Bear Taylor 
COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973)
LEST WE FORGET… The NEW YORK TIMES of Friday, 12 September 1969… “In another report allied military spokesmen said that 137 Americans, 502 South Vietnamese and 2,291 enemy soldiers were killed in battle last week.”… The total number of stout-hearted American warriors killed in combat in the Vietnam war (January 1961 to date) rose to 38,450…
FIGHTING WORDS…COMMANDER JIM STOCKDALE, Commander Air Wing SIXTEEN embarked in USS ORISKANY, addressed the aviators of his air wing on the eve of the first strikes on North Vietnam in Operation Rolling Thunder: “If any of you guys are saving yourselves for a big war–don’t. This is it. Limited war means to us that our target list has limits; our rules of engagement have limits. But that doesn’t mean there is anything limited about our personal obligations as fighting men to carry out assigned missions with all we’ve got. Don’t ask for Hollywood answers to ‘What are we fighting for?’ We’re here to fight because it is in the interest of the United States that we do so, which may not be the most dramatic way to explain it, but it has the advantage of being absolutely correct.”…
GOOD MORNING. Humble Host remembers Week FORTY-FOUR of the interdiction campaign against the North Vietnamese in Southern Laos. It was called OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT and it was fought from November 1968 to March 1972 in seven phases. The operations of September 1969 were part of Phase II…
I. HEADLINES FROM The NEW YORK TIMES for 8 through 14 September 1969…
A. U.S. AND WORLD NEWS… (8 Sept) SENATOR EV DIRKSEN DEAD IN CAPITAL AT 73– Senate GOP Chief Underwent Cancer Surgery Tuesday–Suffers Respiratory And Cardiac Arrest In The Hospital… KIDNAPPED ENVOY IS FREED UNHURT IN RIO DE JANEIRO–U.S. Ambassador Returns By Taxi And Says He Is Glad To Be Back–Exchanged For 15 Prisoners In Mexico… U.S. UNDECIDED ON VIETCONG TRUCE BID–Honoring Ho Remains In Doubt–Chinese Communist Chiefs Honor Ho Chi Minh In Peking–Kosygin Is Paying Respects In Hanoi… IN SAIGON U.S. HINTS IT WILL NOT HONOR CEASEFIRE… UNIFIED IRELAND A LONG-WAY OFF–Some Moderates Believe Federation Is Answer… SAN FRANCISCO HELD BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN GALLUP POLL… (9 Sept) U.S. REPORTED READY TO EXTEND PAUSE IN COMBAT–Officials Say No New Action Would Begin If Vietcong Agree To Continuation… SAUDIS HOLD 200 IN PLOT ON REGIME–Arrests Said To Have Begun In June–Others Reported Purged… MEXICO IS ASKED TO HELP COMBAT DRUG SMUGGLING–Check At Border To Include Electronic Devices, Boats, Planes and Bigger Staff… HURRICANE WATCH PUT IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEAST COAST… (10 Sept) ISRAELIS IN TANKS RAID SUEZ COAST IN GULF CROSSING–10-Hour Assault–100 Egyptian Soldiers Reported Killed–15 Arab Sites Attacked… U.A.R. REPORTS IT DOWNED THREE ATTACKING ISRAEL PLANES… BRAZIL DECREES DEATH PENALTY FOR SUBVERSION AND TERRORISM–Nation Authorizes Capital Punishment For First Time Since 1891… 83 DIE AS AIRLINER AND SMALL PLANE COLLIDE IN INDIANA–All Aboard Are Killed After Allegheny Jet Is Hit While Getting Ready to Land–No Warning Of Danger–Student Pilot Was On Solo Flight… U.S. TO RESUME MIDEAST TALKS WITH SOVIET NEXT WEEK AT U.N…. (11 Sept) ADMIRALS STRIVE TO KEEP CARRIERS–Amendment On Senate Floor Spurs New Worries Over Future of Big Ships… ISRAELI JETS RAID SUEZ GULF COAST TO FINISH ASSAULT–Strike Vehicles In Area–Death Toll Said To Exceed 150 So Far… U.S. NAVAL OFFICER PLEADS GUILT TO NEGLIGENCE IN SINKING OF USS EVANS… PEKING INTRUSIONS LISTED IN MOSCOW– SOVIET REPORTS 488 INCIDENTS AFTER CHINA CHARGES… (12 Sept) KOSYGIN AND CHOU CONFER IN PEKING–In Surprise Move–‘Useful’ Talk Held–Meeting Of Soviet and Chinese Premiers Is First In 4 Years… ISRAELIS REPORT DOWNING 11 JETS IN SUEZ CLASHES–UAR Raids Start Heaviest Air Combat Since 1967 War– Egypt Claims 6 Planes… ENEMY TROOP LOSSES IN VIETNAM PUT AT 549,450… (13 Sept) NIXON BIDS B-52s RESUME BOMBING AFTER BRIEF HALT–White House Confirms They Were Grounded 36-Hours To Test Foe’s Intentions–No Response Is Seen–Spokesman Refuses To Say If Enemy Was Informed Of Purpose Of Move… CHINA-SOVIET TALKS STARTLES ENVOYS–Diplomats In Peking Divided On Import On Meeting Of Chou and Kosygin… SENATE APPROVES A CARRIER STUDY–Two Armed Services Panels Get Authorization–Vote Buoys Pentagon Bloc... U.S. RIGHTS PANEL CRITICIZES NIXON ON DESEGREGATION–Study Says School Policy Is Wrong And Is Backed By Misleading Statistics–Major Retreat Is Seen… (14 Sept) ISRAELIS MAINTAIN PRESSURE ON U.A.R. IN NEW AIR STRIKES–Attack On Gulf of Suez Coast Is 3rd In 4 Days Since Amphibious Assault–Raid Called Deterrent–Egypt Asserts She Repulsed Enemy Planes Seeking To Respond To Sinai Foray.. NIXON SAID TO PLAN PULLOUT OF 35,000 AND SHIFT DRAFT… SEX EDUCATION BATTLES SPLITTING MANY COMMUNITIES ACROSS AMERICA… CAMPUS MOOD UNEASY–Students Shifting Tactics In Nation… NIXON AND VIETNAM: He Tries, Amidst Conflicting Pressures, To End An Ugly War… THE WAR: Confusion And Fumbling Over A Cease-Fire…THANT PRODS BIG 4 ON MIDEAST CONFLICT–Big 4 Powers Stand-By Helplessly…
B. THE WAR IN VIETNAM… (8 Sept) TRUCE VIOLATIONS REPORTED… “A cease-fire declared by the Vietcong in mourning for President Ho Chi Minh of North Vietnam was being violated today at the moment it was to begin…Marines in night defensive positions 19 miles southwest of Danang came under a mortar barrage and ground attack…the fighting continued well after the commencement of the cease fire…American losses were put at one killed and 1o wounded.” (9 Sept) FEW BATTLEFIELD INCIDENTS… “The first half of the three-day cease-fire declared by the Vietcong was marred by very few significant battlefield incidents.”… (10 Sept) SAIGON STEPS UP OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS WHILE U.S. AND ENEMY PAUSE FOR CEASE-FIRE… “…Government troops had increased their offensive operations during the first half of the three-day cease-fire declared by the Vietcong. In the same period United States and enemy troops sharply curtailed their offensive operations….this seemed to indicate a serious policy dispute had developed between Washington and Saigon over how to respond to the cease-fire, which was called to commemorate the death of Ho Chi Minh, President of North Vietnam. Officially the two Governments were in agreement. They announced yesterday that the level of allied military activity would be ‘influenced’ by the level of enemy activity. It appeared however that the South Vietnamese had not adhered to this communique… The U.S. appeared to have cut their activity beyond the wording of the communique. It was reported that nearly all American bombers had been grounded. During the last 24 hours only about 10 air strikes were reported, three to four hundred are usual for a 24-hour period.”… (11 Sept) U.S. IS RESUMING PRE-TRUCE LEVEL OF WAR ACTIVITY–Move Is Reportedly In Accord With Understanding Nixon Reached With Thieu–Enemy Firing Resumes–Shelling Follows Cease-Fire–B-52s In Retaliation Pound Foe’s Gunners… “…In South Vietnam, the enemy bombarded more than 30 allied installations after the cease-fire had run its course… On the allied side, two waves of B-52s took-off after the cease-fire and pounded enemy targets in the Danang area….On the last day of the cease-fire the South Vietnamese flew 80 strike sorties while the United States flew only 18.”… (12 Sept) PAUSE IN AIR RAIDS CALLED PEACE BID–U.S. Gesture To New Hanoi Leadership Seen In Lull In B-52 Attacks… “… Twenty-nine enemy shellings were reported last night and early today, following 39 attacks on bases and towns the previous night… An American military spokesman said today that the enemy combat activity had increased significantly following the three-day cease fire… The renewed fighting destroyed all hope that the cease-fire might be extended… In one of the most serious enemy attacks 4 Americans were killed and 12 wounded when an enemy force assaulted a United States unit occupying a landing zone about 40 miles south of Danang.”… (13 Sept) B-52’s RAID TARGETS NORTH OF SAIGON… “…flew three missions against targets 28 miles north of Saigon…and near Phucat, 285 miles north of the capital.”… (14 Sept) VILLAGE ATTACKED BY FOE IN VIETNAM–260 Houses Are Destroyed–Enemy Losses Put at 113… “…About two companies of North Vietnamese regulars were reported to have attacked the village, 13 miles northwest of Quangngai in the north. The enemy force penetrated the perimeter of United States marines and militiamen and attacked three hamlets in the village complex…killing at least eight civilians. United States and South Vietnamese reinforcements and air and artillery support were called in. Initial reports put U.S casualties at two killed and three wounded. Enemy dead were reported as 113… Overnight enemy gunners fired 75 to 100 rockets and mortar rounds against an American base 60 miles northwest of Saigon.”…
C. THE PARIS PEACE TALKS… (8 Sept) HARRIMAN CALLS HO’s DEATH OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE BID… “Former Ambassador W. Averell Harriman said today on the CBS ‘Face the Nation’ television program, that the death of Ho Chi Minh of North Vietnam presented ‘not only an opportunity but an obligation’ for a new United States bid to end the war….’It seems to me that we’re letting Saigon call the signals,’ Mr. Harriman said. ‘I’m afraid that this Administration is trying to follow Thieu rather than lead him.'”… (9 Sept) SECRETARY OF STATE ROGERS SEES ‘PROGRESS’ ON THE ROAD TO PEACE… “In a statement marking the 15th anniversary of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, Mr. Rogers said since the organization’s ministers met in Bangkok last May ‘we have gone even further in our efforts to achieve peace–now we wait for the other side to demonstrate that it desires peace.'”… (10 Sept) HO CHI MINH’s WILL READ AT HANOI RITE… “President Ho Chi Minh, in a final message to his people, read at funeral rites today, called on the North Vietnamese party to help heal the rift in the World Communist movement and declared firmly that North and South Vietnam would be reunited after the defeat of the United States… The ceremony reached a climax with a mass oath-taking ceremony pledging the North Vietnamese to continue the war against the United States to final victory.”... (Entire HCM message below —–see Humble Host End Note) (11 Sept) VIETNAM PEACE TALKS IN PARIS DEFERRED TILL SATURDAY… “After some quibbling, the four delegations at the Vietnam peace talks here agreed to meet Saturday for their 33rd session.”… (14 Sept) RECENT EVENTS IGNORED IN PARIS AT PEACE TALKS–Two Sides Discuss Prisoners Of War But Not Death of Ho Chi Minh And Cease-Fire… “The opposing sides in the war in South Vietnam returned to the conference table here today (13th) and ignored almost totally the events that had marked the Vietnamese situation in the two weeks since they last met….
(Webmaster note: Several American POWs have related to me that following the death of Ho Chi Minh their treatment began to improve. This indicates that “Uncle Ho” was personally responsible for much of the horrendous treatment of our imprisoned men)
Henry Cabot Lodge, the head of the American delegation, concentrated on PRISONERS OF WAR. He renewed the demand for application of the Geneva convention on humane treatment to Americans held by the North Vietnamese and for impartial inspection of the prisoner war camps in North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese representative, Ha Van Lau, also spent much time on the prisoner question. He called the American pilots ‘air pirates’ to whom the Geneva convention did not apply. He said they were being treated humanely but rejected the suggestion for inspections from the outside.”… GENEVA ACCORD HELD INVALID… (Tokyo dateline) “North Vietnam’s Red Cross said today that American pilots taken prisoner ‘will not enjoy’ the protection of the Geneva agreement on the treatment of prisoners of war because they had been captured while committing ‘crimes against humanity,’ the Vietnam press agency reported. The agency said Hanoi’s Red Cross delegation has made this known in a memorandum issued at a meeting of the International Red Cross Sept. 6-13, 1969 in Istanbul. The memorandum repeated Hanoi’s stand that the American airmen being detained by North Vietnam ‘come under the jurisdiction of North Vietnam, an independent and sovereign state.’ It added that the North Vietnamese Government ‘has always applied a humane policy toward captured American pilots, allowed them to correspond with their family and to receive gifts.'”…
(Webmaster note: I guess the massive communal graves found in Hue and elsewhere, filled with victims of NVN brutality, were not “crimes against humanity”. The rest of the NVN statement is filled with lies. Just ask POW survivors about our men who were outright murdered in NVN prison camps)
II. COMMANDO HUNT II (April-November 1969)… The following is snipped from the Headquarters, PACAF Air Operations Southeast Asia Summary for September 1969. This document is available in the incomparable aviation archives at the Historical Research Agency at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama…
PERIOD SUMMARY (1-30 September 1969)…
“Tactical reconnaissance sorties flown over North Vietnam in September were down 37% from the August total. Photographic coverage of North Vietnam provided evidence that the North Vietnamese are pre-positioning supplies for early movement into Laos. Analysis of photographs also indicates the North Vietnamese are expending considerable effort to improve the cross border routes on both sides of the Laotian border.
“The number of attack sorties flown in Laos during September was approximately the same as the previous month. Air operations in Steel Tiger remained at a low level reflecting the enemy’s decreased logistical movement. Barrel Roll (Northern Laos) sorties remained at a high level in support of friendly force operations. C-130 aircraft are air delivering propaganda leaflets from altitudes of up to 25,000-feet over South Vietnam and Steel Tiger East under the code name FRANTIC GOAT. MOUNTAIN PEN is the code name for the same operation in Barrel Roll using escorted AC-130 aircraft. 4,323 attack sorties were flown in Barrel Roll this month to interdict the flow of military supplies from North Vietnam into northern Laos and to support operations ABOUT FACE. Friendly ground forces heavily supported by tactical air have reclaimed areas from Pathet Lao control that have not been in friendly hands in five years. C-123 spray aircraft were deployed to Udorn RTAFB during September for use against rice fields sustaining Pathet Lao/North Vietnamese troops.
“3,112 enemy vehicles were observed by pilots and roadwatch teams in Barrel Roll during September. BDA includes 8,043 enemy troops KIA as reported by FAGs and 101 vehicles, 2,202 buildings and 71 AAA sites destroyed or damaged. 24% of the USAF attack sorties in Steel Tiger were flown at night with approximately 77% of the effort being against control points and truck parks/storage areas. Friendly ground forces initiated operations JUNCTION CITY JR and DIAMOND ARROW during September. Muong Phine was occupied by friendly forces for the first time in seven years. 1,339 vehicles were sighted by pilots and roadwatch teams in Steel Tiger during September. Steel Tiger (Commando Hunt) BDA for the month included 165 vehicles and 799 buildings destroyed or damaged.
“Ground activity in South Vietnam remained at a low level during September. Enemy initiated incidents continued to decline, averaging 345 per week during September. Total sorties flown by all services in September declined 8.4% from the August total reflecting a decline in enemy action. Attack sorties in South Vietnam declined 24.5% from the August total. Since September 1968, VNAF attack sorties have increased from 8.5% to the 20.4% of those flown by all services in RVN. Strike results declined in September reflecting the lower level of combat activity. BDA included 945 KBA, 8,552 structures destroyed and 1,000 sampans destroyed.
“Tactical Skyspot missions in Southeast Asia were down 33.7% from the previous month. All sites contributed to the decrease. Arc Light sorties were also down in Southeast Asia; 1,057 were flown in South Vietnam and 286 in Laos.
“11 fixed wing and 46 rotary wing aircraft were reported lost to enemy action during September. The number of losses and loss rates in Laos were the lowest recorded since November 1968.”….
III. AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: 8-14 SEPTEMBER 1969. References include Chris Hobson’s study and history of the Vietnam air war, VIETNAM AIR LOSSES, which is available on-line at https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com During the week ending 14 September seven American fixed wing aircraft were lost and eight American airmen and one passenger perished in the incidents…
(1) On 9 September an F-4D of the 555th TFS and 432nd TFW out of Udorn crashed on landing due to pilot error and the crew survived to fly again…
(2) On 11 September a C-7B Caribou call sign Soul 475 of the 537th TAS and 483rd TAW out of Phu Cat was downed by enemy ground fire while enroute to a Special Forces camp 20 miles west of Pleiku. All four warriors and one passenger on board were killed in the incident. Killed in action were: 1LT ROBERT PAUL WIESNETH; 1LT NEIL NORMAN GREINKE; 1LT CHARLES BRENT ROSS; SSGT FREDERICK WILHELM; and an UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER. The bodies of all were recovered. 1LT WIESNETH rests in peace at Glendale Cemetery in Louisville, Nebraska. 1LT GREINKE is buried at Arlington Park Cemetery in Greenfield, Wisconsin. 1LT ROSS is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. SSGT WILHELM rests in peace at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Cinncinnati, Ohio and is memorialized with a building named in his honor at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton. They gave all for our country fifty years ago and are remembered here and on The Wall with respect and appreciation…
(3) On 11 September an F-4D of the 390th TFS and 366th TFW out of Danang piloted by Stormy FAC CAPTAIN ROGER DANNY HELWIG with CAPTAIN ROGER HORACE STEARNS in the backseat, call sign Stormy 02, was downed by enemy ground fire while controlling a COMMANDO HUNT air strike 12 miles east of Ban Kate in Southern Laos. The Phantom was observed to be hit in the wing recovering from a dive on the target, roll inverted and dive into a river bed within 500-feet of the target. No ejection or chutes were observed, radio call or beeper heard, and the two aviators were presumed killed in action. The remains of CAPTAIN STEARNS were returned in May 1990, along with his ID card and an aircraft data plate from the crash by the North Vietnamese without explanation. The remains of CAPTAIN HELWIG were not returned with those of his backseater and his status remains “Killed in action, Body not recovered.” He is memorialized at the Courts of the Missing in Honolulu, Hawaii. CAPTAIN STEARNS rests in peace at Arlington National Cemetery… Our thoughts fifty years after the tragic loss in combat of CAPTAIN HELWIG, are with his family, who continue to mourn his loss while he rests in peace where he fell on a battlefield of the Vietnam war…
(4) On 11 September an F-8J of the VF-194 Red Lightnings embarked in USS Oriskany piloted by LT C. ROSS hit the ramp on a landing approach returning from A BARCAP mission. The aircraft got airborne and while attempting a second approach flamed out and the pilot was rescued after a successful ejection… “There are no easy days.”…
(5) On 12 September an O-2A of the 19th TASS and 504th TASG out of Bien Hoa piloted by Snap FAC MAJOR MANNIFRED YATES and CAPTAIN THOMAS WILEY NORMAN, call sign Snap 01, was downed by small arms fire while on a visual reconnaissance mission in the Saigon area. MAJOR YATES attempted an emergency landing which resulted in a crash of the aircraft about five miles south of Saigon that killed both aviators. The landing was made into a rice paddy where the aircraft slid into a dike causing the aircraft to flip and disintegrate. MAJOR YATES was in his 258th day of combat ops. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. CAPTAIN NORMAN rests in peace at Hillside Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Plymouth, North Carolina. (PACAF records this loss on 13 Sept 69)…
(6) On 12 September an F-100D of the 612th TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang piloted by MAJOR A.W. STEINHAUSS, call sign Tide 72, was downed while recovering from a dive bomb attack on Vietcong bunkers three miles northeast of Bien Hoa. He ejected from his burning and disintegrating Super Sabre and was quickly rescued to fly and fight again. An Army helo made the pickup…
(7) On 14 September an O-2A of the 21st TASS and 504th TASG out of Nha Trang piloted by CAPTAIN T.S. RANKIN, call sign Elliot 11, was hit by ground fire while on a visual reconnaissance flight 20 miles northeast of Dak To. CAPTAIN RANKIN was able to make a successful crash landing and walked away from the wreck with minor injuries to fly and FAC again… He was rescued by an Army helo…
IV. HUMBLE HOST END NOTE… From The New York Times, 10 September 1969: TEXT OF HO CHI MINH’s FINAL WILL that was read at a memorial service in Hanoi on 8 September 1969… From the heart and mind of Ho Chi Minh a message for his people and the world…
“In the patriotic struggle against the United States aggression we shall have indeed to undergo more difficulties and sacrifices, but we are sure to win total victory. This is an absolute certainty.
“It is my intention, when that day comes, to make a tour of both North and South to congratulate our heroic compatriots, cadres and combatants, to pay visits to our old people, our beloved youths and children.
“Then, on behalf of our people, I will go to the fraternal countries in the Socialist camp and friendly countries in the whole world and thank them for wholehearted support and assistance to our people’s patriotic struggle against United States aggression. Tu Fu, the well known Chinese poet of the Tang epoch wrote: ‘In all times, few are those who reach the age of 70.‘ This year , with my 79 years, I count among the ‘few people’, still, my mind is lucid, though my health has somewhat weakened in comparison with previous years. When one is on the wrong side of 70, health deteriorates with age. This is no wonder.
“But who can forecast for how long I can continue to serve the revolution, the fatherland and the people. That is why I leave these few lines in anticipation of the day when I go and join venerable Karl Marx, Lenin and other revolutionary elders. In this way, our compatriots, the whole country, the comrades in the party, and our friends in the world will have no surprise.
“First, I will speak about the party. Thanks to its close unity and total dedication to the working class, the people and the fatherland, our party has been able, since its founding to unite, organize and lead our people in an ardent struggle, and conduct them from victory to victory. Unity is an extremely precious tradition of our party and people. All comrades, from the central committee down to the cell, must preserve the union and unity of mind in the party as the apple of their eyes.
“Within the party, to achieve broad democracy and to practice self-criticism and criticism regularity and seriously is the best way to consolidate and develop the ‘union and unity of mind’ in the party. Genuine affection should prevail among all comrades. Ours is a party in power. Each party member, each cadre must be deeply imbued with revolutionary morality, and show industry, thrift, integrity, uprightness, total dedication to the cause, exemplary selflessness. Our party should preserve its entire purity, it should remain worthy of its role as the leader and a very loyal servant of the people.
“The Working Youth Union members and our young people as a whole are of excellent nature, ardent to volunteer for vanguard tasks, undeterred by difficulties, striving for progress. The party must give much attention to their education in revolutionary morality and train them into continuators of the building of Socialism, both ‘red’ and ‘expert.’ Training and educating the revolutionary generation to come is a highly important and necessary task.
“Our laboring people, both in the plains and in the mountain areas, have for ages suffered hardships, feudal and colonial oppression and exploitation. Furthermore, they have experienced many years of war. Yet, our people have shown great heroism, great courage and ardent enthusiasm and are very hard-working. They have always followed the party since it came into being, and they have always been loyal to it. The party must work out a good plan for economic and cultural development with a view to ceaselessly raising the living standards of the people.
“The resistance war against U.S. aggression may drag out. Our compatriots may have to undergo new sacrifices in terms of property and human lives. In any case, we must be resolved to fight against the U.S aggressors till total victory.
“Our rivers, our mountains, our men will always remain. The Yanks defeated, we will build our country 10 times more beautiful. No matter what difficulties and hardships may lie ahead, our people are sure to win total victory. The U.S imperialists will have to pull out. Our fatherland will be reunified. Our compatriots in the North and South will be reunited under the same roof. Our country will have the signal honor of being a small nation which, through a heroic struggle, has defeated two big imperialisms–the French and the American–and made a worthy contribution to the national liberation movement.
“About the world Communist movement: Having dedicated my whole life to the cause of revolution, the more I am proud to see the growth of the International Communist and workers movement, the more deeply I an grieved at the dissensions that are dividing the fraternal parties. I wish that our party will do its best to contribute effectively to the restoration of unity among the fraternal parties on the basis of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, in a way consonant to the requirements of heart and reason. I am sure that the fraternal parties and countries will unite again.
“About personal matters: In all my life I have wholeheartedly and with all my forces served the fatherland, the revolution and the people. Now if I should depart from this world, there is nothing that I am sorry to have done, I regret only not to be able to serve longer and more.
“After my passing away, great funerals should be avoided in order not to waste the time and money of the people.
“Finally, to the whole people, the whole party, the whole army, to my nephews and nieces, youths and children, I leave behind my boundless affection. I also convey my fraternal greetings to the comrades, friends, youth and children in the world.
“My ultimate wish is that our whole party and people, closely united in the struggle, build a peaceful, unified, independent, democratic and prosperous Vietnam and make a worthy contribution to the world revolution.”… End of quote…
HUMBLE HOST Stinger… Ho Chi Minh was a ruthless monster. During the period 1955 until his death, and beyond to the end of the Vietnam war in 1975, he directed the communist revolution in Southeast Asia that accounted for the deaths of 3.4 million human beings, including 2.0 million during the Vietnam war (1965-75). He was a practitioner of Marxism-Leninism and never flinched from employing “THE LEFT’S MANTRA: THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS.” Humble Host suggests a reading of the subject at:
The same “mantra” is espoused in RULES FOR RADICALS by Saul Alinsky, the guide book for the radical left in our current times in America and throughout the world…(e.g. Alinsky’s admonition to be “flexible and opportunistic and say anything to get power.”)…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky
(Webmaster note: Several former POWs of North Vietnam remarked to me that their treatment improved substantially after the death of Ho, indicating the inumane, gruesome and barbaric treatment and torture was at his behest)
Lest we forget… Bear
