Any good social studies class starts with geography…so Vietnam is a country that borders the South China Sea from latitude 23N to 12N. That’s about the same as Central America from Honduras to Panama so the climate and the plants are much the same. For instance we have lots of mangos and bananas here. Right now we are at about latitude 15N on the beach at a place called Qhuy Nhon – pronounced Quinnyon.
Vietnam is now a very prosperous and happy country but it has not always been so. It was originally a French colony that produced all the rubber for Michelin tires until it was taken by the Japanese in World War 2. Being a French colony for the Vietnamese people was very much like slavery for them. After that war, when the French came back, many of the Vietnamese people decided that they no longer wanted to be a colony, so they revolted under a leader named Ho Chi Minh and after a war that lasted almost 10 years, were able to kick the French out. That was known as the 1st Indochinese War. The country was split into two halves at the center – North Vietnam was led by Bac Ho (Uncle Ho) and South was led by the traditional king Bao Dai pronounced Bow O Die. BTW, the North Vietnamese Constitution was written using the US Constitution as a model. Bac Ho and many of the people of Vietnam were unhappy that the country was split and decided that the nation should be one country. That led to the 2d Indochinese War where the US fought Bac Ho and the North Vietnamese. The 2d war lasted from 1961 to 1975 when the US left Vietnam and the nation became one country as they are now.
Today Vietnam is a growing and happy country that makes many products for America including Nike tennis shoes. Next time we’ll talk about the Vietnamese people.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
The KheSanh Combat Base
We’re traveling north up the AShau Valley on the Yellow Brick Road. The Valley parallels the Laotian border and was the main conduit for supplies moving from North to South Vietnam – and so became the scene of much of the heaviest combat of the war. The place was so bad that our GIs named the road made mostly of yellow dust for the mythical road from Oz. When a unit got orders for the AShau, there was no doubt that there was some major misery in the near future and maybe a death sentence. But today, the large valley road is lined with new houses and fields where once it looked like the moon from all the bomb craters. The Communist government repopulated the region after the war with immigrants from all over Vietnam. Every house has a TV dish and the restaurant where we have lunch has a large flat screen TV with the BBC World News piped in. BTW, the 2d language of Vietnam is English. There are large hydroelectric projects that provide power to the region and a modern lifestyle where there was desolation 40 years ago.
The KheSanh combat base – once home to a large airstrip and thousands of US Marines – is now a coffee plantation. When KheSanh was occupied, the hope for both sides was that it would be the final battle of the conflict, similar to the Battle of DienBienPhu in the 1st Indochinese War. It didn’t turn out that way for either side. It was a large tactical defeat for the North Vietnamese but they didn’t quit and 3 years later our 101st troopers were back there. Today there is little to be seen and most of that is in a museum to the glorious soldiers of the Peoples’ Army of Vietnam. There’s some American junk laying around but otherwise the place is unrecognizable. And we’re not going to walk around looking for the old mines that are still out there everywhere. My legs are as valuable now as they were 40 years ago. On the way out, we stop at a scrap metal dealer where the locals make a good living scrounging the plentiful pieces of metal that still litter the landscape. Thanks to the American taxpayer, these folks are making a fine living selling free American steel.
There’s not much to be seen here – and even more ghosts – so we head back for Hue past The Rockpile, Camp Carroll and DongHa, all locations for Marine logistics bases. Nothing there either. On to DaNang and HoiAnh tomorrow.
The KheSanh combat base – once home to a large airstrip and thousands of US Marines – is now a coffee plantation. When KheSanh was occupied, the hope for both sides was that it would be the final battle of the conflict, similar to the Battle of DienBienPhu in the 1st Indochinese War. It didn’t turn out that way for either side. It was a large tactical defeat for the North Vietnamese but they didn’t quit and 3 years later our 101st troopers were back there. Today there is little to be seen and most of that is in a museum to the glorious soldiers of the Peoples’ Army of Vietnam. There’s some American junk laying around but otherwise the place is unrecognizable. And we’re not going to walk around looking for the old mines that are still out there everywhere. My legs are as valuable now as they were 40 years ago. On the way out, we stop at a scrap metal dealer where the locals make a good living scrounging the plentiful pieces of metal that still litter the landscape. Thanks to the American taxpayer, these folks are making a fine living selling free American steel.
There’s not much to be seen here – and even more ghosts – so we head back for Hue past The Rockpile, Camp Carroll and DongHa, all locations for Marine logistics bases. Nothing there either. On to DaNang and HoiAnh tomorrow.
Hamburger Hill - NOT Just a Movie
Up at 0600, we’re going out to our old combat zone today. By sunup we’re already in the mountains passing places I can dimly recognize from combat 40 years ago. One never forgets what the ground looks like but all the trees have returned after defoliation from Agent Orange and the place doesn’t look like a war zone any longer, thank goodness. These are high and heavily forested mountains, much like our Smoky Mountains and there are lots of them – our road out is curvy but now paved, unlike the days when we patrolled and cleared ambushes on the same road. After 30 miles, the road empties out into the AShau Valley at the small village of ALuoi -ALuoi is the scene of the infamous Hamburger Hill fight in 1969. Three battalions of the 101st Airborne and a 1st ARVN Division battalion surrounded a North Vietnamese regiment located on a small mountain named ApBia. Over a 2 week period the paratroopers assaulted 11 successive times until ApBia was taken. The combat was brutal even by jungle standards with heavy casualties and there were no prisoners of the original regimental strength of over 1000 N Vietnamese soldiers. The first picture shows you what it looked like then. Today the hilltop is a shrine and our guides have to obtain special permission to visit, apparently only given to returning American war veterans. From the parking lot to the top is over a mile with steps most of the way. I had forgotten the agony of walking up these mountains on slick clay with 90 lbs on my back, but quickly remembered why the Army only wants 20 year olds for wars. On the top we find the shrine built in the Vietnamese style with Russian/Soviet writing about the gallant defense of the hilltop against the “America-Quislings” - which I don't quite understand since it refers to a WWII Norwegian turncoat. We can still see craters from 40+ years ago filled with slimy green water. I’m glad I saw it but I won’t be back this way, twice is enough....too many ghosts here.
The inscription on the plaque in the hilltop shrine literally translated as follows:
A Monumental Stele
A Victorious Place at A Bia Hill Airport
From May to September 1969, this is the place where our soldiers and people bravely fought, defeated America-Quisling's raids, wiped out many enemy Army groups, contributed to our country's victory in the resistance war against America.
This place has become America's obsession.
A Bia victory and our warriors and people's sacrifice is forever known by our country's people and friends all over the world as exploits and a symbol of Vietnamese people's patriotism and independence will.
People's Committee of A Luoi District January 2009
On to KheSanh, some 90 Km north.
In Country after 40 years
Back to you, 2 days late…but wifi can only be obtained in a few places and those places have not yet coincided with my writing fits.
First, though, our cast of characters, all old soldiers with Vietnam service. Mike Davidson of KY, an old Ranger like me, Don Davis, my boss for 20 years in the GA National Guard, Larry Reese from TN who also worked for Don and his uncle Dane Baxter, a former Marine and mountain boy from East TN……last but not least Pat Daughtery, a Citadel 69 classmate who served with me in the 101st Airborne in 70-71. Lots and lots of war stories.
So we arrive in Hue and log into the Hue Morin hotel, a 4 star European hotel in the traditional manner. You don’t think there are any luxury hotels in Vietnam? What we’re staying in here beats anything I’ve ever seen in GA and most NYC hotels. The next day we’re to head out to the AShau Valley and KheSanh, both places that were the focus of the heaviest combat of the Vietnam War. Chao for now.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Interim Blog
Stuck in
Monday, February 22, 2010
Headed to Nam - 40 Years Later
Monday, 22 FEB - ATL airport - first blog entry of a trip halfway around the world in search of a time warp. If you've received an email and clicked on the URL, come along as six friends poke around the Vietnam of 2010 for a couple of weeks.
So far, everything is just as I remember it from the first time - long lines, paperwork, anxious travelers. It's still a 24 hour trip thru Japan. What's different? Guns and knives - no one seemed to care in 1970. The more you had the better you were. Now they worry about shampoo. We'll see if the flight attendants look any better.
My buddy Doug Bernon, PhD, PhD and a smart analyst if there ever was one, thinks it's a personal voyage of discovery. Maybe. But Doogie diagnosed Chalupa the Chihuahua as "confused" so let's wait and see. Next entry in 2 days. Chao, Al
So far, everything is just as I remember it from the first time - long lines, paperwork, anxious travelers. It's still a 24 hour trip thru Japan. What's different? Guns and knives - no one seemed to care in 1970. The more you had the better you were. Now they worry about shampoo. We'll see if the flight attendants look any better.
My buddy Doug Bernon, PhD, PhD and a smart analyst if there ever was one, thinks it's a personal voyage of discovery. Maybe. But Doogie diagnosed Chalupa the Chihuahua as "confused" so let's wait and see. Next entry in 2 days. Chao, Al
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