RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

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Quick Steel
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RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Quick Steel »

In VN I encountered a stew of interesting personalities, both American and Vietanamese. Here I am going to reflect a bit and record my impressions of a few.

Lt.Col B: Upon arrival at Song Mao, location of the Regimental Headquarters (44th ARVN Regt. containing 4 battalions) I dropped my duffel at the helipad and walked over to the single story building containing the MACV advisory offices. (MACV = Military Assistance Command Vietnam) I walked into the office and met the current senior advisor of the regiment, Lt.Col. B.

Col. B's normal, everyday mood was one of anger, abrasivenes, and frequently generated insults towards those around him. I pitied the Major who was B's chief staff officer and general gopher. The poor man lived in a state of steady apprehension. He was hypertension made visible. He was active; he got things done; he had decent judgement. But I believed it unlikely he would ever be promoted given his constant almost fearful state.

My first 3 or 4 weeks, Col. B had me learn the intelligence business: maintaining the maps showing the estimated locations of the enemy battalions in II Corps; observing interrogations of captured prisoners. The ARVN intelligence chief was very good, a Cpt. The only time I saw him slap someone was, not a prisoner, but one of his own men. The soldier brought in a freshly caught NVA. The Cpt asked his ARVN soldier if he had searched the prisoner thoroughly to which the reply was yes, he was searched thoroughly. Suddenly the Cpt. lunged towards the prisoner and, popping its buttons, tore open his uniform shirt, reached inside and pulled out a grenade. So the ARVN soldier was slapped hard across the face. I concurred.

What made some ARVN officers good was sheer experience. They had been fighting their entire lives; their fathers and grandfathers before them: against the French, then the Japanese, then the French again, then the Viet Minh communists, then the Viet Cong, then the NVA (North Vietnamese Army).

Then I got sent to the major coastal city of Phan Tiet. This was the location of a task force of the 101st Airborne Division. These of course were Americans. And there was no parachuting, all was done by Huey (helicopters). I spent a couple of days with their Intelligence people, observing interrogation of prisoners and various tricks of the trade. I never saw any physical abuse much less torture. The old "good cop, bad cop" routine worked unfailingly. Most of the enemy soldiers were simple farm kids or a little less simple city kids. So a big 6' 4" American enters the cage and shouting, raging, threatening all kinds of terrible things including castration, scaring the NVA soldier to the point of terror. Then enters the "good cop" who asks bad cop to leave. Good cop squats down near the prisoner:soft voice, friendly, offers cigarettes, water. "Much better you talk to me than that big ugly s.o.b." And they do talk. Everytime. Fluently, with whatever details are required. They believe and are advised that "big ugly" will come back if they lie.
Flew back to Song Mao. An award ceremony was being set up for some of the ARVN soldiers. Col. B decided I would be master of ceremonies. Thus I found myself in front of a microphone to read all the awards. Well, there I was in front of an audience including a few senior American and ARVN officer visitors. An audience? A microphone? Heaven sent. I deepened my voice a notch and performed with panache even introducing a few moments of levity at the start. A furtive glance confirmed that the brass was laughing. Col B. looked nervous, glancing at the visiting brass. The only time I ever saw him show that.

The nicest part of Vietnamese awards was the moment when the typically lovely school girls would walk down the line of awardees placing flower leis around their necks. Wish we had something similar in the U.S. Army.

Afterwards I knew B was pleased. Not because he complimented me, but because he said nothing negative. Silence was complimentary coming from him. Further, after that ceremony, I was no longer included in the guff he freely handed out to others. Making your boss look good tends to foster good relations.

The next day I met the Battalion CO I would be working with. This was Cpt. Diep. His English was just fair, not as good as some of his staff officers. But much more importantly he was skilled and tough. He would have been a first class officer in anyone's army. His unit (1st Bn.) was the best in the regiment. He had good officers as COs of the companies and good staff officers. If an advisor has any brains at all he doesn't start telling a man like Diep what to do. The important thing was obviously to establish rapport and mutual respect. This all went well. We got on fine, freely sharing our thoughts with each other.

I recall an incident a few months later when we were up in the central highlands. He taught me a Vietnamese type of chess game. We played one game and I won. I laughed; he smiled faintly.
It was the last game we played and I was glad the incident had not occurred early on in our relationship. ["Face" is critically important in the Orient.] I regret I was not smart enough to let him win.

Whenever we came out of the field Diep was preoccupied with courting the daughter of the ARVN Regimental CO, a Lt. Col T. The reasons for his pursuit were not unmixed. She was a pretty girl of appropriate age. However, the marriage to his bosses daughter would undoubtedly enhance his career prospects. The politics in the RVN army, or any other Asian army for that matter (e.g. the Philippines)makes American army politics look amateurish.

Lt. Col .T, the ARVN Regimental Commander, had little talent and after hours hit the bottle pretty hard. He himself no doubt got his rank due to connections. He was a friendly guy, liked all the advisors. And why not? MACV kept him supplied with Johnny Walker, usually red label but sometimes even black label. In Asia Johnny Walker is currency, just amazingly popular.

To be continued....
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

QS, this is very interesting reading. Funny how so much boils down to human behavior. I have had bosses like that col. The bigger the organization the more politics goes into how well you get along. I would never make it in the army, I speak my mind too easily and point out BS when I hear and see it, that makes it rather difficult to advance when you won’t play the games. It must have been extremely difficult to navigate the cultural and military issues of Vietnam. When you saw life and death issues and how important those things were, I bet you were frustrated by the games people played?
Thanks for sharing.
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by royal0014 »

Another interesting read ... ::tu::
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Quick Steel »

Mark, my impression is that in the Army politics isn't much of an issue at the lower ranks. At the level of the Generals, yes, there can be a lot of political action. Some times it happens that some 4 stars have risen to the top by being politicians first and warriors 2nd. But given that, it is surprising that usually, imo, very good leaders generally do rise to the top.
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by doglegg »

Another great read QS and quality insight as well. Thanks. ::nod:: ::nod::
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Doc B »

Enjoyed the read, QS! ::tu:: ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by samb1955 »

Another great read, thanks so much for posting these.
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Tony_Wood »

I’m with Sam, another good read. Keep them coming.
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Paladin »

I agree,, very interesting and a good read. 8)

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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by peanut740 »

Ditto all of the above! ::tu::
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Post by Ridgegrass »

Quicksteel: Just read your 'Nam stories. I can relate. I was in the 198th LIB in I corps, Americal Div. I got TDY'd to the MACV team, at Ly Tin Subsector ARVN and National Police HQ a few miles from Chu Lai. I was the artillery liaison and FO spotter for the 9 man team. We rotated through the local villages with the RVN political folks and police interrogators. Nasty bunch they were. I was visiting and celebrating the Tet holiday with families in a local village hours before all hell broke loose for the big Tet offensive of '68. Flew in a few "Herc's", great plane. The most impressive was the C-123 Caribou. I swear that high-tailed plane could power take off in a couple hundred feet and felt like it was going straight up!
Anyway, enjoyed your writings. Welcome home! J.O'. Merry Christmas!
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Post by Ridgegrass »

Post Script about the politics. My Dad, a decorated Infantry 1st Lt. in WWII used to say, "The Higher The Monkey Climbs The Pole, The More You See Of His Arse". True 'dat ! J.O'.
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by samb1955 »

Ridgegrass wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:52 pm Post Script about the politics. My Dad, a decorated Infantry 1st Lt. in WWII used to say, "The Higher The Monkey Climbs The Pole, The More You See Of His Arse". True 'dat ! J.O'.
Would like to here anything you would like to tell about Vietnam
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Quick Steel »

Ridgegrass, I too would be interested in any of your RVN experiences. I missed the Tet blow up arriving in Mar. of 69.
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Ridgegrass »

Man that was "long ago and far away"! Maybe sometime. Thanks for the comeback. J.O'.
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Post by Ridgegrass »

At 8 minutes, 21 seconds into the film I'm looking left, behind the guy in glasses looking right. J.O'.
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Post by Ridgegrass »

Regarding the last post from me. There was a previous post to which that refers but I don't know where it went!!
Anyway I found a YouTube video called " A SOLDIER"S TROOPSHIP JOURNEY TO VIETNAM" . It was filmed in 8mm by a Howitzer gunner in Battery A, 1/14th Arty., beginning at Fort Hood, Texas and continues through our deployment in Nam. I was in HQ Battery and didn't know this man. In the film, at 8 min-21 sec. I appear on deck! Blew me away! I'm looking to the left behind a soldier in glasses looking to the right. What are the odds against that ?! Also, later there's footage of Battery A firing a 105 Howitzer. My "hooch" is one of the ones visible behind the gun parapet.

That was filmed on a sad day if I'm correct about the timing. We lost a cook named Isreal Deleo overboard, The video says he was hanging too far over the rail. There was scuttlebutt to the contrary but we'll never know the real story. His body was never recovered though dozens of rings were thrown. A ship that size, travelling at 21 knots takes quite a while to turn back. Sad way to go. He was a nice, quiet Puerto Rican kid who served breakfast and lunch back at Ft. Hood every day. 19 or 20 years old.

It was a thrill to see that video, so many familiar places and memories. Like I said, "long ago and far away" but seeing it brought it all right back from 53 years ago!
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by jerryd6818 »

Is this the one you're talking about John?

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Post by Ridgegrass »

JerryD:Yep, go to 8 min 21 secs to see me starring in it. :D J.O'.
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Post by jerryd6818 »

Glasses, Sun Glasses or no Glasses???
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Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.

This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.

"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by samb1955 »

We sure would like to know
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Post by Ridgegrass »

No glasses. Handsome young guy facing your left. :D :D J.O'.
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by jerryd6818 »

Thanks.
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.

This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.

"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by DM11 »

Quick Steel I always enjoy reading about your experiences. ::tu::
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Re: RVN TALES: PERSONALITIES

Post by Quick Steel »

Thank you David.
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