A DIFFERENT WORLD

This is a picture of the 52d Ranger Bn about to start a sweep of the Don Dien De Michelin plantation West of Xuan Loc.?It stretched for miles almost to Bien Hoa and was an active transit point for the VC.

During Tet, the main compound facility was the VC C&C HQ, staging area and field hospital.?My counterpart, Maj Hiep, knew it and requested fires on it which were denied by Province HQ.

Later, we did sweep ops and rousted a number of small VC scout/surveillance elements.?It was truly eerie and disorienting to walk among the rows with no sight line other than the perfect engineer-aligned tree planting in all directions. The trees with bare white bark towered more than a 100 feet into the air blocking out all but the occasional shaft of life.

We could see at least 100 yards in any direction down the roads with the view disappearing into the distance. The light was a shrouded cloak with no discernible source so strong was the effect of the interlocked canopy.

Hiep took me to the compound where we met the French manager and his family. It was a Beverly Hills type arrangement with Spanish Tile roofs and a three sided construction of two story?connected buildings.?The entrance was a wide gravel path leading to the front door.?Just outside it were several rows of processing facilities with constant smoking fires and furtive figures moving about the spaces under the towering trees.

Behind the house was a large lawn and tiled swimming pool. It was contained in a beautiful garden with tropical plants and a neon bright iridescent blue Bouganvilla clinging to the entire outside of the building, neatly trimmed around the windows and doors.

Hiep, speaking fluent French, introduced us to the manager and his wife. He was about 5 and a half feet wearing shorts, sandals, a loose shirt and heavily tanned.?He chain smoked Lucky Strikes. His wife somewhat towered over him wearing a loose cotton dress. Several servants lurked in the background.??

We were ushered into the house-the first floor being a large cool marble floored reception area-and led to the pool side.?There, the servants brought us a large pitcher of ice tea and a small bucket of Bier 33 on ice as well as cold French white wine.??

All the time he and Hiep conversed.?My French was pidgin at best so they made polite to me in English.?The manager explained-Yes, the VC took over the place during Tet but did not use the house compound, setting up shop in the work facilities. The only exception was the medical team that used the side workshop because it had the best light.?They were polite and very strict about allowing troop access into the living area.?They left with decorum, the senior officer and doctor shaking his hand.

Yes, he paid dual taxes to both the Saigon govt and the VC. The VC came twice a month, Saigon more erratically.?The family had an apartment in Saigon where Mama would do extended shopping with her connections to the black market. She would also pass messages to some Vietnamese government officials as requested.

I understood these people lived on the swords edge and were tolerated and protected by both sides so the rubber revenue could continue. The plantation had existed for more than 75 years and it was in everyone's interest to keep it functioning.??

I appreciated the cold beer and the brilliantly flowered garden.?It was a view of a different world and one in which most would not understand.

?FOTO: Mine