrient to placenta. Beside that after giving birth, dioxin could come out by way milk feeding.
Therefore how much dioxin assimilated in my body so I shall serious ill? Doctors studying on the animal realized that sometime we were assimilating just little bit dioxin but still very ill about hormone, immunization, and maturity. If so much dioxin assimilated in our bodies must be created a cancer. Medical academy science in United States proclaimed: 13 sorts of illness encounter with Dioxin such as: cancer ‘Lympho Hodgkin’, cancer lung, cancer arteries, cancer brain
Apparently, how they used the dioxin (orange agent) in the Vietnam War?
This poison gas had a mixture with 50/50 of two chemicals as Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2.4D) and Trichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2, 4, 5-T). This mixture sprayed direct from the air by scale/20-1/50. In the Lab-Vietnam War, had about 19 million gallons this poison-gas were sprayed all over Vietnam, with density five kilograms equal with 6, 4 liters. According to U.S the Veteran Dispatch Staff Report, November/1990, take a rubber plantation for testing examination, this chemical agent was a mixture of various same samples above, and sprayed for every acre. Within one week, all the trees were sprayed becoming barren leaves and the effect after that contagious to the nearby of rubber trees in effect of one kilometer diameter.
One Top secret report in 1967, for all U.S forces in Vietnam was amplified the information. They were be ordered by keeping far away the zone treating defoliation, at least two kilometers away from them. In short the actual civilization live, the people could escaped from assimilating the various vulnerable chemical gas in our environment that included the dioxin…but the important was how much we could withstand?
Depend on the different countries they accepted the amount of dioxin assimilation in body for each day
TDI (Tolerable Daily Intake) of dioxin was varied and counted on by pg or 10-12 such as:
Holland: 4 pg/day/kg depend on body weight
W.H.O: 10pg/day/kg
F.D.A: U.S.A, 0.03-pg/day/kg
USEPA: 0.006-pg/day/kg.
For instant, one specific body was weight of 50 kilograms, based on statistic standard: 1pg/day/kg was assimilated dioxin 50pg/day, as result one year getting 18,250 pg or 18, 25 days.
After 20 years living in United States, the amount of dioxin absorbed in the liver and in the fat-tissue was 365pg/20 years. If We counted on half-life of dioxin was 10 years that means a total of amount dioxin stayed in a body was as 185.5 of “trillion”.
Now, in comparison with a amount dioxin in blood, in the milk breast of one habitant in zone Chu-Prong (Pleiku) or zone D, C, U-Minh Thuong, Ha [base on standard an every of 10 ppt or pg (trillion) was the amount dioxin comprised permanently in the body of Vietnamese, in compared with one living in U.S was still much better than on U.S soil] If creation of cancer, strange abnormal-birth…of Vietnamese living area above were increased as “Hatfield” reported. There should be in United States, the majority U.S people subjecting to get cancers, unborn strange birth too higher. As for scientists, academic studies, specialists worked in the Lab-room for decades in contact direct with dioxin, in exposure with various chemical poisoned for everyday. And of course the amount of this poison gas should be comprised in blood. All of them should be physical examination check annually. Particularly, in 1993 were 40ppt, thus however, they were health condition normal not adverse symptom or side-effect or indicates the existence and character of something else.
I had another instance about the wasted chemical poison. Corporation General Electric, a huge amount of PCBs, estimated about 43 wasted tons flowing in distance of the Hudson-river, New York. After 50 years, the habitants living both sides of that river were located in two districts, Hudson and Fort Edward that having nothing of symptom of any illness. In comparison with 170kg of dioxin spreading on superficial 24,500 km2 on Vietnam soil. I thought if the threat of dioxin toward Vietnamese. With a certain amount, I took instance maximum amount dioxin assimilated in the weak body. How was serious degree-level? How He or She was affected and sustained? Why Vietnam reported officially and newspapers clarified it with some proof- evidences. There was existed a threat of death or last for decades?
We reviewed over the global, many cases of poison gas assimilation in the human body; specific the dioxin was none human perished except only destroyed the trees by herbicide action.
And also no animal was account for extinction of life. Actually, we are living in the environment which enveloped by so much of various chemical and poison that we couldn’t escape from them. For instant, an electric-pylon in front of my apartment with so much isolated devices as color brown: this is a PCBs which was also a sort of dioxin; right in my back yard, yesterday I burned the wasted stuffs, after barbecue grilling…unintentionally I was created the amount for account of dioxin. (This actual incident created 19% a huge amount dioxin in the United States).
In contrary, If I was scared of dioxin but I couldn’t escaped: in the smoke of cigarette had dioxin, fire wood had dioxin, the smoke in the highway had dioxin, fish, meat, milk were involved with dioxin. Dioxin was everywhere by nature phenomenon as wild-fire, as volcano erupted, by artificial human activities as reciprocating engine burned gas formed a huge amount of dioxin in highway…
Some liquid substance like Chloral, we used for laundry having creation dioxin, as detergent composed sodium hypochlorite (bleach). Some sub-product from plastic fiber…having source of dioxin when they were being burned.
Now, I talk about accidents related with agent orange ‘dioxin’: At Times Beach, Missouri, United States; a company sold the wasted stuffs containing TCD to another company that took care in service clean the dirty-dust in the public roads; Company used these huge amount of wasted petroleum to spray on road surface, thereby shortly after that…The local authority must to evacuate 1,400 residents out of vulnerable area at once. Company must have cremation all those danger stuffs by mandatory.
The food stuffs for domestic quadrupeds serving for food as bovine animals, at Brazil the cattle-food had mixed with fresh-limes powder with purpose ameliorating the gas inside cow stomach. Therefore, the milk contained some amount of dioxin, after discovered that some millions milk gallons were destroyed. Whereas French and Holland have product for cattle food mixed with ‘sludge’, the wasted stuffs from industry-complex with fiber plus vitamins. As result the hog’s fat tissues and poultry as well existed so high amount of dioxin (presently, French was still applied this formula even though the European food safety association proclaimed to product prohibition (1991)
The subject Dioxin was deliberated. This delicate matter, also so much complicated. It was complicated because affecting to every country in many spheres: the human health, environment, economic, and political too. Delicate sensible, because there was discussed in debate for neutralization all zones were treated by orange agent; it was both side between Vietnam and U.S, and refereed by some Europe countries.
Therefore the good-relationship between two countries depended on specific testified evidences that be scientists and their influence to clearing like I said above.
In early March 2,002 there was a symposium between United States and Hanoi, a conference for discussion of the poison gas comprised the dioxin which was treated to over South Vietnam soil, creating some disaster consequences for its habitants of those areas. Hanoi was strong ‘ill-feeling’ and purposeful, unreasonably obstinate in one’s ways as propaganda as ‘ill-fortune’ by political purpose and the U.S must to make amends for its wrongdoing as by paying back something. But I’m pretty sure that the money was never come right in the hand of victims.
As for the United States, there is something the matter which had been in the CIP anticipated planning by Harriman’s senior staffs after National Security Council discussion on September 29/1960: “Welfare imperialist”, to pretend declared it goal of U.S policy in Vietnam (both South and North Vietnam) to “create in this country a viable and increasingly democratic society”? By way of conclusion, I assumed that: “might well have to be considered the ‘new pattern of the social scientist’ war” for the next project to all the countries in Middle East.
Because so a carefully preparedness, U.S was so patiently to resolve this matter in the preponderant attitude by the pretext “MIA and Agent-Orange”. But not for others poisons which it had been used in the food-canned C-Ration?(asked for Captain Tom Norris in document film “BAT-21” in the rescue-mission saving lives two pilots Colonel Hambleton and Lieutenant Mark.Clark by Vietnamese Sea-Commandos in 1972 right in DMZ). Thereby in return, U.S threat to review the trading-agreement between two nations that increasing on Vietnam side was so much embarrassed to beset with financial difficulties.
Recently the “Labor” newspaper had quoted that physiologic doctor Nguyen Quoc-Tuan, branch-chief of industry science of environment stated: The orange fruits growing on Ha Giang province were composed the 2, 4-D and fruits imported from China were been comprised the 2, 4, 5-T. Right after few days, this newspaper remind to the readers: “Doctor Tuan was punished by disclosed the national secret document”. The Youth Newspaper declared by explanation “a source from Food security department gave a firm-recertification in those fruits were only the 2, 4-D but none the 2, 4, 5-T, implying an indication of no sign of 2, 4, 5-T means so safe-security fruits because it were not composed the dioxin. However the article didn’t clarify that mean the fruits in Vietnam soil or imported from China. “There is once again something the matter”.
A group of delegated scientists were not agreed the significant consequences of the orange agent by natural or artificial causes. They would needed some substances of proof-evidences demonstrated by manifestation or to establish by reasoning; from the aircraft spraying defoliation contained dioxin to the creation of diseased illness. In this mixed liquid contained the orange agent had how many percent of dioxin? And how many percent of those assimilated to human body? The amount assimilated to convert dioxin into a substance suitable for absorption into the human body by the cause from aircraft spraying or from other the cause of diversionary sources
Purposely U.S would like to resolve this matter for it economic and political interests. So she was pretended to concern about that to appease U.S media of all products made exported from Vietnam in condition safety, like fishes, vegetables, fruits…(in this event the New Vietnam was under-pressurized by its creditor [U.S] like South Vietnam in the past)
Moreover, U.S played the role of “Big Brother” to drive to speed, effort to act of urging, and advocate earnestly all academic scientists to clarify so bringing it to bottom-line of final decisive solution after a collection of opinions on dioxin, poison-gas topic. Furthermore, Vietnam would like the job should be done, She should considered in treating with U.S as a distinguished Guest, like welcome U.S honorable VIP; and also self demonstrated seriously in struggling to achieve some level of cooperation between two governments.
Whereas the U.S side, thousands of its own MIAs and deal with a pretext ‘POW/MIA and Orange Agent’ advocacy network that fed every wild rumor or conspiracy theory, preying on the grief of families of Americans who had not come home. Because of continuing media reports and family hopes that raised for everyday that a significance number of Americans were still being secretly held in Vietnam. U.S must review a thousand old documents due to the sons and husbands of those who anxiously followed the hearings, a special committee on POW/MIA affairs where they were held, beaten, and tortured for too long. This Special Committee made a total of eight trips to Vietnam during and immediately after their hearings. These visits were filled with unforgettable experiences, and one of the most deeply moving of them was to the site of the so called “Hilton-Hotel” and seeing the tiny room, really almost a cage where POW sacrificed a good part of their young adulthood for their country, in pain and fear and isolation. Committee insisted on examining all the evidence, demanded that witnesses be held accountable for the reliability of their testimony, and, in the end, convinced the entire committee to agree on a report that concluded that there were likely no “Americans still alive in Vietnam”

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

In the past, the bad blood between emperor-II [George-1] and Sir Perot, who was once described by “The Economist” as a short little man, with a yapping drawl, sticking out ears, and a head like a bottle brush, began in the late seventies as George H W Bush was ending his tenure as CIA director. Perot, who had grown wealthy by obtaining federal contracts to handle Medicare payment via his Electronic Data Processing company traveled to Maine to offer Bush a job managing one of his new oil companies. Emperor-II politely declined, but the eccentric, temperamental Texas took the refusal personally. Also during the Regan administration, emperor- II then Vice president, Perot traveled to Vietnam in violation of the Logan Act on a personal mission to locate 39 American POWs allegedly performing slave labor in Southeast Asia. When he returns empty-handed; President Reagan refused to meet with him and pawned him off on his loyal vice president. Perot suggested that he might offer to buy all of Cam Ranh Bay as a form of ransom, or attempt to pay $1 million for each returned prisoner. Emperor-II rejected both ideas due to ruined his world strategy [“Eurasian Great Game”] Green with envy, Perot alleged: “Well, George, I go in looking for prisoners, but I spend all my time discovering the government has been moving drugs around the world and is involved in illegal arm deal” In the US history emperor-II was notorious a vice president of “death merchant dealer” Again, Sir Perot “He told the vice president that other officials around him were not corrupt but merely incompetent. As for Bush himself, Perot told him. “The world is full of lions and tigers and rabbits. And you’re rabbit” Bush later acknowledged that he was then in Perot’s crosshairs.

Consequently, their alliance continued to the next steps, Unites State needed to take to honorably put the war behind by anticipated Permanent Government on schedule tracking course “abandonment of the economic boycott against Vietnam and normalization of diplomatic relations” They anticipate as seeing what is going to happen or what will need to be done and take action to prepare for it in advance, scheme resume relationship with Vietnam an arrangement by pretext “MIA and Agent Orange.” Once more time in repetition as the Congress, “Cooper-Church” (1970) and “Case-Church” (1973) by one Democrat Frank F Church and one Republican Clifford P Case authored amendment; now the so called ‘The Senate majority leader to chair a special committee on POW/MIA affairs orchestrated by one a Democrat John F Kerry, a famous War-protester, and the other a famous POW John McCain.
However, this issue above was kept up the pretence that moreover, had led to the continuation of their economic boycott against Vietnam and their refusal to resume normal diplomatic relations with that country even though the hostilities had ended nearly two decades earlier. (In their stratagem China two decades hostilities 1952-1972 and Vietnam was the same 1975-1995 in a similar plan-time-table) So why, eventually the United-States have decision to resume normal diplomatic to Vietnam.
Issue MIA or POW, I recalled the Vietnam War, it not easy to be the wife of a Delta Force Pilot. When a woman falls in love with any man like mine, she knows she is inviting a difficult marital life. A volunteer pilot who is committed to the service of his country must first obey his orders; the needs of his family will always take second place. There will be long periods of separation, assignment to faraway and unattractive places, and the constant tension of an uncertain future. The families of our SOG’ Flight Group members lead semi-normal lives, develop social circles, and manage to keep their children in the same schools for extended periods.
But when a woman falls in love with one flight personnel, she knows she’s in for a roller-coaster ride. Marry a SOG recon, spy-pilot or any members of Vietnamese Special force (LLDB) or Sea-Commando and you can forget about counting on celebrating birthdays, holidays, or anniversaries together. You might be in the throes of honeymoon bliss when his beeper goes off and he jump up to leave. You might be clutching his hand in the final agonies of your first labor, when he kisses your sweat-soaked brow and walks out the door. Your father might pass away and he won’t make the funeral. His mother might die, and you will have to watch him kneel at her graveside, stricken with remorse, long after she’s cold.
If you are a woman in danger of falling for one of these men, your family and closed friends may wisely warn you to cease and desist. “But the heart is a blind hunter!”

What if everything should be fine, as on course anticipated stratagem, U.S will resume normal diplomatic relations with Vietnam even though the hostilities had ended nearly two decades earlier, and their alliance continued to the next steps U.S needed to take to honorably put the war behind, abandonment of the economic boycott against Vietnam and normalization of diplomatic relations like Henry Kissinger had to pledge in the past two decades ago. Whoever be president of “forty-Second” of United States shall be resuming to normal of diplomatic relation with Vietnam as the road-map agenda. In addition as historian George C. Herring in the article “America and Vietnam: The Unending-War in the winter 1991-1992 issue of “Foreign Affairs” Therefore in 1995, right after two decades (1975-1995 as same with China 1952-1972) President Bill Clinton had the “should-be courage” to put these policies into action, and he still says that he couldn’t have done it without the constant presence and united support to Vietnam.

“Vietnam today, U.S policy means not just a war but a country!”
After all, U.S learned several important lessons during its effort to put the war behind them for themselves, their generation, and their country. They learned how to reach across partisan and ideological divides to find common ground in the rich soil of American values and experiences.
They learned how to overcome the passionate convictions of narrow interest clique to build a consensus based on facts rather than prejudice. They learned how to make their individual experiences a platform for broader lesions about American ideals and their special place in the world’s struggle for peace and justice. If do it so, I’m pretty sure that the mutual experience in transcending the ‘Vietnam Trauma’ was one important factor!
So much international proof-evidences testified about dioxin was in real poison gas and certifying by the very most physic-chemical scientists in world wide. Literally during the Vietnam War, all flight missions on aerial defoliation were over some specific mountainous area, forests, and un-population-area; the most treatment was special over Ho Chi Minh Trail (Hot-Tip Operation) In short the population wasn’t a target for chemical spraying. The Hanoi’s plagued propaganda had wide-spreading evil in the Western Europe in the recent years, but fortunately its attitude was presently more acceptable than those that had come before.
In the past several years, Hanoi led the tourists tour in a brief trip for orientation or inspection the stranger unborn, crippled, disabled, all those should be cared for by humanity due to infected by dioxin from U.S sprayed-defoliation with poison gas herbicide during the Vietnam War that had ruined all the forests, devastated the whole country. Also they led tourists to visit the Tu-Du hospital seeing some unborn creatures stored in vessel-glasses, and said: this is the effect from the orange-agent disaster-consequences. Obviously, U.S side was badly needed some testimonial in which a certain of commission scientists certified these truth evidence in such exhibition. This political scandal was so wrong, because these exhibitions; but as far as I knew to anything exhibited at public show that our doctor-students were [before Saigon fall] notified
To set down in training-aid, these had been establishing from 1950s at medical institution, Cho-Lon district. Hanoi’s also show up some disease like Poliomyelitis infected by orange-agent but doctors were worked in the past noted the majorities of “sequelle” by virus not from dioxin
(The Switzeland magazine “Le-Man” on December/1998 described a baby girl who had the ‘sequelle’ of Poliomyelitis by virus not dioxin, so often occurred in Vietnam. Hanoi boasted this’ dioxin effect and played the role of scandal methodically spread to promote the humanitarian-cause.
This wrongful campaign itself to bring Hanoi into the brink of unpersuasive to the audience on world wide; However, as a straight talker, I’m pretty sure in confident that the U.S must take the serious key-step to help Vietnam, because U.S and Vietnam mutual experience in transcending the Vietnam trauma was one important factor that the U.S will passed away the Vietnam syndrome and deprived of one’s trauma drawback-burden.
I do feel US having a special responsibility for healing relations between two countries. My lest idea was the must to assist Vietnam’s leadership and people in taking a fresh look at how the country was developing, at a time when Saigon was in danger of becoming another Beijing, a city whose air is so dirty that its residents commonly wore surgical masks on the streets long before the advent of SARS.
For healing relations, the U.S conscience is pricking her now that she realizes what she has done in bringing corporate executives, scientists, and engineers from around the world to the table with the Vietnamese to discuss how that country could find cleaner ways to develop and keep higher incomes in tandem with higher standard for air, land, and water quality.

)Continued)

[vinhtruong]

(At the end of Vietnam-War, the ARVN fought the war alone at the most difficult situation due to short supplies in logistics and the US military disengagement. However "I shall never repent having done what I did, nor complain about the consequences of my captivity. If history were to repeat itself, I would choose the same path. By so doing, I know from experience that I would lose everything but HONOR - The 1973 Paris Agreement allowed many communist divisions stayed deep inside South Vietnam territory (and actually supported by the whole Soviet block, including China) And then US Army leaving the battle fields from Mekong Delta to Ben Hai River, we, the South Vietnam Army Forces alone, I say again, alone, fought back the North Vietnam Army, supported Soviet block until the last day of April 1975. As my understanding, my opinion, General Duong Van Minh, the last president 72 hours surrendered not our ARVN; but no matter what, we are proud of what we had done for our country. The Vietnam-War is not over yet. We are still fighting for democracy and freedom for our country and waiting for the collapsing of Hanoi regime. For that reasons, we are still the soldiers. I’ll still hope U.S Permanent Government should have a wonderful solution that we still waiting for)
How to lose a war … when ever talking about Vietnam War, most of the U.S politicians, journalists, officials, or political pundit would mention it in a way the war is their own, the South Vietnamese at that moment seem to be invisible or just the bystanders outside their scam, bearing no brunt of the war effort. But there was one day, only single day in which all of them would shy away from that claim; the day they have nothing to do with that war. The day they return the outcome back to the South Vietnamese: The April 30th 1975, as a result an accomplished axiom-1. As you know, desire and struggle like a basic timeline of events that the U.S for more than a decade has been assisting the South Vietnam government, the people of Vietnam to maintain their independence, the quality or state of being self-governing, no subject to control by others, and to stop Communist expansion in Asia?
For that reason, one has heard some very familiar words like The Fall of Saigon, Evacuation, Frequent Wind Operation, Reeducation Camp, Economic Zone, Boat People …etc Those technical terms and euphemism are conveniently served just like toilet papers to cover somebody is own mistakes and to wipe-out (flush) his embarrassing accident. So let’s tell straight out what it is on that day: Cut and Run!
A Bitter April 30th, 1975: The day South Vietnam is delivered to Evil due to betray and abandonment. If you have never been told the real ugly stories that fatal day, then this is the chance, let the following scenes, artificial disasters speak for the innocent civilians, the abandoned plain soldiers and the deaths. The consequences of The Fall of Saigon drove many people into not only suicide but serious mental disorder as well. Few decades later, some physicians said that at least thousand peoples around the Saigon area suffered incurable insanity on that day of the Cruel-April.
In summary, this was a disappointing performance, I have to repeat once more: Right after in 1963, president Diem’ assassination, North Vietnam got the aids from the Russia, the China and the Eastern Europe who helped them with their personal and group weapons surpassing those of the South Vietnamese Army. The units of infantry and regional soldiers did not have R-15 or M16, M72, M79... while North Vietnamese Army stormily attacked us with all kinds of modern weapons such as AK and B40... It was not that the US did not see the truth. However intentionally the Permanent Government would like to dispense all of goddamn stuff cast off U.S weapon from WW-II, the unclassified documents show that puppeteer Kissinger wanted to cut loose from Vietnam since that period. Consequently, the Americans came to Vietnam just for merely military combat training exercise with slogan: “Everything worked but not worked enough” - the so called help us to defend ourselves, but not to win the war, or more clearly, the Americans did not want or did not let the Republic Vietnam Army or the United States Army to win and liberate the North Vietnam, because of the global strategy of the United States in order to win over communism. The Permanent Government fired General Westmoreland and at last they forced us to fall apart. South Vietnam and Republic Vietnam Army have been sacrificed, and in the world peace after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there were the contribution of our blood and our honor. Personally, I have to say it to the world by my master-book “The New Legion”, now and in the future. My group of military veteran-writers had contributed our efforts to this hard mission of our country in general and of our South Vietnamese soldiers in particular... (No Peace, No Honor. War Industries Board Bones’ Henry Kissinger puppeteer and Betrayal in South Vietnam)
Ironically, at 7:53 on Wednesday morning, April 30, 1975 – brought down the Vietnam War’s final curtain. The fighting – The frustration – The nearly three decades of conflict – Done
“What did we die for?” I asked myself! “For what did we suffer and pay such a price?” And I shook my fist as I watched the helicopter race toward the sea. “We never lost a battle, so why did I lose the war?”
On the streets, in the villages, inside shanties and chateaus, people hid, terrified. Their Vietnamese-eyes too followed the U.S helicopter, and they cried, “Why did you forsake us?”
Men who had given their courage, their dedication, their blood to a noble cause now lost. They had zipped shut too many black bags filled with too many friends who had given their lives trying to win over here. For these, the flight of that last U.S chopper out of Saigon represented despair. “This is not our Vietnamese and our U.S comrades in arms doing! We didn’t lose this war. The U.S acted government was, but the War Industries Board Bones won the narrow in the war game. Solely, our American fellows in fight, and brothers died for freedom’s cause – for liberty!”
“Those damned communist pig-fucking war protesters. They did this. Those damned communist pig-fucking Congressmen and limp-willed political diplomat. They gave it to them. We won it, and then they gave it away!” I angrily stuck my middle finger skyward as that last chopper flew toward Seventh Fleet.
After three decades I found out the Axis of Evil play the CIP’s scam. It good to see that was the ultimate team effort, but every shrewd politician of the team had to have the skills of a quarterback like WSAG’ Chief-staff Donald Rumsfeld, the grit of a linebacker as George H W Bush and the brain of a coach such A Harriman’s strategist staffs. They did carry out their axiom-1; so why we did lose that war and then they gave it to Hanoi. As President Thieu recently lamented “America has turned its back. Deserted us in the breach! How do we stand in defense against such forces when they can now so easily overwhelm us?”

The collapse of South Vietnamese which was preset to scope “EurAsian Great Game” stratagem by Harriman’s masterminded strategist staffs has been attributed to any number of causes, but over time three have stood out as the most prominent:
* -A One, a simple matter of fact, had to do with termination of political support, reduction of materiel support, and eventually even denial of fiscal support to the South Vietnamese by their sometime American ally. This was only the very work of the Congress, wrought over the strong and eventually agonized protest of the administration, military leaders, and of course the South Vietnamese. Before Harriman retired from public life, giving the framework for the Vietnam with only Hanoi side; thereby in 1970 the first volley in Congress emerged “Cooper-Church” amendment and 1973 “Case-Church” amendment: U.S President who has his hands tied, double knotted, and must do nothing, no military equipment, no U.S forces, nada, zip. Ironically, sometime WSAG [Donald Rumsfeld] sent few A-4 Skyhaws to strike POL stations in the South Vietnam Airbase reduced our ARVN activities and moreover the “Project Enhance,” one by one in exchange permitted by Paris Accord Agreement none applicable too. It stood in stark contrast to the uninterrupted support rendered North Vietnam by her Soviet and Chinese allies. Ambassador Bunker, for one, argued that “We eventually defeated ourselves, but we were not defeated when we signed the Paris peace treaties. We had, I think, then achieved our objective. The fact that it slipped our grasp was our own doing.”
* -A second cause had do to with the task, never adequately accomplished, of providing effective leadership for a military establishment rapidly and hugely expanded over a relatively short time, and for the expanded civilian bureaucracy as well. The nature of Vietnam War was so strangely as a 1974 survey of generals who had commanded in Vietnam found that “almost 70 percent of the Army generals who managed the war were uncertain its objectives.” Once again, a survey conducted in 1980 for the veteran administration discloses that 82 percent of former US soldiers engaged in heavy combat there believe that the war was lost because they were not allowed to win. From my perspective, that a key step for ARVN troop to win the war would have been to eliminate CIA’s action intervene internal South Vietnam affairs, the most in a state of chaos (constitution and sovereignty abused) Therefore South Vietnam leader haven’t patiently formed an army good, competent and courageous. Despite some very significant exceptions, that judgment was hard to argue with, and in fact it was one that responsible South Vietnam themselves made after the war.
* - A third key cause was failure to isolate the battlefield, to cut off enemy infiltration and re-supply and to deny the sanctuaries in Cambodia, Laos, and North Vietnam. Again sometime I was pointed and succinct, arguing that to succeed the allies needed to “cut the Harriman Highway [Ho Chi Minh trail] inside Laos”. Here some clue verbatim statement: NSC Micheal Forrestal cautioned Bundy that “to send the telegram without Averell’s approval is just asking for trouble” The telegram had already received presidential approval, but that was not enough. It still required an endorsement from A Harriman. He “favored sending non US patrol into Laos to try to find out the size of military buildup.” He also stood firmly against US advisers taking part in these patrols. It was a clever diversion. As a spy pilot, I flew with no US advisers could lead the STRATA team. The air crewmembers and teams that crossed the border were not to wear GVN uniforms, weapon, cigarette U.S made and we could engage the NVA only in “self defense”

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

Unsurprisingly, on midmorning today, 10:30 Hanoi’s tanks T-55, T-57 approached the Independence Palace in Saigon and, ramming their way through the wrought iron gates, took up positions in the courtyard. There Colonel Bui-Tin accepted unconditional surrender from General Big-Minh – South Vietnam’s President for all of about forty-hours – bringing to an end nearly two decades of Communist quest for domination of all Indochina but with Skull and Bones help give a hand in a stratagem: “On the strongman side.”
I clearly had heard the radio broadcast in which the 42hours-President ordered all Republic of Vietnam armed forces to cease fire and surrender. “It was 10:25 hours, 30 April 1975 by my watch,” On the sky the U.S fighters left the Saigon air space in replacing by the MIG-21 of Hanoi communist. The Axis of Evil named it a ceremony takeover of U.S, by ‘on the Strongman method’. Meanwhile, at Airbase Bach Mai, an aircraft C-130 Hercule camouflage unmarked from southwest maybe Thailand, this aircraft four turbo-propeller-engine abruptly landed. From an old building, one officer NVA proceeding toward the airplane and one CIA official step down from the aircraft. Simultaneously, both of them saluted in military manner, and left hand he showed up the letter to counterpart, and retreating back to airplane, no hand shake. I guessed this hand over Saigon to Hanoi in official procedure or maybe included the list USIS personal those who had exposed themselves on America’s behalf were still in Saigon failure to escape. All those will be departed in the next schedule ODP (Orderly Departure Program)
I recalled. “This was the end. I was most sorry for the outcome of the war, but I had done my best.” There followed the inevitable. “I was, of course, arrested by the Communists and held captive in various the so called Reeducation Camp in Northern Vietnam for not a uncertain future” In reality, now I’m a criminal of war that Communist North Vietnam fixed that name isolated us to remote confined zone as another Siberia in mountainous area and died for good with no one knew. “As Communist, you have to fight the enemy without clemency” Lenin’s policy indicated clearly “reeducation policy” with deceitful tactic to cheat the prisoners: Always give them false hopes of freedom by removing them around frequently until they meet each other at Siberia in death”
As a political officer in Political Education Department, Captain Quach Duoc Thanh is one of such case. He had a broad knowledge on deceitful tactic to cheat the prisoners. Thanh was arrested at home by two armed VC months after the fall of Saigon. He was sent to Chi-Lang camp in the former 4th military tactical region. On the eve of the invasion threat of the Khmer Rouge, the prisoners were moved to a new camp Vuon-Dao. The camp was built close to the road that leads to Moc-Hoa, Cai-Lay district. There were about 3000 South Vietnamese soldiers ranking from CWO’s to colonels. Among them the most steadfast were Colonel Nguyen Duc Xich (Gia-Dinh province chief under the later president Ngo Dinh Diem) the venerable Hoang Dinh Khang always showed the courage and steadfastness in the face of the enemy. To the camp authorities, they became the obstacle to be brainwashing.
In October 1979, Ba-Minh, the camp Communist party political commissar, accused Colonel Nguyen Duc Xich of being agent left behind by the CIA and locked him in an old US Army container (conex). One day, as the guards escorted colonel Xich to go out the barbed wire perimeter, they shot him from the back and told the prisoners that colonel Xich was attempting to escape. Whereas Captain Thanh could not avoid the same destiny, they put him in the container Conex in 15 days without food and drink. At about 9 o’clock one certain night in December, 1979, a VC captain unlocked the container and found captain Thanh was still alive. He then beat and suffocated Thanh to death; the event occurred not far from the barracks where prisoners were sleeping. Many years have passed but Vuon Dao camp ex-detainees still recall the story with horror. Captain Thanh died at age 37 survived by his wife and four children.

We were asleep. Suddenly some warm, salted, stinking drops of liquid had fallen all over our heads and our faces. We were awake to know that they came from an overflowed stinkpot of urine carrying up to the deck by a communist soldier. Under dim yellow light from the ceiling of the hold, I stretched my neck to see other almost empty stinkpots had been lowered down by a rope. Some stinking drops of urine did not let us alone. We did not know if the ship was to Con-Son Island or somewhere. Probably it was just of Saigon Newport to the ocean, sometime rocking on huge waves of the sea. We just waited for the sunrise to orientation, estimated our position.
We were sitting at the tail end of the ship because we were the last group to embark last night. Fortunately, probably because of a very strictly “press-diet regime” for a longtime that we suffered less stinking odor from defecation; Cellmates who embarked earlier had a wall of bulwark to rest their backs on. But closing to the stinkpots, we didn’t worry about making our pants wet! It was a miserable friend of Airborne named Cao Trieu Phat, a “Five Dot Bull” (slang for lieutenant Colonel that I met with full of war-medals on their uniforms during the war) who was under pressure on atmospheric of below sea level being condition constipation.
I woke up facing a long journey with where and nowhere in destination. That was the reality as another 411th dawn on 14/June/1976, slowly crawled up the steel walls of a fully-loaded boat with its hull deep under sea level. Who knew in the course of this nine decades’ history (1917-2008) of emerged intelligence-war, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pilots and crewmen had been shot down and captured by Free-World’s enemies. They had parachuted into the waiting arms of the North Vietnamese, endured years of torment in Hanoi regime, and been used as pawn by the Soviet Union cadres; crashed in Burma and been hunted down by the Japanese. Some of them had escaped, some had lost their youth through years of captivity, and some had never come home. And from the moment of each one’s capture, each had surrendered his or her future to the unknown. None had known when or if they would see freedom again.
In the Southern of Vietnam, It was my 411th day as a prisoner of Saigon fall. I knew I couldn’t deal with my captivity in terms of years, but with Communist totalitarian, I had to mentally prepare myself for a long haul. So, as I stared at the crowd of POW, a mêlée of us; we’d all crowded into hull deck deep below under pressure of sea-level. Last night, a large crowd of over one thousand among 1,700 ARVN’ lieutenant colonel that Communist North Vietnam named the ‘criminal of war’ were departure from Saigon New Port by 759th Maritime Group to nowhere. I told myself that I would survive just one day at a time. I would not imagine my captivity as years of tortured waiting, because if I really believed that, I would probably die. My mind couldn’t accept being in prison for that long, and those kinds of thoughts would break me.
Like any major challenge in life, you have to take it in bits and pieces. You don’t try to tackle the whole thing at once. I remembered how I had reacted at the Saigon fall when the Hanoi’s troop was overrun and I had focused on surviving for a moment, and then making it through the next moment. And so, as 411th dawned and I needed a limited point of reference or that darkness would just overwhelm me. “You just need to make it to morrow, I told myself. “If you wake up tomorrow, you’ll figure out how to survive tomorrow. Today, you’ve got to figure out how to survive today!”
And still, there was no way to know when it was all going to end. So, even though I was trying to convince myself not to worry about it, those images of endless years would continue to ambush my mind. A worst terrible night of asleep might have helped the healing process, but my flat repose on the steel floor had also stiffened maybe with fear, me up again. Blood would have coagulated at my whole body numbness. I shifted my right leg a bit in the crowd, raised my head, and did the best rolled my shoulders forward. Yes, the un-pain-numbness was all still there. I looked around the cabin-hull compartment. The gritty steel platform floor was strewn crusty food wrappers, bottle caps, and most oily rags; from across this world I could smell oil, paint, musk, but it was no longer offensive. In a world of no colognes or perfumed soap, your nose quickly adapts to the scents of our fellows local skin, if not the local oil paint litter. That feeling of uncertainly and little faith in my perspective envelope would continue throughout my captivity. It was a constant source of tension, and it would remain with me long after my release. Yet the things that occupied my mind that morning wasn’t my stiff-numb or chances for survival and freedom; the fates of my comrade in fight from the Saigon fall weighed heavily on me. But even though I forced myself into these painful analyses; the temperature, humidity seemed to cause my heart to throb, and my slick skin sticking to the steel floor.
Now I lay back down from my elbow, letting the nourishment (instant-noodle) flow through me. I wasn’t exactly feeling healthy, fat, dumb, and happy, but it wasn’t a bad start to 411 days. I have plenty of time now to recall all of them. They were sitting side by side like a pack of ducks, tired and hopeless! Yesterday afternoon at Suoi Mau (Bloody Stream) concentration camp, after reading a list of chosen names, prison guards let them to another camp for “special treatment” probably those who had debts of blood to the communists. After, roll-call at a large yards, we were let through a barbed wire fence, barrack by barrack, on a rather wide road to the front gate of prison. Countless of fabric covered trunk Molotova-Trucks parked in lines waiting. This was a former prison for communist prisoners, divided into three parts surrounding by three rounds of barbed wire fence. Each of them had a large yard, a stand probably for selling goods to the prisoners, a kitchen and a well beside it, a huge empty house. Their floors made by cement-mixer. There were many of them located evenly side into side into a long line. There was a guard-watching tower outside concentration camp gate. A conex was right beneath in it which two “Three Dot Bull” (Captain) were kept without bandage and treatment for their prisoner wounded after a failed attempt to escape at Cu Chi. This was probably a harsh, inhuman warning to others (prisoners) in advance of a journey to the Northern concentration camps.
Right there, we were detained without hard labors and even without repeated propagandas like previous time in Long Giao Camp. Only a lesson of respect to people’s properties to be learned means not ‘robbing’ or ‘stealing’ Despite it, we had witnessed all kinds of properties loaded on crowded train wagons with NVA hat passengers passed by out camp from the south to north. That was just a beginning of an extraordinary corruption the new regime has committed long later until now. News from Saigon by French Press of Hanoi proved that too many Honda motorcycles on the streets of Hanoi Capital were looted from Saigon, as well as BGI soft drinks sold on the market, sofas, refrigerators, electric fans, stereo sets, fabrics, medicines, detergents. Around 8,000 tons of paper-rolls from Cogido-Mill were ordered to transport to the capital Hanoi. New cars from dealers like Citroen, Renault, and Peugeot had the same destination, included 165 cars of Engine C.O. An ironical wave of new folk song saying: “The South hosts its guests so the North get rich… now a grain of rice from the South must be shared a half or three third to the North”.

I was never forgotten that Thursday June, 12, 1975 was a disastrous day for all of former South Vietnamese officials and officers. New regime required all of them to surrender next day for concentration camps for at least one month, bringing with their own $13,610 for one month food. Their subordinates (enlisted-men) also must surrender for three days reeducation camps exercise at their local authorities. The Saigon Liberation News explained: “They took their responsibilities for their own crimes of fighting and collaborating for the enemy” Many of them could not forget that historic sad day made by Kissinger and Le Duc Tho anticipated-solution. And be fooled by the naivety of French Ambassador Merillon. Following Kissinger, “choreographer” of the tragic theater “… an ordinary transfer from one government to another without destruction of Saigon”

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

In October 1975, there was a change in monetary system. No one be surprised, many rumors spread out, suggesting a North Vietnam currency has already been used in Hue and Quang Tri Inter-zone IV. People didn’t keep much bills but merchandises and jewelry for sure, even they feared of prosecution for illegal stocking in capitalist way. When new ruler declared curfew, everybody the monetary change has come! The wealthy looked for valuables to spend until the last penny. An exchange policy of $200 piaster per family was applied. The rest amount of money must be deposited in a government fund account. Any withdrawal must be approved by the new regime with limit reason and amount considered by the government. What a cunning robbery! No more, no less! Even facing a robbery, South Vietnamese must take a long day for that processing. Earliest service days reserved for government revolutionary families and government employees. They took advantage of a deal to earn 75 to 90 percent for helping-fee exchange of $100,000 and up. Many committed suicide for a loss of whole life saving. Some jumped to their deaths from a third or fourth story with their brand new bills flown like butterflies all over their house sidewalk.
After disastrous monetary exchange, poverty and unemployment forced people to sell their household stuffs at many black markets and open sidewalk markets. Vice President Do Muoi himself created a government department to purchase all stuffs such as Honda motorcycles, electric fans, refrigerators, cars by government valueless bonds, as well as endless waves of Northern “brothers and sisters” came to bring victorious war trophies back North. Meanwhile, many economic check points appeared on riversides and roadsides to prevent food from countryside go into big cities, especially Saigon. That strategic tactic is to help enforcing a policy of expatriation urban citizens to the so called “New Economic Zones”
War prisoners in the camp were still having temporary nutrition formula a little bit better during early days as long as long grain US rice in ARVN stocks existed. Milk like washing rice waste was kept for cellmates with edema, in contrast with NVA’ Truong Son out of date worm-rice. Joked cellmates called them “fake prosperous” rice for ironic-fun.
Each barrack appointed a cellmate who helps his camp everyday early exercise with four lessons at a time and cell inspectors stood by watching. Prisoners woke up by loudly speakers broadcasting a revolutionary song. Of Uncle Ho in which, a lyric of “holding our hands” was intentionally mispronounced into handcuffing our hand” for quietly protest!
Some doctors were released for probably services needed in hospitals. Propagandas from the camp commanders gave to prisoners whose relatives work for new regime saying pardon list was available. Meanwhile, a cellmate was appointed to work as a messenger to call prisoner for “work” (interrogation) and released afterward.
We used too much leisure time in organizing some classes like electricity, engine repairs, electronics theory about software and so on. We took some piece from roof aluminum and barbed wire to fabricate some household devices like knifes, spoons, guitars, music instruments. Every morning the lousy noise from every kind of man made hammer. We took a piece of firewood to make a chess table.
A nasty well located near the open human manure hollow-spots. That the field prisoner open rest rooms were also situated too close our barracks; so every chow time we feel so dirty shit atmosphere around. Majority of us bring the food tried as far as we can. As a result the most our cellmates frequently were been having the bad attack of diarrhea. The most of us were just used the towels for cover the mid-body. One of my closed-friend in Air Force, Colonel Tran Sao, a famous soccer-ball of VNAH Headquarters, subjected to two weeks on this kind of illness in which waste matter is emptied from his bowels frequently and in a liquid form, inflicting intestine infection. The communist considered human being like an animal. They put the victim illness in the mosquito-net and made surgery operation that involves cutting or removing parts of the victim bowels, undergo abdominal surgery. Of course after stupid surgery my friend was died afterward. Thank God I have some capsules antibiotic pill. The Camp dispensary having only the tablet similar Aspirin (Xuyen Tam Lien) a common drug used for relieving pain and reducing fever.
However, permanently staying inside the Camp, we wish to go out for hard labor in seeing the new worst society. The job was digging the hollow for raising the crops break up demolished land, dug up land for a new garden removing bushes from ground by digging. We dug up the trees by their roots, dug the potatoes out of the ground. We are skill and smart, only bare hand we take PSP steel and made a beautiful Camp Gate with three entrances the middle for truck and two small gates for pedestrian, above them so many flag with different color we couldn’t understand what the hell meaning. Adversely, we have some works that no one would like accept such as demolishment, or defuse the Claymore-mines around barbed wire camp. I was praised God bless us nobody injuries or dead from that risk dangerous stuffs. Sometime I saw on the sky, few aircraft took off and landing at Bien Hoa Airfield, now and then the train passing urging me to move in the clinging past.
Every evening, we have entertainment with Television for their propaganda purpose. The communist authority favor us by accepted our family sent into the camp some basic food like flours, candies, sugars, Maggie cubes Oxo, dries rice. We are all lack of malnutrition, illness, weakness, because so long time slept on the sheer earth floor. Beside that we frequently heart a rumor of condolence, it seemed to me God saying “Sons accept my condolences on your overcame through a terrible ordeal.” But I’m so patiently I knew the U.S POW must be in Hilton prison in maximum nine years that we must least the same or more than that. I am only patient in waiting U.S and North Vietnam solution to our plights though uncertain future.
Saigon city was still in curfew, but no one wouldn’t came out for this sadly stage. Our families in Saigon seemed subjected to the communist cadres coming to persuade that “every letters sent to us having the same written in conclusion “Be nice, Good study, labor hard prepare becoming good citizenship in this perfect actual society.

In the secret solution of Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, means took time for reunite both south and north to become One Vietnam. (I thought this 100 years planning of the Skull and Bones stratagem). In the world wide even U.S administration such as ambassador Martin didn’t understand what the hell of this solution. Martin simple think that Vietnam is still two nations. Therefore, he tried the best contacting to French Ambassador Merillon and Viet Cong temporary National Liberation Government on the already defeat situation. The four engine aircraft DC-6 belonging Martin is standby at Tan Son Nhut Air base after leaving from Thailand last night, now waiting at airbase on 25, April, 1975. Station at Saigon, CIA Polgar and General Timmes had been escorted President Thieu seated right middle of them like dangerous prisoner for ready of deportation. The black sedan of convoy proceeds to parking lot of Air America.
Ambassador Martin had presented over here little bite sooner. In his farewell trip, he said “That all the best I could do for you sir! Good luck” President Thieu responded respectfully “Thank you for excellent prepared trip for me…Good bye for good!” On the way back to U.S. Embassy (almost U.S officials and administrations were very nice with Saigon regime from Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon but except unless the Permanent Government, typically in the spotlight is Henry Kissinger and in dime light is WSAG chief staff Donald Rumsfeld and high supreme is George H W Bush masterminded) Hurry up resumed the political situation, for resolving the political solutions. In reality, Martin was innocent, couldn’t understand another side of Paris accords behind the stratagem platform.
Ambassador Martin innocently sent an urgent message to Kissinger. On 26 April 1975, so please Martin implied that after negotiated with French Ambassador Jean Marie Merillon; He strongly advocated the negotiation between Viet Cong and Saigon regime might on good élan.
At once, Kissinger angrily react “Mr. Ambassador, you misunderstood what I saying, I am never say negotiation between Saigon and Viet Cong, but only Hanoi with U.S. only at Paris talk. Now on I don’t want you interference in this critical situation the least with Viet Cong and Saigon regime in the nearest its abolition!” Another word, Kissinger didn’t want the contact in futile between Saigon and Viet Cong. Kissinger urged Martin cut and run as soon as we can; but a Ambassador philanthropist would pretend to slow down [take time] the evacuation campaign to the U.S personal out of Vietnam in purpose to rescued more and more Vietnamese.
The Chief Staff of WSAG, Donald Rumsfeld strongly urged: “We have just completed an interagency review on the state of play in South Vietnam. You should know that at the WSAG (Washington Special Action Group) meeting today, there was almost no support for the evacuation of Vietnamese, and for the use of American force to help protect any evacuation. The sentiment of our military, DOD (Department of Defense) and CIA colleagues was to get out fast and now.” “Too late for now included those Vietnamese who had exposed, themselves on America’s behalf”
And Kissinger urged Le Duc Tho when reaching Saigon the first priority must deported French Ambassador out of South Vietnam as soon as possible, didn’t let a change for Viet Cong regime having legal office to activate. Of Course Tho was very please for good opportunity unified One Vietnam according secret agreement.
Thereby, French Ambassador Marie Merillon was got out in humiliation feature. Hanoi now closed door without contact to outside. Because the votes in United Nation members voted almost double votes more than Hanoi regime for Viet Cong administration in power. Meanwhile, 1968 to 1970 the CIA covert Phoenix Operation killed 40,000 Viet Cong infrastructure created the hatred poison to Saigon regime. That is a cunning scheme creating Saigon and Viet Cong cannot reunion for fight back Hanoi regime afterward in betrayal in the Viet Cong. If they did that they will win in revolution that Permanent Government anticipated the know-how. This cunning trick strategy is similar in the first Iraq-War; when CIA in both secretly engaged in Shite and Sunny to create the next-bloodbath when United States forces reaching the border Kuwait/Iraq and immediately withdraw inflicting the future revenge-mediation as same as Phoenix operation in Vietnam.
In the auditorium we opened many classes for English grammar, technique by divided some separate seminars. Suddenly, many explosions blasted shaking around the camp melee with AK-47. We are stunning about what happened. Every oil lamps distinguished. All over silence prevail. It was as silent as a graveyard. Utter darkness. I looked desperately around as a cold chill rippled through my body and a wave of terror choked my throat. My heart was hammering, and I was hyperventilating, gripping my blanket in my sweat-soaked palms. After all, I found out no shelling, maybe man made device-explosion for exercise practical emergency? In the early morning we discussed that if we reacted like our men tried rescue us then they got this occasion and kill all of us; the bloodbath in Tet Offensive in revived another massacre in my mind. They tried to get a chance to check out the reaction of us to prevention.
Then afterward, they inaugurated an operation to screening search all of us the so called we secretly disguised the sharp weapon for camp escape or their conspiracy moving us to northern. It was an innocent deception, meant as an adverse event.
In the early June 1976, the TV announced the schedule in reeducation was lasted three years for officials and senior officers of South Vietnam in maximum before they were released by The Viet Cong regime. However we received this rumor news with skeptical half sad and self-cheered up, at least we do know when our ordeal experienced or a decision have reached by a communist jury on a question of fact in the law case. Unsurprisingly, the time will change. In mid-June 1976 we have known all families of officers and officials to Saigon government’ must be concentrated in one special confined space called Zone economic and their household head must keeping moving to the northern Vietnam for building camps for the next move to the north like hostages that estimated about 10,000 their named criminal of war and will died there in the most remote areas. We are the prisoners for life.

(continued)

[vinhtruong]

In the mid-June, 1976, suddenly at late evening the whistle with clear high pitched sound made force us to concentrated in front yard for emergency instruction. I knew something was up. I could tell that something unusual was going on. There were low whispers outside the fence barbed wire, pattering sandals on the earth, and clatter of heavy iron objects. Then everywhere and no where all around appeared the communist soldiers with icy-face. When I lifted myself and moved up out of the earth floor and hurry up with my gear toward the front yard. The pain, numbness hardly registered, because my heart was already hammering in anticipation. All of us right tight and tough in the middle surrounded by communist guards. A creature NVA’ captain pronounced the individual name “last, middle, and first name to make a group sixty enough for one truck. Every one having one pack of biscuit green bean sweet made in Communist China, then the leader of guard serious proclaimed: “For your safety, we must move all of you out of here to the safety zone and we nowhere yet.
Shortly, we are escorted by a numerous AK-47 behind in guiding us toward every truck on line longer to the main-gate. We are disguised under the canvas trunk cover. There’s no disguising the fact, though communist Hanoi’s is a liar, a famous way of hiding or disguising prisoner, their soldier, military equipment with paint, nets or leaves, so that they look like part of their surroundings. While the convoy proceeding under the canvas-cover, everyone did not utter a word and spontaneously written the families addresses informed we are forced moving with nowhere its destination. All urgent messages that we wrote released through a gap of the cover. We recognized the convoy en route to Saigon via Bien Hoa Highway-1 to Newport; at this harbor, one by one we steps on the narrow boarding wood, one of our fellow felt disappeared in the deep water; no one worry about this accident. The procession is still progressing at normal speed. It was as if it did not happen.

Now in the midnight we don’t know where we are under pressure of hull deck below sea level. We must wait until to morrow morning by reflecting sun-ray for orientation in establishing one’s position in relation to sun ray direction. The war veteran like us should easier found it to orientate ourselves even under the hull-deck. First, we thought they put us in the isolated island Con-Son prison without released day. Tired and frustrated all of us felt in as slept.
I woke up facing 412th days of captivity. That was the reality as another dawn slowly crawled up the steel-walls of our big cell-hull-deck floating un-gently down the ocean. In this course of this Skull and Bones dynasty’s history, hundred thousands or perhaps more than captures by communist totalitarian dictatorship regime; now every one of us agreed that we missed Con Son Island; some segment sun-rays infiltrated above the hollows from right to the left cell-hull demonstrated the ship on proceeding forward in heading North, Northeast. In conclusion we missed Con Son but we don’t know where will be destination. But who knew? I’m sure, Kissinger and Tho all already knew it for their anticipated plots.
I glanced round a hull deck cabin, glanced up to distinguish something familiar with the boat made in China that was destroyed by our AD-6, Skyraiders at Vung Ro, Nhatrang province. I recalled on February 1965, I flown with General Nguyen Khanh, Prime minister and landed at the sea shore where the sank-boat located; inspected the orange color in upper hull, and below was black color, long about 100 feet, wide 30 feet. Right the place where we were loaded were the huge cargo supplies such as AK-50, automatic weapon made from China, and medical equipment and C rations. Now I could identified this boat was belonging to Group 759 (established in July, 1959 in the craps CIP/NLF.) This trophy, thank to U.S. Seven Fleet found out and led indication for the VNAF to bombardment on its. In the Vietnam War, the CIA (Permanent Government) authorized the U.S. Navy to intercept ships of Group 759 and calling South Vietnam struck on them. But there is seldom just three spots during the long war, equivalent in distance and space of time: One in the far south, Cap Ca-Mau – one in middle, Vung Ro, Nhatrang province – one far north near DMZ, Phong Dien, Quang Tri province. All look good logical shape in the axis of evil game. Another word strictly, U.S. Seven Fleet dominated and controlled all seaway activities.
Because it was protracted war game so I should justified in my conviction that Vietnam War was “an intelligence war” which was so much advantage from his experience, young George H W Bush. With his perfect strategic plan how about this protracted war, and in the end the result seemed to mirror a famous comment; supposedly I assumed CIA’s take on the whole war. This Permanent Government’s apparatus activated by its strategic direction: “Everything worked, but nothing worked enough!” For instant not until the spring of 1970 was authority granted for an “incursion” of limited duration and depth into Cambodia, and in earlier February, 1971 Operation Lam Son 719 commenced. But all supplies cargo scattering of the enemy’s logistical traffic along Ho Chi Minh’s corridor; the interdiction tactic of the past no longer seemed sufficient. The craps players warning advantage for all dispersal factors has been accomplished beautifully (CIA and KGB performed excellent agenda) All strange, ridiculous orders one certain general saying that “Higher Authority” – he meant “Higher Authority,” the transparent euphemism for the President – “has noted that each option involves considerable U.S participation.” That’s not true but the Skull, and WIB bones scam.

Surprisingly, one certain day before large scale prisoner moved displacement to northern Vietnam, They formed a so called people course jury intended to intimidate tactics. Every barrack sent one cellmate to their representative, and the rest prisoners in the barracks were just followed by hanging high speakers. Our representatives came back after session terminated, and said: Two captains attempted to escape but fail. The so called lawyers were illiterates never graduated from laws school. So they based on their war medals for prosecution. Shortly they decided “death penalty” make every one so surprise we called it “Jungle-Law.”
While among my cellmates, few of them felt comfortable while they declared war medal false evidence on their note reports. But I was proud while I was stand up in thirty seven times getting them every kind of values medals which reminded me the lightest moments of a brave soldiers; I claimed very clear every excellence indications in its included my heroic SOG missions, and my spy-pilot carrier. I signed my full signature, a particular scribble that would assure anyone one reading the identity-report that I had in fact written it. When I was done, I was patient proud seriously. To think that this individual document would soon be in the hands of opponents was just overwhelming in meditate revenge. I couldn’t believe it. I remembered that when I had been in captivity, it had taken years before the Hanoi communist let me write letters home. And then they’d torn them all up because I refused to include laudatory comments about the righteous ways of Communism. Honestly, I was capture where was held, beaten, held, and torture for thirty years, much of that time served after I refused to accept freedom on terms that violated the POW code of honor governing the orders of prisoner releases.
Right after, the illiterate judges announced death penalty then abrupt two innocent victims subjected inserting to their mouth by two citron fruits, and cover their eyes, the guards dragged two of them out of the crowd. Shortly afterward we heart an automatic weapon, the crisp, rattling sounds of AK-47s echoing in Camp wide. I saying pray in meditation God statement: “Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice!” (Isaiah 41:10)

Literally, I couldn’t see my nearest buddy faces clearly in the hull deck twilight or live in a hull twilight world of truth and half truth. I prepared for the next 413th night. Every one was so tired and frustrated. We tried to close the eyes imagined to the uncertain future. The delusion lasted for only seconds, but it was refuse, a brief retreat to a peaceful corner of my soul for a forced relaxation. I lay on my back on a warm flat steel floor, overlooking a orange hull wall. The sea water below made us with slight swing of the waves. I tried to love to just close my eyes and feel a swinging rhythm rocking my body to asleep in its cradle. I’m confident surely the axis of evil must having a properly solution for us. I slept after all.
Suddenly, nowhere gave a high pitched sound whistle, the guard announced us to line up for outboard leaving at anchorage. Everyone forced to open eyes in woke-up. We repeated the procedure in reverse the manner when we were boarding. After three days journeys, we got sea sick therefore got our foot anchored around something to stand up, to prevent our overbalancing.
Each group combined eighty prisoners, and group by group made queue disembarked from the hull deck by the long wood platform to land. Now know it named Ben Thuy harbor at Vinh Province. We were convoyed to the train in the darkness of a late evening by group eighty fellows proceeding along the rail road track to the railroad station. We walk between two flanks of lantern. I stared at their flickering oil lamps for quite a while, wondering if I could quietly step over obstacles; just don’t worry, proceeding in follow a precedent, should be okay. The atmosphere in this area had become strangely calm, yet that lifting of tension seemed only to increase my sense of irritation. I felt less threatened, yet more frustrated. Being a problem-solver by nature, I’d always had a powerful drive to fix things rather than bitch about them. But here I was, stuck in a situation over which I had no control, my fate completely in the hands of Communist-Hanoi. But the pain in my mind was horrendous, probably because the broken heart (home-sick) had now overlapped by more than I could imagine, the muscles atrophying and nerves twitching to compensate for the damage. My spine was locked stiff sustain of swollen flesh, and yet I would welcome the agony. There were eyes toward where the guard maybe they would spot my group waving the lanterns.
The darkness enveloped entirely the world in a tight, tough, and stingy mixture the manure smells of the wagon reserved for domestic animal. When I step up boarding, right in middle of wagon having three baskets full steamed sweet potatoes; everyone picked up one and go ahead to the end of wagon. We never uttered a word of complain like a regular passenger, making it difficult for me to breathe even I had a chance found out nearer a tiny window. A locomotive hit the carrier-wagons so hard push us in forward positions and back many times meant the head-tractor joined with their wagons. It irritates us to have to shock up and down, to cause discomfort to a part of the air-hot-body. The mass of flesh shake back and forth.
However, when the train started running, we felt little bit comfortable by some stream air infiltrated through the wagon. The much better both position and fresh air let us feel survive. But who know when the train reaching at Yen Bai, Hoang Lien Son province two our fellows (lieutenant colonel) were strangled to last dying breathe. I sat on a mess of manure but don’t know cow or water buffalo; so tired and frustrated I didn’t worry about it, continued seat comfortable on it. I must try on every hardship, agony which will stay ready in welcome me.
I tried to love sleep. The monotone sound of steel wheels running on railroad track cradled me into sleep like a dead-log. Now everyone slept under the faint yellow cabin lamp through a dull sound rattled volume remain the same.
I woke up facing 419th days of captivity as a prisoner of war, I found religion. It has often been said that there are no atheists in foxholes, meaning that even a nonbeliever will begin to pray when faced with his own mortality. But I had never been a Buddhist of convenience who only prayed when times were tough. Admittedly, as a boy I’d attended Pagoda regularly with my grandfather, while as an adult and full-time Vietnamese Air Force pilot I had allowed that tradition to lapse. Yet my absence from the pews hadn’t broken my bond with the God. I would offer my holiday weekend prayers from the flying cockpit. Or say a silent. It didn’t require the threat of death for me to recall the sacraments. So when I say that I found religion, I mean it literally.
Suddenly, the train stops right the middle of paddy prairie both side were the water inundated melee scattered with bomb holes and small bushes. All of us were authorized step down to take the water and releasing the shits. Unfortunately, few of us couldn’t hold that shit, so all done inside the wagon no one could distinguish which smell one belong human being or animal. Because last night we ate sweet-potato in ‘medium steamed cook’ so we get trouble. “We’re kidding drop bomb without piloted” As fast as we can able drops bomb (go to stool) simultaneously getting fill up water into our containers with another hand. I don’t remember dirty water being a problem because so too thirsty, we were so busy. It was supposed boiled, but I still came down with bloody dysentery. As usual, hearing the high tone whistles, so fast, about fifteen minutes and we must on board again. The Communist considered us like the domestic animal, so when everyone staying inside, then they locked the door by a big locker again.

(Continued)

[vinhtruong]

Again, I managed to seat on the floor nearest the aerate hatch small than the window to take breathe for aeration. After the train has just struck three momentum pull and back slowly; we were felt little bite comfortable air coming into wagon though the smell world manure. Then the train cruising at the speed about 45 kilometer per hour, due to the rail never inspection and fixed ever. Every fellow continued close their eyes to meditate the uncertain future ahead. We were passing a tempo-rebuild bridge, the bomb-holes of both side the river filled up by rainy water, now became dark muddy color, maybe they raised fish there? I was so surprised, everywhere were thatched houses among them emerged a look-good brick-roofed with tiles long house; I stared the surprised-word inscribed on the wall “prohibited take these manure” I uttered myself, “Our fellow-Vietnamese from northern were to behave in an uncivilized way in a communist nation.” Who know, over-here was the famous revolution-cradle of Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem and the Hanoi called Inter-Region-4 Revolt-Headquarter then Inter-Region-5 was just executed the communist authorizations.
Long ago, in 1963 if it was happens the Ho/Ngo Solution, now our peoples would be prosperity. Who knew this was a ‘dirty-war’ that a United Nations Secretary U-Thanh had said. Only the WIB and Skull Bones won the silence-war. What was the outcome of that war in abundant proof of their guilt in vocabulary in dictionary having rich in unsavory words such as: Killing-Field, voted on foot, Reeducation Camp, Boat People, Economic Zone. What if the most damaged in Linebacker-II air campaign? On 8, May 1972, the MACV briefer stated that “pilots reported sixteen bombs out of twenty on the power plant. If there’re any lights burning in Hanoi tonight, they’ll be candlepower.” The U.S. tested new weapons for the next Middle-East-War in the stratagem “Eurasia Great Game” – Advances in technology since the bombing of North Vietnam earlier in the war were now providing greater accuracy and a humanitarian dividend as well. Newly introduced laser-guided bombs made it possible to take out in a single attack such point targets as key bridges that had withstood hundreds of attempts to destroy them with conventional munitions. “And with the smart bombs,” reported Seventh Air Force, “we don’t have any problem with the civilian population.” This aerial bombardment campaign, “ruined North Vietnam’s economy, paralyzed its transportation system, reduced imports (application Malthus theorem, an English Economic Science) by eighty percent and exhausted its air defenses.” Hanoi agreed, observed a history of PAVN, contrasting “Linebacker-II” with the “Rolling Thunder” campaign earlier in the war.
My perception, it was real war. This war was different than the first war of destruction. This time the U.S massed larger forces and made massive attacks right from the first day of operation, using many types of testing modernized technical weapons and equipment. Before ending the war according Cooper-Church and Case-Church, it’s very clear, easier understandable to me that – as far as my perception on this is concerned bombardment – and this air system is now running the best, and it is the most responsive, that it has ever been since the war started been over here.

Already the sun was hard and slicing through the morning haze, a warm-humid steady so light breeze coming in off the nearby mountainous area. One thing for sure, we were going to go the next remote and secret prison very far away from home – a Democratic Socialist Vietnam, it was simple the small communist country. It was a perfect day for prayer, a bright and tranquil morning. The skies and mountains were polished blue-green, slight soft winds bore silver-edged clouds, and it would have been easy to believe in some sort of heavenly power for the prisoners? No one in the wagon said a word. I all knew what had just happened to our cellmates.
The evening swept in quickly, draining the sunlight from my view and replacing it with dark, gloomy shadows. The mountain-world rapid drop in temperature brought a little chill to my skin, but if I sat very still, the throb from my stiff back and leg was bearable. With darkness in wagon, looking like Halloween goblins as I saw above the swinging oil lamp in faint hanging, I closed my eyes, laid my head back onto wagon wall, keeping patiently for another hard day.
Now the train passed a station Hang-Co, Hanoi, it made one round and slow down, I peered at the vicinity of Hanoi, there were still many peoples slept on the veranda in front yard of resident houses. There were still thatched, and mud-walls among isolated for brick and sandbag blockhouses. Any the communist countries were poor, why? Lenin in the hell should know imperialism still world wide prevailed. Why after WW-II, more than sixty countries restored their independent why not Vietnam! Skull and WIB men hijacked the Vietnam’s freedom and independence.
One more night passed away. I woke up that morning still bathed in the impurity of my dream, a nightmare. The numbness from my back and leg, which didn’t seem to keep me awake at night, gathered force the minute I opened my eyes. I wondered how it was that the human brain could shut down the nervous system during sleep, temporarily anesthetizing a disable man, but seemed incapable of doing the same while he was awake. At any rate, I lay here with my eyes closed the train continued proceed to nowhere how could I know. We are assumed in the status of U.S ally servicemen (the new legions) still officially as missing in action. Because with my sheer conception the Vietnam War wasn’t end yet – All right. Missing-In-Action is still better than Killed In Action. Historian George C. Herring in an article called “America and Vietnam: The Unending War” in the winter 1991-92 issue of Foreign Affairs, he explained, thought otherwise. “Such was the lingering impact of Vietnam War,” he explained, “that the Persian Gulf conflict appeared at times to be as much a struggle with its ghosts as with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
We were still many chances that some of us were alive out there, and my daily prayers for us went on almost like a subconscious litany. Sweat sprang from my face, my back, and I crashed onto my back against the wagon steel-wall, just trying to breathe again without cursing out loud.
The train heading to northwest and gradually goes up parallel along Red River. The atmosphere is little bite cool in the mountainous highland and I began to feel a bit uncomfortable with the situation. I still had a good view from the hatch-window. The sun continued its now rapid ascent to the higher top – Just another day in Hell.
The train is slow down and stops at Yen Bai Station. The guards walked out and opened the clock. The wagon big door slid wide-open, still chuckling to each other. Instantly, a serious voice like command-orders loudly cried, “hurry up…hurry up… unloaded” toward the standing by convoy of trucks which were too different as departure, now just no one truck having canvas-cover. Where about we heard the laughter of playing children, the sounds of old engines cranking to life, the calls of women to their neighbors; we are circled by numerous NVA troops.
After lined up in separated groups, each group composed 50 cellmates. Then we climbed up sat down flat like a duck flock.
Intentionally, the convoy proceeds with slow speed through the crowd of village-residents. Suddenly, the angry peoples welcome us by throw hail the stones toward our trucks with swear-word, an offensive express their anger such as Damn, Bloody very rude or offensive language.
Now we climb up on the unknown pass through numerous of stony hills and reaching a unknown county where we saw post placard inscribed word or phrase as power to people’ is their political campaign slogan. Now we saw a fighter MIG-19 was camouflaged under a thatched-roofed. I understood the subordinated country always being dependable to their patrons on spare parts like in Saigon regime in the past.
We reached at a ferry station. Everyone must steps down and walk to the boat been waiting.
We followed behind our truck driven on the ferry pier. Once again we climbed up to truck and set for a departure, arriving at a deep valley where has an old hanging bridge, once more time we going down to walk through the shake possible collapsing bridge, still hesitating about go ahead joining over whether to join expedition. Some distance don’t have bridge so that the convoy driven on the stone-rocks to pass the rivers. This scene recalled my view of bird when flown over Ho Chi Minh trail rock-bridges.
Now the convoy proceeded on highland road, left behind a huge earth mist dust. We crossed a long mile road along with the soviet invested plantation Tree “Bo-De” to the Soviet contracted this is a soft wood for reproduce paper. The sun continued its now rapid descent off to the west. The evening swept in quickly, draining the sunlight from this county, eventual replacing it with dark, gloomy shadow. After all, the convoy stops at a main gate of Prisoner “Inter-Camp-I” at Yen Bai headquarter. One guard tries to explain over here is village Viet Cuong, Yen Bai City and the province, Hoang Lien Son. Over here, we must courageous deal with our captivity in terms of live sentence. We must have to mentally prepare ourselves for a long haul. But I told myself that I ready would survive just one day at a time. We wouldn’t imagine our captivity as decades of tortured waiting, because if we really believed that, we would probably die. Our mind couldn’t accept being in prison for that long, and those kinds of thoughts would break us.
Finally, we steps down from truck and regrouped one by one in line and proceeding very far to a remote virgin forest and stay there cut trees, bamboo to made house for live. In the first week at North Vietnam, we were free for rest and relaxation. The screening individual identity will be processed during this week (checked to make sure they are suitable and able to be trusted) It was obvious to everyone that the prisoners of war must be treated like their held, beaten, and torture for years by years, much of that time served after they refused to accept freedom on terms that violated the POW code of honor governing the order of prisoner releases.
Two colonels got killed because strangled in tightest, lack oxygen inside a stingy wagon; now, during this week one more colonel was committed suicide by cut blood vein of his hand. But in the morning the blood automatically coagulated in air; so he was still survived.
One communist officer take among my group six peoples included me, to kill a cow for meat. Six of us go to the camp back yard, seeing a cow tied near a trunk of tree but not slaughterhouse. The guard said to me go head to kill the cow with a heavy hammer, the cruel killing of animal that I never did. We take turn to hit on her head, she’s still not unconscious. Meanwhile we believed the blow caused her to lose consciousness. The guard didn’t want waist time so he resumed only one blow, the cow fall on the ground and we used carving-knife to take out her blood. So cruel killing!
All Lieutenant colonels, we are now stayed in the Camp-3, and on the farther hill of the mountain was Camp-11 reserved for priests, monks. They celebrate a special class being so called “political study” (psychological warfare) that will be the main objective during the first week in North Vietnam. In this occasion the communist cadres were so proud to let us know, one U.S Progressive POW, when released but he wish to stay in the outstanding Communist society likely heroic Communist Hanoi. His name was Ho Chi Nam. Do you believe it this real?
After decades studying, now I do know, the CIA’s Standard Operation Procedure is a basic fundamental principle meant “come deep inside of tiger dens to catch the cubs or the enemy organ-sanctuary in ordeal for getting the truth information” So a decoy as None Commission Officer (NCO) named J. Garwood used to trick Hanoi into a position of witness the high officers of South Vietnam moving north as same 1945, Lieutenant Colonel Conein from OSS, agent 019 parachuted at Pat-Bo sanctuary into the waiting arms of Ho Chi Minh and Colonel Alfred Kitts watched the first French troop who enter the North Vietnam, come ashore at Hai-Phong on March 6, 1946.
In 1920, Soviet had the economic crisis, then dictatorship Stalin created a planning program that called the center Reeducation Camp. The main purpose forcing with hard labor work to class bourgeoisie or non-proletariat must be strictly activated in everywhere in Russia and the most was at Siberia. Therefore copying exactly to Soviet Union, the communist Hanoi moved the POW to remote area as Northwest of Hanoi for deprived of our physical plus mental and perished on the labor spot. How can we were forced doing so hard and struggling against starvation. If who were survived must settled in this remote area for live. In the past, 1950s, right here, the Vietnamese bourgeoisie had overcome meant not died. They had to be settled over here.
The communist has the experience to the exploitative policy of the most opponent like South Vietnam officials. So in starting program, they let us take easy for a while; labor with no quota for a limited number or amount of things, products that is strictly forced allowed. However after one month, they put on a harsh punishment worked schedule, we have to face up to the cruel realities of life harshly. We have done our quota of work for each day, fall the Bo-De trees and hand-saw to cut the wood for a fifteen feet tree-trunk, then carried them to the spot for truck loading to export to Russia paper-mill. Everyday our team must done 60 pieces in quota. They didn’t care about security; few time the tree-trunk slipped out of our shoulders because after the spell rain, on the slippery earth then gliding down to the mountain feet, hit our cellmates. If went to county dispensary there don’t have medicine, just merely helped by its rather antiseptic furnishings or an antiseptic bandage.
Next month we switch to go up the high mountain and fall the big tree for making furniture or coffin. It hard to believe that three hundred prisoners fastened round by the wild-strings on the edge of the trunk to form a knot and together pull it down to the feet of mountain; unbelievable, after one week the long tree-trunk was in front of the camp. Once again next month, we changed the job to invent a new road like the pioneers route constructors. Digging through the hill to make a tunnel, dig down into the stony-soil, dig the soil away from the roots, digging up the tree by its roots. But we are not on an act of digging like exploring of a place for the purpose of archaeology.
Now, all of us were already exhausted our strength, the state of being extremely tired, total loss of strength even into spirit to escape. Communist cadres, they understood this cruel policy very clearly and logically. They intended to damage our muscles and brains. The muscles becoming less elastic body tissue that can be un-tightened or relaxed to produce movement any more; how can we overcome through a terrible ordeal facing so much difficulty and painful experience; like any major challenge in life, you have to take it in bits and pieces. You don’t try to tackle the whole thing at once. Now we ventured farther into that black tunnel of captivity, we needed a limited point of reference or that darkness would just overwhelm us.
You just need to make it to tomorrow, I told myself. If you wake up tomorrow, you’ll figure out how to survive tomorrow. Today, you’ve got to figure out how to survive today!
And still, there was no way to know when it was all going to end. So, even though I was trying to convince myself not to worry about it, those images of endless years would continue to ambush my mind.
Naturally, during long years starving and harsh work, one certain day we were so weak to walk, weakened by hunger becoming such the weaklings. Thereby avoiding any exploitation-problems with hard labor, they recreated some particular-groups for weakling such as raising crop, vegetable; sliced bamboo skin string for weaving baskets carrying soil, stone to group road construction, or from strip of willow for kitchen. Brick, tiles production, tailor for prisoner uniform, raising pig. Staying inside, everyday numerous speakers encircled the Camp repeated Prime Minister Dong announcement “Let them work so hard but less food…” That meant soon or later all should be killed by starving. At night we had listened one communist cadre explained the communist doctrine after Lenin was excellent. For months we never see rice ever, just dries potatoes, cassavas (manioc) corns, or horse-food which we named Bo-Bo that if you didn’t have enough teeth all of them after digestive they came out the same. Few of them with merely salt water – That’s it!
Every one wished having a good Sunday, but some Sunday we must work and they called “work for support an excellent socialism”. Some prisoners their hairs color became salt more than pepper and so old-ugly. We probably bathed only once a week, that meant submerged under a small pond where the domestic shit-manure pots were frequently cleaned there too. And the so called bathed lasted about five minutes, and from across the pond we could smell manure sting, musk, but it was no longer offensive. In a land of no colognes or perfumed soap, your nose quickly adapts to the scents of the local sting environment, if not the local litter. We knew we couldn’t deal with our captivity in term of years, but we had to mentally prepare ourselves for a real long haul.

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What’s different between Old POW and New POW?
In the early 1977, one half prisoners of my camp must displace to the border China/ Vietnam. The job was road construction. Near China border located by a small county named Than-Uyen where the atmosphere was adverse effects of the virgin forest and so much poisoned in foliage, the animal, insect, and mushroom. As usual, we went into virgin forest took material from wood such as bamboo palm Tree-Vau to build shelters for the next our new coming fellow from south. In this new-Camp we met few Old POW means they were worn prison-garb color dark-pink and white strips like U.S POW worn, as for us we worn prison-garb blue and white strips. Among of them were captured in Operation Lam Son 719, and among them, a few were my buddies VNAF fighter pilot as Lieutenant Luong F-5, helicopter H-34 pilots Lieutenant Bưu, Khanh, and crew-chiefs On, Son, all they worn pink and white strips garb. Another word meant they were captured before Saigon Fall as for us after Cruel April 1975.
On December 7, 1971 the Permanent Government’s policy of progressive withdrawal through the so called “Vietnamization” was well underway. The burden of fighting the war was being passed more fully to the Vietnamese and U.S troops were being brought home at a dramatic rate. Indeed, and ironically in retrospect, the plan seemed to be going well. There was little enemy activity inside South Vietnam and the insurgent guerrilla war had pretty well ended. Literally, the calm did not last long however. [In early March 1972, Soviet General Pavel Batitski was in Hanoi to assess Hanoi’ requirements, the U.S-Company-Dynasty called “Inventory” dispensed old batch out of date weapons and will receive new batch weapon as SAM2, T-55, 57, rockets salvo…about 700 millions tons after Paris Talk, all this new batch weapon for overrun Saigon, invasion Cambodia, and defense counterattack to Red China in 1979]
Consequently, after General Batìtski left, right away General Vo Nguyen Giap launched his major offensive of the war. 30th March 1972, the NVA troops launched their attacks, it became known as the 1972 Easter Offensive. It was not an uprising of the insurgent Viet Cong, as had been the case in the Tet Offensive of 1968. Instead, this campaign was a series of conventional attacks by the regular NVA across the DMZ from Communist North Vietnam, and from sanctuaries in Laos and Cambodia with advances designed to cut the country of South Vietnam in half through the Central Highlands, and to strike the South’s capital city of Saigon. The communist failed in 1972 after some very hard fighting by the South Vietnamese Army and Air forces, and the determined help of those American forces remaining. As I said because Hanoi don’t know the means of “Decent Interval” [wait for Paris Talk as officially announcement U.S troops honorable withdrawal in coming year and receiving 700 million tons new batch of weapons: axiom-1 and axiom-3 done]
The offensive began in early April 1972 with advances of NVA forces toward Saigon from out of Cambodia and attacks toward the ancient capital of Hue from out of NVA across the DMZ. The final movement of this well orchestrated battle plan came from northern Cambodia and southern Laos as the NVA attempted to replicate the 1954 successes of the Viet Minh against the French at Dien Bien Phu , in wrestling control of a wide belt across the central part of the south, and destroying French military capability in the process. The Communist Army achieved some initial success, but was denied every major objective. In the north, they advanced only to Quang Tri, and were defeated by South Vietnamese Airborne and Marine. In the south, they moved only as far as An Loc before being defeated. And in the Central Highlands, they captured some outposts surrounding Kontum, but were again defeated.

I recount this bit of history as background to a personal drama that played out at this time for Lieutenant Luong, a brave F-5 fighter pilot, now he was my cellmate in this camp: He recalled on July 9 1971. One combat formation of three F-5s had strafing on target at Katum, Tay Ninh province, closed border Vietnam/Cambodia at coordinated XT-140745. Three F-5s took turn in dived pattern, suddenly on wingman got hit in flames and crash. This wing man be shot down was Lieutenant Luong, his fate of the F-5 was sealed by an SA7-Strella shoulders-fired-missile. While his firebird at 4,000 feet. The missile scored a direct hit a severed impact on the jet-engine exhausted, causing the F-5 to burst into flames and crash. Luong managed to bail out the spot where the borders of Vietnam/Cambodia. The place was called Katum. There was a Ranger Battalion of about 350 soldiers and two American advisors. They were under attack by element for three NVA divisions supported by tank T-54 band PT-76. The tanks just had overrun the perimeter, and NVA regiments occupied much of the base.
The F-5 flight leader radioed for rescue at once and for a scrambled message fact orders for rescue. Permission was denied, the Flight leader hotly requested again, asked again, denied, more tersely this time, again, the leader didn’t yet know the degree of urgency at Katum fire-base, but was infuriated at the moment for not being allowed to help another pilot in obvious need. Now situation was worse, 5 tanks within the perimeter wire and NVA troops everywhere. The friendly forces survivors had consolidated in the command bunker at the center of the camp and were fighting very hard to keep the enemy at bay, they called friend’s artillery to fire on the Headquarters' area because the T.54 enemy tanks had crossed the defense line.
Two F-5s were still strafing for air-cover but in vain. Lieutenant Luong touch-down, he had a badly hurt his bruised neck and swollen face. Though superficial scratch on his neck, face, head, but he was in the midst of many thousands of attacking enemy soldiers, but was able to evade his foes for one day before being captured.
Now and then, Lieutenant Luong was interrogated for a couple days, treated pretty brutally. He was a physical mess, his head neck and face swollen in bruised scratch. His ankle swollen had filled tighten his boot with stiff rigid flesh that was now dried solid. He was felt couple day in the hell. He’d had no control over his bowels or bladder and had soiled himself badly. And Luong would had several leaches cling to his body, all of which itched he should pulled off, except for one which unknowingly was half way into his ass hole.
He was questioned, beaten, threatened, and had his arms tied behind his back with the telephone-wires increasingly tightened during intimidated-interrogation, until finally both his shoulders dislocated and Luong’s elbows were pulled tightly together against his stiff-rigid-numbness spine with terror. Finally, the interrogations ceased, and Luong was marched for seven consecutive days to a dip jungle prison camp that, by his estimation, must have been just across the border in northern Cambodia. He was, may be in security zone, given his flight-boots back, but no laces and no socks. After seven days of walking, his feet were like raw ground meat in big sausages by the time Luong limped, in much pain, up to the entrance to his first prison.

Finally, Luong was in the First prison on July 16, 1971. This camp was typical of the image many have. It was carved out of the virgin deep triple jungle canopies below and built of bamboo. The camp was surrounded by a bamboo wall that was reminiscent of an old cavalry frontier fort in the American WWW. There was one wall concentrically within another, with a ditch dug between the two, almost moat-like. In the ditch were many sharp-punji-stakes [Chong-Tre] pieces of bamboo, knife sharp, dipped in human waste and stuck in the ground. If someone felt on these, he’d die of a wound to a vital organ, or bleed to death, or at least die of infection if he were not killed outright. Across that ditch was a log that one had to balance across to gain entry to the camp. Inside the walls were numerous bamboo cages that housed priority ARVN officers, and of course two Americans POW. The prisoner population was South Vietnamese military, there were indigenous mountain people referred to as Montagnards or Mountain-ỳards who had allied with U.S Special Forces, and there were two Americans, himself and another helicopter pilot captured a month earlier. At least a couple hundred prisoner altogether, condition in that camp were deplorable, prisoners lived like worst animals. They were kept in cages, most of which were not tall enough to stand up in for even physical exercise. That wasn’t necessary anyway, because Communist Cadres want kept their feet in wooden stocks as lockers. With their starvation, disable, would escaped, prisoners could not lie back, so they slept sitting up. And every night rats scurried through the cages and nibbled on their dirty flesh, wounds, bamboo cuts scratches, for food; while they couldn’t move their feet in the stocks, and couldn’t keep them away, and they un-scared hate rats to those nights.
The only time they got out of those cages was for a daily toilet call at the camp latrine. The time never seemed to be the same on any given day, and if a certain prisoner’s internal schedule could not want for the appointment time [due to many suffered dysentery] them he went all over himself in the cage. When they did let them out, it was a walk to the “facility” in one corner of the camp. Over here, Luong discovered that the latrine was a couple of holes in the ground that one squatted over to relieve oneself. Problem was that many of the sicker prisoners were not able to hold themselves until getting all the way to the holes, and left their waste in piles all around the area. Some of the very sickest prisoners, near death, were placed in hammocks right next to the latrine, and they would either lay there and soil themselves, time after time, or roll out of their hammock, if they could and take a couple of steps and go there on the ground. The result was a substantial accumulation of human waste all around the holes that were the latrine. Those able to control themselves were forced to walk through that waste field and squat over the holes. On return to their cages, they had no way to clean themselves.
Lieutenant Luong didn’t remember water being a big problem. It was delivered in pieces of bamboo like a cup, and there seemed to be sufficient quantities. It was supposedly boiled, but he still came down with bloody dysentery. Food was a problem. Their diet was almost exclusively rice mixed dry-corn-potato. Prisoners would get one coconut sized ball mid-morning, and another mid-afternoon. Occasionally, they’d get the treat of a merely tuberous root called manioc. It is very much like yacca in Latin American countries, his weight went from around 155 pounds to something around little more than 100 in just a few weeks. He was skin hanging on bone with beard that grew very long over time, he did not shave for over half year. And he received no medical attention at all. And no one fared any better. One ARVN infantry officer next to him in his cage had a severe chest wound that had been bandaged long ago, but Luong never saw the dressing changed, and the hole in his chest wall was never repaired. He was too young and strong mind, but Luong was certain that gentleman did not survive.
Oh God! They lived like animals, and under these filthy, starvation conditions, without medical care, it seemed that someone died almost everyday; The bodies would be carried out and buried on a hillside just outside the camp. As a Project Delta Queen Bee pilot, I will always feel a great sense of admiration of our brave men who volunteered for the risky mission to rescue our fellow Americans in the heart of the enemy country. I am reminded of a scripture reading taken from the Old Testament: ISAIAH, Verse 8. Then I heard the Lord asking: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, who I shall send and who shall go for us? Then said I, here am I, Send me” and "Whom shall I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?" and I said, "Lord, I'll go. Send me."
William A. Harriman retired from public life urged his successor to assert his leadership while Hanoi put POW in the Buffalo-cart, or Oxen-cart went around Hoang Kiem’ Lake. That’s not right violated, against UN constitution, the POW’s plight final humiliation at the hands of Hanoi captured.

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-So why the mission? By 1970, the US had secured the names of over 500 Americans held in North Vietnam prisons. Many more were missing and presumed captured. Reports of the cruelty suffered by these men at the hands of their barbarous captors were received along with reports of resultant deaths from various sources. Anxiety, concern and anger among the next of kin, friends of the captives, commanders and government officials were very much in evidence throughout this country. What was being done to alleviate the growing concern? Negotiations were being conducted in Paris on a sporadic basis depending on the mood of the North Vietnamese representatives. An attempt was made to reach an agreement whereby an exchange of prisoners of war could be made. After over two years of such negotiations, the results were ZERO. The mood of the country demanded that something be done to help these suffering POWs. Was the time ripe for an initiative-- feasible alternative?
On November 20-21, 1970, a joint force composed of USAF Special Operations and rescue personnel and U.S. Army Special Forces, supported by U.S. Navy Carrier Task Force 77, made a daring raid on the Son-Tay Prison Camp located less than 45 kilometers from Hanoi, North Vietnam. Although no prisoners were rescued, the raid focused world attention on the plight of the prisoners of war (POWs) raised their morale and resulted in improved living conditions for all U.S. prisoners of the North Vietnamese. The men of the Joint Task Force earned the admiration of their countrymen for risking their lives in an attempt to bring freedom to others. -Execution: Final briefings were conducted on 20 November. All were told the exact location of the objective area and that the latest information indicated between 70 and 80 POWs should be at that location -- the Son Tay Prison. While they were confident that the plan had not been compromised, they would not be certain until they made the landing. If the enemy had foreknowledge of their plan, the reception would not be a pleasant one. Even though the task force was small, it was extremely potent for its size. While it could have been overwhelmed by a much larger force laying in waiting, the enemy would have paid a heavy price. Escape and evasion procedures were thoroughly covered. Satisfied that the mission force was fully in a "go" position, they proceeded to Monkey Mountain at Danang, where a mal staff had arranged for a command post from which the entire operation could be controlled. Communications were available to all elements including US Navy Carrier Task Force, as well as to Admirals McCain and Moorer. With leader-head at the command post were expert fighter were at Takhli and Udorn, Thailand respectively, and immediately available on direct communication lines. Frisbie, with a small staff, was airborne in a radio relay aircraft that could function as an alternate command post if they were to lose their communications capability. An intelligence staff member, Art Andraitus, was in Japan monitoring the SR-71 photo results of a mission during late 20 November. He reported them that the photo Intelligent was positive (signs of habitation - vehicle tracks, etc) for the troops 20 November was a day for "crew rest." Dr. Joe Cataldo issued sleeping pills. At 22:00 hours the men boarded a C-130 and left Takhli for Udorn Thailand where helicopters were waiting. Upon landing at Udorn the men transferred to three of the helicopters - two HH-53s and one HH-3 - carefully rechecking all the equipment that had been deemed necessary for the mission that lay ahead. At 23:18 hours the first helicopter launched; at 23:25 hours the last helicopter launched. They were led by two KC-130 air-refueling on airway to an air refueling area over Northern Laos. All standing out on the porches and wherever there was a place to watch. They all spoke a quiet word of greeting and wished us good luck, but none asked what we were up to. They had been ordered to stand down a couple of days or so before, to ensure their aircraft were in top mechanical condition for us to use. Even the tower operator was ordered to ignore our taxi-out without radio transmissions.
Just as they had practiced, the formation lead KC-130P refueled aircraft, Lime One, got off on time, as did the rest of them, the HH-3 Banana, and five Apple HH-53s. They routinely fell into the seven ship formation, three helicopters stacking high on each side of the leading HC-130 at about 1500 feet AGL. There was a partial moon and some clouds that they climbed through, when suddenly the call came to ''break, 'break, 'break!', indicating that someone had lost sight of the formation lead and they were to execute the formation break-up procedure. Each helicopter turned to a predetermined heading and climbed to a predetermined altitude for one minute and then returned to the original landing. The effect was a very widely separated formation, each helicopter 500 ft above the other and at varying distances away from the lead HC-140. They could see other members of the formation flying in and out of the clouds, and I thought they had blown the mission they had hardly started. Apparently a strange airplane had almost flown through the formation and someone had called the lost contact procedure to avoid a mid-air collision. As it turned out, their planning for such possible events, and the training for such, resulted in a rather routine formation break and with a subsequent rejoin being completed successfully. In the meantime, they had all topped off our fuel tanks from the lead HC-130 and had quite deftly exchanged formation leads from him to the just-arrived, blacked-out C-130 with all the fancy electronic gear."
Flight leader, A/C of the lead HC-130, "Lime One," recalls "Our mission was to launch from Udorn, join up with the six helicopters and lead them to the North Vietnam border. After joining up we refueled the five HH-53s and the HH-3. This was done in total silence without any incidents. The HH-3 stayed close behind our left wing in order to maintain the speed required by the rest of formation. After leaving the helicopters for their final assault, we immediately returned to Udorn for refueling. We were to refuel as soon as possible and return to northern Laos area to provide air refueling and search and rescue support as needed." Happily, the weather in the refueling area was clear. All refueling are accomplished without difficulty. All six helicopters then joined formation with an MC-130 Combat Talon for the low altitude flight toward North Vietnam. The area over Laos is a mountainous area requiring precise navigation by the MC-130 crews. In the meantime the five Skyraider/A-1s had departed Nakhon Phanom and joined formation with the second MC-130 Combat Talon. This formation was in close proximity of the MC-130/helicopter flight. All were en-route at low altitude for Son Tay Prison. Close air support was the job of the Skyraider-A/1s because they were ideally suited in precision-strike on targets. They had long endurance capability, carried a big load of ordnance and their relatively low speed permitted small orbits which would keep them close by overhead should assistance be needed on short notice. Ten Phantom/F-4s had taken off from Ubon to provide a MIG air patrol and five Thunderchief/F-105 Wild Weasels had launched from Korat to provide protection from the SAM sites. The Phantom/F-4s and Thunderchief/F-105s would be flying at a high altitude providing cover over the general area and would not interfere in any way with the primary force.
The Navy force launched on time with a total of 59 sorties. As the primary force reached the Laos/North Vietnam border, the enemy radar's became aware of the Navy force coming from over the Tonkin Gulf. The diversionary raid was having the desired effects. The presence of the Navy on enemy radar caused near panic conditions within the North Vietnamese defense centers. It became obvious that the North Vietnamese total concern was directed eastward. Our raiding force, coming from the west, in effect had a free ride. Meanwhile, in Apple-Two, as Jay Strayer vividly remembers - Tension was building up by this time, as they neared the Initial-Point for the final approach to the camp. They had done most of the flying up to this point, and Jack Allison took over the controls for the final phase, in turn picked up the navigation duties during this critical phase of the mission. As they had rehearsed so many times, the lead C-130 led them over the last mountain range and down to 500 ft above the ground. At the Initial-Point, they, along with Apple-Four and -Five, popped up to 1,500 feet to fly directly for the camp. A single radio transmission with the last vector heading to the camp was made by the C-130's navigator and they continued on, maintaining a disciplined radio silence. Now they were only four – Apple- Three in the lead with the HH-3, Apple'-One and -Two following in trail, with 45-second separations between. They’re particularly interested in this phase, for they had done the procedural planning for getting them separated in a manner that would allow room for each to "do his thing," while at the same time not delaying the following bird's initial assault details." Upon reaching the IP (Initial Point), the MC-130 climbed to 1,500 feet. The 130's mission at this point was to drop flares over the Son Tay Prison. Choppers-4 and -5 were to provide a backup and were to drop flares should the C-130 flares not be effective. The flares worked as intended. The choppers made a left turn and proceeded to a pre-selected landing area which was on an island in a large lake. There they would wait, hopefully to be called to move to Son Tay Camp to pick up some POWs. The C-130 made a right turn and dropped fire-fight simulators (deception) and napalm to create a fire as an anchor point for the Skyraider/AD-6s. The C-130 then left the area for an orbit point over Northern Laos. Immediately after the flares illuminated the prison compound HH-53 Apple-Three, under the command of Marty Donohue, flew low over the prison firing at the guard towers with his Gatling machine guns. The plan called for neutralizing the guard towers to eliminate that potential source of enemy opposition. Immediately following Donohue's pass the HH-3, whose crew was Herb Kalen, Herb Zender and Leroy Wright and carrying Meadows with his 13-man assault force, landed in a relatively small space inside the prison walls; So far all is going strictly according to plan and precisely on time.
The landing was a hard one, but successful. Rotors contacted some of the tall trees which bordered one side of the landing area. It was anticipated that damage would occur and the plan provided for the HH-3 to be considered a loss. By means of an explosive charge with a timing device, it was to be destroyed upon departure of our troops from the compound. The hard landing caused a fire extinguisher to dislodge and crashed against Sgt LeRoy Wright, HH-3 Crew-chief, fracturing an ankle. While undoubtedly this caused severe pain, the flow of adrenaline apparently was such that Sgt Wright ignored the pain and continued with his duties to perform as a member of Meadows' assault force. [Sgt Wright was later awarded the Air Force Cross by President Nixon] Dick Meadows and his highly trained and rehearsed assault force, including the helicopter Air Force crew members, went into action immediately. With bullhorns they announced that it was a rescue raiding party and were there to bring out the POWs. North Vietnamese military personnel exited the buildings in various states of undress and fired their weapons against the intruders. The raiders, however, having the benefit of initiative, a rehearsed plan of action and not suffering from the element of shock that was imposed on the defenders quickly disposed of the camp contingent. Meadow's primary concern now was to enter the buildings to search for Americans held prisoner by the North Vietnamese. The timed explosive charge was placed in the HH-3 to ensure its destruction upon departure of the raiders. With the use of another explosive device a hole was blown in the southwest corner of the prison wall. The raiders and the POWs would exit through this hole. Col Bud Sydnor's command-post would be established just outside the wall at the site of the hole.
Simultaneous with the landing of the assault force, HH-53s Apple-One and -Two were to land opposite the south side and immediately fan out and conduct a search of all the buildings in search of Americans and to prevent reinforcements from interfering in any way with the rescue effort. Apple-One, with Simons and 21 raiders aboard, mistakenly landed at a site enclosed by a fence that presented an appearance not unlike the Son Tay Compound. It was approximately 200 meters south of the objective area. A fire fight immediately ensued where the estimate of enemy killed ran as high as about 200 – [a number which may be somewhat exaggerated] This raiding element was on the ground for not more than five minutes when the mistake was realized. Simons and his men re-boarded the helicopter and moved to the correct position at the Son Tay Prison.

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Warner Britton in Apple-One remembers - "they saw the flares dropped by the C-130 ignite and was impressed by the surrealistic appearance of the illuminated landscape. This light enabled commander to see Donohue, Apple-Three, hovering across the building complex toward which they were heading. They noticed that he didn't fire as scheduled and commented on this to Montrem. Then Kalen followed the first aircraft and he did fire. That was the last Montrem and they saw, as just after Kalen crossed the buildings, they’re landing on a heading slightly away from the buildings, so that their troops could proceed out the rear ramp and have their objective in sight. They had no idea that they had landed in the wrong place until they had taken off and turned toward the holding area. Memory’s Commander of what happened next differs slightly from that of some others. He believed that they took off, flew to their holding pattern-area about few minutes away and landed. They returned immediately when Donohue, in Apple-Three, told us they had landed in the wrong place. They were also in contact with Col Simon's group. Others, including Montrem, believe that they returned to pick them up without landing at the holding area. In any case, very little time passes before they’re back on the ground at the so-called "training-school" In the meantime, Jack Allison in Apple-Two carrying Bud Sydnor and his force, had landed at the correct predetermined spot and realizing that Apple-One was not with him immediately put an alternate plan in effect. Within a few minutes, however, he returned to the primary plan when the erring force was in place.
Jay Strayer from Apple-Two observed – “As they neared their objectives, they sensed that they were not going the right way to the Son Tay Camp, and mentioned it more than once to Jack. Quite suddenly they were sure of it; they’re about to land at the Military Camp to the south of Son Tay! The amazing thing to the commander at the time, and remains so, is that no one had the forethought to break radio silence and say so! Indeed, Apple-Three had almost taken the camp under fire, discovered his error in time, and turned north to the correct place.” Jack Allison, in the holding area, recalls – Sitting in the holding area waiting to be recalled to pick up the POWs and ground forces, Apple flight was treated to a spectacular fireworks display. 14 to 16 SAMs were fired at the F-105 “Wild Weasel” aircraft, although one was at such a low angle, one of the departing helicopters took evasive action. One SAM was observed to explode and spray fuel over Firebird-Three. The aircraft descended in a ball of fire and appeared to be a loss. However the fire blew out and the crew continued with the mission. Another SAM exploded near Firebird-Five, inflicting damage to his flight controls and fuel system. The crews later bailed out over the Plaine-des-Jarres highland at Laos and were picked up at first light by Apple-Four and -Five." While all the helicopters were engaged with he compound and A-1s Skyraider, which had arrived with the second C-130, were doing their thing. Bob Senko in Peach Two recollects - Ed Gochenaur and they’re in Peach-Two. They’re on Major Rhein' Wing. They had an automatic radio frequency change when they entered the target area. Only one aircraft forgot, and that was him. But they’re able to keep up with what was going on visually. Both Goch and him knew right away that none of the helicopters hand gone to the wrong area, but were pretty helpless to do much other than support the troops as best they could. Everything got better organized for them when he got the frequency right. It got better for the troops when they got to the right area.
Because they were out of position, they got called to pay close attention to the road from the south, to make sure no-one took advantage of our situation. When they got the order to shut down the foot bridge between the Citadel and Son Tay, lead and Goch got lined up headed east to take the bridge out with a couple of 100# Willie-Pete bombs. The commander hollered at Goch that he was too shallow, but he let the WPs go anyway and they were pretty short. Fortunately, his run in line was across a chemical factory (if that was what it was) and he greased it. There was a beautiful display of different color flames, with the bright green ones going-up way over the altitude they were working. Major Rhein's bombs were pretty good and the combination allowed them to get the job done. On - by the way - the reason Goch was so low on his run in was that the SAM-missiles had already started. They seemed to be pretty random at first but slowly they saw that they were at least aimed in the general direction of Son Tay Camp and were being fired on a very low trajectory. So they stayed as low as they could. They don't think any were actually targeted specifically on them. But they go our attention and they stayed pretty well in the weeds. It wasn't too hard since they had about 15-20 percent moonlight to work with and the target area was pretty well marked by the small arms going off. They’re circling the camp about 100-200 AGL and when they’re on the north side, they'd drop down to water level over the Red River. Again, because some of the ground troops were not in position to blow the bridge on the north side of the camp, they got called to take it out. Since they couldn't get enough altitude to drop any heavy stuff, they started strafing it. He don't know how productive that was, but He's pretty sure they kept any traffic off the bridge even if they didn't drop it. When the ground guys wrapped it up, they dumped their left over stuff in the Red River and headed home. One other thing he remembered vividly is that when the helicopters went in, they were to take out the guard towers with their mini-guns (7.62). They’re only to help as a last resort. When they opened fire, either they hit something explosive, or the sheer number of tracer-rounds caught the bamboo/wood towers on fire. Actually, it loomed like the exploded. It was amazing, certainly stopping any reaction from those towers."
The entire camp was searched. All North Vietnamese forces were annihilated and the devastatingly disappointing discovery was made that there were no Americans at the camp. The coded message - NEGATIVE ITEMS- was received in his command post. In disbelief he hoped that the message had become garbled in transmission. Simons and he had previously discussed this unlikely probability but know that the possibility existed. The raiding party was on the ground at Son Tay Compound for 29 minutes, within one minute of the planned time of 30 minutes. They experienced no losses. Sgt Wright suffered a broken ankle and Sgt Murry suffered a bullet wound on the inside of a thigh, a minor injury. The estimate of enemy killed was determined to be about 50. The helicopters were called in and the raiding party went aboard. After eerie-man was accounted for, they launched for the long ride back to Udorn. The SA-2 missile sites became active and were engaged by the F-105 Wild Weasels. A missile hit and severely damaged an F-105. There was a loss of fuel and an effort was made to return to the Being 707/KC-135 tankers on an orbit over the Laos space. A flame-out was experienced prior to contact with the tankers and the crew of two, Major Kilgus and Capt Lowry, ejected - landing in a mountainous area safety, uninjured. The progress of this emergency was monitored at his command post. Location of the downed airmen was relayed to the crew of HH-53s Apple-Four and -Five, Lt Col Brown and Major Kenneth Murphy, with instructions to search for and pick up the F-105 crew members. The pickup was successfully accomplished after more choppers air refueling and flare drops; all returned to Udorn safely. At Udorn he met a dejected force of raiders. They were disappointed because their hopes of returning with POWs were dashed. They had failed. This thoroughly dedicated group expressed the belief they should return the next night and search for the POWs. For many reasons, this could not be done. Did the mission result in benefits as Admiral McCain predicted? Yes, definitely. The North Vietnamese, fearing a repeat performance but not knowing when and where, closed the outlying POW camps and consolidated all POWs in the two main prisons in downtown Hanoi. These were the old French prisons of Hoa-Lo and Culac. The number of POWs at these two prisons now grew to the extent that POWs lived in groups, rather than what for many had been solitary confinement. Morale immediately improved and, as a result, general health improved. POWs have stated that lives were saved. Prison conditions to some degree generally improved. Mail delivery and food both improved substantially. Morale among next of kin, for the most part, also improved.
Jay Jayroe, former Son Tay POW, recalls -- "When the fireworks went off that clear night in November of 1970, we knew exactly what was happening - a raid on Son Tay Camp was in progress, some fifty-two of them had been moved from Hanoi to Son Tay in late 1968 and had immediately recognized it as a place for escape of rescue. During the following months they did what they could to indicate their presence there, hoping their efforts would result in success via US Airborne surveillance. However, for reasons unknown to them, in July, 1970 their captors moved them a short distance to a newly opened complex, where they were aggregated with other POWs from outlying prison camps. He did not believe the North-Vietnamese suspected an impending rescue attempt, because the move was quite frequently with no sense of urgency. The raid, as they have learned, was perfectly executed and highly successful with the exception of one minor detail - no one was rescued. But, short of being there, one cannot imagine the positive effect it had on those of them who were destined to spend some two and a half years more as POWs. One should recall that it had been two years since the US had stopped bombing North Vietnam, and their faith was being severely tried. But the Son Tay Rescue attempt dispelled all doubt: “They Were Not Forgotten; Their Country Cared!!!” During the hard times ahead, their renewed faith in God and Country served their well" -In 1973, when the 591 POWs were released, they learned that those at Son Tay had been relocated in mid-July - almost one month before the Joint Contingency Task Force was formed and trained for the rescue mission. Intelligence sources were not adequate to reveal the actual presence of POWs at specific locations on a real-time basis. Some critical intelligence had several weeks delay. The successful demonstration of their capability to execute this type of rescue mission undoubtedly had some impact on the formation, albeit 18 years later, of a Unified Command (USSOC) whose sole mission is special operations. He will always feel a great sense of admiration of the brave men who volunteered for the risky mission to rescue Americans in the heart of the enemy country. He is reminded of a scripture reading taken from the Old Testament

(continued)

[vinhtruong]

Fortunately, having abrupt secret urgent message that all U.S POWs must gathered at Hanoi Hilton as soon as possible. On July 2, 1972 they were taken outside their cages and line up with a group of prisoners. There were about 26 ARVN officers and 2 Americans. Lieutenant Luong would soon learn that one of their groups was an American Gunship Cobra pilot who had been shot down the same day another VNAF pilot had, in an A-1 Skyraider at Polei-Klang, and 4 helicopter VNAF flight personnel crewmembers. The prisoners were addressed by the Communist camp commander and told that they were going to travel to a new camp, a better camp, a place where get better food and medical care, where they’d get mail and packages from home. He said the trip could take as long as two weeks, and that they should try very hard to make it. Lt Luong envisioned another jungle camp but somewhat better situated, staffed, and supplied, somewhere not too distant in northern Cambodia, or just across the border in Laos. The comment about trying very hard to make it did not register in his mind at all, until some surprising days later. For security during evacuation from camp to camp, the prisoners must set out barefoot with all of them tied loosely to one another. After few days, reaching the security area in the Ho Chi Minh Trail, they’d no longer be tied for moving faster because they all struggled to just keep moving forward. Two Americans pilots were so weak from malnutrition, sick with untold disease, and suffering from wounds that were infected and worsening with the aggravation of the journey. They soon began to become plagued by more leaches, on top of everything else. They’d suck- blood and cause infection of their own. Two American pilots have been a site by VNAF pilots who were there suffering the same conditions, fighting their own personal demons, that every steps of the way, threatened to destroy their physical ability, or derail their mental willingness to continue, and if they did not continue to march, they would die. In normal life, they have to take some overt action to die. They have to kill themselves. As a prisoner of war, under these circumstances, that truth is reversed. They have to reach deep within themselves and struggle each day to stay alive. Dying is easy, just relaxed, give up and peacefully surrendered, and they will die. Many did. They died in that first jungle prison camp, and they died along the Ho Chi Minh corridor. Some would complete a day’s journey and then lie down to die. Others collapsed on the corridor and could not continue. The group would be marched ahead, a riffle shot or shots heard, and the pitiful suffering prisoner was not seen again. They lost at least couple fellows of their small band of 28 captives, and by the time the journey was over. Wayne Finch or William Reeder, or other American in Luong’s group, would be dead as well.
Actually, the trip turned out to be not a two weeks hike to a new camp in the same vicinity as the one they’d departed. It turned out to be a journey lasting over a three months, taking them several hundred miles all the way up the Ho Chi Minh northern part into North Vietnam, and then on to the capital of Hanoi. It was a nightmare, a horrid soul wrenching nightmare. Every step, every day wracked their bodies with pain. Their infections became worse, disease settled in them. They were seemed nearly death. Their legs swelled at least double in size, darkened in color, filled with pain. They swelled so much, long cracks formed in the skin and puss and bloody stinky fluid oozed from the cracks. They drug their legs like the pendulous sodden club, and its every movement lashed their whole being with the most searing pain, pain that kept their faces contorted and a cry shrieking within every corner of their consciousnesses, pain that was burning the blackened scars deep into the center of their very beings.
Lieutenant Luong’ blood dysentery worsened, and he got different kinds of malaria and several intestinal parasites. And he hovered near death as he tried to reach the end of each horrible day’s journey of 10 awful grueling miles. Each morning, after unconscious-slept like death log, He’d begin a personal battle to stand and loudly moan or scream to himself through clenched teeth and pressed lips, as blood ran into his leg and brought a surge of new pain as gravity pulled blood and bodily fluids down into the carcass of leg and pressure grew against decaying flesh and failing vessels. There were many ARVN officers suffering badly themselves, but always encouraging U.S pilots, always helping as they could. They’d eat a paltry morsel of rice for dinner, and they tell Americans fellows this was not how Vietnamese ate. There were many fine foods in Vietnamese culture. A Vietnamese meal was delight. Don’t judge the cuisine by what they were given to eat. Americans believed VNAF pilots, and did not. And the Vietnamese were right, of course. Americans tried to maintain a sense of humor. It was hard, but it was necessary. “Your spirit is the most important factor in survival, and a sense of humor, even under the very worse conditions, helps maintain spirit, and in spirit lives hope. And again, the Vietnamese helped. They were always concerned about fellow-Americans, and did all they could to help U.S POWs remain positive, to be hopeful. As bad as things got, the Americans never gave up hope, not even the day U.S POW would have died had it not been for Vietnamese POW.
Two Americans mustered all their wills each day just to wake, stand, and take a step. Then Americans fought hard for the remainder of the day to just keep going, to keep moving along the corridor path. Americans could barely walk, but somehow they continued, and survived each day, to open their eyes in the morning to the gift of one more dawn.

All this is very odd, American pilot Reeder felt on the worst day of his life. He fought so very hard, he faltered, he dug deeper, staggered on. He faltered again, and he struggled more, and he reached deeper yet, and he prayed for more strength. And he collapsed, and he got up and moved along, and he collapsed again, and again, and he still fought, fought with all he had in his body, his heart, and his soul. And the communist cadre came the guard looked down on Reeder. He ordered Reeder up. He yelled at Reeder who could not. It was done.
And then there was one Vietnamese pilot looking worried, bending toward Reeder. The guard yelling to discourage his effort; He persisted in moving to help American-pilot. The guard yelled louder. Vietnamese pilot’s face was set with determination, and in spirit of whatever threats the guard was screaming. He pulled Reeder along with his feet dragging on the ground behind him. He drug Reeder along all the rest of that day. Occasionally, he was briefly relieved by another Vietnamese helicopter pilot, but it was the first who carried the burden that day. It was the first fellow pilot who lifted Reeder from death, at great risk to his own life, and carried Reeder, until they together completed that long day’s journey.
The next morning, Reeder went through the normal agonizing ritual of waking up, and standing, and dragging his leg through those first determined steps. It was more of a struggle than ever before. Reeder mustered the will, and he went on. At the edge of the encampment was a broad log that spanned the rapids of a river. He started to cross, tried to balance. Pain awful, very weak, equilibrium gone. No sense of balance, worthless leg is throwing him off … begin to slip off the side of the log … then falling onto the rocks in the rushing water below. All Vietnamese pilots and another American moved back off the log and came to his rescue. They pulled Reeder from the river and onto the bank. They pleaded for the group to remain at this camp until he was able to travel again. Finally, they were ordered away, they would not leave Reeder. They were drug away and forced across the log bridge at gunpoint. And they were marched away with the rest of their prisoner group in emotional departure…emotional departure. They never had a chance to see those Americans again … ever!

As far as Reeder’s fellow prisoners knew, he was left at that camp to die, as others had been? No never … but the communist had to first aid for him becoming no-harm. This was the order from high-command in Hanoi. But for some reason, the Communist decided to give him penicillin injections for several days. Reeder began to show some improvement. After a time, he was able to stand, and as soon as he was able to walk again, he was put back on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, this time traveling with groups of NVA soldiers moving north, and accompanied by his own personal guard. It continued to be an agonizing trip, but the worst was behind him. He even found the opportunity to escape once when he got one turn ahead of his guard on the jungle trail. But the guard quickly tracked him down, and once the guard decided not to shoot him in his rage. The guard recaptured him, and the journey continued. Eventually, Reeder joined with another group of ARVN prisoners as they entered North Vietnam, and ultimately reached Hanoi. There Reeder went into North Vietnam’s prison, and ended up at the infamous Hanoi Hilton from where he released at the Paris Peace Talk agreement accords to axiom-3: [The U.S could not have won the war under any circumstances, so honorable withdrawal]

Now as for us, New POW, one certain day, we have been working to fill the hollow-bumpy road with soil and stone. Suddenly, the camp commander called our group came back home for digging the grave to bury a cellmate just have been dead. The story was a victim as a lieutenant colonel Nghiep from VNAF, eating poisoned mushroom in the deep virgin forest. He was my Air force pilot, went deep into forest to fall the bamboo and carried them home to build the cage-shelters. Three of them, one in Special Force, one in Ranger, both of them said they were already ate this strange-yam. So my friend trusted them, and put this yam in the fire-wood, after few minutes, it smells okay. Then my friend because too starving, tried to eat this yam. But when swallowed abruptly he felt could not breathe, all the digestive organ was swollen on, his respirator air couldn’t come out. He become mute as a fish, indicated by hand to another cellmates nearby to go back camp. When they reached at the camp, he tried very best to vomit but fail, except vomit the blood. A hunter dog of the prison-camp licked that stuff and fall to shaking died of poison at once. Some of our fellows tried to grill this dog for food; but the cadre officer order to bury dog-remain right away. They let the victim write a letter to his family and explained why he will die. We carried our fellow Nghiep to bury him on the hill growing of Tree-Vau likely bamboo but bigger, straighter. Where we’re just fell the Tree-Vau and replace the same spot our cellmate fellow graves right after that. Unfortunately, everyone was too exhausted, starved, we couldn’t excavate deeper, we tried to cover the thin layer soil just enough covering on disguise it. We prayed, wished no wild animal scratch up. “Blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with the Lord’ glory. Amen and amen! May, we forever thank you Lord. For the blessings you deem to send; but most of all we thank Thee; for being our best and dearest Friend.
The native tribe let us know, this yam was extremely poisoned no one in this area noticed-know how it. This yam with the name “Củ-đuôi-trâu” (Tail-Buffalo-Yam) But at night, we tried to excavate a buried dog then we cooked and eating, luckily no harm, that’s okay for everyone. Thank God!
At the winter, the weather was so cold, our camp located deep in the valley, the climate was so adverse, the mosquito picked, sucks our blood but let so much itched. Over here there have a stranger tiny leeches, they usual living in the bushes, when they felt a sensitive the human body warm temperature passed, they sprang up attaches itself to its victims and sucks their blood. When we felt itched that was too later everywhere in the neck, face, shoulder were likely bleeding. At the working spot, some time the small wild-Bee-flies abruptly attacked on us all over our faces leaving bleed and itched. The spring water was also harmful, in the monsoon rainy of heavy rain that comes with the flood, a large quantity of wasted water covering a large area with Tree-Liem leaves, and the most poisoned of another leaves from Tree-Son. So after water came down, few habitants were died, some were real sick with strong high-fever. The Tree-Son, sometime we didn’t know it poison, we fell and cut carry them back to the camp used fire-wood, create in. One day another fellow in camp’s kitchen fired this kind of Tree-Son become hospitalized and died after few months in the hospital as Lieutenant Luong was died in 1979. One certain day, myself, I didn’t know the Tree-Son, on the way carried them back to camp. I felt itched and hot at my shoulders. Finally, I was sick with terrible high-fever temperature. I murmured: “Today, I’ve gone to figure out how to survive today!”
In the summer time, we don’t have enough water, so the streams were so drought. But the water was condensed in the muddy hollows with poisoned water. All prisoners of the camp were sick includes the guards. The camp commander gave the favors, if any prisoners at working spot maybe have twice a week baths but we’re so sick couldn’t stand up for worked. Bleed to death, to suffer severely or die from hunger like wild animals starving in the drought. What’s for starving? Be starved into surrendering. We were trying to convince ourselves again and again not to worry about go to die, but those images of endless days would continue to ambush our mind even through nightmares. Though we’re pretty sure that the Hanoi can win by used military power but fail by political of Vietnamese sentimental of our culture traditional nation; proof and evidence, the Provisional Revolutionary Government (Viet Cong) has been supported in United Nations was 76 votes, almost double of Hanoi and GVN vote. Hanoi must be humiliated in that event.
As for myself, a spy pilot on the view of bird, with benefit of hindsight, it has become clearer that the U.S Permanent Government goals were more ambitious than a superficial, bogus military victory [they have sophisticate weapons like CBU-55, AC-130B, Laser, Smart Bombs, BLU-82AL…] Had the U.S. really wanted a military triumph, it could have easily achieved it after the massive bombings of Hanoi in December 1972, they fired 1,242 SAM and had none left. And in early 1975, I supposed to lead a South Vietnamese attack on North Vietnam, which was defended by a single division of regular troops. All I required from the United States was just merely air support, and the U.S. troops already in my country would defend population centers. Finally I’m waiting for the justice, the logical solution for the ARVN’ POW after their craps. So despite all set-backs, recovering quickly from disappointment, cheerful and confident, we remained buoyant!

(continued)

[vinhtruong]

Suddenly, from a secret order (China give Vietnam a lesson on border attack) at midnight we prepared to move back Yen Bai Province. We heard the trucks moving in front of the camp. Luckily we’re escaped out of the mortally serious zone. After a long journey-day we’re arrived the formerly inter-camp. Where our works were less hard than before; day by day we were very busy during harvest, digging out the cassava from the hard soil and gathered at this time. Brought the camp to sliced and put open sun for drying, some changed into powder. Pull the cassava out of hard soil making us sometime feel the backbones come out of our bodies. Finally, the harvest was over and our works turn into raised crops again by digging hole on the hill farther extended till the foot of big mount. No the fertility of the soil, so to make soil more fertile by inserting the leaves down inside every hollows then put small trunk-chop of cassava before buried soil on it.

Weather-Weaponry: In the Vietnam-War, since 1970 the first volley in Congress when Senator Church and Kentucky Republican Senator John Sherman Cooper authored a bill that cut off funding of all military activity in Southeast Asia that I supposed this issue seemed “a manage the defeat” take retaliatory measures on Soviet Union turn to babies sisters all small communist countries. Now Soviet must expensed all aid in economic plus military supporting till finally exhausted. After Communist overran in South Vietnam, in the nation wide was subjected to for years of severe famine, must take exchange rice for huge quantity of horse food (Bo-Bo grains edible) to overcome people starving. The weather weaponry like Cuba inflicted hot and dry temperature, hurting even the easy crop like sugar cane, potatoes, cassava, manioc, corns couldn’t grown up.
In lobby of a certain break time after long Paris talk session, Henry Kissinger usual make a casual talk about if whether the donated Saigon to Hanoi dominated as the gift, and how Le Duc Tho carried out to feed their citizens out of starvation. Usually people were never believed all the gossip they hear; but I believe it true, and real. Tho responded in logical way – It’s easy while we don’t need freezer for food preservation. All the surface cultivated lands were explored in spreading as much as we can to raise cassava and manioc keeping preserved in the soil for long when we needed. How could Tho understand the weather weaponry that in the past Cuba gave up, couldn’t raise sugar-cane.
The program moving POW to North Vietnam was stopped in April 1977. And in early 1981, Hanoi changed the prisoner policy, put under surveillance of the Special police Department. All of us moving to southern near Lao/Vietnam border, Tan-Ky’ Prison, Nghe-Tinh province; I saw the prisoners of felonies like the skeleton been walking; one day I could image my similar of the fate of them. I do know next to us was the Camp-4 reserved for our fellows come back from Guam Island by Vietnam Thuong-Tin’s ship and next was the Camp-5 reserved for FULRO (Front Unified Liberation Faces Oppressed.)
A certain day, the Camp commander said in front of criminal prisoners, the guards didn’t worry about them to escape out the Camp; but political prisoners like us meant a big some of money in trading. As foresee, maybe a plan providing against perishing in the attempt POW by starving with hard-labor wasn’t acting by secret agreement between Kissinger and Tho. We were gradually moving back to Saigon for releasing. Camp Z-30s, situated from East of Saigon sixty kilometers were the center POW released transit. Afterward a procession will be established for evacuation the POW to United States by Humanitarian Organization.
In any case, I name heroes those whose are capable to survive years being imprisoned, starved, torture in the hand of the enemies. It is not rare when people are brave enough to stand upright and speak the truth even if it probably leads to their death. Those are our superheroes whose name, we would never forget. Right after the South Vietnam ended in April 1975, dozens of high ranking officers chose the death rather than to surrender to enemies in defending their moral integrity, such as generals Le-Van-Hung, Le Nguyen-Vy, Nguyen-Khoa-Nam, Pham-Van-Phu, Tran-Van-Hai, Ho-Ngoc-Can …to name a few. In the so-called re-education camps throughout the country, we have learned numerous cases that our fellow detainees stood up against the communist cadres for the righteousness without fear of being killed. As a result, many were isolated in the darkness and murdered mercilessly.
Since it is not the loss of lives through fighting, but the true casualty is far more reaching. The war didn’t stop with the loss of South Vietnam. It didn’t stop with the loss of its nature people. The loss extends to me, my siblings, my SOG’ comrade-in-fights, my cousins, my children, my children’s children; the loss is immeasurable. That is the true cost of war that WIB Bones had walk into the very disaster in Vietnam then Iraq.
Not surprisingly, we’re still imprisoned in the Reeducation Camps at that time, took a dim view of U.S [WIB] as a traitor. But we’re still hope that the U.S. was generally regarded as one of the most thankless tasks in America media reports. Washington has to review, struggle to achieve some level of cooperation from Hanoi regime that 10,000 of its POW and deal with an advocacy network that fed every wild rumor or conspiracy theory, preying on the grief of South Vietnam families who had not release yet – the son and husbands of those who anxiously followed from the Washington hearings, a ten thousands ARVN’ prisoner of war. The fact that when the U.S. should say the word “Vietnam” today the U.S meant not just a war but a country – at long last, a place where, as I thought thirty years ago, “America turned and veterans helped in the turning.” – in transcending the Vietnam trauma was one important factor – have the courage to put the policy into action – normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

Queenbee-1 from the Reeducation Camp to become a Boat People
FLEEING BY BOAT TO PHILIPPINE: A classified document of CIA disclosed:" There'll be a chaos fleeing out of Vietnam… and The Hanoi’s Communist will revenge... We soldiers, who fought without commanders to the last bullet, finally must be captured and jailed." What a drama which was written by W.A Harriman who was an architect of ‘cold war’, a notorious wise man amongst “Six Friends and the World They made” The Wise men (1986) described by Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas! Yet Dr Henry Kissinger was a choreographer of “Pennsylvania” performance which was painfully negotiated and deadly led to the end of Republic of Vietnam in the South.
The Evil WIB Bones pressured on Congress in U.S had undercut support for the war, even the material support that acted government had promised the South. The ARVN began to run short of spare parts, fuel, medical supplies, and ammunition. They fought on through '73 and '74, with things getting worse month by month. Eventually, what US indecision and weakness had made inevitable did occur, and Saigon fell. With it fell a night of suppression, repression, and vindictiveness as the communists broke every promise to "liberate" the South and offer "reconciliation" to those who had opposed them. Thousands died, hundreds of thousands went to "re-education" camps, other hundreds of thousands went to "New Economic Zones", and the standard of living fell to one of the lowest in all of South East Asia. Hunger was rampant, despair was common, and millions of Vietnamese left the country every way they could, even though the risks of even trying to leave were high, and the risks of the journey included an appreciable chance of death.
This was the fault of the WIB Bones, which had not kept all its promises to RVN. And I knew that good people, many, many good people, were paying a heavy price for U.S failure to support us. Since I could do nothing about it, I tried hard for years to not think about it too much.
Alas! Junior officers like us must go to the so called “reeducation camps”; in fact a giant prison in which, the most savaged revenges began to destroy human beings, one by one. After almost 13 years of that revenge, I looked for a way to flee by boat. How accurate that CIA document designed and carried out and how suffering we were while we endured those terror days! (Despite a 10/10/1972 media meeting that Kissinger had said “peace at hands” after secretly gave The South to Hanoi and advised the North not to revenge former SVN officers).
Kissinger also boasted to Le Duc Tho when walking around the palace in break-time but eventually the truth occurred for decades later: ”The First invisible antagonist is yourself, The Second is amongst your Communist Party, and the Third is all your citizens included few of your cadres!”
Thousands of escapes with different circumstances and factors but the same goal: Looking for lives from death on wide open sea which is always controlled by angel of death! With a dependable of boat, big engine, endurance, weather; people on board were terrifying, shocked and had a painful experience, and most seeking to pray with God for help because of disorientation.
I know well that the hardship never stops at the end of a long prison time but is prolonged for my next generations to come! For that of one day, I was offered to take a free trip to escape by boat and acting as an interpreter in return when meeting with foreigners on the sea. But I had refused that offer for I felt better anyway after long prison at that time. My oldest daughter looked after me well enough to sell up her house for buying an old boat with flat base and two eyes in white-black-red colors as usually country customs. Most important means are a map and a compass which should be minimum assurance for a maritime line that I couldn’t apparently, look for, as a house arrested ex-prisoner.
For 100 long days from early mornings, I had digging a 6/30 meters fish pond when focused on that ill plan with many questions of where, what country, when… even I chose in advance Thailand or Malaysia as a farthest, due to our boat too small designed to floating on river than open sea. By departing in March as a new released prisoner, it was too late for safety because of an old-folk saying “Deadly of March for elderly woman on sea!”
On the 85th day, me and 3 children, 2 grandchildren silently took a daily bus to the Western, unloaded at Long-Dinh County with regional alike clothes. We immersed into the crowds for best cover from plain cloth police and followed a rough trail to the South going along side of a coconut line beside a vile on the right and a man-made canal on the left. An experienced local boat operator had waited for us at the end of the canal; 2 km from Long-Dinh sailing about 60 km more to the seaside. Night felt fast at the end of area-palm tree line. We were in great trembling that we’d lost our appetite at a well prepared meal. When night was totally in darkness, a 10 year old boy came to show us the way out to the departing boat. He made a signal for us to hide in bushes and waited. A sound of small canoe came closer and stopped. The boy let us wade into the deep mud canal, left our shoes and sandals there to climb on the boat. We lied down deep inside on its floor to make it looks like a fruit trading boat going to My-Tho market.
From Long Dinh’s canal to stream following into the larger tributaries out along to the sea; Inside the boat, my heart had beaten hard like the time of dropping STRATA’s infiltration Teams into Ho Chi Minh Trail. Four children and nine adults gave trust on Mr. Hai boat operator who was well experienced. Drowsy yellow lights of My-Tho’s city appeared on my left. We prevented of getting closed to all canoes, boats and ferries traveled all over the area. I peeped through a small hole at the leaf-hood out and felt the boat flew out strong to the sea, the farther from My-Tho, the deserter of traffic on Mekong Delta.
Suddenly, the engine sounds strange and felt dead stopped. I was so nervous. Mr. Hai tried to fix when everybody was praying. Finally it worked well again. Before the trip, we had bought a spared small good old engine and a new Champion spark plug for emergency. Mr. Hai even urged to buy several fan-propellers to replace broken ones when needed. Most importance is getting out of Cua-Dai’s estuaries before sunrise for fear of police coast-guard-patrols can see us in day time. And once again, the engine broke down. Mr. Hai tried to fix it right away while we were prayed and it worked. At 3 am the situation was just on and off like that. Suddenly Duoc’s bushes appeared in the far east of estuary, Duoc were the wild sea-plant growing-up between the mix fresh mix salt water that means showing-up we are in the mouth of a river in which the river’s current meets the sea’s tide. The natives were made the Duoc’s trunk for good fire-wood last burned so longer. Their thick root helped keeping sea-shore slowing down sea-waves as well.
Now, I was in a great nervous tremble, concerning if whether engine happened to quit or what. When we just discovered in front of us, one coast guard patrol-canoe that will be reached for the next couple minutes, had been anchored at the middle of our exit. We had no choice and just passed this white canoe patrol. My eyes opened broader starring at this monster. It slightly stirred by our boat waves, 100 meters, 50 m but this monster was sleeping, unmoved. I wished they overslept or ignored us, like a fruit trading boat as usual. In my profound mind, I thought that the police had been familiar with the noise of every boat engine, and their felt-consideration that this is a small engine just available only used in the river. So they did not mind about our escaped-boat. I thought this communist navy vessel saw the craft, but they did nothing, because they did not believe this junk could cross the open sea. The more we got closed to the sea, the more wind and waves we faced.
The sky wide opened in fog and silver waves ahead. Already the sun was hard and slicing through the morning haze, a humid, steady breeze coming in off the nearby Pacific Ocean. I silently praised Mr. Hai’s skill and experience, sometime narrowly escaped fishing nets all over around us. Sometimes we took turns to help him push our boat forward by bamboo canes at the shallow waters. Farther from Cua-Dai’s estuary, I was the only man permitted to sit at the front end for checking the compass for direction which hung out on my neck. The dictionary with a map printed inside was under my bottom. Mr. Hai and I suddenly had seen the white patrol boat which was following far behind us. I ordered at once all young men turning on another spared engine and kept both two working with maximum speeds. Because our boat was so small and with two engines running made a large difference. With forward speed like this and the nose higher, we hope to reach the international sea very soon. Another wood-cargo boat joining helped them pursuing us simultaneously. They were chasing us with full speed! We were horribly scared; almost ceased of breathing and had kept going on, waiting for the worst to come. After all, when we looked back the cargo boat and the white patrol boat were far away until the patrol boat was just a tiny black spot. Maybe now we are in the international sea shore limited!
When the left engine at last broke down too, we were already in the international sea. Two hours later, the only one was broken down. Our boat was silently alone in the open sea. She twisted to the wind blowing from South-East to East back to Vung Tau at speeds at least 15 knots per hour. A strong twisted evening-storm blew off our leaf-hood and took off our boat almost out of sea level. Women and children were crying as strong wind howled through our shaking boat. Someone blamed each other. Others were just praying in hopelessness. One lady was crying," She wants to go back to main land even goes to jail… had she had the creeps…? Waiting for another escape again after subjected a period of jail’.Nobody was able to cry anymore because they were exhausted. Someone threw away drinking water jars for space to let their backs rest on the floor deck. No more hope in the dark of the thunderstorm night. Yellow lights of Vung Tau city were not very far; its lighthouse turned around and appeared being bigger.


(continued)

[vinhtruong]

I was frustrated at this trip and considered it as a total disaster. I expect the next prison time will be a fatal one under the iron hands of the enemy. When I was in Northern Hanoi deadly Hoang Lien Son mountainous prison in 1978, after a severely dysentery for 27 days passed, I had survived while other inmates just died in 22 days. With policy of harsh labor, malnutrition, no medicine, patients usually wet their rag pants every 100 m until a certain early morning; they gave no response from their next fellow inmates. They paid off their lives, designed by their enemy. At anytime I can die because the work there was brutally hard, always in the status starving: a cup of wheat flour daily and some salt water. Many of my fellows in fight die there, almost every day. When I sleep, I may die, I just think I will. Maybe I can die on the job at any time, the result; one third of us died and my turn to die will come as well.

As a man without any certain faith, I believed in God and only my father who loved me the most. Before throwing my ID papers to the ocean, I prayed my father’s soul would help us once again and was remembering at North of Vung Tau and Ham Tan in front of me in the past, I had 2 near death experiences during the 24 hours in standby for a medical evacuation mission which was a forced landing at night and continuing after self mechanical repair. Right in the next morning, only to be flown for a while and then had a forced landing again at Phu Lam, Cho Lon area. All crew-members were OK. How about this maritime mission? I would bet a small fortune for better lives rather than continuing animal-like lives under non-humanitary rules of this Communist regime. I even accepted an emotional farewell to this last moment of freedom before my body disappeared in the sea.
The sounds of people crying, roaring waves, rumbling thunderstorm, strong howling wind and possible screaming souls from hell deep in ocean floor at night made me awaken. We abandoned our dream by counting our lives not by every hour but by each minute, every second. I felt unconscious on the boat deck after one of many giant waves as tall as a mountain, rotated us around, down to the bottom of a whirlpool, we were almost swallowed by the deep ocean.
When I woke up in the morning; in front of me there was another high wave and a Russian oil drilling platform that nobody wanted to stop by. Its helicopter probably routinely flew over our tiny fleeing boat un-attentively. I informed to people that our “faithful boat” will drift to the shore of the Philippines which was still far away. Our drinking water, gas, and food supply would last only for a few days. We had to go to Hong Kong, for seasonal South East strong winds were blowing at this time but for the next month we just left out of Mekong Delta. We had no chance of Thai pirates at this far out sea but having no safety of drifting as along side Thai or Malaysian territories.
I opened my tiny atlas, looking for the closest small island of the Philippines on the map. Showing to my son, a thousand kilometers trip to unknown islands later I was told Palawan. Everybody became so frustrated,”hope was far away from our hands.” For the next three days the weather was a little better but we had to empty water from our boat, because a woman on board panicked and threw some of our fresh water supply overboard. Before any calm was restored, for seeking comfort lying on her back on flat floor deck.
A surprising story had filled our trip with hope: I found a small Buddha Goddess portrait still clinging to the side of the boat after it went missing in the thunderstorm. It belonged to a devout Buddhist lady who asked me to look for with no hope at all. This story made me doubted about science vs miracle. As a saying goes, “For knowing fate from God, doing one’s last effort.” I understood that no President is elected without his candidacy. In a past good opportunity, I listened to, Most Venerable Thich Tam Chau’s meditation of wit in religious cultivation, also indicated that a successful religious life must go along with “wisdom” which means self protection. He told a short story: A long time ago, Respected Buddha asked a long cultivated serpent: "How come you have been seriously wounded?" She answered to him "When I was cultivated at a forest side, an old wơod-woman was mistaken me as a dry creeper. She bound me around her bunch of dry wood and went home. As sơon as she reached her front yard, she threw her heavy dry-wood down; breaking my back bones." Buddha told to her, "Not a bite to making your crime, than having no wound now”.
This story made sense to me. A saying goes: “Bigger ship, higher waves” and a physic principle indicated that high speeds made soft water harder, all had shown me understanding how two different air chambers and water weigh between a line of sea level that made a ship sink and how a half immersed flat floor boat in water made it stick with good adhesion to the surface of the sea level component, this is a crucial important factor keeping our boat from sinking and for our survival. As for the small Buddha Goddess portrait clinging between boat side and sea level, was a powerful answer that had been demonstrated in an understandable, different way by a Buddhist lady.
Days after days sitting unmoved in front of the boat, I thought of a lady who told me from beginning of the trip that her late mother’s soul told her in her dream to wear a peasant shirt when fleeing by boat for good luck. I simply thought that idea was good; to make us look similar with local peasants to prevent attracting plain clothed police before the trip. Now I apply that idea with a white peasant shirt hanging on a long stick to make a signal of SOS. When that shirt felt from the strong wind, that woman herself with her own hands so permanently tied up steadily and kept this shirt forever lasting during the journey. According that wind-force as this maneuver, I also ordered to hang a thin blanket as a sail to help our boat drifting faster from West to East of our freedom. We hoped for high velocity to be reach ashore at the Philippines for 3, 4 weeks. Our only problem was food for survival.
Suddenly an accidental fire came from a smoking cigar was prevented by a swift and strong Western wind blowing to divert the fire from flowin to the gas tanks and ended up by the same lady who covered her towel on the flame. I decided to keep matches away from smokers and to conceal a 555 brand cigarette pack for later when we land on shore for celebration, despite their desire to smoke.
On the morning of the 4th day at sea, enormous clouds of Cumulonimbus thunderstorm were over our heads. I looked at the maritime compass trying to face north but the wind drove us East with huge high waves. Darkness of night came at only 4 PM in extremely dangerous strikes on the boat’s sides. Wind and high waves surrounded us. We saw the dark sky and opened our mouths receiving only little natural water and kept one third of water on our boat for cling the sea surface. People embraced each other in fear and to stay calm. Children vomited and cried without stop. Everybody silently prayed. I had heard a near by prayer:”Nammo Adi Buddha, full of mercies, please save me, Mahatat…” The prayers were getting louder and louder as the majority of people were Buddhists. I just followed them as a non-religious man.
On that circumstance, only I and the boat operator still kept ourselves calm for we were experienced captains and pilots. One cargo ship passed, we waved our white flag as an enormous long ship went by but failed to wake up its crew’s conscience-humanity as the goodwill of the world was fading by years, mandate ocean laws and by time went by from 1975 till 1988. I thought it was hopeless when I tried to use a mirror to make signals to US intelligence satellites or electronic radar planes near by with no sunshine at the time, with my rusty flashlight batteries caused by salted sea water and night fell upon us. I understood clearly why this largest cemetery of our planet which was burying our half million boat people deep under its Pacific bottom became most cruel, regardless of robbing, kidnapping and rapping by Thai sea-pirates.
All the same circumstances coming repetition to the 5th day. I thought about with 21 more days to reach the nearest Philippines’s island (Palawan), we should be starved. I tried to figure out the behavior, face, and shape of the Philippinos look like Indonesians and our fisher-ancestors as well following an ethnology that I learned of when I was stopped by a US military airport, Clark-Field AFB, in the Philippines in the past. Otherwise our trip was dangerous as our traditional verse: “Men trespass ocean in paisr; Women trespass alone!” which means when the women gives birth she risks her life.
I was awaked when my daughter feared I should be able to fall into the sea by asking “Were you there Dad? Dad was you there?” I answered at once to calm her:”I was here, we’d be ashore a few days ahead!”
Luckily our boat drifted to the East with high velocity, some cargos ships passed by without stopping to rescue us. Familiar with sea journey, people were pleased with better weather and asked me: "For how long to come, Mr. Ba?”
"A few days more” I gave them a false answer for calm. A drove of dolphins was swimming and dancing in front and around us, mistaken our boat with two big our boat’s eyes in red and black color as another dolphin. We kept quiet, silently appreciated them as fishermen’ saviours as traditional belief of sea-fishing.
Turbulences, velocities, thunderstorms came and went away every afternoon in this seasonal weather, as well as clouds above us and multi-precipitation huge waves below always during 10 day floating. Higher in sky, clusters of fish-like scale Cirrus cloud were above cotton as in lower space like Cumulus passed over our boat with high velocity. I was so pleased in pushing our sails ahead to freedom. A long narrow strip of smok cross-hanging on the sky made me having a sense of good for orientation. It was indicated that those passenger air lines came from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong or Taiwan to South-East Asia’s countries like Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand. Another segment of smoke closer Philippines ashore, now on top of our boat, indicated probably flied to Australia or Indonesia. Actually I anticipated a readjusted calculation for a shortened journey with amount of gas enough to arrive in the Philippines. We must fix the engine at any price for goods in commission. This reciprocating cool-air engine was so simple; having a fire plug and gas carburetor. According this basis principle operation, I thought of my youngest son, 17 years old at the time, would be able to succeed in a new society with great opportunities to come. As an infant, when relatives came to play with him in rude manners, he just drew a sigh like adults, making everybody laugh loudly. Strange thing, all but his head and hair got wet every time he pissed. He has had a strange physiognomy that I hoped would be positive instead of negative way.
I said: “Khanh, come here I want to see you now?”
He crawled very slowly to me after 10 days of sea sick and starved as I called and asked him trying to check up the carburetor and replaced a new spare Champion spark plug. After a while, he found a dirty spark plug and replaced it, cleaned the carburetor system with his shirt, making the engine work again with a droning sound. People apparently were full of joy!
On the morning of the 11th day, high waves once again caused the fan-propeller to fall off from the engine shaft-track. Immediately Mr. Hai got a new one and replaced it, the journey continued. Then night went in total darkness. Great Bear, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Comet were on and off from thr cosmos above. Finally we discovered as like one floating city with numerous lights on it, instantly she came closer; but Mr. Hai did not know during 10 days and nights no cargo-ship would’t like to rescue us. And also he did not know what happened, it was risky at night when our boat closed to the cargo-ship which could submerge our boat, turn us over by rolling her washing waves. That was lucky because we failed to catch a bright lighted ship which intentionally fled us. I gave direction to operator to keep heading 145 degrees south-east and turned off the engine at midnight for waves drifting and save gas. Everyone was lying down sleeping.
Next morning, people were lying still because of starvation, sea sickness and bad sanitation. I focused on the heath factor to keep my grandchildren and children to survive. I leaned that with every breath, there were millions of red blood cells were dead and millions others were born like waves of water came and went from our boat. Physicist Archimede explored the power of water which later gave us cargo ships, battle ships, submarines. Now this power stuck adhesively under our boat and keept it moving forward.
Sunrise on the 12th morning and clear sky made us happier; because we could stand up even though we were so terribly starved. In the sky a straight segment of white smoke strip appeared and clearly make sense of me; we are very close to the Philippines indicated by this white smoke strip far away from West, behind of our boat. Suddenly we saw blue calm level with many pivotal, sharp, rocky coral submerded-island which later we learned that more than 20,000 boat people died when their boat were hit and sank by dark sharp rocks. Now we were in case emergency, we did very best standing up reflecting for survival to empty salt water inside our boat and prevented it from knocking against rocks with manipulating long bamboo sticks keeping out of hit distance from coral-rocks. Our boat floating very slowly, we could see very clear every vulnerable, risky, object below; we tried to hold our breaths...”The creeps.” Finally we were safe, thank God! What happened if our boat floated overhere at night?

(continued)

[vinhtruong]

I thought: let's start the engine, but the operator all ready did. I was sure by checking two passenger airplanes crossing above but behind me. Now with my compass and map for coordination with aircrafts crossing, our heading direction, I was determinated to tell the operator to keep heading at 150 degrees against North to avoid getting lost and starving to death on the strayed seaway to Guam, Wake Island…
All night long, young men took turn to hold operating the engine continuously running. We kept on that way, on the 13th day; people woke up earlier with joy. Sea whales swam around us, followed by dolphins behind. A young man named Tung from the rear came up faster to tell me with overjoyed: "Uncle Ba, I saw look like a chain of mountain in front of us!” I apparently had guessed it, now I believe he'd tell the truth to me! Actually, we rotated duty of holding the engine to escape a thunderstorm appeared to coming soon. Young men with preparedness cut plastic containers into halves ready to empty leaking infiltrated water. At 4 pm, night felt dark quickly if bad weather, all over again abrupt with high waves. Our boat turned around when no body could be able to empty water, Dizzy! Unconscious! But theirs mouths again and again everybody prayed. Young men nervously excitement emptied water which was only inches from sea level for survival. It was not too long before they became exhausted; however we needed an essential quantity of water in clinged the bottom of our boat for sticking adhesives with the mass surface water of sea level. Again one by one, a huge wave continued beating the boat side hard, splashing the water into our boat. Everyone was getting very wet, quivering. I saw the world became the color dark-grey all over, with huge dark waves precipitation coming to our boat. Rain poured hurtling with heavy drop but no one could capable to take it for resource refreshment. I could able withstand this scene, so intruded inside the boat, waiting for odd things will happen. People all were silently exhausted with unconsciousness. I felt our boat having smooth rotation down draft without striking by waves; peering outside that looking like our boat in the hollow-water with no sky, it seemed to me we were in the deep bottom of an enormous bowl, and up to upper, then nothing…no water, just like we were in the airplane in the crepuscular. But I did felt confidently by seeing the water-level-infiltrated onboard just enough for holding our boat not turn-over. But too no stricken waves! Pleased God have mercies! Now everything so quiet, no more hurtled wind, boat became stable, peoples exhausted unconsciously. Super thunderstorm subsiding.
Usually sunrise was slowly appeared when May half moon faded away, I concerned of a second sequence immediately thunderstorm after last one and ordered young men to stop emptying water. They had to rest so some water needed to keep our boat from turn-over, sinking by whirl-wind. I hoped there were no double storms as a proverb saying: “Being sunrise always after rain!” It was 3 am from my phosphorus watch. I saw clearly the Great Bear appeared brightly like a big diamond; far away from huge dark cloud Nimbostratus and the remnant-thunderstorm was going to the chain of mountains mentioned above (Palawan-Ulugan Bay)
Weather was so better than last night, why our boat not sailed faster? Because all young men tried empty all water out for lightness fast floating and the crucial goal was survival. In the sky cumulus clouds were moving so fast to the mountains, I suggested that every wrapped-sheet can be made into sailcloth…just did it! Very soon the boat sailed faster with engine maximum RPM.
After long days I was exhausted as sleeping, Tung came waking me up. Uncle Ba, there were real mountains in front of us!” I stood straight and was seeing a real beautiful copper tray like sun partly appeared from behind a top of mountains. I opened the 555 brand cigarette pack and asked men to come for a smoking celebration. The operator just borrowed the matches; he enjoyed his own stronger domestic cigar. We need the ropes, so when we reached Philippines’s ashore. Operator Hay swam to a limit marking metal white buoy to cut a robe for our convenience.
Instead of coming to a populated gulf, we entered into an uncultivated rocky area. We anchored 30 meters from a rocky mountain side and used plastic tanks to take drinking water. All my children who took many swimming lessons at Tan Son Nhat airport pool are doing well. They collected sea snails and cooked with dry woods. I found a piece of coconut meat for my two grandsons who were crying for food. We kept cooking fluid full of protein for them too. Khanh helped me to bring drinking water into our boat.
The rest children and women stayed on board, their concerns of our boat sides crashing on rocks by strong waves were over in and out before we were back. We left before dawn to avoid aggressive mosquitoes from sucking our drying source of blood. People had complained of our long landing for food but they enjoyed them too. High emotion made me tearful when I watched my grandsons attacked eating a piece of coconut meat. For avoiding lost orientation may risk-hit to the mountain rock. I decided moving the boat little far from the shore and anchored for over night wait for daytime, everyone felt made rotational duties for safety when night felt. For me, I couldn’t sleep that night because of overwhelming joy for all crew surviving that I hoped seemed like a rebirth of another life instead of karma. I rethought of so many factors which made this successful journey, included absolute secrecy by least of people involved. Now at 5,30 am, I told an operator to started engine, and heading to a bright lighted ship as big as a city and waved white peasant shirt, while closer letting children and ladies standing in front the boat for help.
The crew on big boat knew who we were because our boat very strange with two eyes in front. It was therefore they let down a rope ladder. Children, women and men climbed first. I was the last to climb. The experienced captain gave us a big meal of steamed rice and a large cooked fresh fish pan. I was full with only a small piece of fish and rice mixed with emotionally satisfaction. I self considered my responsibility was completed. The boat’s Captain was so very kind and cheerful with new unexpected guests. He playfully kidding told me “there still were 400 knots more to reach UN refugee camp!” But he led us to the rear-deck, and let me look through his binoculars at a fishing hamlet. Authorities there would help us to processing paper-work before enter Palawan Refugee Camp. Firstly I let my daughter look through his binoculars and told her: from here, Ulugang-Bay Gulf to that hamlet was only a 15 minutes trip…you feel alright!?” I thank God for her pale complexion now pinker of joy. People agreed to return to their boat only after looking through his binoculars one by one. After all they were so much confident for the next short trip.
It was a perfect day for prayer, a bright morning and in the tranquil Bay. The skies and seas were polished blue, soft winds bore silver-edged clouds, and the coastal sands gleamed white like ribbons of salt. It would have been easy to believe in some sort of heavenly power! I loved to just close my eyes and feel the sun’s rays baking my face, inhaling the scent of the ocean. Our boat engine ran with maximum speed heading directly to this hamlet. We met many sympathizing new friendly fishermen waved to welcome us being on board a strange boat that they did known, we were refugees. Right after 15 minutes, we arrived at the hamlet. People in this hamlet ran out in crowds to welcome us when we were still not ashore yet. They were Roman Catholics who thought we were same faith and gave us a lot of cloths, candies, cakes; even a whole stem of coconuts. A young police officer made a list of refugees and let me sell our boat engine for a sum enough to buy a chicken and fruits for worship. I let my operator made a workship to my soulful boat as a thanksgiving gesture. But the worship was celebrated with plenty of biscuits, oranges, chips, chocolates…and without a chicken for not chicken was raised inside a cage here. So they couldn’t catch. Everybody enjoyed the bath after two weeks and slept very well on our boat.
At 10 am next morning, a grey coast guard patrol boat of Philippines Navy came to pull our boat to their military Navy base as stipulation requested by the UN high commissioners. A small party at the Navy base hosted by a Colonel Base Commander, doctors and commanding staffs officers to welcome us. A doctor major disclosed that their ships must stay confined at the base and all of fishing boats in Ulugang Bay must stay out of the worst hurricane three days ago.
He wondered how we could survive that one with a small junk like a toy. I explained to him, we had no choice. However I thought: the factors which kept our boat stuck coherent with surface of sea level and always floating with this mass of water which occupied in lower bottom of my boat for preventing turn over after striking by high wave and sank thereafter. And finally God’s will merciful helped. He mentioned about the immense coral rocky cemetery of about 20,000 ghosts and surprised of our miracle trip let my explaining of our flat base boat made sense. He yelled his colleagues-officers come to look at and laugh loudly at my funny only equipments: a boy scout compass and a small dictionary map!
I continued to tell them about my 13 years prison time and a dead or alive trip with no choice, thanked to passenger planes which corrected our ways to this country. They listened quietly and came to shake my hands with their great admire. They also patted my shoulder and gave me their best wishes. After my story, the doctor Major had asked to exchange my watch to his Radio so he could keep it as a meaningful souvenir; I told him my watch was cheap and rusty by salted water. Another officer gave me dog meat cooked by himself but I refused to take, thinking of the same refuse when I made in malnourished prison life in the past because in that hardship, I ate all included camp rats but no dog for their extraordinary loyalty to humanity!
We slept on the colored brick floor of their large meeting room that night and had a breakfast of tasty fried eggs next morning. A colorful mini-bus came to pick up all of us around noon leading by camp commander, Lieutenant Colonel Fernandez, Mr. Bob Holland, a volunteer Australian and others Refugee High Commissioners. Lt Col Fernandez gave each of us a bottle of local San-Miguel beer which I felt drowsily drunk for only a half of its content.
I thought of almighty God that I met through our fateful lucky journey and thinking of my converting to be a Christian later. In our native language ‘faith’ means ‘way’, a way of lives. As our trip in an immense ocean experienced that ‘no faith, no way’ and ‘no way, no destination of lives’, I could never know what happened and why every event went on its own way against our plan
After a month at Palawan refugee camp, I had received a large insulated envelope of my training classes in the US by Lt Col Lawrance A. Gregorash USAF, Deputy Com. Foreign Military Training Affairs Group. A certificate of Academic Instructor Course of USAF in Maxwell University, Alabama helped me to become assistance to an English language school, offered by Catholic nun Claudita Marcon, Director of Center for Assistance to Displaced Persons. My whole family was transferred to Bataan Processing Center, sponsoring financial by US government instead of UN as of other refugee camps and administered by Mr. Herman T.Laurel and his staffs.
That was a beautiful camp with large green hills, a spring streaming encircled and a lovely artificial chain-hanging-bridge. It consisted of 12 Neighborhoods stretching far up to 6 kilometers length, two crowded market places. One situated at Neighborhood no 5 and one, at no 10. A Catholic Church and a Buddhist temple; About 18,000 refugees had waited for US turns to be immigrated, included many Ameriasians during the most 1988-1989.
Blue-Guard of Major Lopez controlled of security of the camp. There was rumor of a corrupted Lopez who gave protection to an illegal gang who then paid him and his unit a large shared-sum of profits.
Our community composed an Inter-Neighborhood Chairman, his assistances of Laotian and Cambodian representatives. Each neighborhood had an elected leader. We had an ARVN Veteran Association which I was elected as Chairman of about more than 400 members due to for my longest Communist prison time. Soon later, I was elected Chairman of Inter-Neighborhood as well to the period the former chairman left for immigration. The situation of the Camp was worse insecurity, Buddhist monks and Catholic priests as well as retired Col Banson, internal assistance of the camp complained of illegal activities like robberies by violence, intimidation. A notorious violent gang ‘Dung Great Eagle’ such as thieves, robberies that JVA delegation had many time reported so much accusation for those matters. The most intolerable case, in general such as a certain refugee who received checks from abroad. As a spontaneous officer that I thought, had given me that conviction, I reported this worst situation to my staff and our Veteran Association and received their full supports to recovering a well formed activity. It was however my children strongly rejected my effort concerning for our own safer immigration in US sooner. But I stubbornly went on to carry out last try of my endless struggle life this time for 18,000 native victims who had voted for me in protecting them, and depended on me, and me alone!

(continued)

[vinhtruong]

Mr. Banson was so exciting to help me restored in camp security and to ease his own American colleagues who had so many times in same complaints as ours, especially about security at night. I asked to borrow 10 buses as a transport mean for my 400 veterans moved from 10th to 5th Neighborhood, 10 walking-talking communicators, and recording broadcasting my stated notice to 18,000 refugees before our gang-ending operation began. Mr. Branson absolutely agreed but it should be informed to Major Lopez for avoiding mistaken shootings because I doubted about Lopez’s collaboration so I must indeed need a referring order notice from Mr. Banson and discussed with him about my operation plan: I will show to Major Lopez this order notice at 11:45 and let 10 buses parked at 10th Neighborhood. My voice notice was broadcasting at 12 (midnight) only 15 minutes in advance of the operation, and requesting people staying at home meanwhile we eradicated the Dung Big Eagle Gang.
I came to administration staff residence at 11:45 pm. He looked like waiting someone else, not me. There was a large brownie Lopez under bright yellow electric lights there! I politely saluted him and gave him Mr. Banson’s note. He was smiling broader after reading it and looked at me in investigation “are you going to catch robbers?” I said all I did was just for my people and asked him to borrow a shackles hanging on the wall for a gang leader and promised to return it to him 45 minutes later. Lopez stretched out to the shackles, gave it to me in a despised laughter: Probably not that so easy!” As a same time, I’d heard my voice broadcasting all over the Camp:" From this minute, please all of you stay at home…”
During that operation, I saw a 16 years old Ameriasian boy who was pleading for joint with us catching Dung’s gang members. We caught all of them at the first place and from that boy I had information of the gang leader ‘Big Eagle’ who was hiding with his two bodyguards ‘Blue-Guard’ inside an ESL classroom. I handcuffed him without a fight. When he was leading out of the hiding place, the Amerisian-boy hit him with a wooden bar hard enough having his bloody back for his crime of robbing the boy’s sister, having her naked for searching.
I brought them to Neighborhood No 2 for paper-work investigation. It’s being absolutely, an undercover American security agent in JVA took them pictures. Lopez later came with PRPC members. I returned back the shackles to him and excused for late return. He took it with his angrily face.
Gang leader Dung was severe injured with deep wounds on his back caused by nails, showing up his tattoo dark Big Eagle in his chest. He and his gang must be appeared on a trial tomorrow. When I asked him if he hate me so much, He responded: I respected you…uncle, a long time prisoner of the Communist and a refugee like me, but I’d doing gang again after you leave here!”
On April 30th 1989 as annual usually every year in this day, anti-communist community had organized a meeting with dummy Ho’s burning. As a community and veteran leader, I had to read a speech written by my general secretary. This duty made me understanding about politic, subordinate country’s politic which was only a negative meaning of slavery for a super power whatsoever; A group of political opportunists pressed me to challenge to the power of PRPC’s authority, for what cause that I didn’t understand, and what for? I flatly had to turn down every approach that they suggested. As my duty job for our people, I had refused special food ration delivery direct to my family, just to be fair and straightforward in inspecting food distributed by local traders who had earned big profits on refugees’ lost. Spoiled meat, rotten fish, vegetables, bananas…usually were put under half lower part of baskets which were required to be replaced at once or next day on my personal request.
I even let few of my staff members who against with me because their diplomatical opportunist, intimidated to publish my mistakes on newsletters just went ahead to do so without any concern. These opportunist-diplomat themselves had lectured me a lesson of smart selfishness on gang issue that I ignored to listen to. With many years in Communist prison, I was not feared of any blaming game bestowed by my own uneasy comrades. Their short prison term made them collaborators of criminals, for examples some tragedies such as: A group of 52 people whose boat was drifted months in the ocean with a young man named Minh who urged people to kill another passenger for meat by fate drawing game during there was a dead human body inside his boat. A former female Lt Hoa and Lt Col Xuan on that boat obediently collaborated to his crime.- A father holding steady his daughter 6 years old, when his boat sank on submerge coral island, a sudden strong wave coming causing coral rock cutting her arm away her body, both father and daughter were spinning perished in the deep sea floor.- 5 years old girl ate her own dead sloughs from her scabies was the only survivor be rescue by another boat. And so many cases of other true disasters of boat people stories whose contents were so horrible that no movie maker dared to film, no actor dared to act, no writer dared to write! Why?
A new word was added to dictionary: “Boat People”, another word for just political propaganda. Another tragedy and voting ‘on foot’ in a world who wins who political campaign. A stratagem in the Indochina, they invested a good money for propaganda with perfect good movie such as “We Want Lives”, starred by famous actor Le Quynh was produced for a million refugees from certain limited period and short distance from North to South Việtnam in 1954 with single horrible scene of a artificial shark bitten a man leg to motivate a good anti-communist’ stratagem propaganda with technical assistance advised by Philippines experts.
Why, now not so many horrible scenes in real boat people refugee throughout Pacific Ocean had been ignored neglectable to restorative? Said we double ‘Why’?
There was no surprise of a promise from H.Kissinger to Hanoi “a full diplomatic relationship through issues of pretext “Agent Orange and MIA” When great power still needed the subordinate political opportunists. No Nationalist-Communist boundary any more when new regime members can do everything here in the US, financially as well as politically. And the old political label ‘Anti-Communist’ was already expired in forgetful and nobody buy it.
I was interviewed by Chuck Lee of US representative Tom Ridge’s delegation in a US Congress mission to Bataan for Ameriasian immigration program. My picture with Legis Fellow also was taken by his request for his delegation report to the Congress.
- Why there were Gangs all over refugee camps but not in your camp? Lee asked.
- No suspect was arrested without court subpoena in the land of Liberty Lady (USA)! Over here…no suspect can escape in this land around by jungle, because there are so many stories that our people and veteran issued no court warrant! We used lawlessness-violable method suppressed against them! I proudly answered him.
Chuck Lee smiled with great understanding and promised to meet me again in the US.
Two months later in November 1989, I met Chief staff administrator Chuck Lee through my sponsor, Marine Col Norman H, Vreeland and US Representative Congress Tom Ridge of Ameriasian Program at his office in the Capitol, who had bestowed me a letter of recommendation from the US Congress that calling me a ‘real-hero’ that my own conscience was very hesitated to accept and even having question about that two words ‘real-hero’.
On the way back home, I directly asked him, my marine Col. Sponsor:
“With 4,422 shameful days and nights as a defeated prisoner of war in Communist prisons, what left for being called real hero?”
Col Vreeland immediately answered:
“ A real hero dared to destroy Gangs, When you left for US resettlement, your successor, Mr. (name deleted) was assaulted by the Gangs who broke his shins with its wide opened marrow by a heavy metal bar severed enough that later he was settled in Buffalo, NY as an eternal disable person or handicap

Therein the letter recommendation of ….

To look for and to reassemble the broken pieces of America's conscience that were left behind and forgotten....
I was survived the war perhaps better than many of us who served there, I was older when I went, had studied the country and the conflict for years, was in some ways more prepared for the experience. And I was lucky that I was in battles, saw men die, lost good friends to the enemy was wounded and to myself. But I did not have to endure as much as many others did, and carried in Unites States less pain from the war than some others though I was POW for 13 years. There was one pain that only began after I escaped Viet Nam, and that was the shame that grew over the years after 1975. It was then that I saw the slow abandonment of the Republic of Viet Nam to the might of a massive Northern conscript army equipped by the Soviets with mountains of supplies, while the ARVN supplies ran lower and lower as Congress choked off the flow year by year.
Many American-Vets recall the ARVN as not being a good ally and in truth South Viet Nam, its government, and its military had many problems. There was poor training and leadership in some units, there was corruption in the upper officer corps, there were even Viet Cong sympathizers in the ranks, along with drafted men who were not well motivated to fight. But there were also some really good units, which fought hard, like the Airborne, Marine, Helicopter air assault, and Rangers that had part of the line at Khe Sanh beside the US Marines. And fight they did, there was a major invasion of the South in '72, nothing remotely guerrilla about it, 200,000 NVA regulars with modern tanks, excellent Russian artillery, and antiaircraft missiles. Horrendous battles went on for months, including a siege of An Loc that was like the Alamo, except even though was largely overrun, the South Vietnamese soldiers hung on like bulldogs and eventually won the day.
But for years, I heard the stories about the RVN soldiers who could not leave Viet Nam, as some others were fortunate enough to do. They are marked for their past patriotic service, and suffer various kinds of discrimination that makes life more difficult. And of these, the worst off are the disabled ones, those veterans who suffered major injuries, lost arms, legs, eyes, hearing, and health. They receive no pension, there are few if any jobs for them, their lives are terribly hard. The thought of this suffering, going on for decade after decade under the revengeful Hanoi government bothered me greatly and I could no longer avoid thinking about it.
Now, I am American and these men are Vietnamese, but we shared in the fight for freedom, and I feel we are related somehow. They are my countrymen, now former allies who are hungry, and sick, and worried every day about how they can go on. I want to help them, last year I sold my book for fundraising and a small charity has been started, called the Vietnam Healing Foundation, to raise some money for them. We will do what I can, and the good news is that a dollar goes a long way in Viet Nam. I will go back again one day, to find more, and give more help. It will not be enough, but I believe it is an important duty to give something back to these men, the betrayed, the neglected, and the forgotten. To make them feel remembered, and recognized for their sacrifice, and to give them another day's food is all so worthwhile that I thank heaven for the chance to do it. And when you get up in the morning, always recall that you live in freedom, which, like air, we can take for granted, but would miss terribly if it were no longer ours

THE END
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