More on "Believe it or not" (Toi's response)

dreamcatcher27371
Member
Posts: 34
(6/13/01 3:49:51 am)
| Del All More on "Believe it or not" (Toi's response)
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Dear Larry,

First of all, your Vietnamese skills are still very
sharp, they are not rusty at all. I am impressed.
Chief, you are very kind to me. Thanks for your
kindness.

Yes, I heard of Utapao where well-connected, wealthy,
influential, and high ranking South Vietnam Arm Force
personnel sneaked to a couple of weeks before the
fateful 4/30/1975. As far as Thieu is concern, I
heard that he landed in Taiwan (with ton of monies)
and then to England where he resides now.

I met one Vietnamese air force guy in the US who
actually hauled Thieu's family to Utapao. His
personal account was: They took off from Tan San Nhat
airport in a C130, with regular air force personnel to
man the plane. Their mission was "classified",
destination "unknown", the plane was empty. It landed
in Long Thanh that is about mid-point from Sai Gon to
Vung Tau (Cat Lo) where there was a Vietnamese Green
Beret base (the group that jumped into North Vietnam
on a regular basis). They are, in Vietnamese term:
Biet Kich 81 (81 stands for the regiment number).

Thieu's family (the whole extended family) then
boarded the C130. I figure that the SOB (Thieu) was
smart not to fly his extended family out of VN from
Sai Gon for at least two reasons: (1) Out of public
eyes and (2) Long Thanh is closer to Thieu's hometown
than Sai Gon is.

The air force personnel were told that they would fly
to Utapao and the reward for going was serveral
thousand US dollars for each person. Anyone who did
not want to go is free to get off the plane. Two
persons did walk off, and guess what? They were
immediately arrested by the green beret and led away.
My assumption is: They were shot because when they
were led away, they were hand-cuffed.

You were absolutely correct in discussing the Thuong
Tin ship. It was a merchant ship carrying a full name
of "Viet Nam Thuong Tin". It went back to Vietnam
carrying several thousands people. All of them
thought that they would get a "warm welcome" from
uncle Ho's wicked nephews but lo and behold, they were
sent to Con Son Island as you said (minimum 5 years).
I happened to go to the same scholl (University of
Maryland) with the daughter of the second commander of
the Thuong Tin ship. The ship went back to VN with
different crew. (Note: Con Son Island was the place famous
for the "tiger cages" and these folk were imprisoned there)

Talking about Vietnamese high ranking officers. Those
SOB are, in my personal opinion, garbages. That's
propably the reason why I did not associate with a lot
of Vietnamse in the Washington, D.C. area during my
early year (1975-1980) because a lot of them are
either high ranking officers or relatives of those
SOB. I ended up happily dating and ultimately married
a caucasian lady (third generation German-American).
We divorced more than 10 years ago but I nerver regret
my decision to date and marry her. I do however
regret the divorce for Cynthia (her name) loved me
unconditionally (I was penniless, without English,
without marketable skills). I regret because Cynthia
helped me to stand on my feet, to put up with many of
my depression episodes, to assist me to learn the
language as I come along, to encourage me to go to
school. But after my graduation she is not there to
share with me the happy moment (I graduated with
distinction), and to share with me the financial
reward associated with a marketable skills that she
and I had worked so hard for.

I always am in a fighting mood whenever I go back to
Vietnam and stay in line at the airport to look at the
SOB's giving people a hard time so that they can be
bribed. On my last trip out of Vietnam (my wife and
daughter were with me), one SOB gave my wife a hard
time regarding her bringing monies out of Vietnam
despite the fact that my wife told that SOB that she
did not spent all of the monies that she brought in.
I finally blew my lid: I cussed F___ You SOB (in
English as well as in Vietnamese) and I slammed and
broke my carry-on. The SOB then backed off and let
her pass the custom gate. He never checked and asked
me any question.

Well Larry, again thanks for your email and warm
welcome.

Take care
Toi Dang/An Thoi 69-71


homer4
Moderator
Posts: 878
(6/13/01 9:33:22 pm)
| Del Re: More on "Believe it or not" (Toi's response)
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Toi Dang!...As fine a man as there ever will be!
...and two hard boiled eggs.