A few days ago, I blogged out loud about the muddled assumptions. One comment I made was I didn’t think we had faced a situation where we had had a populace with a significant number of citzens who held an allegiance to something above the nation itself. I wrote that before the shooting in Seattle at the Jewish Federation Building, but the behavior of the man who entered the building, using a hostage to get in the door is exactly the mindset that is so troubling:

Amy Wasser-Simpson, the federation’s vice president, told the Seattle Times that Haq got past security at the building and shouted, “I’m a Muslim American; I’m angry at Israel,” before he began shooting.

I’ve rethought the issue, and we have had a situation like this before. It began on Dec 7th, 1941, but the outcome is not the same. Back then, the response from the Japanese-American community, was to send forth the 442nd Regimental Combat Team:

On December 7, 1941, the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by Japan. This act thrust the United States into World War II. All men who were eligible for military duty were called upon to fight, except Japanese Americans. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Japanese American men were catagorized 4C, non-draftable. Moreover, they and their families were placed into concetration camps by the United States Government. However, on February 1, 1943, the government reversed its decision on Japanese Americans serving in the armed forces and announced the formation of the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team.
The 442nd initially consisted of Japanese American volunteers from the mainland United States and the Hawaiian Islands. There were many different reasons why these young men volunteered. Despite the rampant racism towards Japanese Americans during this period, many volunteers felt that if there was to be any future for Japanese in the United States, they had to demonstrate their loyalty by fighting for their country.

The majority of volunteers from Hawaii and the mainland were sent to Camp Shelby in Mississippi. Initially, tension existed between the Hawaiians and the mainlanders. The mainlanders often degraded the Hawaiians for their poor speech and “barbaric” aggressive manners, thus causing them to feel inferior. Due to the excessive fighting and dissension among the troops, the commanding officers were ready to terminate the training. However, a suggestion was made to have the Hawaiians and mainlanders visit relocation camps. After Hawaiian Japanese Americans visited some of the camps, they realized the hardships mainlanders had gone through and a new sense of respect developed for each other. One Japanese American remembers, “the regiment was not formed when we volunteered, nor when we arrived in Camp Shelpby, but rather, it was formed after this (relocation camp) visit” (Matsuo, Boyhood to War. 73)

When this unified unit arrived in Europe, they still had to prove their competence, as well as their loyalty to white soldiers and commanding officers. However, after liberating the small town of Bruyeres in Southern France and rescuing the “Lost Battalion” (141st), Japanese American soldiers gained the respect of their fellow soldiers, the townspeople of Bruyeres, and particularily the members of the “Lost Battalion.” For their performance, the 442nd has been recognized as the most decorated unit in United States history. 18,000 total awards were bestowed upon the 442nd, including 9,500 Purple Hearts, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, Seven Distinguished Unit Citations, but only one Congressional Medal of Honor (Crost, Honor by Fire. 179). Although their impeccable service earned the 442nd the respect of their fellow soldiers, they were not perceived in the same way by American society when they returned to the West Coast.

Immediately following their return, the 442nd realized that the attitudes of many Americans had not changed. World War II veterans of Japanese ancestry were welcomed home by signs that read, “No Japs Allowed,” and “No Japs Wanted.” In many cases, veterans were denied service in local shops and restaurants, and their homes and property were often vandalized or set on fire.

Joe Byrne
Kyle Higuchi
Jason Opdyke
Mario Sani

Notice the mentality shift. In 1941, those oj Japanese descent felt they owned it to their new nation, and the rest of the citizens, to demonstrated in a courageous manner, their loyalty. Their nickname: “Go For Broke.” we know what that means and that’s how they fought, becoming the most decorated regiment in the US Army.

Get a load of this:

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service, in the entire history of the U.S. Military. The 4,000 men who initially came in April 1943 had to be replaced nearly 3.5 times. In total, about 14,000 men served, ultimately earning 9,486 Purple Hearts , 21 Medals of Honor and an unprecedented eight Presidential Unit Citations.

Anyone who questions service like that has lived in a hole their entire lives. They, like the units comprised of African-Americans, such as the USS MASON (DE-529) and the 761st Tank Battalion, were accepted at the front lines as fighting men, equal to the challenge of combat.

The situation of the day, vs the time of the reloaction camps of the 1940’s are opposite in how communities of non-native Americans handled the decision of loyalty.

I also think, having found the very consise history of the 442nd I quoted above, that is it interesting to observe how the rest of the population reacted. Once again, it is from oppostie ends of the spectrum: At the end of the war, the Japanese-Americans (and African-Americans) who stepped up to the plate and shed their blood for “the Man,” suffered cruelty and assaults from those who they had defended. In this day, while the Muslim-Americans don’t stand and proclaim their alliegance to the nation that affords them freedom, and, most notable, does not relocate them into camps, which conficating their money, personal property and businesses to divide between the Americans in their communities, we also go out of our way to make sure no one is offended by the words in print or on TV, nor any action taken by law enforcement that might be looked upon as “profiling.”

One group showed us they were with us, while the military members from the land of their ancestors, pilaged, raped and murdered their way across China and the Pacific Islands and Rim before cannibalizing our aviators at Chi Chi Jima.

Today, those who have come to us from the Islamic countries openly condem us when we discuss taking action to secure the freedom of all of our citizens, to include them. It’s a world upside down.

To the men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, I salute you and the legacy you gave your new nation. To the Islamic-Americans, I challenge you to read their history and decide your response.

Update 8/01/2006: CDR Salamander has a post regarding this topic…

After reading “No Higher Honor,” I found Brad Peniston had written another book, “Around the World with the US Navy.”

Published in 1999, the book is a travelog of just about every Navy community, short the SEABEES and the SEALS. Brad spent about 2 years covering the story, with a period in the summer of 1998 where he and his crew spend about 2 months observing the world of Navy units, traveling between Navy commands, ashore, afloat and in the air. The meat of the book are the statements made of the sailors and officers in a Navy that was seeing the shortages that came as a result of the rapid drawdowns when it was clear the Cold War had ended.

The beauty of this read is the straight forward, no nonsense descriptions of life in the Navy, with Brad’s added talent to paint a word picture of the living envirnment, physically and emotionally. from boot Seamen to senior admirals, Brad captured wonderfully illuminating insights, as well as the detail of life at sea, in the air, or under the waves.

I recognized several names of former ship and schoolmates, and found out some of the performance of Admiral Boorda’s Smart Ship Program, which I managed to sit in a meeting to get my command a seat at the table in the very beginnings of the USS YORKTOWN’s recreation.

Even with my interaction with some of the communities mentioned, which included the Special Boat Units and the VR Naval Air Logistics Operations (NALO) units, I gained a greater understanding of some of the non-Surface Warfare related communities.

Maybe it’s time for Book II of the series, with Brad and his photgraphers heading out again to sample the fleet in the wake of the major strikes conducted in support of OIF and OEF.

If you would like to get a detailed glimpse of what it’s like to be a sialor maintianing a carrier’s arresting gear, on being on a Visit Boarding & Search crew, or life beneatht he waves as you sit in the control room and dive the “boat” upon clearing the shallow water, or if you always wondered what a P-3C Orion crew did, thinking they were just there for the per diem check, this is the book for you.

From a historical perspective, it’s a documentary of the strains on the manpower of the Navy during some difficult years and worth hearing what real operators had to say about the work they did to keep things going.

Maybe you’ll find some of your old shipmates in there, too.

I received my copy of “No Hgher Honor” by Bradley Peniston last week.

I read it in two evenings, and would have liked to have stayed up the first night and make it all the way through. It is easy to read, well laid out, and with plenty, but not to much detail to chase off the non-Navy reader.

The basic “one liner” to describe the book is “the mining of the USS ROBERTS (FFG-58),” but that doesn’t do justice to the scope of the writing. The book is a multi-faceted discussion of many topical areas, all relating directly to the events of the day, when the bow lookout, Seaman Bobby Gibson, steadied his binoculars on some objects ahead of the ship in the Persian Gulf on April 14th, 1988.

Over the years, I have read two other books that have followed a similar format, for similar topics:

“Typhoon, The Other Enemy” by C. Raymond Calhoon. This book discusses the typhoon that the Third Fleet sailed through during the later part of WWII. Capt Calhoun was the skipper of one of the MAHAN Class DDs that survived the massive waves and winds. I discussed some lessons learned from that book here. As with “No Higher Honor,” it is engaging writing.

and:

“Sailors to the End” by George Freeman. This book is about the raging fires aboard the USS FORRESTAL (CV-59) in the summer of 1967.

All three of these books cover the genesis of the problems, from an engineering and leadership standpoint, gripping descriptions of the actual incidents from many first person accounts, and also the follow up inquiries and fallout that resulted. In this regard, “No Higher Honor” brings you to the mine strike with an extensive knowledge of the ship design, the mission requirements, and the command structure and philosphy. Once the mine was hit, the story details the timeline of events, and the desperate, but pre-planned responses carried out. In the aftermath of the event, Brad gives you the upper level geo-political response, which resulted in Operation Praying Mantis. He also provides the tactical details of that operation, followed by the subsequent return of the ship to the States and how the Bath Iron Works expertise put this ship back in operation.

I hope that is enough for you to want to get your hands on the book.

I also enjoyed this book because it was, in addition to the story described above, an excellent report on leadership, command priorities, and the value of training, training, and, yes, more training. For three years, I rode the ships of the Atlantic Fleet as the Type Commander’s Combat Systems Assessment Officer. I had the almost twice weekly opportunity to observe (mostly) and train (sometimes) “upper deck” crews. I believe I saw just about every way you could run a command in this area of ship readiness. I also was Engineer Officer with an operational deployment, a 10 month ROH (in Bath Iron Works) with the Light Off Exam (LOE) and the following trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for refresher training and an Operational Propulsion Plant (OPPE) equivalent.

Brad’s writing takes you inside the very foundations of the crew of the ROBERTS. Commander Paul Rinn set out a philosophy of excellence, with a center piece of damage control training. It paid off. The reading on this topic is useful for anyone bound for a pre-comm crew, specifically anyone in any leadership/supervisory position. It’s valuable reading for other leaders, for the context of re-establishing a functioning crew, prepared to take the fight on when it comes, because they trained for it in advance.

For those interested in ship design and engineering, the book is a great read about not only initial design decisions, but also how equipment issues can be dealt with under severe damage conditions.

For historians, there are points describing the role of the US Navy in the Persian Gulf region in the late 80’s, and also details on the tactical and strategic decisions and actions of the conflict between the US and Iran.

For anyone who wonders what life aboard a small surface combatant is like, during crew training operations, as well as on deployment, this is a book that open that window.

For people interested in the psychology of training and people under stress, there are bits and pieces here that will provide insight into the human condition.

For those who’s professional work deals in leadership, mostly for the military, but also for other large organizations with significant structure, I believe you won’t be disappointed with the material provided by “No Higher Honor.”

In closing, Brad’s book is written with enough, but not too much detail. As I read the book I could easily visualize the places, equipment, or situations he described, and know the technical detail is exacting.

For you readers in the Norfolk, VA area, Brad will be at Borders in Newport News July 29th, 2006.

The full calendar of book events is here.

Here is a link to more history on the USS SAMUEL B ROBERTS (DE-413) of WWII fame, the namesake of the modern day ROBERTS. The book that chronicled the Battle off Samar, “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” by James Hornfischer, is another fine read.

Update 07/10/2006:

Neptunus Lex has a link to this post and has some comments on Operation Praying Mantis from his experiences.

Eagle1 has a link, and comments on a similar case of the USS WARRINGTON (DD-824) during the Vietnam War, except the outcome was not the same.

Cdr Salamander also linked here with this post.

For those of you who get here via other links, or random reading, all three of those blogs are worth your time to check out.

Also, Brad left me a note and reminded me the entire first chapter of the book is posted at this link.

Hopefully, the trackback to Mudville Gazette’s Open Post for 7/12/06 will work…

Click “more” to read about my FFG-7 background

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This link is the news report that indicates Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, TX and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, OR were not treated per the Geneva Conventions.

I’m sure the news is horribly upsetting for the families, and to every service member we have.

As the news broke today, I think I see something I hope does not become a trend. My thoughts (which I posted at Milblogs:

You know, this has been a long time coming. With all the whining and complaining about “GET OUT NOW!” and “SET A DEADLINE FOR WITHDRAWAL!” going on, the bad guys finally figured out a possible working tactic from 1993…

ala Black Hawk Down.

All that took for the “cut and run” to begin was to drag our troops dead bodies thru the streets while the locals desecrated the soldier’s remains. In this case, it appears the two men made it so they’d have to kill them, before they got yhem to a safe house and could do it in front of a video camera.

I think they figured out killing women and children, contractors and more recently, targeting jounalists wasn’t getting the buzz….so, they thought back on their own history of success and these two young men are the unfortunate ones. I bet they are hoping we will get out and do it in the next few weeks.

I think these guys don’t have a clue who they just messed with. Not that I think they will get the same as payback, but I think they’ll see people with “shoot in their eye” and who are focused like a laser beam on taking out the trash…and it just won’t be pretty for the bad guys.

Pray that strong stomachs and backbones prevail. To show a wave of national nausea at this point will just make more attempts at kidnapping the routine, until they can get the video taped for the world.

(End of my comments)

As the day went on and I was on the road, I recalled the name of a man who’s story has helped me realize my life is not so bad. I suspect these two enlisted troops but up a battle on the way to their end, much like Capt Lance Sijan, USAF, CMOH. Lance’s incredible story of a will that would not be broken is chronicled in “Into the Mouth of the Cat”. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it, for at the least, you’ll know for sure no matter how bad your day is, someone did have it worse.

On a night mission over Laos (as WSO), the bombs fuzed and exploded when they were relased, blowing the wings off the F-4C. His pilot didn’t survive, but Lance did. He was wounded badly (broken leg, dislocated shoulder and missing a part of his skull), yet managed to crawl through the Laotian jungle for 28 days, living off what he could find on the ground, before being found (and, yes, captured) by the NVA. They took him to a gaurd station along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and nursed him back to some degree of helath, whereupon, he took a rifle from his captor, beat him senseless, then took off into the jungle once more, using the rifle as a crutch. He was quickly captured, then sent by truck to Hanoi. He endured terrible beatings and torture, yet yelled back at his tormentors and refused to break. He died in captivity.

Between then and now: The NVA presented to the world that they treated our men graciously, war criminals that they were, an didn’t record for general worldwide viewing, the methods of torture used. Now, the Islamic terrorists try to show us such brutality that we will quit the fight, but I know you are aware of this.

I suspect Pfcs Menchaca and Tucker showed the same spirit to their captors. In this manner, I hope history has repeated itself.

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post.

The comment is buried back in a post I did a while back titled “Survivors of the Battle of Coral Sea – USS NEOSHO.”, Jayna left her comment for information on her Grandfather.

Here’s her comment/request:

“I wish I could find out more on the USS Neosho (AO23). My grandfather died on the 68 man raft, less than 2 weeks before my father was born. If anyone knows of any survivors or has letters from the crew of the AO23, please contact me at [email protected]”

I tossing this up with a prayer that through the “six degrees,” someone reading this will be connected with someone who knows. Do you know a WWII Navy Vet? Pass it along, maybe collectively, the community of bloggers can pass her some valuable leads.

Dadmanly has a post on the recent discussions on the roll over problems with the Up Armored HMVEEs. It is one of many, which I will use for a jumping off point for the discussion of “we’ve been here before.”

Asa recap, it wasn’t all that long ago the MSM was lambasting the Military for not having “enough” armor on HMVEEs, which, were never intended to be patrol vehicles by design. They were cargo carriers to get supplies to the front, but…that’s another entire story in how equipment is developed and fielded by the US Armed Forces, as a function of Defense Analysis, brought to the Pentagon in the early 60s, by a gentleman you may recall named Robert McNamera.

Be that as it may, after the sceeching from the front pages of major papers, and in other forms of media communications, the Pentagon lept into action and got armor on the HMMVVs, sometimes, and at first, by troops scrounging for steel plates and getting out the trusty welding torches. Troops with skills are not always a bad thing, but there are times that well intentioned “local” efforts cause some consequences that can’t be forseen. Conversely, sometimes the “shore based” or stateside development organizations are too stuck in traditional thought to see a good idea, or, they are more often constrained by budget allocations from doing more. That also leads to another discussion, where too much money spet, when it is working to save lives (which is hard to quantify) ends up an issue in the media, where the demands are made to call people on the carpet to explain their “excessive and unnecessary” expeditures. So, once more good, hard working, thoughtful and intelligent people, in uniform, as civil servants, and as contractors, get caught trying to tip toe through a minefield.

On December 10th, 1941, the British battleship HMS PRINCE OF WALES and battlecruiser HMS REPULSE were sunk in the South China Sea by a Japanese air attack. Within a few short days, the Japanese Navy forever changed the face of war at sea. Proving the capability of aircraft launching and attacking from long range as the effective method of projecting power. The sun set on the era of the large captial gunship that day.

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Ships have “Breakaway” music and flags. These are used at the end of an alongside replenishment, when, as soon as all lines connecting the ships are cleared, the throttles are advanced and the replenished ship moves ahead of the one it replenished from, on the same course, at first. This is when the Officer of the Deck usually yells into the pilot house for the Boatswain’s Mate of the Watch (BMOW) to hold the 1MC (General Announcing system) mike to a cassette player (and I’m sure now a CD player), to play the music over the weather deck (topside) speakers. Simultaneously, the Signalmen “break” the breakaway flag on the side towards the other ship.

For all my 20 years in, this was done as a matter of routine. I began my career on a replenishment ship, so I saw many ship depart from alongside, and heard a variety of music played. For the most part, many ships had their theme music, and almost exclusively played that. A few ship were the song of the moment types, and would just play something appropriate.

For my first deployment, our ship would be accompanied by USS CONYNGHAM (DDG-17), and ADAMS Class guided missile destroyer, with 2 5″/54 Mk 42 guns, and a MK 13 Missile launcher, loaded with SM-1(MR) weapons. That class of DDGs are impressive to watch slicing through the water, with a narrow beam and an elevated bow that gracefully sweeps upwards. They were the picture of the front line guided missile “tin cans” from the 50s and 60s.

CONYNGHAM had a great crew and a CO that made them do it right and fast. From the outside, professionalism oozed out of everything they did. Their ship handling was smart and they were on time and on target. Their breakaway flag white background, with a large green shamrock. Their theme music was the Star Wars title track. When they completed an UNREP (Underway Replenishment), the crew would stand at attention until they cleared our side, then they would move like aggravated ants to prepare the ship for the next evolution. The horsepower generated by their four 1200 PSI boilers and twin shafts could get them up to speed quickly and on their way to their next evolution. Being a “shoe” on a “fat ship,” I longer to be a destroyerman, so I would watch, as much as my duties would allow the destroyers that had come alongside. I was always impressed with the seamanship of the CONYNGHAM’s crew. Departing with the Star Wars music playing impressed me every time.

Later the USS SPRUANCE (DD-963) was added to our battle force. She was a few years old now, but because she was the first of the class, she was the proof of concept for the 29 (and later 30) hulls like her to follow in her footsteps. In any case, assigned to our battle group, she would be making her maiden overseas deployment. Unlike previous destroyers, she was powered by 4 GE LM-2500 Marine Gas Turbines. 20,000 horsepower each, with two shafts, and throttles were usually controlled directly by the watchstanders on the bridge.

SRPUANCE’s theme song was, you guessed it, Star Wars. Their breakaway flag was a large yellow background, with large block red letters saying “BEWARE JET BLAST.” this mimicked the warning seen painted on the island of an aircraft carrier.

One day, the SPRUANCE was alongside before CONYNGHAM. At the completion of refueling, lines cleared, the music came on, the flag was broken, the turbine whine ramped up in seconds and she seemed shoot ahead of us. The CONYNGHAM followed her into station alongside us on the same side. Somehow, it was never the same for me to watch the proud, but aging DDG, play Star Wars and display her flag, as she steamed out ahead of us. No matter how professional, the SPRUANCE had her hands down on performance.

Years later, I was driving one, and the thrill is quite excellent.

Quite an amazing story about two bombers that collided enroute their return from Germany and landed together in France….The last remaining crewmember, Capt Rojohn just passed away.

From the 100th Bomber Group achives, here’s the story:

LT GLENN ROJOHN; PIGGY BACK LANDING AFTER THE 31 DEC 1944 HAMBURG MISSION. COLLISION WITH LT MacNAB WHILE BOTH WERE ATTEMPTING TO FILL THE SLOT IN THE FORMATION CAUSED BY THE LOSS OF LT WEBSTER. ACCOUNT GIVEN IN “CENTURY BOMBER” FOLLOWS: AT 1244 HOURS AND AFTER LEAVING THE ENEMY COAST, NAVIGATOR DANNY SHAFFER, WHO FLEW WITH THOMAS HUGHES, NOTED IN HIS LOG: “TWO 17’S HOOKED TOGETHER, 43-31987, PILOTED BY GLENN ROJOHN, HAVING CLOSED UP INTO THE SPACE LEFT BY THE LOSS OF LT WEBSTER. UNFORTUNATELY B-17 43-38457, PILOTED BY WILLIAM MacNAB, HAD RISEN SLOWLY FROM BELOW TO FILL THE SAME POSITION..” ANOTHER PILOT, ETHAN PORTER, WHO IS LISTED AS HAVING NO KNOWN ADDRESS BY THE VA(1992), IMMEDIATELY SHOUTED A WARNING VIA RADIO, THE TWO FORTRESSES COLLIDED AND LOCKED TOGETHER, CONTINUED FLYING PIGGY-BACK OVER THE SEA.’

FINDING THE ELEVATORS AND AILERONS STILL WORKING, ROJOHN AND HIS CO-PILOT WILLIAM LEEK, ‘CUT THEIR ENGINES, AND BY USING THE ENGINES OF THE LOWER AIRCRAFT, THREE OF WHICH WERE STILL RUNNING, SLOWLY TURNED THE TWO AIRCRAFT TOWARD LAND. FOUR OF THE CREW BAILED OUT ON ORDERS AND ROJOHN DESCENDED TO RECROSS THE ENEMY COAST AT 10,000 FEET. ON LANDING NEAR WILHELMSHAVEN THE TOP SHIP (43-31987) SLID OFF MacNAB’S 43-38457 WHICH EXPLODED. BARELY HURT ROJOHN AND LEEK WALKED AWAY FROM THE WRECKAGE OF 43-31987 AND INTO CAPTIVITY. AS FOR THE MEN WHO BAILED OUT, THE ROG EDWARD NEUHAUS CAME DOWN ON AN ISLAND; TTE ORVILLE ELKIN CAME DOWN IN THE WATER TEN MILES OFF SHORE AND WAS DRAGGED TO THE SHORE BY HIS CHUTE. REPLACEMENTS NAVIGATOR ROBERT WASHINGTON AND GUNNER JAMES SHRILEY LANDED ON THE COAST. ALL SURVIVORS WERE TAKEN PRISONER. NOTHING WAS FOUND OF BTG JOSEPH RUSSO AND WG FRANCIS CHASE.

I received this interesting story via email, and it is reported as thruthful by Truth or Fiction website:

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May 22nd, 1968 – USS SCORPION (SSN-589) was lost at sea, off the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, with a loss of all hands.

The submariner community knows all too well, regardless of the nationality of those who have put to sea in undersea craft, from the TURTLE and the HUNLEY to the USS THRESHER (SSN-593) and the USS SCORPION (SSN-589), know that an accident at sea more than likely does not bless them with any survivors.

A former Army officer and business consultant, Jack Yoest, posted a personal story about his connection to the family of one of the men who never came home, QMCS Frank Patsy Mazzuchi.

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post.

It was on this day, May 7th in 1954 that the French forces in Vietnam surrendered to General Giap, culminating the “57 Days of Hell,” at a place now burned into the collective military knowledge, as a seminal battle, Dien Bien Phu.

The official website for the battle is here.

There is much to study and much to learn from this battle. Some might argue that we (the US) should have been supportive the man we call Ho Chi Minh in the aftermath of WWII and the subsequent strife in the region could have been avoided. Certainly, William Lederer, a retired Navy Captian with significant experience in SE Asia, tells an interesting story in “Our Own Worst Enemy”. I first found this book while at the Naval War College in 87-88 and I have recently purchased a used copy and begun re-reading it. The book was published in 1968, and he prophetically listed a number of major factors that were not going well for us. The most striking, in my reading, was our lack of our understanding of the culture and history of the Vietnamese, and the great regional history, added to the exceptionally limited number of Americans who were literate in Vietnamese. Bill Lederer, on page 54 of his book describes a chance meeting in a bomb shelter in China, while waiting out a Japanese bombing raid, with a Jesuit priest and his assistant , Mr. Nguyen. After the raid, they went to the river gun boat and provided a copy of the US declaration of Independence to this oriental gentleman, at the request of the priest. The story seems to hold together well, when you read this document from Sept 2, 1945 (less than a month after VJ Day).

It begins thusly:

All men are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights; among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.

The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: “All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights.”

Those are undeniable truths.

Other reading tells us Ho Chi Minh actively supported the OSS in conducting guerilla warfare against the Japanese forces in the French Indochina region.

The net result, at the end of the war, is we didn’t support freedom for all, but President Truman responded to the request of the French to allow them to return to their SE Asian colonies. The Japanese prisoners were armed and put to work ferreting out the Vietnamese nationalists, and assisting the French in re-establishing control.

Back to William Lederer. His book describes a people who once fought 1000 (yes, ONE THOUSAND) years agains the Chinese conquerors. I’d say that shows a cultural mentality of long term thought. By the way, the Vietnamese fought until they prevailed. That’s a lesson in “stick to it-ness” if I ever read one.

Along the way to our effective withdrawal from the region in 1972, the French felt the fury of a people determined to be their own controlling authority. The French were overcome in a valley base of Dien Bein Phu. Bernard Fall wrote the early story of the battle, “Hell in a Very Small Place: The Seige of Dien Bien Phu”. Obviously, because of the significance of a battle, where a large industrial nation’s defeat by peasant farmers occured in the post WWII period, many other documents and studies have been conducted.

Miscalcualtion? Entangling alliances? Over confidence? Arrogance? Greed? It happened, its still a story in heroism and strong wills in battle.

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post.