dai nam van hien books, saigon 1970
------------ THE PHONG -------------
THE ORDEAL OF AN AMERICAN MILITIAMAN
translated from the vietnamese *
by Dam Xuan Can
DAI NAM VAN HIEN BOOKS
SAIGON, VIETNAM
1970
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* TÔI ĐI DÂN VỆ MỸ / ĐINH BẠCH DÂN
Đại Nam van hiến xuất bản, Saigon 1967
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INTRODUCTION NOTE
The author of this reportage is a Vietnamese in his thirties. In the coure of twenty years of the years of war he fought foe the Resistance, served in the French-run Nationalist army and lived through the Republic régime of Ngo Dinh Diem. In the last two years he became an American militiaman.
This reportage covers the period extending from the Ist of March, 1965 to the end of the 1966. Besides producing an authoritative eye- witness account of events and persons, he also proposes to unflold the mInd of an American militiman, hence the imclusion of personal feelings and ideas.
As indicated by the title, the militiaman (or civilian figjhter) was paid by Americans. To be more accurate, he was a lecturer in political science whose job was to expound what is behind the motto " We'll Win Through Compassion and Earnestness..." . His colleagues are referred to in the local and and foreign as Pacification Workers of Revolutionary Development Cadres.
The author of this reportage is no hero, but he still ratains a sense of honor and refuses to be pushed around for too long. He deals with a problem which has never been tackled yet. He wishes to shed more light on a difficult time in history for the benefit of the generation to come. He also hopes this, fank account of his ordeal will contribute to the nutual understanding between Vietnam and her 'big' Allies.
VUNG TAU & SAIGON
South Vietnam
late '1966' to early 1967'.
CHAPTER 1
LUONG SON BAC (*) TRAINING CENTER
or
THE PIRATES 'TRAINING CENTRE'
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* Sanctuary of band of outlaws, heroeos of 'All Men Are Brothers', a masterpiece of Chinese firction by Shin Nai Am.
I arrived at Cat Lo Camp * a noon in early March 1965. This camp was formely used by Madame Nhu, the wife of the Supreme Advisor to the late President for the training of 'shrimp guards', commonly kown under the cultural denomination of 'Combat Engineers '. Those soldiers were to keep an eye on some tens of shrimp lakes in the vicinty of the township of Vung tau. Holidaymakers from Cây Khê Bridge to Vung Tau Beach alongside of National Highway 15. They also provided security for this portion of the national highway. To many their most notorious not was to kill Major Owen, a feared coup d' état expert. The press reported that his Jeep was burned by the Viet Cong in a ambush on the road to Long Hai Beach. An instructor named Ch. disclosed to me that he was in fact killed at the order of Ngo Dinh Nhu. They were also believed to secretly deal with the Viet Cong in many instances. The American advisers gambled with Mr Nhu a lot. Those affairs made headlines right before the 1964 coup d'état.
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* Cat Lo Camp is one of three camp knowm under the overal designation of the Vung Tau School for Political Action.
The camp is located on National Highway 15, only 12 kilometers from Vung Tau, on the left-hand side of tourists coming from Saigon. Before entering the camp visitors see at the main gate guardsmen in the uniform of the ARVN *. Unlike the regular Arvins they wear various brands of uniforms such as the Special Forces jungle dress and the Rangers' s leopard- stopped uniforms. Many are hatless. Once inside the camp, we cannot recognise the instructors and trainees through their dress.
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* ARVN stand for the Army Republic of Viet nam.
But the majority of them wear the black-pyjama garb, copied form the dress of the poor peasants. Ironically, I think of Zorro when I look at them. Some of my friends explain that they want to be likened to the suffering people. This makes sense to me, in principle. But let us not forget that this nation has become morbidly suspicious after more than twenty years of war. In the eyes of many, the Political Action Cadres are the mere replacement of the Civic Affairs Cardres of Ngo trong Hieu.*
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* Ngo trong Hieu was the Minister for Civic Action in the Ngo đinh Diem Givernment.
Actually the peasants today wear a medley of clothes. Many have dropped the black pyjama garb together. A few stick to it, but the stuff is less glossier, far more cheaper than that of the cadres. Let us stop discussing the value of the Revolutionary Development cadres, symbolic dress and have a look at the real job they are doing.
I came to this training camp to have first- hand experience of an important program designed to win the hearts and minds of the people. It is too early now for me to give any opinions on this matter. I will have to sneak in the hamlets under the cover of darkness, braving the flying bullets of the National Front Fighters.. * I will be in a better position to discuss then.
So what is Biệt Chính?
Biệt in the Vietnamese means special, anh Chính, politics. Biệt Chính roughly means Political Action. There are Biệt Chính Tiền Phong ( Vanguard Politics Action Program) and Biệt Chính Nhân Dân ( People Political Action Program). American and Australian Advisers use the abbreviation APA for Biệt Chính Tiền Phong and PAT for Biệt Chính Nhân Dân.
As my knowledge of the American languge is very limited and I do not have a good memory. I only remember vaguely that APA stand for Advance Political Action ( the emphasis is put on the political aspect of problems) and PAT, Political Action Team ( the party has the operation size of platoon upwards.)
The chap who brought me to this training camp was Chung. Of course, this is not the name recorded in his identity card. The same is true of the other names which follow. I have a special reason for not using the real names. This has become a well-establisment tradition in my country with a four thousand eight hundred sighty six years long civilisation. Let others live, you bastard. To live is bad enough in itself and still we have to drink black coffee and eat hot chilly you see.
Chung said to me,
" What sort of drink do you want?" ( he ordered a drink for me, than began briefing on the records of the first heroes in this Luong Son Bạc Centre, training the pirates for the nuclear age.)
Then he continued,
"Here we have two bosses who are two captains and a third captain whose specially is parade coaching. We three are the leaders." ( this chap was very bombastic, but his grandiloquence seldom served a whorwhile purpose.)
"The first leader is Duong, I think you know him. This famous songwriter from the capital has come here to devote his time to the Revolution, renouncing the easy going artist life. He is not head of the teaching staff. The second leader is the head of Research section, San. This short man speaks and writes French as easily as he drinks whisky, as he was an old-timer in Lycée Albert Sarraut .* The third pillar is myself. You know that I did before, don' t you? I, the best speaker and coordinator in Saigon. You want a proof? I led the mob who chased General Van Tiên Dung * * from Galliéni St to Hotel Majestic in 1955. The bastard was in such a panic he was at one stage in the real risk of being flown to Hanoi without trousers on. Naturally I am in charge of the Planning Section. In principle the three captains are in the command but we really pull the strings here. As you know, in a small and weak like ours, this is quite understandable. This is why In think most Western journalists are pig-headed. Most self-stayed war reporters nad political editors only write rubbish. They are just useless."
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* The oldest French High School in Hanoi.
** General Van Tien Dung came to Saigon with a French Delegation in 1955. This caused a bitter furore amongst the anti-Communists
population in the South. He was quickly flown out of the country, Chung was instrumental in doingt this.
Duong turned up. He was the author of the soap song, " Evening is sreading on the riverband, the beautiful maids are strolling in townand threes." He was no longer shy-looking as in the days he used to come to Café La Pagode. The 'revolution' changed him quite a bit. He wore black dress, and Phnom Penh sandals. A Browning pistol on his hip and a swagger stick in his hands, he looked very impressive. After a hello with me, he said, " What is really important lies beneath because it should not be reaveled under inopportune circumstances. This is the basic idea governing all revolutionary activities, don' t you
think? " ( I had no choice but not nod.)
Then, he continued, " So you see we three are the force behind the two-staged, three-fonted revolution. By the way, did you have any difficulty in finding your way here ?" I nooded again, thinking he would please. But Duong suddenly nasty, smarling at Chung,
" Do you still think that this location is good. The camp should be well-hidden somewhere one hundred masters off the national highway. It shoud be a real meeting spot of the newbreed heroes, the revolution pirates."
He then turned to me,
" What did you see man business? Look at this blacks dress, look at this Browning, this pistol is real number one. There are lots more. Pistols abound as autumn leaves."
I caught sight of a Eurooean, and I thought the sort of revolution these friends of mine just talked about should have something to do with him. I put out a provocative question
" I agree with you are the revolutionaries fighting for suffering peasants, for all the low-living people of the race with a long record of weakness, humiliation and oppression. I heartily wish you every succeess so that to tomorrow we all will be in a position to look white men rigtht in their eyes. I heartily wish so. But would you mind telling me the exact role that particular white man fuffill in your revolution?"
Chung was about to answer when Duong rushed to explain,
" Don' t you worry about that illiterate chap. He is an Australian adviser. The chap you will have to deal with in the Boss, Captain Commander Lê. But you haven' t known him, have you ?"
We clinked the glasses to celebrate the day we meet again. Frankly those revolution smelling cjhaps were too much for me. I was almost overawed by Duong. Chung continued,
" San said he knew you. He practised gym with you at Septo Stadium in Hanoi. By the way, in lunchtime I will introduce you to captain Lê, Xuân anh Van. I hope you will stay here for a couple days and you' ll make up your mind then. We are your mates Do you know maa, we propose to publish a school journal. You will look after that, will you. You will have a free hand to say whatever you like about the corrupt goverment .* This program has nothing to do with it. The American Government has agreed to finance the program. But you will have to do research to find out Vietnameseness, to spell the message to the Dragon King and the Lady of the Prairies, to define the characteristic, the feelings and the aspira-tions of the Vietnamese people. Our old school journal contains only mindless rubbish."
I could not help looking into the outside space, a patch of blue lined by the window frame and the range of mountains rising against the far skyline and a cloud of dusty sand blown up by the wind. From afar there was the noise of skyraiders on excercise to remind us of the war. Chung patted me on the shoulder, saying,
" My wife has arrived. Come and see her!."
I followed him to this house in the married quarters. I was very happy to see Thuy again. Her mere presence here made acceptable to me. She immediately prepared some black coffee for me. And she disclosed thát Tối Tóc Xoăn * had been operating around for quite some time. He had been married and was now a close assistant to the Captain Comman-
dant. He was a classmate of mine long ago and also a member in my drinking party at La Pagode Café. He had a queer behaviour because of his service as an intelligence officer in the French- run Vietnamese Nationalist Army. Every time he saw a lass going past the café, he spoke out a forget biography of her as if he knew every girl in the capital. He often joked that what he knew about her was precisely what he did not. Tối Tóc Xoăn was also a poet wrote slogan-sounding verse. Here is a sample:
"O sacred land
which nurtured so may hereos in darkness
Advance forwards!
We' ll lead our fellowcitizens to a brighter future ... "
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* Curly- haired Xoăn. (TR)
Even in the old days he write in the same vein. I often made a lot of fun out of his verse in the days when life was extremely hard to me as the cops threatened to jail me all the time for having publihed uncensored manuscript material.
Thủy said to me, " Tối Tóc Xoăn is very expedient now. He writes poetry for the Revolution. He brings toilet tissues from public lavatories home for his kids. He is real thirty now."
" Tối Tóc Xoăn , he writes poetry for the Revoltution..."
(Courtesy photo : Nguyen \manh Cuong)
" Do you like this brand of cigarettes?"
'Will all due respect Captain, I am sure you' re far more revolutionary than I am. Could you tell me your favorite brand of cigarettes?"
I thought he smoked Lucky Strikes cigarettes like other ambitious man. Many considered Lucky Striles as a well -- wisher because it meant un coup de chance. * But he let me down by saying
" I do not smoke, thank you!"
Then he smiles -- a crocked smile. Judged in the light French étiquette he was not a easy chap. After Chung told him that I mignt be the new editor of the school journal Political Action, he expressed his wish that it would have a distinctive mark and I would succeed in the first encountger. At thtald have a distinctive mark and I would succeed in getting the message of Revolutionary Development across. I listened passively.
After taking leave Captain Lê, I asked Chung about some other persons. Captain Xuân, Deputy Commnadant was nicknames Deputy Boss. His white skin and bright eyes gave us positive clues about his breeding. He came from a rich family, was politically -- minded but still 'innocent' and good natured. Then man next to the Deputy Commandant was captain Van, a magnificent parade coach.
It took me three days to know the key men in thie 'pirates' training camp and what was going on, I decided qwto stay.
I also found out that the School for Political Action comprised three seperate training camps which more or less arried out the same learning program. The Boss was in charge of Cat Lo Camp. Before making any financial decision, he consult an Australian officer named Dowell. Then man who had overall command on all three camps was an American adviser named Courage. Like Captain Lê, I thought he was a very good type, un bon papa * right after the first encounter. At that time the Number Seven Course of APA was hearing graduation. Three hundred trainees consisting of more male than female members were given both military and political training. The nurse trainees looked after the health of their counterparts and where also entrusted with the task of winning the sympathy of the villagers by their humanitarian activitivies. The school training period lasted approximately nine weeks plus one week-long excercise in a contested area. They would confront only lighweight enemies, namely the local guerrillas. And yet we had an instructor named Chac and a guardsman killed and a few trainees wounded when the Number Six Course trainees went on excercise at Hoa Long, a small village some kilometers from the township of Phươc Tuy.** The school still gave Mrs Chac and her children housing and food. She later became an usurer.
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* In French in the original text (TR)
** Ba Ria- Vung Tàu province, now.
The sort of political training given to the Revolutionary Development cadre trainees dealt with general civic education * and pertinent current affairs. It was hoped they would be well equiped to debate communists politicals cadres with reasonable success. Personally, I felt their chances were rather slim, because the Civic Affairs cadres had not fared very well after doing a similar syllabus.
The training camp enjoyed the facilities of a five hundred seated meeting hall. Above the lecturing dais were a large national flagf, an elongated S letter out in the middle and a large banderols reading, ' We Will Win Through Compassion and Earnestness ' abbreviated in to T.H.
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* the Vietnamese sentence reads, " Chúng ta sẽ Thắng bằng Tình Thương và lòng Thành Khẩn"
According to a lecture given by the Boss T.H. was the symbol of the Revolutionary Deve-lopment Program, just as the Cross was the symbol of Christianism or the Wheel of Buddhism and the swatika used as emblem by the Nazy régime. Around the walls were full of posters reading, ' Political Action Cadres Are Not Afraid To Die but To Sumit to Humilia- tion Which Party Has The Righteous Cause ' The National Liberation Front Or The Political Action' We Invite You To think Again. '
These slogans diid not make a great impression on me because I thought WILL referred to the future, a future which could evade us for ever. I did not say this to anyone, as it was none my business. My busimes was to edit the school journal, I said to myself I would do my best although I Had been given a raw deal : I was employed as a third rang instructor. Al my three friends Chung, Duong, and San got each two thousand piasters more than I didi every month, because they were first rank instructoirs. This sort of uneven treatment somewhat destroyed the impact of the beautiful denomibation Revolution we all cherished. Do you agree with me, my dear readers that revolutionaries shoud not ask for favours like pay rise, and promotion because their oneand only concern should be the life of the people, the welfare of the people. Revolutionaries must to eat live, but salaried revolutionaries are seldom genuine ones. This sober view almost killed whatever enthusiam I had for this program, financed and advised by the Allies. ( I would think Supervise is a better word.)
At the moment I was preoccupied with the plan to come back to Saigon the following day to settle my family affairs so that I could take up the job. My aim was to earn enough money to print my already mimeographed manuscripts. So I accepted things at face value. When the Boss asked me whether I had read the book 'Communauté des hommes' by Jean Nélis, I knew immediately that he himself was a left- wing Roman Catholic. As I read the book as early as 1957, I could easily impress the Commandant.
Now I was sure my manuscripts would find their way into print. I knew this sort of flattering was shameful, but I had reached anage when moral principles sounded pretty hollow. I adopted compromise asa way of life already ... A proverb in my country sumps up thi spirit as follows, " If someone comes first, I shall be second, and if there is a second, I should accept with pleasure the third place." After hearing me praising Jean Nélis, the Boss nodded and said, " In the final analysis, religion id an effective tool in the hands of leaders." I knew what he meant by this. The days I planned to come to Saigon. Captain Van drove to the Vung Tau airfield in a Jeep with a T. registration plate and handed me a letter to the Super Boss, Courage by captain Lê. I would be flown to Saigon in a Cessna and the same place would bring me back on Wednesday.After settling myself in my reserved sent in the Air American twin-engined plane which I found to be more comfortable than the soft chair in Olympia Night Club, I suddenly remembered a reamark of the Boss to the trainees,
" When I required the air transport service of a foreign airline, my thoughts I founds in this lie a painfully familiar ring with the words of a few leaders in the Resistance era, ' When we are on mission overseas we wear nice dress and eat good food, we suffer terribly because we cannot help thinking about our low-living compatriots. Don' t you know we are forced to do so simply because we cannot afford to have the white man look down upon us, the repre-sentatives of a small but brace nation '."
These bastards, whether they were nationalists or communists, always tried to rationalise each and every of their corupt practise. But I was no longer a white-collared chap. I was over thirty. They could not fool me, the bastards. And suddenly I felt an overwheming pity on the trainees who did not question the sincerity of the Boss. They were like myself some fifteen years previously.
At the Cessna flew on toward Saigon, I was able to watch the beautiful Vietnamese countryside with innumerable tiny square paddocks I wondered how the Boss could detect any sign of suffering of the people at such a dizzy height, as he told me before. The only possible explanation was that he found the sufferings of the people just by looking deep in his heart.
I admitted I had urinated on my suffering compatriots don' t you believe ?
(to be continued)
THEPHONG
( photo by TRAN KIET NO)
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