Neil Hannan's 2017 Vietnam Trip: April 7, 2017 2100 Vietnam Time Da Nang

This writing finds Thong & me on the 10-hour train trip from Nha Trang to Da Nang, which involved rolling out of bed at 0300. Each of my three mornings in Vietnam thus far has involved such early rising. Train travel is superior to bus, which basically just runs Highway 1, a main artery for U.S. military movement during the war. The train offers nice views of the serene rural countryside. It seems to me that arrival in Da Nang is 1415 or so.

My first time in Da Nang was July ’68, when I was flying out for a 5-day R & R in Singapore. It was also my first break from the action of the field since joining my infantry company in February. I recall how good that shower felt after the filth of five months in the field. I had no advance warning of the R & R. A resupply helicopter was bringing in supplies when someone shouted, “Hannan. R & R”. I had no choice as to when or where I’d go. Anyway, I just grabbed my rucksack & M-79 and jumped on the chopper. At the time, I think that there were only 4-5 men from my hometown of Versailles, Ohio serving in ‘Nam. Wouldn’t you know it. While standing on the tarmac in Da Nang awaiting the plane, I was startled by someone tapping me on the shoulder. “What the hell”, I thought. Turning around, I saw Gary Davidson, aka G-Man, from Versailles. By coincidence, we ended up in the same time slot for R & R. I believe that he was going to Taipei. Small world, huh?

A smiling Col. Tha warmly greeted Thong & me at 1100 hours yesterday at his home. We were honored to have been invited to join in the family celebration on the anniversary of the death of Tha’s mother, who died quite young in 1941. Tha’s father died just 4 years later in 1945. The circumstance surrounding their deaths was not discussed, but my gut feeling is that it involved the ongoing conflict with the French aggressors, who were finally expelled after being annihilated in 1954 at Dien Ben Phu. Following the death of his parents, Tha had joined in the fighting against the French and remained in the military through the “American War”. That’s a whole lot of battle, folks.

After initial greetings, Tha, Thong, and I climbed the three-story spiral mahogany staircase to the altar commemorating Tha’s mother. At 90 years, Tha made the ascent with relative ease. We each stood before the altar & bowed twice with clasped hands, as is the custom. Then Tha presented me with very special gifts of great significance. First came a multiple-page writing that Tha advised contained important military information relative to his interaction with the 196^th Light Infantry at Nhi Ha/DMZ in May ’68. It’s written in Vietnamese, so I’ll need to have in translated. Over and over Tha made reference to its significance and asked that I make sure that all U. S. troops involved in that battle have access….especially officers. This information has never before been released and I am honored to be considered worthy. I am most anxious to have someone translate, a task for which I’ll have to provide compensation. This has to be accurate, so using Google or a similar translation method is out of the question. Really, this is huge.

The next gift was a very neat wooden pen in a wooden case…unusual as can be. Then came two photos from our first meeting that he had printed and laminated for me. That 2015 initial encounter was a special moment for each of us. Meeting the enemy with whom you fought in brutal battle is a sobering experience….especially when that enemy was the NVA battalion commander.

Last year Tha surprised me by presenting his doctor ID badge, an unbelievable honor for someone who is not family. Following the war’s 1975 ending, he had gone to medical school to become a physician, a profession that he practiced until 85 years of age in 2012. Well, as if the badge wasn’t enough of an honor, yesterday he topped it by presenting his doctor smock and cap. Amazing. Col. Tha treats me like one of the family. He wanted me to don the smock and cap, a request that I obliged…fits perfectly.

Tha’s gifts to me certainly surpassed mine to him. I gave a 400-count bottle of adult multi-vitamins, a 250-count container of ibuprofen, and a brass “U.S.” color insignia from my dress uniform. 80% of vitamins, pain relievers, and such purchased in Vietnam are fake, by the way. So, I bring these items with me in luggage. I also presented a laminated copy of the Copper River Record, which contained an excellent feature by Matt Lorenz involving the ongoing humanitarian effort in Vietnam as well as last year’s retrieval of Lt. Kimball’s razor from the colonel. Tha asked if the Kimball family was pleased to receive the razor after all these years, to which I responded with an emphatic affirmative.

There was an obvious effort on the part of Col. Tha and his son, mayor of Nha Trang, to avoid battle specifics. Each time I would make an inquiry about the Nhi Ha battle, there was no focus on responding. Finally I asked Thong, my interpreter and friend, why no answers were forthcoming. He quietly responded, “They want to shield you from bad memories”. My former foe now wishes to cast our horrors of battle as “the past”. If only it were that easy. For me, it is an unfortunate impossibility.

I did, however, mange to learn an interesting bit of information from Tha. His focus in the May Nhi Ha/DMZ battle was to attack the Marine 2/4 (2^nd Battalion, 4^th Marines). But, when the 196^th Light Infantry arrived, his plans came unraveled. We were exactly where he didn’t want us to be. Had he engaged 2/4, his flanks and rear would have been very vulnerable to a 196^th attack. According to Commander Tha, he feared losing all his men killed. So, it was necessary to alter his focus to the 196^th to avoid being “caught in the middle” and annihilated. Interesting stuff. I will most certainly learn more when the papers are translated.

The meal served in honor of Tha’s mother was an amazing display of dishes. We all ate until filled to the brim. Then it came time to, once again, say goodbye. I told Col. Tha to “not go anywhere” because I would be back next year!

The overall respect that is bestowed upon me in Vietnam by everyone…young, old, former foes….is humbling. For example, yesterday some folks who recognized me from last year’s Vietnamese TV and newspaper stories, posed for photos. This is quite a journey.

Tomorrow morning I will be visiting The, Duong, and Thua. A car has been hired with a 0800 start time. So, I’ll be back where I first joined my infantry company in Feb ’68 as green, fresh soldier.

After arriving in Da Nang and checking into the hotel, I visited Thong & family at his house. We made a motorbike run to a nearby grocery for the purpose of obtaining gifts for tomorrow’s visits.

That’s it for now. This boy is sort of weary tonight and will forgo proofing/refining this writing. More after tomorrow’s visits.

Neil