Thursday, October 17, 2019

Admiral Huan Nguyen's Historical Day

Via Mary Nguyen "Rear Admiral Huan Nguyen is surviving son of Colonel Tuan Nguyen whose family was murdered during Tet 1968. His family's murderer was later executed by General Loan Nguyen. This incident was captured by Pulitzer prize winning photographer Eddie Adam (Source: littlesaigoninside.blogspot.com)


Today,  Huan Nguyen, age 60, became the first Vietnamese-born  US Navy Rear Admiral.  He is the fourth Vietnamese-born general and flag officers.  US Army Major General Viet Xuan Luong, age 54, was promoted in 2014 and soon to be US Army Major General Lap The Chau Flora, age 57, was promoted in 2016.  Not in picture is US Marine Corps Brigadier General Bill Seely III (promoted in 2016).  


Nguyen was born in Hue Vietnam, the son of an armor officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. During the 1968 Tet Offensive, Nguyen’s mother and father, along with his five brothers and sister were killed by Viet Cong Communist guerillas in their family home outside Saigon. Nine-year-old Nguyen was shot in the arm and thigh, with another bullet piercing his skull. He stayed with his mother for two hours, until she bled out and died. Amazingly, Nguyen survived and escaped after dark.  

In 1975, at age 16, they fled Vietnam, seeking refuge in the United States following the fall of Saigon.

 

  

 

Theme from "The Lion King"

As the news spread about the nomination of Navy Captain Huấn Từ Nguyễn to be rear admiral, some astute studiers of the Vietnam War could not help but notice the captain's history.

At 14, Nguyen arrived in Guam as refugee right after the Fall of Saigon in 1975.  

Seven years before, he was badly injured during the attack by the communist rebels during the surprise Tet Offensive.   Some of the rebels pretended to be civilians and infiltrated key areas in Saigon.   Nguyen's family was captured at their home in the early morning of the fight.  The rebels targeted his family because his dad, Lt. Colonel Tuan Nguyen, was the head of an armored division protecting the city.   His parents along with his 6 siblings and his 80 years old grandma were executed.  He was the only one in his family survived the brutality.  

This n' That



Petra Croton, $4.50 at Lowe's.


   
 Ghost Peppers. Super HOT CAROLINA REAPER WORLD'S #1 Hottest Pepper. From the garden
Emily Summerlin
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Red hair like my Mother Emily
"Funny story: I got two bags of peppers from someone's garden. I knew that one bag was hot peppers and one was "mostly" bell peppers. So I'm cooking chicken and think those peppers would be good. I cut them up and oh.....there's some cute little orange ones. Now right here there's a serious delay in pepper contact and hand heat. I get them cooking and suddenly my eyes are burning. The peppers aren't burning. Why are my eyes burning. I rub my eye. Mistake. Now.....the hand burning starts. Those cute little orange ones were ghost peppers. I threw the contents of the pan away. I've washed my hands in olive oil and in dish soap about ten times plus showered . My hands are on fire!
Lesson learned.  Letting my stupid show today" 😁😁


Via  Ashley Brown

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Via Susan         Large, dried Lima beans with country ham gravy and Cornbread balls.

Via Phong Vân

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 Saigon


 Image may contain: 2 people, people sitting and indoor
Via Dung Dang 

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 Vietnam 67/69
Check out his weapon.

Tulsi Gabbard Calls CNN & NY Times "Completely Despicable" On Debate Stage For Their "Smears"

Via Martin Svetisla

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Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard again radically broke from establishment Democrat talking points on foreign policy Tuesday night, which resulted in her being the most Googled candidate during the Ohio Democratic presidential debate, also earning her a "win" on Drudge Report's snap poll, with an overwhelming 40% saying she came out victorious.

Though taking issue with the precise way in which the American troop pullout from northeast Syria was executed, she still applauded Trump's move, using it as an opportunity to call out "both parties" and the mainstream media "who have been championing and cheerleading this regime change war."

Mike Rowe on Lunacy of Democratic Primary Fight


Venezuela Lawmaker Blasts Bernie, Dares Him To Try Socialism Without His Bodyguards

Via Billy


As former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously said, “you eventually run out of other peoples’ money.”

A member of the Venezuelan National Assembly, now in exile, encouraged Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to visit the South American country without bodyguards if he truly wants to understand what President Nicolás Maduro has done to the socialist nation.

Assemblyman José Guerra was asked in an interview with PJ Media’s Nicholas Ballasy what he thought of politicians like Sanders, who had declined last spring to refer to Maduro as a dictator. (The senator has since conceded that Maduro is.)

More @ WJ

Furious London Commuters Drag Extinction Rebellion Protester From Tube



UK and EU Reach Outline Brexit Deal; Still Needs Ratification

Via Billy

 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in London on Oct. 3, 2019. (Peter Summers/Getty Images)

Britain and the European Union said Thursday, Oct. 17, that they have struck an outline Brexit deal after days of intense see-saw negotiations—though it must still be formally approved by the bloc and ratified by the European and UK Parliaments.

Hours before a summit of all 28 EU national leaders, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wrote on Twitter: “We have one! It’s a fair and balanced agreement for the EU and the UK and it is testament to our commitment to find solutions.”

US troops bombed their own anti-ISIS headquarters as Turkey-backed fighters closed in

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US forces destroyed the headquarters of their anti-ISIS efforts in Syria on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Turkish-backed Syrian forces advanced on the position, despite a US show of force, including F-15 fighters and Apache helicopters.

On Friday, Turkish forces fired at a US position in Syria, which some US officials say was deliberate.


                                                          More @ Business Insider

Schiff pushed Volker to say Ukraine felt pressure from Trump

 Image result for Schiff pushed Volker to say Ukraine felt pressure from Trump

In a secret interview, Rep. Adam Schiff, leader of the House Democratic effort to impeach President Trump, pressed former United States special representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker to testify that Ukrainian officials felt pressured to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter as a result of Trump withholding U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

Volker denied that was the case, noting that Ukrainian leaders did not even know the aid was being withheld and that they believed their relationship with the U.S. was moving along satisfactorily, without them having done anything Trump mentioned in his notorious July 25 phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

When Volker repeatedly declined to agree to Schiff's characterization of events, Schiff said, "Ambassador, you're making this much more complicated than it has to be."

I Don't Look Good Naked Anymore


18 Photos on the Streets of Nha Trang in the Late 1960s

 

White-sand beaches stretch beyond the horizon, towering mountains sit silently in the distance: for the most part, the natural landscape of Nha Trang remains relatively unchanged between the late 1960s and 2019. It’s the people and skyline that are vastly different.

This set of photos was taken by Clare Love, who toured Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. Judging by the sparse amount of vehicles and people on the street, the sleepy coastal town led a much simpler life than today, with nary a tourist in sight, either in town or on the beach.

In 2019, a visit to Nha Trang will yield many photos with Russian- and Chinese-language shopfronts, the result of the city’s popularity as an affordable destination for snowbirds. The rise of the local tourism industry undeniably lifted many families, who undertake services catering to the surge of international travelers, out of poverty. But unbridled tourism has also brought about rampant concretization and the boom of high-rise hotels, which are choking the city and causing environmental disasters like landslides and water pollution.

Walk around town in a quaint Nha Trang that was relatively untouched by the pressures of tourism through the photos.

More @ Saigoneer