While with the 3rd SPS, Biên Hòa, 1969-1970 I helped transport POW's to the big (but
seldom seen by our guys) POW camp outside of Biên Hòa,
where I observed interrogation (not torture) sessions.
-- Paul Kaser
When I shoved the first
of three prisoners into the jeep for transportation to
the big POW camp near Biên Hòa, I felt I could smell
his fear and hatred. (Okay, maybe it was just the "nuc
mam" fish sauce on his breath.) Elbows bound behind his
back and in dusty purple POW pajamas, he gave me that
black "I'd-kill-you-if-I-could-get-lose" stare.
To get off base and see
a little of the country, I had volunteered to help our
3rd SPS Intel liaison captain from CID transport the
three prisoners, captured in the Long Binh area to the
big camp (pictured below). The captain had also agreed
to let me listen in, unobserved, on a prisoner interrogation
session. The year was 1969.
This particular memory
from my first tour at Biên Hòa came back vividly to me
recently when, with my nineteen year old son, I saw Rules
of Engagement, in which a marine officer shoots a POW
in order to save his buddy. Naturally my son had some
questions about the old controversies over U.S. treatment
of their Vietnam POW's.
Experiences with captured
enemy varied widely in-country. Interrogations at the
CID center and the prison were conducted more carefully
than those under fire and often resulted in more accurate
and detailed information on unit strength, recruiting,
and movements of the enemy, especially of the Đồng Nai
regiment that posed a continuing threat in the Biên Hòa-Long
Binh area. The "interviews" I observed were conducted
quietly and efficiently in cubicles in a trailer.
Some of the prisoners at
the big camp had been captured and others had surrendered
with the hope of getting to safety. Thousands were surrendering
after the massive tactical failure of Tet 1968. Many had
been NVA.
The luckier ones, former
VC mostly, had "come over" through the Chieu Hoi (literally
"Open Arms") amnesty program and many were housed with
family members at the III Corps settlement where they
were retrained and protected--to some degree--not far
from Biên Hòa. There I saw them learning trades such
as auto mechanics. At least in the daytime the Chieu
Hoi site was a safe haven, but at night it became a favorite
target for vengeful VC rockets and mortars. I remember
once giving some wide-eyed "third" lieutenants from the
Air Force Academy a tour of the site and wondering if
these young Americans could get any sense of what the
locals had suffered. In any case we were not eager to
have these Academy visitors in harm's way. If one of
the cadets had been killed or wounded in-country, it
would have been a major political scandal back home and
powerful ammunition for the anti-war protesters.
Of course, visitors from
stateside were kept strictly out of sight of the regular
POW camp. Frankly, some of the prisoners seemed quite
happy to be there, where they tended large garden plots
within the walls. They begged to be allowed to stay.
Many were missing limbs and I remember seeing one old
soldier who had contrived to make a false leg out of
shell casing strips. I wanted to take a photo of this
ingenious fellow but photography in the camp was absolutely
forbidden.
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