- While based at Ben Cau, we had a brief encounter with the Chieu Hoi
program when a Viet Cong soldier "came-across" to our side, so
to speak. I believe these "defectors" were called Hoi Chanhs (returnee), once
they promised to stay and help the South Vietnamese. I remember seeing
leaflets falling from the sky on a few different occasions in an effort
to get VC and NVA to defect to our side. Possession of a leaflet
was supposed to guarantee safe passage for the defector.
- The VC soldier that defected to our camp was actually a spy
of sorts. He had no intention of staying. He just wanted to gather
information about our installation and then boogie back to his comrades.
Unfortunately for him, he failed to take into account (with any accuracy,
anyway) the mine-field that lay between himself and his buddies. He
didn't survive the trip across our mine-field.
- I haven't done any research on the subject so I don't know if the Chieu
Hoi program had any degree of success or not. Based on our limited exposure
to a real Hoi Chanh I could see that the program could turn against
us rather easily. I never did feel comfortable having a former enemy
walking around in our midst. I didn't trust him. As it turned out, my
feelings were correct. I don't believe I saw another Hoi Chan during my
tour.
Copyright © 1995 David C. Stafford
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