War

Your response is, by far, the most sensible one I have seen. I am a former North Vietnamese linguist and had the rare opportunity to gain an insight into the motives of both sides. It obvious you are extremely intelligent. It is unfortunate that all sides did not see things so clearly in the past. I often wonder how Nguyen Cao Ky feels now, after having said he would never leave his homeland, that he would fight, yet when the time came, he, like so many other leaders who could have stayed, left. I am not arrogant enough to think I know all angles of the conflict, but I know that the men and women in the field did the best they could under the constraints they were placed. Had the South Vietnamese soldiers had better leaders, had the US stuck to advising and not fighting, they would have faired much better.

You sound like you know many things. I'd like to hear more. I am a Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. I am beginning research on various aspects of the war, especially the air war. I'd like to hear your, and your friends' stories and perspectives. I met some F-5 pilots after the evacuation. They were living in Monterey, California where I was stationed for an intermediate Vietnamese language course, but I lost contact with them. If you have any friends from the South Vietnamese military. please let me know.

And thank you for your kind compliment. As a member of the US military, it's nice to know someone recognizes that we tried. I lost some very special Vietnamese comrades in that war. The names have faded from memory, but not the faces or their stories.

taamj bieetj anh,

CMSgt Ron McMasters