Footnote:
The South Vietnamese Air Force was so low on ammunition, fuel, and replacement parts that its remaining combat aircraft could only be used sparingly. I was the Funds Manager for the South Vietnamese Air Force at Bien Hoa and we had to ground half the Air Force, but at the end, we sent the Skyraiders back up which was their pilot's favorite. BT)
The South Vietnamese Air Force was so low on ammunition, fuel, and replacement parts that its remaining combat aircraft could only be used sparingly. I was the Funds Manager for the South Vietnamese Air Force at Bien Hoa and we had to ground half the Air Force, but at the end, we sent the Skyraiders back up which was their pilot's favorite. BT)
Footnote II:
The "BELIEVE IT OR NOT" VIETNAM WAR STORIES below are most certainly true. My Vietnamese friend, who worked with me at OICC/RVN Saigon, told me after the war, that when they came to Can Tho and searched his house, they found a talking baby doll and thought it was a CIA radio, so they kept a man in his house for a week until they realized they were fools. The man also opened a can of shoe polish, put his finger into it to have a taste of what he evidently thought was eatable.
Battle Of Xuan Loc is one great story not because many military tacticians, historians, or journalists have praised it for the successful outcome of one ARVN battered Division against four fully equipped VPA Divisions backed with Regiments of tanks and artillery. But all the pundits have missed the point. It was great because the spirit of men who made a stand and fight: In a circumstance when all ARVN senior and junior officers who participated in the battle knew so damn well that they had been betrayed by the US ally; when all the ARVN soldiers under their command had already witnessed the military debacle of their fellow comrades' units from the 1st and 2nd Regional Corps.
Imagine when your football team had learned in advance that their game had been set up to lose: A SELLOUT, but they still played at their best performance. So all the ARVN soldiers who fought the Battle OF Xuan Loc didn't do it for the reasons of Freedom, Liberty, or Democracy. Those embellished terms are just the convenient, demagogic pretexts for the "dirty" foreign politicians or policy makers who used to appeal to the crowds or to promote their party agendas. On those darkest, grieving days of April 1975, the ARVN soldiers stood up and fought at Xuan Loc for just a few simple reasons: The pride of their Units' Colors, Camaraderie, and Duty.
Are you willing to fight like that in the same circumstance? If not, you can join the battle now, on this webpage!
Imagine when your football team had learned in advance that their game had been set up to lose: A SELLOUT, but they still played at their best performance. So all the ARVN soldiers who fought the Battle OF Xuan Loc didn't do it for the reasons of Freedom, Liberty, or Democracy. Those embellished terms are just the convenient, demagogic pretexts for the "dirty" foreign politicians or policy makers who used to appeal to the crowds or to promote their party agendas. On those darkest, grieving days of April 1975, the ARVN soldiers stood up and fought at Xuan Loc for just a few simple reasons: The pride of their Units' Colors, Camaraderie, and Duty.
Are you willing to fight like that in the same circumstance? If not, you can join the battle now, on this webpage!
More @ VNAFMAMN
I have studied this battle myself. It was as you describe it. The ARVN fought bravely, knowing that they were fighting a delaying action. The NVA was sixty miles from Saigon by then. The commanding General was immensely proud of his troops saying, as he pounded his fist in his palm, They (the NVA) hit to the Rock! They hit to the rock!" When he was asked if this battle was crucial to the defense of Saigon, he suddenly looked crestfallen, realizing the futility of his soldier's brave and heroic efforts.
ReplyDeleteThank you and it is good to find someone else interested in the War. If even half of the other units had fought as they did, the Republic of Vietnam would probably still be in existence, of course the Communists would have persisted regardless of the troops they sacrificed. Here are some links concerning the battle.
Deletehttp://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-supermen-battle-of-xuan-loc-april.html
http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2011/11/le-minh-dao-at-battle-of-xuyen-loc.html
http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2012/09/fighting-to-end.html
the Republic of Vietnam would probably still be in existence
DeleteBut only if they had the necessary funds which at the time looked dismal.