Vietnam Revisited- 44 Years Later

Be forewarned, this entry in the BLOG is quite long. It deals with a trip of six days to Ha-Noi and Halong Bay, Vietnam.

This is about 10% of the pictures that I took on the trip and I lament the fact that I didn't have a better camera. I am now convinced that iPhone cameras should be limited to taking revealing pictures of nasty politicians for public expose' but not used for anything you want to share with friends and family, or keep.

Click on any image for a larger version.

PRELUDE

From November 15-20, 2012 I was afforded the opportunity to return to Vietnam, after 44 years absence. As many of my friends know, I served in the United States Marine Corps from June '65 through June '69, and 28 months of that service was in Vietnam.

I was based in what was called the I Corps, in South Vietnam, specifically Chu Lai (24 months) and Da-Nang (4 months). I served with VMA(AW)533, a Marine Attack Squadron (Chu Lai) and VMA(AW)225 (Da-Nang), and my job was to maintain aviation weapons systems on the A6-A Intruder aircraft. The A6-A was the most advanced attack aircraft of the Vietnam Era, capable of flying missions in all types of weather, and delivering ordinance with pinpoint accuracy.



 

J.R. Johnston at work (some of my friends would say this is a rare photo of me actually working). The hanger this picture was taken in was destroyed during the TET '68 attacks.

 



Occasionally, like all Marines, I was called on to fulfill my primary MOS of rifleman and I served for one month periods in perimeter bunkers that formed an inner defense line for Chu Lai. One of my periods was during TET '1968, when the combined forces of the North Vietnamese Army, and Vietcong Guerrillas, attacked virtually every major U.S. base in South Vietnam. The Chu Lai inner perimeter's were not breached, but fierce fighting occurred there, lasting several days, during which we lost our aircraft hanger and much of our support equipment; however, our aircraft still flew in support of troops on the ground during that period.

Chu Lai Marine Bunker Line January 1969

VMA(AW)533 was awarded a boatload of commendations during the two years we were in Vietnam, including the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Commendation Medal. Numerous of our air crews were also awarded commendations and medals for acts of heroism under extreme conditions. All-in-all, 533 was an esteemed member of the Marine Corps, with a sterling combat record that involved both close air support of our troops in the South, as well as All-Weather Attack missions over the North. The only members of 533 to travel over or into North Vietnam were our air crews, some of whom were shot down and captured, and a few others were shot down and gave their lives as a result.

THE RETURN

My return trip to Vietnam was to Hanoi, and the purpose was business. During the visit I assisted my local representative in the presentation and sale of sophisticated weather stations to two projects. The first are to be deployed by Panasonic in a general port surveillance system, as a part of a much larger system; and the second is an equipment evaluation by the Vietnam Central Government for a weather network. Had you told me 44 years ago that I would one day be negotiating a contract with a combination of Japanese, North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese technical people in Hanoi I would have locked you up as certifiably insane. It was an experience I will not soon forget, and as I near retirement I am happy that our world has progressed to a point where that terrible war has become a chapter in a history book. None of the people I met with had been born when the War was in progress, as all were under the age of 35. During my stay I was treated with kindness and respect by everyone I met. I never sensed any animosity towards me personally as an American, although during my tour of the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" military prison the Propaganda was clearly anti-American.

Out of respect for my Host Representative I never mentioned my participation in the War, although they quickly understood that I had been to Vietnam many years ago. My age (66) was the final clue for them, and they also never broached the subject, presumably also out of respect. However, they honored my requests to visit several War related locations, one of which surprised them----the Long Bien Bridge (Paul Doumer Bridge). I specifically asked to see the bridge based on a request from one of our air crew members, who received the Silver Star for a daring,attack on the bridge during the War. With that introduction, I'll tell the tale of my return to Vietnam.

Ha-Noi was the last stop on a two week business trip through Asia. I departed from Hong Kong on a non-stop flight, which had no complications.

Gate 524 Hong Kong International Airport

 

After a speedy clearance through customs and Immigration I met my driver for the ride to my Hotel. It was about 2100 when I finally cleared the airport for a 45 minute drive into Ha-Noi. For those that may travel to Vietnam, a Tourist Visa can be purchased in the airport on arrival. Business travelers have a more involved process, requiring a formal invitation from a company, Government Ministry, or supplier; and a submittal to the U.S. based Embassy of Vietnam. The whole process takes about 6-8 weeks.

 

Because of the length of my stay, the Hotel Emotion provided a car and driver from the airport, and that enabled me to avoid the crush of taxi drivers vying for arriving travelers. The entry side of the airport is older than the departure side, and it reminded me of arrivals at Hong Kong and Singapore on R and R in the mid-60's.

 

During the ride the driver had the radio on and I got to listen to Patti Page singing "White Christmas" and other very odd selections for that time and place. I changed about $200 U.S. Dollars, thinking I would need local currency. That allowed me my first experience as  "MILLIONAIRE" because the Vietnamese Dong was trading at about 21,000 to one, resulting in me having a WAD of cash in my pocket equivalent to about $4 million Dong.

 





 

However, I soon got my first major surprise of the trip.....the street currency of Vietnam is the U.S. Dollar. Restaurant Menus and price lists are in dollars, and you even get your change in U.S. Dollars. In some instances, merchants were a little annoyed that I wanted to pay them in Dong. I eventually ended up spending most of my Dong in the airport departure lounge on gifts for family, friends and home office staff.

 



My hotel was on a small side street, off a main road. To get there, my driver essentially crossed through the city, passing the central area where the Government offices were located, and the War Memorial and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Uncle Ho's Tomb is massive and well lit at night. It sits in a well maintained park area.

The Hotel Emotion was comfortable, the staff were very friendly and everyone spoke excellent English. When I would leave unattended they would give me a Hotel card, with detailed instructions in Vietnamese on who I was, so that I could always get a cab back to the Hotel.

 

Of particular note were the "Breakfast Girls" (below), who for some unknown reason adopted me, possibly because I was the only American in the hotel. I was never without a cold beer in my hand when these two were around. They even opened the rooftop restaurant patio for me during their  rest periods, when it was closed. All of the Staff seemed to be there all of the time and I got the impression that many, including the Breakfast Girls, actually lived there. On the weekend I returned early from walks to find them taking a midday nap in the restaurant, which they happily interrupted to escort me to the patio with my cold Ha-Noi beer.

 

Breakfast Girls

 



Roof Patio

 

Rooftop View of Ha-Noi

 

 

 One of Many Acceptable Food Stops

 

You can get almost any kind of food in Vietnam. As many of us experienced during the War, very tasty food was available in the villages, or in the cities, no problem. However, about a year ago I became a vegetarian for both health and philosophical reasons. My Host Representative was very kind in that he located a different vegetarian restaurant every evening, with similar stops during the day for lunch. Vietnam is a Buddhist country, so vegetarians are numerous, and the food selections are quite varied. The above restaurant is located in the old French Colonial district. When the French were tossed out of Vietnam in 1954 their homes were expropriated by the Communist Government and turned into multifamily housing. The one above was both homes and a couple of restaurants. People that own these old homes now have a real basis for their retirement. My Host told me that even a modest property in Ha-Noi would cost upwards of half a million U.S. dollars.

 

Local Transportation with Le Viet Hung

 

Prior to my arrival in Ha-Noi my Representative told me we would be traveling by "bike" around the City. He wasn't explicit, so I had visions of peddling around town, or riding something akin to my big Harley, or maybe a pedicab of some sort. What he meant was I would be riding on the pillion seat of his 150 cc scooter. It is common transportation all throughout Asia but I had never ridden pillion on anything before, so this was an experience to be remembered. It took a couple of days before they could find a helmet to fit my XXL head, and this first yellow one was like a teacup on top of a melon. Le Viet Hung was my Host Representative, Vice President in his company, the senior technical person, and a very nice young man. He is well educated, well spoken in English and a thoroughly pleasant person to spend time with. He learned his English from reading technical manuals and watching American TV programs, hence he has a perfect American accent. He can also negotiate insanely dense traffic with "no problems".

 

Television was another surprise. I expected it to be very controlled by the Central Government but the range of channels is Global and apparently uncensored, with any news source you care to watch (BBC, CNN, etc.) and a whole  range of contemporary programming.......with NO COMMERCIALS. I guess that is one benefit of communism........but they will catch up in this regard I am sure.

 

Ha-Noi Street Scene

 

Ha-Noi Traffic (light)

 

Traffic, in general was always heavy. At the worst of times the scooters moved like a single wave, interspersed with Taxi's, buses, pedicabs, delivery vans, animal drawn carts, and a few private cars. Hung told me that private automobiles are very heavily taxed, as are scooters over 150 cc; hence the proliferation of low displacement scooters. While walking I noticed a large BMW motorcycle and he commented that it was owned by a foreigner. He could tell by the license plate, which had a specific Letter sequence before the numbers. It was the only large displacement bike I saw in 6 days. In checking prices on my return to the USA, the scooter he rode was comparable to what we would pay in the USA. Below is an early evening street ride on his scooter in what was "light" Ha-Noi traffic, off the main drag.

 

Ha-Noi Traffic Movie

 

Walking distance from my Hotel was one of the oldest formal Universities in Indo-China. It was established in 1442 and closed in 1779, when it was moved to another location. Vietnamese history included conquest by the Chinese, a period of Independence, colonialization by the French, then the Japanese (WW2), then the French again, the Vietnam Partition, the Vietnam War and finally Unification. Generations of Vietnamese never knew anything but War, yet they still maintained their fundamental culture, and way of life as distinct from the rest of the region. I learned that Chinese was the language of educated Vietnamese until about 100 years ago when the current language was literally "invented" by a French Priest. Although the indigenous tribal people, such as the Montagnards, had/have their own languages, French and the new Vietnamese language were the first and second languages of the country from the late 1800's until the Vietnam War with America. After the War, the country was purged of French language influences, so great was the hatred of the French. French street signs were replaced, towns renamed, and French was no longer taught in the schools. Strangely enough, that attitude did not extend to Americans and English, which is now the second language of educated Vietnamese.

 

University Entrance Garden

 

When students graduated, with their equivalent to a current day PhD, their names were engraved on what looks like a very large tombstone. The stone tablets for the various graduating classes were mounted on the back of a stone turtle, which is good luck to Vietnamese.

 

Graduate Lists on Stone Turtles

 

Classroom with Teacher Statues

 

The classroom also contains the robes worn by teachers and students, various articles of study such as books, quill pens, desks and inkwells. The University amazingly survived the wartime bombing that hit all around this area.

 

On Saturday I took a day off for sightseeing. At 0730 I joined a Tour Group headed for Halong Bay. Many of us will remember the James Bond Movie "Tomorrow Never Dies", with the mountainous islands, and the caves in the rock. Those scenes were shot at Halong Bay, and the area is even more beautiful up close. The bus ride was three hours (each way) to the coast, where we boarded a Vietnamese motor Junk. The Tour Group was of mixed nationality and I was the only Westerner in the Group. Virtually everyone spoke English, so I had a number of conversational companions going and coming. Once on the Junk, it was about an hour to the Floating Village, where people live entirely on boats, making their living paddling tourists around the island caves, and fishing. The whole Tour cost about $28 US, including a fantastic lunch on the Junk. Beer was about 50 cents a can, and it was the very drinkable Ha-Noi Beer or Tiger brands.

 



Tour Junks

 

Tour Junk Taking Passengers

 

The Junks were very elaborate and ours only had 19 passengers. The family that operated it obviously lived on-board. The junks were very clean and well maintained, and passengers had free run of the vessel other than the family spaces. Waste was not dumped overboard, including the rest rooms because the Bay is a World Heritage site, protected by the Vietnamese Government and the United Nations.

 

Interior of Junk

 

Halong Bay Mountain Islands and Floating Village

 

About halfway to our destination we stopped at the Floating Village for about an hour. While there we could rent Kayaks, or be sculled around in round bottomed wicker basket-like boats into caves into the mountains. A short video below is of passage through a cave into a lagoon inside the mountain. The image below is of Graffiti left over the ages, in many languages.

 

 

Halong Bay boat ride through a Cave to a Mountain Lagoon

 

Graffiti Through the Ages

 

 

The next section of my trip was specifically for Donn Hiltbruner, one of the aircrew members with VMA(AW)533. Donn received the Silver Star for a hair raising attack run on the Long Bien Bridge and he specifically asked me to visit the bridge for him. He made another request, that I could not honor because of the number of police and Army security forces in the area when I visited....sorry Donn!

 

The image below would have been what the bridge looked like about when Donn made his attack run. I believe it was the only major rail bridge over the Red River at that time, and so it was of major strategic importance during the War. These days, the bridge is only used by scooters, bicycles, pedestrians and a train; due to the density of traffic, and some unrepaired War damage. A new bridge was constructed up-river and that carries the road traffic of cars, trucks and buses. The short video of me riding pillion over the bridge was specifically taken for Donn.

 

Long Bien Bridge circa 1969

 

Entrance to Long Bien Bridge

 

Long Bien Bridge 2012

 

New Bridge from Old Bridge

 

Scooter Ride Across Long Bien Bridge

 

On Sunday I made a trip to Ha Lo Prison. This was more famously known as the Hanoi Hilton and it was where many U.S. air crews were kept and tortured. I learned from other sources that conditions changed after the death of Ho Chi Minh, and the torture stopped, along with some improvements in general treatment. The Vietnamese Government does not tell the people about the torture, and in fact, the pictures and descriptions inside the prison's American Section tell only of a benign life during incarceration. According to the propaganda at the prison, days were filled with writing letters home, opening Red Cross packages, playing volleyball in the courtyard, singing, reading and generally passing time in detention. I certainly got a taste of Propaganda from the other perspective. Notably, there are no pictures of Jane Fonda, or mention of her in any exhibit I saw in my stay, so  she remains immortalized only in her own mind. Even our old enemy recognizes her as a traitor and they have consigned her memory to oblivion.



 

 

Ha Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton) circa 1969

 

Infamous Entrance Hanoi Hilton Prison

 

Infamous Gate Hanoi Hilton Prison

 

The gate has been removed from the portal and moved inside the prison main area to better preserve it. It was specially made in France in the late 1800's for this prison. The rooms just inside the portal are used for scooter parking as there is none on the street. My Host had never been here and he was as interested as I was in the various exhibits.

 

Historic Site Plate - Hanoi Hilton Prison

 

Description Hanoi Hilton Prison

 

The Ha Lo Prison was built by the French during the colonial period as a part of their overall prison system around the Globe. It fit right in with locations like Devils Island in French Guiana, and the purpose was to quash descent and sequester mainly political prisoners. The conditions were truly barbaric, as indicated below, and they formed the foundation of the Vietnamese struggle for independence that culminated in the Vietnam War. The prison was also used by the Japanese in WW2, then reopened by the French after WW2. When the French were tossed out in 1954 it became a prison for Vietnamese law breakers, then the main prison for American pilots during the War. It was closed after the War and is now a National Monument of the Revolution.....meaning the period beginning with the French before the turn of the 20th Century, through the end of the Vietnam War with America. Click on the images below to get better detail.

 

Escape Description - Japanese WW2 Era

 

Escape Sewer Japanese WW2 Era

 

 

Prisoner Punishment - French Era

 

 

Female Prisoner Treatment - French Era

 

Execution Room - French Era

 

This exhibit had many pictures of the Guillotine in use. The heads of the executed prisoners were exhibited outside the prison as an example to others. Condemned prisoners were kept in solitary confinement for months or years, shackled by their ankles to a stone bench, sitting in their own waste.

  

Group Prisoner Barracks - French Era - Shackled at the ankles, sitting in their own waste.

 

U.S. Section Entry Plaque

 

Guard Post U.S. Aircrew Section

 

I took the above picture  because it was clearly shown in a documentary I saw about the War. In that film, a Guard was sitting on a chair holding an AK-47 as he watched U.S. prisoners file past.

 

Prison Rules - U.S. Prisoners

 

The above list of rules seems quite reasonable and benign until you watch the PBS documentary on how U.S. prisoners were really treated in this hell-hole of a prison.

 



 

U.S. Bomb Damage - Ha-Noi

 

Linebacker Aircraft Shot Down

 

U.S. Prisoner Garb

 

I wonder if Senator McCain asked them to return his flight gear when he visited the prison.

 

John McCain's Flight suit and Parachute

 

No visit to Ha-Noi would be complete without seeing the Memorial Park that contains the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the War Museum. The line to get into Ho's Tomb was over a mile long, it moved very fast, no cameras were permitted beyond a certain point, and I was the only Westerner I saw that day. The people are very quiet and respectful, and if they are doing something the guards felt is not respectful they will approach them and issue very sharp commands. The Guards are obviously the Elite of the military, wearing tailored white uniforms. Although they were literally everywhere in the complex of buildings, they are only obvious as you get nearer the entrance to the tomb; and inside they are spaced about every 20 feet. Even given the length of the line it only took about 45 minutes before I was through the tomb and on my way because they keep the line moving. On the morning I was there, the front area, which I could not photograph, was covered with small children lined up (presumably by school) in ranks, wearing brightly colored sashes. The day must have been special because in addition to the children (hundreds of them), there were several people in green Army uniforms, bedecked with medals, in their 60's and 70's, who were escorted through the Tomb by the Elite Guard. I did see Ho from about ten feet, in full repose, under dim lighting, eyes closed, arms crossed on his chest. Anyone would recognize him immediately. My Host told me that Ho wanted to be cremated at death and have his ashes scattered in the North, the Highlands and the South regions of Vietnam. The Central Committee overruled that wish and stuck him in the tomb as a National Symbol. My Host felt that was very wrong.

 

The people clearly consider Ho Chi Minh as a combination of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. To them he both liberated them from colonial slavery and unified their country. I had to remember that I was in NORTH Vietnam, which was not subject to the purges, re-education camps, forced labor and summary executions that the people of the SOUTH endured just after the war. This section of the country was the beneficiary of the spoils of War, and as we all know, the Winner writes History. Inside Vietnam, they believe they were the winners and it is good to recognize that perspective when traveling around and speaking with the people.

 

However, the reality I found was that this is a thoroughly Capitalistic society. Small business and individual enterprise abound. The currency is the American dollar, the people consider American products as superior to the rest of the worlds products. I had many people just walk up to me and ask to have their pictures taken with me, and when they did they put their arm around me as if I was a long lost friend.

 

Line at Ho Chi Minh Tomb (about 1 mile  long)

 

Ho Chi Minh Tomb

Ho Chi Minh War Residence Dining Room

 

Ho Chi Minh War Residence Office

 

Ho Chi Minh House on Stilts

 

Ho Chi Minh's Bulletproof Russian Zil Limo

 

The Russians gave Ho this bulletproof limo but he rarely used it because he felt it was too expensive to operate. He preferred to drive himself around in a little Peugeot, which I thought ironic as that is a French car.

 

Museum and Tomb Parking

 

Note all of the scooters in the parking lot. When we got there it was almost empty and my Host had a tough time getting his scooter out of the back rows for our ride back to the hotel.

 

Vietnamese War Museum

 

When I first entered the Museum I thought it was about the Vietnam War. In fact, that was only a small part of the entire display. It was very well done and covered Vietnamese history since occupation by the Chinese in the 1300's. The largest section was on the French colonial period and some of the things the French did were quite frankly "beyond belief". The British colonial period in the USA ended in the late 1700's, but the French dominated, exported the resources, and subjugated the Vietnamese people from the late 1800's until 1954.

 

Entrance Foyer to War Museum

 

The image below was of a Vietnamese anti-tank weapon. It consisted of a large explosive charge on the end of a pole that the soldier jammed against the side of a French tank. Obviously, it gave new meaning to the Japanese word "Kamikaze" because in the process of killing the tank, the soldier was blown to bits.

 

Vietnamese French Tank Killer Ordinance

 

Below is the departure lounge at the airport. It's your last chance to get rid of Dong before using a money changer. The airport is full of vendors and the goods range from very good to tourist junk. Prices are about what you would pay on the street but they won't negotiate at the airport. One thing I found everywhere in Ha-Noi .......no tipping. If you offer a tip it will be given back to you. In the Hotel Lobby there was a "Tip Box" but the manager told me it is equally shared with all of the employees. If you try to tip in the hotel you will be directed to the tip box.

 

Departure Lounge Ha-Noi Airport

 

Chariot Home - China Airlines

 

Once again.....where we have come in the world was evident.....headed home from Ha-Noi, Vietnam on a Chinese airline, flying an aircraft made by Boeing in Seattle.