US ambassador to Vietnam says US arms producers might assist Vietnam construct up its armed forces

US ambassador to Vietnam says US arms producers might assist Vietnam construct up its armed forces


Your assist helps us to inform the story

From reproductive rights to local weather change to Massive Tech, The Unbiased is on the bottom when the story is growing. Whether or not it is investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our newest documentary, ‘The A Phrase’, which shines a light-weight on the American girls preventing for reproductive rights, we all know how vital it’s to parse out the information from the messaging.

At such a vital second in US historical past, we want reporters on the bottom. Your donation permits us to maintain sending journalists to talk to either side of the story.

The Unbiased is trusted by Individuals throughout your entire political spectrum. And in contrast to many different high quality information retailers, we select to not lock Individuals out of our reporting and evaluation with paywalls. We imagine high quality journalism needs to be out there to everybody, paid for by those that can afford it.

Your assist makes all of the distinction.

U.S. weapons producers might work with Vietnamese counterparts to assist construct up Vietnam’s armed forces, the U.S. ambassador to the southeast Asian nation mentioned on Thursday.

“Our objective is to make sure that Vietnam has what it must defend its pursuits at sea, within the air, on the bottom and in our on-line world,” U.S. Ambassador Mark Knapper mentioned at a global arms expo within the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.

Vietnam is internet hosting the expo that brings collectively 250 exhibitors together with geopolitical rivals together with the U.S., China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Iran. The expo, held at Hanoi’s Gia Lam airport, continues via Sunday.

U.S. exhibitors embody Boeing and Textron Aviation. China is current with Norinco and Gaodu Worldwide Commerce. Iran’s protection ministry pavilion is not removed from cubicles arrange by Israeli corporations Rafael Superior Protection Techniques and Israel Aerospace Industries. Quite a few Russian companies are additionally in attendance together with Ukraine’s Motor Sich.

Vietnam has been attempting to extend its home arms manufacturing whereas decreasing its reliance on Russia for weapon imports.

In 2022, Russia made up round 60% of all of Vietnam’s army purchases, in accordance with the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute. However Vietnam’s longstanding efforts to diversify its imports have been accelerated by the struggle in Ukraine. It has additionally been attempting to spice up its personal capability to make arms and displayed indigenously-made army tools on the expo.

A key driver for Vietnam is the escalating tensions within the South China Sea, a key commerce and safety route. It a flashpoint in Asia and a fault line within the U.S.-China regional rivalry. Vietnam has been vital of China’s more and more hostile actions within the disputed waters. Vietnam and different Southeast Asian international locations have overlapping claims within the busy sea passage.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh known as the occasion “message of peace, cooperation and growth.” He was later given a tour of a army airplane made by U.S. agency Lockheed Martin.


#ambassador #Vietnam #arms #producers #Vietnam #construct #armed #forces


The Unbiased


#ambassador #Vietnam #arms #producers #Vietnam #construct #armed #forces


Aniruddha Ghosal , 2024-12-19 09:56:00

One of the best Vietnam vacation locations: When to journey and the place to remain

One of the best Vietnam vacation locations: When to journey and the place to remain

Your assist helps us to inform the story

From reproductive rights to local weather change to Large Tech, The Impartial is on the bottom when the story is creating. Whether or not it is investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our newest documentary, ‘The A Phrase’, which shines a lightweight on the American girls combating for reproductive rights, we all know how necessary it’s to parse out the details from the messaging.

At such a essential second in US historical past, we’d like reporters on the bottom. Your donation permits us to maintain sending journalists to talk to each side of the story.

The Impartial is trusted by People throughout the complete political spectrum. And in contrast to many different high quality information shops, we select to not lock People out of our reporting and evaluation with paywalls. We imagine high quality journalism ought to be out there to everybody, paid for by those that can afford it.

Your assist makes all of the distinction.

Vietnam, a southeast Asian nation bountiful with appeal, cultural variety and culinary delights, boasts hanging surroundings for each a blissful vacation on white sands and backpacking adventures by Unesco World Heritage Websites comparable to Ha Lengthy Bay.

The flexibility of the Vietnamese panorama, with its city hubs such because the capital Hanoi, rolling rice fields and limestone mountains, is what makes Vietnam an oasis for nature lovers and adventurers alike.

Buddhist pagodas, lantern festivals and wellness retreats are highlights of a go to, alongside excursions (fuelled by native espresso made with condensed milk) by recent meals markets. In the meantime, heritage trails to historic websites from the Vietnam Warfare (recognized in Vietnam because the American Warfare) and the Communist period are positive to entice historical past buffs.

There are additionally small island archipelagos clustered offshore for paradise-like seaside holidays, whereas international vacationer hotspots, like the most important metropolis Ho Chi Minh, beg to be explored.

From the place to remain and when to journey, listed here are The Impartial’s number of vacation locations to encourage your subsequent journey to Vietnam.

One of the best Vietnam vacation locations

1. Hanoi

The famous shopping markets on Train Street in Hanoi

The well-known buying markets on Practice Avenue in Hanoi (Getty Photos)

Vietnam’s cosmopolitan capital within the north, Hanoi, is house to buzzing night time markets, slim commerce streets and Buddhist temples, with a fusion of historic and Twenty first-century sights creating its full of life environment. Historical paths by the 14th-century Previous Quarter jostle with modern artwork galleries, whereas town’s genuine delicacies is greatest tasted by indulging in avenue meals comparable to Pho and bun cha, the finances choices considerable between pint-sized watering holes on the chaotic city observe of Practice Avenue.

When to go to Hanoi

A very good time to go to Hanoi is from April to November, as temperatures are the very best and rainfall predictions are the bottom. Common day by day temperatures attain highs of 28C within the April shoulder season.

The place to remain

Scent Premium Lodge is the final word trendy keep in Hanoi. Elegant rooms are fitted with en-suite loos, mini-bars and have metropolis and lake views, with breakfasts included within the keep within the coronary heart of the Previous Quarter.

Learn extra: Hanoi metropolis information: The place to remain, eat, drink and store in Vietnam’s buzzy capital

2. Ho Chi Minh Metropolis

Buddhist pagodas overlook Ho Chi Minh City

Buddhist pagodas overlook Ho Chi Minh Metropolis (Getty Photos/iStockphoto)

Previously generally known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh Metropolis within the southeast is the financial capital of Vietnam and can be its most closely populated area. In a wedding of custom and modernity, Ho Chi Minh is the metropolis the place pagodas meet skyscrapers and modern commerce hubs thrive. Elaborate French colonial structure, together with the Notre Dame Cathedral and landmarks such because the Warfare Remnants Museum and the Cu Chi tunnel community utilized by the Viet Cong in the course of the American Warfare, are historic highlights on this fast-paced metropolis.

When to go to Ho Chi Minh Metropolis

It’s dry season from December to March, which is a perfect time to go. The most popular month for a visit to Ho Chi Minh is April, the place common highs of 35C will be sweltering in comparison with comfy lows of 24C within the coolest month, December.

The place to remain

Fusion Unique Saigon Centre presents visitors an outside pool, a restaurant and a lovely central location. Eccentric art work accents the partitions of spacious rooms with cosy seating areas, sprawling metropolis views and comfy beds.

Learn extra: Learn how to do Ho Chi Minh Metropolis to Hanoi by practice

3. Hạ Lengthy Bay

Halong Bay is known for its azure waters and limestone rock islands

Halong Bay is thought for its azure waters and limestone rock islands (Getty Photos/iStockphoto)

Postcard-perfect surroundings greets guests cruising to Hạ Lengthy Bay in northeast Vietnam. A Unesco World Heritage Website since 1994, Hạ Lengthy, which means “descending dragon”, is one in every of Vietnam’s most spectacular pure wonders. Emerald waters, 1,600 islets, off-shore islands – principally uninhabited – and caves dot the various panorama, the place limestone rock formations are thousands and thousands of years previous. Scuba diving and sea kayaking with marine life to floating fishing communities are common pastimes on this a part of the Gulf of Tonkin. On land, rock climb and hike in mountainous Cát Bà Nationwide Park or take up the paranormal aura of Hạ Lengthy Bay from a protracted stretch of golden seaside.

When to go to Hạ Lengthy Bay

The shoulder tourism seasons of March, April, September and October are the perfect time to go to Hạ Lengthy Bay for optimum climate situations that keep away from the monsoon season. The year-round day by day temperature is 29C, with June being the most popular month.

The place to remain

Price range stays at Bao Phuc Lodge provide visitors a shared lounge, terrace and cosy doubles simply 600m from Tung Thu Seashore. There’s additionally an à la carte or Asian breakfast and pleasant workers on the lodging splendid for a stopover in Cat Ba on a ship tour of Hạ Lengthy Bay. 

Learn extra: Vietnam journey information

4. Phú Quốc

Idyllic white sands blanket palm-tree fringed beaches on Phú Quốc

Idyllic white sands blanket palm-tree fringed seashores on Phú Quốc (Getty Photos/iStockphoto)

Assume seafront resorts on white powder seashores and palm-fringed shores in Phú Quốc island within the Gulf of Thailand, a protected Unesco Biosphere Reserve since 2006. The biggest of Vietnam’s islands, with 150km of unspoiled shoreline, it’s the best tropical vacation vacation spot with secluded coves, vibrant nightlife and genuine day and night time seafood markets in Duong Dong city. The fish sauce particularly is hailed as a deal with for the tastebuds. Phú Quốc Nationwide Park blankets greater than half the island with dense jungle and rainforest and mountain climbing trails are plentiful. Coined “Pearl Island” by the locals for its gleaming sands and pearl farms, Phú Quốc presents winter solar and spectacular sunsets from the well-known seashores of Sao Seashore and Lengthy Seashore.

When to go to Phú Quốc

October to April are the driest months to go to Phú Quốc, with day by day temperatures reaching as much as 32C.

The place to remain

Just a few steps from Lengthy Seashore, Salinda Resort in Phu Quoc exudes luxurious and genuine Vietnamese appeal. Buffet breakfasts additionally embody American and Italian cuisines and are included in your keep, whereas an in-house bar, terrace and billiards tables await visitors staying within the sea-view rooms.

Learn extra: One of the best seashores in Cambodia for sandy shores, locally-caught seafood and crystal waters

5. Hội An

Colourful lanterns decorate wooden boats on the Thu Bon River in Hội An

Vibrant lanterns beautify picket boats on the Thu Bon River in Hội An (Getty Photos/iStockphoto)

Step again in time to the traditional appeal of Hội An metropolis on Vietnam’s central coast. Vibrant temples, shophouses and finances boutique motels line canals and the country Previous City district amid a number of household farms cultivating native produce for the markets. Generally referenced because the “Venice of Vietnam”, the beguiling former buying and selling port on the mouth of the Thu Bon River was a settlement for retailers within the fifteenth century and the legacy of the Chinese language, Japanese and European cultures stays evident within the delicacies (bahn mi is a speciality) and grand design of the lantern-lit streets.

When to go to Hội An

One of the best time to go to Hội An is between February and July, the peak of the summer time season. The day by day temperatures are round 26-35C throughout these months earlier than the monsoon season takes maintain in winter.

The place to remain

Hoi An Golden Vacation Lodge boasts trendy rooms with skyline views for cut price costs. A five-minute drive from the centre of Hội An, an outside pool, shuttle providers and included breakfasts welcome guests to the traditional city.

Learn extra: The Journey Good information to southeast Asia

6. Nha Trang

Take a tropical holiday to Nha Trang for a relaxing stay on golden sands

Take a tropical vacation to Nha Trang for a calming keep on golden sands (Getty Photos)

Nha Trang, Vietnam’s crowning jewel of coastal resorts within the south, is a tourism hub with 6km of golden sand seashores, untouched archipelagos and azure waters framed by a excessive skyline and rolling hillsides. The favored scuba and backpacking spot can be house to ruins and structure from the traditional Champa Kingdom, together with the Po Nagar towers. Intersecting streets make it straightforward to discover the distinctive salt fields, sizzling springs and waterfalls of Nha Trang on foot and there’s even an island theme park for households and thrillseekers to take pleasure in, linked to the mainland by a 3,320m sea-crossing cable automotive.

When to go to Nha Trang

Head to Nha Trang throughout February-Might for common day by day temperatures of round 26C, or in June and July for increased temperatures however a higher threat of wet days however an opportunity to catch a few of Nha Trang’s summer time festivals.

The place to remain

If inexpensive rooms and sea view swimming swimming pools in a beachfront location are your resort non-negotiables, Azura Gold Lodge ought to match the invoice. Lower than 100m from Nha Trang Seashore, the tropically embellished Azura is a perfect spot for soaking within the sunshine. 

Learn extra: Tokyo on two wheels – why it’s best to expertise Japan’s busiest metropolis by bike

7. Huế

Hue, Vietnam was once the seat of Nguyen Dynasty emperors

Hue, Vietnam was as soon as the seat of Nguyen Dynasty emperors (Getty Photos/iStockphoto)

As soon as the nationwide capital of Vietnam (from 1802 to 1945) and the seat of the traditional Nguyen Dynasty, the dynamic metropolis of Huế boasts a protracted historical past of imperial glory as seen within the ornate shrines and palaces that encompass the intersecting Fragrance River. Reminders of the as soon as royal riverside city embody a Unesco-designated website, the Advanced of Huế Monuments in Thua Thien, and the Forbidden Purple Metropolis, as soon as house to the imperial household – their tombs stay, highlighting the decadent and splendid lives as soon as lived within the Nineteenth-century Đại Nội citadel. Embrace Huế’s gradual tempo of life whereas exploring the unique panorama and feast like a king on Bun Bo Hue and native produce from the fertile panorama.

When to go to Huế

January to April is a perfect time to go to Huế, because it’s after the height of monsoon season. When you can nonetheless anticipate day by day rainfall from Huế’s tropical local weather, a lightweight drizzle could be a refreshing break from common day by day temperature peaks of 25-35C.

The place to remain

Pilgrimage Village Boutique Resort presents unrivalled luxurious and world-class service within the tranquil Thua Thien Huế. The country resort options Vietnamese eating places, spa therapies and hospitality with complimentary busses shuttling travellers into Huế. Huts, bungalows and villas dot the plush jungle – some with personal swimming pools and wellness amenities.

Learn extra: The one method to go to dream vacation spot Bali subsequent yr

8. Mai Chau

Explore the rice paddies of Mai Chau

Discover the rice paddies of Mai Chau (Getty Photos/iStockphoto)

If a nature retreat is what you’re after, there isn’t a higher place to journey to than the small villages of Mai Chau, surrounded a by sprawling patchwork of paddy fields and dense inexperienced mountains. Mai Chau’s relative proximity to the capital makes for a straightforward escape from the bustling metropolis to extra quieter, peaceable ventures immersing your self in rural Vietnamese life. For a whistlestop tour across the rice paddies and stilt home villages, rent a motorcycle for a serene journey among the many tranquil panorama, or for a deeper delve into the plush vegetation, plan a day journey kayaking on Hoa Binh Lake. For a style of rural way of life, hunt down the home-cooked delicacies at homestays ready by locals, or head to the Sunday markets to find highly-skilled weavers and their intricate material choices.

When to remain in Mai Chau

Climate within the Mai Chau Valley is at its prime from March to Might and September to November, nonetheless, October is usually touted as the perfect month to go because the harvest takes place. The vacationer workplace warns of going from June to August as monsoons can influence native roads.

The place to remain

For essentially the most genuine expertise, hunt down a homestay, that are common in two Mai Chau villages: Lac and Pom Coong. Among the many favourites is Mai Chau Countryside Homestay, which supplies easy lodging with personal loos, set beneath unmatched mountain views. The homestay additionally presents a conventional restaurant, bar and a paid airport shuttle service.

Learn extra: A trek to Everest Base Camp – pleasure, ache and an uncomfortable fact on the coronary heart of each climber’s story


#Vietnam #vacation #locations #journey #keep


The Impartial


#Vietnam #vacation #locations #journey #keep


Natalie Wilson , 2024-12-16 16:22:00

Image-8.jpg

How a Navy sailor fell off his ship — then turned a Vietnam POW hero

Your help helps us to inform the story

From reproductive rights to local weather change to Massive Tech, The Impartial is on the bottom when the story is growing. Whether or not it is investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our newest documentary, ‘The A Phrase’, which shines a lightweight on the American ladies combating for reproductive rights, we all know how essential it’s to parse out the details from the messaging.

At such a crucial second in US historical past, we’d like reporters on the bottom. Your donation permits us to maintain sending journalists to talk to each side of the story.

The Impartial is trusted by Individuals throughout the complete political spectrum. And in contrast to many different high quality information shops, we select to not lock Individuals out of our reporting and evaluation with paywalls. We consider high quality journalism needs to be out there to everybody, paid for by those that can afford it.

Your help makes all of the distinction.

The front-page newspaper {photograph} was placing on the morning of April 6, 1967 — a dramatic picture displaying the united statesS. Canberra firing at Communist targets from the warship’s place within the Gulf of Tonkin.

Little did these readers know – his shipmates actually didn’t – that one of many Canberra’s most junior sailors was struggling by means of these exact same waters that day.

South Dakotan Douglas Brent Hegdahl, who’d by no means seen the ocean earlier than becoming a member of the Navy within the midst of the Vietnam Warfare, had someway fallen from the ship. Simply 20 years previous, he survived hours within the Gulf earlier than North Vietnamese fishermen plucked him to security.

Then he was turned over to the North Vietnamese – and so started his unbelievable journey because the youngest and lowest-ranking POW on the notorious Hanoi Hilton, the place Hegdahl pretended to be silly to his captors as he secretly collected data, displaying an ingenious aptitude for memorization, statement and subterfuge.

Hegdahl memorized the names of 254 POWs, serving to to reclassify 63 service members from MIA to POW – not solely bringing solace to dozens of wives and households but additionally offering the navy with key intelligence, similar to the precise deal with of the dreaded jail itself.

“Nobody is aware of what they’re going to do underneath circumstances like that and Doug, who was from a tiny city in jap South Dakota, barely received by means of highschool, however he was a sensible man, and he figured it out,” says Marc Leepson, whose new e-book, the primary biography of Hegdahl, The Unlikely Warfare Hero: A Vietnam Warfare POW’s Story of Braveness and Resilience within the Hanoi Hilton, is out this month.

Doug Hegdahl was just 20 and serving with the Navy when he fell overboard from the USS Canberra. Its primary mission during the Vietnam War was using its powerful 5- and 8-inch guns to bombard enemy logistical and military targets in both South and North Vietnam

Doug Hegdahl was simply 20 and serving with the Navy when he fell overboard from the united statesCanberra. Its main mission through the Vietnam Warfare was utilizing its highly effective 5- and 8-inch weapons to bombard enemy logistical and navy targets in each South and North Vietnam (Nationwide Archives)

“He someway discovered the way in which to outlive and did it in opposition to all odds and succeeded in opposition to anyone’s wildest expectations,” Leepson, 79 and in addition a Vietnam veteran, tells The Impartial.

Memorizing names modified lives. “I imply, 63 names have been modified from ‘lacking in motion,’ which often means you didn’t survive, to ‘prisoner of battle,’ which suggests you probably did survive,” he says, including that Hegdahl was an “enlisted man” amongst fellow prisoners who have been “Naval Academy graduates, guys who’re pilots of big jet planes that flew off of decks of plane carriers and have been air aces within the sky.”

“And this 20-year-old child who was within the deck crew does this amazingly,” he says. “I believe it was some of the heroic acts not in fight through the Vietnam Warfare. And I believe that’s one thing that individuals ought to know.”

Funnily sufficient, whereas Hegdahl’s heroism originated in a brutal jail paradoxically nicknamed for a well-known resort chain, his adolescence performed out in a unique place additionally domestically nicknamed “Hilton.”

Hegdahl and his two brothers grew up residing in and dealing in a resort his dad and mom bought in downtown Clark, South Dakota – “which the locals nicknamed the Hegdahl Hilton, an ironic nod to the truth that it was removed from fancy,” Leepson writes.

Each his dad and mom have been Lutherans hailing from Norwegian immigrant households, and Hegdahl loved one thing of an all-American midwestern childhood, swimming within the native pool and Boy Scouts when he wasn’t engaged on farms or on the household enterprise. He was referred to as a playful, well-liked sensible joker however didn’t apply himself at college, taking greater than 4 years to complete highschool and graduating at age 19 and a half. He was additionally a first-rate candidate for the draft as America continued its extremely controversial battle effort in Vietnam; his mom satisfied him to affix the Navy earlier than he could possibly be conscripted, reasoning that it could be safer than in-country fight.

Doug Hegdahl in captivity around Christmastime in 1968. He had been held in the Hanoi Hilton since early April 1967 and had lost about sixty pounds after going on a hunger strike in September 1968 to protest being held in solitary

Doug Hegdahl in captivity round Christmastime in 1968. He had been held within the Hanoi Hilton since early April 1967 and had misplaced about sixty kilos after occurring a starvation strike in September 1968 to protest being held in solitary (US Info Company)

After coaching in San Diego, Hegdahl received despatched to the Canberra in February 1967 – and two months later discovered himself overboard. Nobody, together with Hegdahl, has ever been capable of clarify how he ended up within the water. The 6-foot, 225-pound apprentice seaman remembered getting up from his bunk and forsaking his thick eyeglasses, earlier than going as much as the deck to observe the weapons firing at midnight.

“I can’t inform you how I fell from my ship,” Doug mentioned after his launch. “All I do know is, I walked up on the deck. It was darkish and so they have been firing, and the subsequent factor I recall I used to be within the water.”

Fortunately, the previous highschool athlete was a powerful swimmer. He treaded water for hours earlier than fishermen noticed and rescued him, then turned him over to the North Vietnamese. Two days later, he discovered himself at Hỏa Lò, higher referred to as the Hanoi Hilton – the place US prisoners together with future presidential candidate John McCain have been brutally tortured throughout years of captivity.

“At first, the North Vietnamese interrogators figured Doug Hegdahl for a spy who concocted a doubtful story of falling off a ship within the Tonkin Gulf,” Leepson writes. “However he quickly satisfied them that he was something however a CIA spy; that he was, actually, a lowly enlisted man who had no data about any Navy operational data that could possibly be helpful to them; and that he actually was blown off the deck of his ship.

“However he additionally conned the North Vietnamese into believing that he was a bumbling idiot by enjoying it dumb once they interrogated him – a lot in order that the guards began referring to him as ‘The Extremely Silly One.’”

Hegdahl’s ploy – and the humorousness he managed to cling to – helped him glean data and work in opposition to the enemy as he dutifully memorized names supplied by different prisoners.

“I had in all probability probably the most embarrassing seize in the complete Vietnam Warfare,” Hegdahl mentioned in a 1997 interview Leepson quotes within the e-book. “I discovered that my protection posture was simply to play dumb. Let’s face it, if you fall off your boat, you may have quite a bit to work with.”

Doug Hegdahl (right) with US Navy Lieutenant Commander Richard Stratton and his wife, Alice Stratton, at their California home in 1973 not long after Dick Stratton’s release from the Hanoi Hilton. Stratton and Doug became close friends and allies during the six weeks they shared a cell together in 1967 and renewed their friendship after Stratton was released

Doug Hegdahl (proper) with US Navy Lieutenant Commander Richard Stratton and his spouse, Alice Stratton, at their California residence in 1973 not lengthy after Dick Stratton’s launch from the Hanoi Hilton. Stratton and Doug turned shut buddies and allies through the six weeks they shared a cell collectively in 1967 and renewed their friendship after Stratton was launched (Stratton Household Picture)

Leepson’s e-book outlines how, whereas sweeping the yard, Hegdahl was additionally sabotaging North Vietnamese automobiles by surreptitiously pouring sand and gravel into gasoline tanks. On multiple event, he was taken away from the jail to help numerous North Vietnamese propaganda efforts, permitting him to pinpoint and memorize Hanoi Hilton’s precise location.

“He was given slightly little bit of freedom in comparison with many of the guys, and he was capable of scout round and look and report again on torture, and he came upon the deal with of the Hanoi Hilton,” Leepson tells The Impartial.

Hegdahl and his imbecile routine persistently thwarted propaganda tasks by the North Vietnamese, together with an try and re-enact his watery seize on movie. Leepson laughs about “the way in which he outfoxed them.”

Directed by a propaganda filmmaker and surrounded by villagers serving as extras, Hegdahl repeatedly pretended to not perceive directions, as an alternative enjoying up and appearing out throughout what ought to have been scenes.

“He received the villagers, who have been imagined to be like extras within the film … all on his facet, and so they have been laughing and joking, and he was capable of frustrate the director to the purpose that it by no means received made,” Leepson tells The Impartial.

He quotes a 1972 interview given by Hegdahl – who sought to flee the highlight as time went on after his launch – through which he says: “I used to be so mad about their propaganda that it turned a private battle to assume how I may mess it up.”

Hegdahl and Alice Stratton in Washington, D.C., in 1988; following his release, Hegdahl began working as an instructor in the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school in San Diego Bay, where he was ‘especially adept at giving advice on how to survive in a POW camp,’ writes Marc Leepson in his new book

Hegdahl and Alice Stratton in Washington, D.C., in 1988; following his launch, Hegdahl started working as an teacher within the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) college in San Diego Bay, the place he was ‘particularly adept at giving recommendation on the right way to survive in a POW camp,’ writes Marc Leepson in his new e-book (Stratton Household Picture)

Hegdahl’s savviness and knack for memorization caught the eye and respect of superior officers within the POW camp – who ordered him to just accept early launch, which US navy prisoners are forbidden from doing in accordance with the established code of conduct.

Hegdahl refused a direct order the primary time however finally relented, and he went residence in 1967 with very important data.

“He helped with the intel and, along with the names  … [Hegdahl’s work] was a part of the rationale that, within the fall of 1969, the North Vietnamese, and I write about it within the e-book, modified the therapy of prisoners for the higher,” Leepson says. “Torture didn’t cease, but it surely did reduce considerably, and a few of their strictures have been taken away – as an example, communication.”

Roger Shields, who served as deputy assistant secretary of protection for POW/MIA Affairs from 1971 to 1977, explains within the e-book that, after Hegdahl supplied names to the Pentagon, “we informed the North Vietnamese, ‘You might be liable for the salvation and the survival of those explicit males,’ thereby placing the onus on the North Vietnamese in a approach that had by no means been completed earlier than.”

On the identical day that Hegdahl participated in his first post-release press convention, talking from Bethesda, Maryland, Ho Chi Minh died – prompting a change of management that additionally coincided with extra strain on the Communists from the Nixon Administration concerning therapy of POWs. (The ultimate prisoners would finally be launched in 1973.)

Hegdahl joyously reunited together with his household upon his return, and his dad and mom had ensured his navy paychecks have been invested throughout his time as a POW – permitting him to purchase a house close to the seaside in San Diego, the place he determined to construct his life. The veteran started working as an teacher within the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) college in San Diego Bay, the place he was “particularly adept at giving recommendation on the right way to survive in a POW camp,” Leepson writes.

Author Marc Leepson, 79, is a fellow Vietnam Veteran who says Hegdahl ‘figured out the way to survive and did it against all odds and succeeded against anybody’s wildest expectations'

Creator Marc Leepson, 79, is a fellow Vietnam Veteran who says Hegdahl ‘discovered the way in which to outlive and did it in opposition to all odds and succeeded in opposition to anyone’s wildest expectations’ (Krysta Norman)

Amongst his college students was William J. Dougherty, a CIA officer who was held captive with 51 others on the US Embassy in Tehran through the Iranian Hostage Disaster of 1979.

“I’ll by no means, ever overlook Doug Hegdahl,” Dougherty wrote in a 2001 e-book about his ordeal.

“I may recall Hegdahl’s lectures with virtually crystalline readability,” he continued. “His feedback, recommendation, examples and tales – greater than the rest – noticed me by means of extreme interrogations and helped me preserve my sanity, dignity, and secrets and techniques intact. Due to Doug [and my service in] the Marine Corps, I used to be properly ready for the Iranians.”

Doug retired from SERE in 2001, persevering with to experience his privateness and luxury in his adopted seaside metropolis – greater than three a long time after his savvy POW tips made invaluable contributions to the battle effort.

“On a macro viewpoint, that can also be actually vital, moreover this particular person story of braveness not underneath fireplace, braveness in these horrible situations the place he may have been tortured to inside an inch of his life or worse,” Leepson tells The Impartial. “He wasn’t – but it surely was a gutsy factor to do.”


#Navy #sailor #fell #ship #Vietnam #POW #hero


The Impartial


#Navy #sailor #fell #ship #Vietnam #POW #hero


Sheila Flynn , 2024-12-11 16:05:00

Image-8.jpg

How a Navy sailor fell off his ship — then turned a Vietnam POW hero

Your help helps us to inform the story

From reproductive rights to local weather change to Massive Tech, The Unbiased is on the bottom when the story is creating. Whether or not it is investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our newest documentary, ‘The A Phrase’, which shines a light-weight on the American ladies combating for reproductive rights, we all know how necessary it’s to parse out the details from the messaging.

At such a essential second in US historical past, we’d like reporters on the bottom. Your donation permits us to maintain sending journalists to talk to each side of the story.

The Unbiased is trusted by Individuals throughout all the political spectrum. And in contrast to many different high quality information retailers, we select to not lock Individuals out of our reporting and evaluation with paywalls. We consider high quality journalism ought to be out there to everybody, paid for by those that can afford it.

Your help makes all of the distinction.

The front-page newspaper {photograph} was hanging on the morning of April 6, 1967 — a dramatic picture displaying the usS. Canberra firing at Communist targets from the warship’s place within the Gulf of Tonkin.

Little did these readers know – his shipmates actually didn’t – that one of many Canberra’s most junior sailors was struggling by these exact same waters that day.

South Dakotan Douglas Brent Hegdahl, who’d by no means seen the ocean earlier than becoming a member of the Navy within the midst of the Vietnam Struggle, had someway fallen from the ship. Simply 20 years outdated, he survived hours within the freezing Gulf earlier than North Vietnamese fishermen plucked him to security.

Then he was turned over to the Viet Cong – and so started his unbelievable journey because the youngest and lowest-ranking POW on the notorious Hanoi Hilton, the place Hegdahl pretended to be silly to his captors as he secretly collected data, displaying an ingenious aptitude for memorization, commentary and subterfuge.

Hegdahl memorized the names of 254 POWs, serving to to reclassify 63 service members from MIA to POW – not solely bringing solace to dozens of wives and households but in addition offering the navy with key intelligence, comparable to the precise deal with of the scary jail itself.

“Nobody is aware of what they’re going to do below circumstances like that and Doug, who was from a tiny city in japanese South Dakota, barely bought by highschool, however he was a sensible man, and he figured it out,” says Marc Leepson, whose new e-book, the primary biography of Hegdahl, The Unlikely Struggle Hero: A Vietnam Struggle POW’s Story of Braveness and Resilience within the Hanoi Hilton, is out this month.

Doug Hegdahl was just 20 and serving with the Navy when he fell overboard from the USS Canberra. Its primary mission during the Vietnam War was using its powerful 5- and 8-inch guns to bombard enemy logistical and military targets in both South and North Vietnam

Doug Hegdahl was simply 20 and serving with the Navy when he fell overboard from the usCanberra. Its main mission throughout the Vietnam Struggle was utilizing its highly effective 5- and 8-inch weapons to bombard enemy logistical and navy targets in each South and North Vietnam (Nationwide Archives)

“He someway found out the way in which to outlive and did it towards all odds and succeeded towards anyone’s wildest expectations,” Leepson, 79 and likewise a Vietnam veteran, tells The Unbiased.

Memorizing names modified lives. “I imply, 63 names have been modified from ‘lacking in motion,’ which often means you didn’t survive, to ‘prisoner of conflict,’ which implies you probably did survive,” he says, including that Hegdahl was an “enlisted man” amongst fellow prisoners who have been “Naval Academy graduates, guys who’re pilots of large jet planes that flew off of decks of plane carriers and have been air aces within the sky.”

“And this 20-year-old child who was within the deck crew does this amazingly,” he says. “I believe it was one of the vital heroic acts not in fight throughout the Vietnam Struggle. And I believe that’s one thing that folks ought to know.”

Funnily sufficient, whereas Hegdahl’s heroism originated in a brutal jail mockingly nicknamed for a well-known resort chain, his adolescence performed out in a special place additionally domestically nicknamed “Hilton.”

Hegdahl and his two brothers grew up dwelling in and dealing in a resort his mother and father bought in downtown Clark, South Dakota – “which the locals nicknamed the Hegdahl Hilton, an ironic nod to the truth that it was removed from fancy,” Leepson writes.

Each his mother and father have been Lutherans hailing from Norwegian immigrant households, and Hegdahl loved one thing of an all-American midwestern childhood, swimming within the native pool and Boy Scouts when he wasn’t engaged on farms or on the household enterprise. He was generally known as a playful, well-liked sensible joker however didn’t apply himself at college, taking greater than 4 years to complete highschool and graduating at age 19 and a half. He was additionally a first-rate candidate for the draft as America continued its extremely controversial conflict effort in Vietnam; his mom satisfied him to affix the Navy earlier than he could possibly be conscripted, reasoning that it might be safer than in-country fight.

Doug Hegdahl in captivity around Christmastime in 1968. He had been held in the Hanoi Hilton since early April 1967 and had lost about sixty pounds after going on a hunger strike in September 1968 to protest being held in solitary

Doug Hegdahl in captivity round Christmastime in 1968. He had been held within the Hanoi Hilton since early April 1967 and had misplaced about sixty kilos after occurring a starvation strike in September 1968 to protest being held in solitary (US Data Company)

After coaching in San Diego, Hegdahl bought despatched to the Canberra in February 1967 – and two months later discovered himself overboard. Nobody, together with Hegdahl, has ever been in a position to clarify how he ended up within the water. The 6-foot, 225-pound apprentice seaman remembered getting up from his bunk and forsaking his thick eyeglasses, earlier than going as much as the deck to look at the weapons firing at nighttime.

“I can’t inform you how I fell from my ship,” Doug stated after his launch. “All I do know is, I walked up on the deck. It was darkish and so they have been firing, and the following factor I recall I used to be within the water.”

Fortunately, the previous highschool athlete was a powerful swimmer. He treaded water for hours earlier than fishermen noticed and rescued him, then turned him over to the Viet Cong. Two days later, he discovered himself at Hỏa Lò, higher generally known as the Hanoi Hilton – the place US prisoners together with future presidential candidate John McCain have been brutally tortured throughout years of captivity.

“At first, the North Vietnamese interrogators figured Doug Hegdahl for a spy who concocted a doubtful story of falling off a ship within the Tonkin Gulf,” Leepson writes. “However he quickly satisfied them that he was something however a CIA spy; that he was, in truth, a lowly enlisted man who had no data about any Navy operational data that could possibly be helpful to them; and that he actually was blown off the deck of his ship.

“However he additionally conned the North Vietnamese into believing that he was a bumbling idiot by taking part in it dumb after they interrogated him – a lot in order that the guards began referring to him as ‘The Extremely Silly One.’”

Hegdahl’s ploy – and the humorousness he managed to cling to – helped him glean data and work towards the enemy as he dutifully memorized names offered by different prisoners.

“I had in all probability probably the most embarrassing seize in all the Vietnam Struggle,” Hegdahl stated in a 1997 interview Leepson quotes within the e-book. “I discovered that my protection posture was simply to play dumb. Let’s face it, while you fall off your boat, you’ve gotten quite a bit to work with.”

Doug Hegdahl (right) with US Navy Lieutenant Commander Richard Stratton and his wife, Alice Stratton, at their California home in 1973 not long after Dick Stratton’s release from the Hanoi Hilton. Stratton and Doug became close friends and allies during the six weeks they shared a cell together in 1967 and renewed their friendship after Stratton was released

Doug Hegdahl (proper) with US Navy Lieutenant Commander Richard Stratton and his spouse, Alice Stratton, at their California house in 1973 not lengthy after Dick Stratton’s launch from the Hanoi Hilton. Stratton and Doug turned shut pals and allies throughout the six weeks they shared a cell collectively in 1967 and renewed their friendship after Stratton was launched (Stratton Household Photograph)

Leepson’s e-book outlines how, whereas sweeping the yard, Hegdahl was additionally sabotaging Viet Cong autos by surreptitiously pouring sand and gravel into gasoline tanks. On a couple of event, he was taken away from the jail to help numerous North Vietnamese propaganda efforts, permitting him to pinpoint and memorize Hanoi Hilton’s precise location.

“He was given just a little little bit of freedom in comparison with a lot of the guys, and he was in a position to scout round and look and report again on torture, and he discovered the deal with of the Hanoi Hilton,” Leepson tells The Unbiased.

Hegdahl and his imbecile routine constantly thwarted propaganda initiatives by the Viet Cong, together with an try to re-enact his watery seize on movie. Leepson laughs about “the way in which he outfoxed them.”

Directed by a propaganda filmmaker and surrounded by villagers serving as extras, Hegdahl repeatedly pretended to not perceive directions, as a substitute taking part in up and performing out throughout what ought to have been scenes.

“He bought the villagers, who have been alleged to be like extras within the film … all on his aspect, and so they have been laughing and joking, and he was in a position to frustrate the director to the purpose that it by no means bought made,” Leepson tells The Unbiased.

He quotes a 1972 interview given by Hegdahl – who sought to flee the highlight as time went on after his launch – during which he says: “I used to be so mad about their propaganda that it turned a private conflict to suppose how I might mess it up.”

Hegdahl and Alice Stratton in Washington, D.C., in 1988; following his release, Hegdahl began working as an instructor in the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school in San Diego Bay, where he was ‘especially adept at giving advice on how to survive in a POW camp,’ writes Marc Leepson in his new book

Hegdahl and Alice Stratton in Washington, D.C., in 1988; following his launch, Hegdahl started working as an teacher within the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) college in San Diego Bay, the place he was ‘particularly adept at giving recommendation on how you can survive in a POW camp,’ writes Marc Leepson in his new e-book (Stratton Household Photograph)

Hegdahl’s savviness and knack for memorization caught the eye and respect of superior officers within the POW camp – who ordered him to simply accept early launch, which US navy prisoners are forbidden from doing in accordance with the established code of conduct.

Hegdahl refused a direct order the primary time however finally relented, and he went house in 1967 with very important data.

“He helped with the intel and, along with the names  … [Hegdahl’s work] was a part of the explanation that, within the fall of 1969, the North Vietnamese, and I write about it within the e-book, modified the therapy of prisoners for the higher,” Leepson says. “Torture didn’t cease, nevertheless it did reduce considerably, and a few of their strictures have been taken away – as an illustration, communication.”

Roger Shields, who served as deputy assistant secretary of protection for POW/MIA Affairs from 1971 to 1977, explains within the e-book that, after Hegdahl offered names to the Pentagon, “we advised the North Vietnamese, ‘You’re chargeable for the salvation and the survival of those specific males,’ thereby placing the onus on the North Vietnamese in a means that had by no means been performed earlier than.”

On the identical day that Hegdahl participated in his first post-release press convention, talking from Bethesda, Maryland, Ho Chi Minh died – prompting a change of management that additionally coincided with extra stress on the Communists from the Nixon Administration relating to therapy of POWs. (The ultimate prisoners would finally be launched in 1973.)

Hegdahl joyously reunited along with his household upon his return, and his mother and father had ensured his navy paychecks have been invested throughout his time as a POW – permitting him to purchase a house close to the seaside in San Diego, the place he determined to construct his life. The veteran started working as an teacher within the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) college in San Diego Bay, the place he was “particularly adept at giving recommendation on how you can survive in a POW camp,” Leepson writes.

Author Marc Leepson, 79, is a fellow Vietnam Veteran who says Hegdahl ‘figured out the way to survive and did it against all odds and succeeded against anybody’s wildest expectations'

Creator Marc Leepson, 79, is a fellow Vietnam Veteran who says Hegdahl ‘found out the way in which to outlive and did it towards all odds and succeeded towards anyone’s wildest expectations’ (Krysta Norman)

Amongst his college students was William J. Dougherty, a CIA officer who was held captive with 51 others on the US Embassy in Tehran throughout the Iranian Hostage Disaster of 1979.

“I’ll by no means, ever overlook Doug Hegdahl,” Dougherty wrote in a 2001 e-book about his ordeal.

“I might recall Hegdahl’s lectures with virtually crystalline readability,” he continued. “His feedback, recommendation, examples and tales – greater than anything – noticed me by extreme interrogations and helped me preserve my sanity, dignity, and secrets and techniques intact. Because of Doug [and my service in] the Marine Corps, I used to be effectively ready for the Iranians.”

Doug retired from SERE in 2001, persevering with to experience his privateness and luxury in his adopted seaside metropolis – greater than three many years after his savvy POW methods made invaluable contributions to the conflict effort.

“On a macro viewpoint, that can be actually important, moreover this particular person story of braveness not below fireplace, braveness in these horrible situations the place he might have been tortured to inside an inch of his life or worse,” Leepson tells The Unbiased. “He wasn’t – nevertheless it was a gutsy factor to do.”


#Navy #sailor #fell #ship #Vietnam #POW #hero


The Unbiased


#Navy #sailor #fell #ship #Vietnam #POW #hero


Sheila Flynn , 2024-12-08 12:53:00