Laughter in the Shadows
Page 23
Ladolite, 141
Leopold II, king of Belgium, 131, 136
leper colony, 101–3
Lisette, Anne Marie, 136
Luang Prabat: assignment in, 80–85; as capital, 50; weapons to, 94, 96
Lunda: boats from, 150–51; and Cabrola, 160; demonstrations in, 134–35; and Korean cannons, 157–58; mercenaries in, 154; Portuguese volunteers from, 143–44; Rebello’s plan to invade, 147–48, 155, 156; Soviet supplies in, 149
Magoon, “Earthquake,” 71
Maree, Tom, 149–50
McNamara, Robert, 110
medical kits, 60, 68
Meo: Pang Vao on situation of, 67–68; visits to, 72–75, 94–96
Mercedes Benz, 54
mercenaries, 151–55, 160
MiGs, 145–46
“mini-Country Team,” 82
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), 109–11
Moh Lam team, 61
montagnards: in Nam Bac, 93; and opium, 75; recruitment, 83, 96; in Vietnam, 98–101; visit to, 63–69
Mossad agents, 116
Mountain Scout program, 98–101
Muong La, 84
Mussolini, Benito, 53
Nam Bac, 85–93
nation building: in Cham, 49–50, 54, 58, 63, 68; and covert action, 47–48; in Vietnam, 97
National Pacification Program, 109
Naugatuck, CT, 4–9
Nelson, Oliver, 82–85
New York Times, 107
Ngo Dinh Diem, 97
Ngo Van Chieu, 108
Nguyen Van Buu, 105–6
Nguyen Van Thieu, 104, 105, 107
Nhu, 103
Nixon, Richard, 29, 112
Nong Het: fall of, 94–95; supplies for, 68–74; visit to, 72–75
North Korea, 156–57
North Vietnam: Chau as spy for, 107; communism in, 49, 94; and Nong Het air drop, 71, 72; and Pathet Cham, 52, 53, 74; raids on Meo, 68; troops of, 101. See also Vietnam
Office of Strategic Services (OSS), 27
Okinawa, 70–71
Operation Boostershot, 56–57
“Operation Genie,” 82–84
Operation Uhuru: aircraft for, 143–46; base, 140; boats for, 148–51; and Cubans, 155–58; end of, 161–68; lesson of, 167–68; mercenaries in, 151–55, 160; planning and supplying, 139–44; progression of, 159–61; psychological warfare in, 158–59
opium, 64, 68, 75
Ossofsky, Boris, 119–27
Ouane Rathikone: and flags, 59; in Luang Prabat, 81, 82; and Nam Bac, 85–86, 88; on opium, 75; and organization of political program, 57–60; to Phong Saly, 76; at political rally, 62–63
Owata, 36–40
Pak Boun, 55
Palace Hotel, 81, 83
Pang Vao: and air drop, 72; on fall of Nong Het, 94–95; meetings with, 67–69, 73–75; and montagnards, 63; and paramilitary program, 96
parachute training, 17
paramilitary forces. See montagnards
paramilitary (PM) officers: in Angafula, 139; description, 23; in library, 32–33
Pathet Cham: and air drop of leaflets, 83–84; in Ban Ban, 65; in election, 76–77; infiltration of, 52–53; and Nam Bac, 87–93; in Nong Het, 74; and political action program, 54, 55; retaliation of, 61–63; and tractors, 56–57
Patrice Lumumba University, 134–35, 161
Peter Pan Airlines, 144
Phoenix program, 106
Phong Saly, 75–76
Pi, 82–84, 89, 90
Piet, Colonel, 148, 155, 156
Pilar, 148, 149
La Plaine des Jarres (the Plain of Jars): description, 50; landing at, 64–65; visit to, 94–96
plastic explosives, 19, 47
Pleiku, 99
political action programs, 53–57, 109. See also Cham Union Banda Soldaire (CUBS)
political action/psychological warfare (PP) officers: within Operations Directorate, 23; training, 21–22
Political Action Section, 33, 34
pool, 22–23
Popular Movement to Free Angafula (PMFA): and Cubans, 155, 158, 159; defense of Lunda, 148; demonstrations by, 134–35; and goals of Operation Uhuru, 139; and mercenaries, 153; Portuguese support of, 143; prisoners, 142; reconnaissance planes, 147; supplies for, 140, 149, 156, 160; and tuna processing plant, 148; and U.S. senator’s visit, 161–62
Portugal, 134–35, 143
pseudonyms, 10
psychological profiles, 121
psychological warfare, 23, 158–59
rabbits, 15–16
Radio Free Angafula (RFA), 158–59
Radio Havana, 159
radios, 60, 68, 158–59
Rama Sipavong, 80, 93–94
Ramparts, 109
Rebello, “Reverend”: background, 138–39; and coordinator of task force, 142; and Cubans and Stalin’s Organs, 155–56; and end of Operation Uhuru, 163–64; leadership of, 134; and mercenaries, 151, 152; and military advisers, 146–48; and parachute battalions, 160; and weapons, 141, 156
Rex Hotel, 104
Romney, George, 110
Rose, Sister, 101–3
Russia. See Soviet Union
RUVOLGA. See Ossofsky, Boris
safe houses, 29–30
Saigon: assignment in, 97–101; and Chau, 106, 107; coup d’etat in, 103–4; evacuation from, 104–5; and shrimp soldiers, 105
Salazar government, 134
Salle de Fete, 62
Sam Neua, 76
Samudra: assignment in, 111–13; description, 112. See also Bintang
Sanchez, Juan: background, 138–39; and coordinator of task force, 142; counteroffensive of, 162; and end of Operation Uhuru, 163–66; leadership of, 134; and MiGs, 145–46; provisional government of, 159; on weapons, 141
Sang, Captain, 85–92
Santa Lucia, 148, 149
Sap Neua, 49
Sappho, Augustus: leadership of, 134–35; Portuguese support of, 143; Sanchez on, 139; and Stalin’s Organs, 155; U.S. senator’s visit to, 161–62
Schecter, Jerry, 98
school supplies, 60
Second Military Region (Cham), 94
Second Military Region (Vietnam), 100
Sheehan, Neil, 98
Shiba Owata coal mine, 36
shrimp soldiers, 105–6
Shuku, 36
silent killing, 14–15
Silvo Porta, 162
Smith, Walter Bedell, 3
Snow Leopard Inn, 64–65, 94
Souphanna, Prince, 78
Souphong, “Red Prince,” 49, 75
Southeast Asia: communist threat in, 49–50; information on intelligence in, 127; interview for assignment in, 22–23; opium crops, 75
Soviet Union: agent of influence in Cham, 78; and Angafula, 135, 138–41, 145–46, 149, 156, 161–63, 167, 168; and Bushido, 28; and communist threat, 49; defectors from, 113, 118–19; and Pathet Cham, 53; in Plain des Jarres, 96; and Samudra, 112–27; spying in, 38
Stalin’s Organs, 155–56, 161
Stanley, Henry, 131
Stark (task force commander), 142
station chiefs (COSs): and agents of influence, 41–42; and Bongo, 136; in Buwana, 131–33; in Viensiang, 51–55
stiletto, 14
suturing, 15
Suwango, President, 136
Suwanto, Colonel, 112, 113
sweaters, 70–74
Swedish K submachine guns, 14, 19
Swift boats, 149–50
Tan San Nhut airport, 104
Tat, General, 108–9
Tay Ninh, 108–9
Taylor, Maxwell, 100–101
time pencils, 19
Torrance, Jack, 150, 151
tractors, 54, 56–57
tradecraft, 11
training, 10–23; in air drops, 16; comprehensive exercise, 17–20; curriculum, 11–12; at Farm, 12–20; instructors, 12–20; in Kaltenborn, 21–22; parachute, 17; survival, 15, 18; weapons, 14–15
Tran Ngoc Chau, 106–7
Trong
Hien, 107
Truman, Harry, 27, 49
Union for the Total Independence of Angafula (UTIA): and coordinator of task force, 142; and Cubans, 158, 162; demonstrations by, 134; documentary on, 145–46; and end of Operation Uhuru, 164–65; program for, 138–39; and provisional government, 159; supplies for, 140–41
United Rubber Workers of America, 6
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), 54, 56–57, 82, 106
U.S. Congress, 107, 161–65, 167–68
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 144–45
U.S. Information Service (USIS), 82
U.S. Rubber Company, 4–9
U.S. Special Forces, 82, 95, 99–101, 104
Vang Sathana, 81
Veha Akhat, 64
Vienna, 55–56
Viensiang: as capital, 50; comparison to Luang Prabat, 81; coup d’etat in, 78; Mercedes in, 54; political action program in, 55–56; station chief in, 51–55; and supplies for airdrop, 71
Viet Cong: on Black Virgin Mountain, 108; and Chau’s teams, 106; image of, 110; in leper colony, 101–3; and Mountain Scout program, 99; as public enemy #1, 97; terrorist acts of, 104
Vietminh, 51, 65, 68, 81, 89
Vietnam: history, 97; leper colony, 101–3; Mountain Scout program in, 98–101; sabbatical after, 109–11; sacred mountain in, 108–9; and training, 14; Vietnamese spies in, 106–7. See also North Vietnam; Saigon
Vinh Loc, 100
Voran, Dallas, 82, 83
voting, 55
Vung Tau, 105
Wang Si, 66–67, 69, 70, 72
Wat Phrasay, 52
weapons: in Angafula, 138–41, 148, 156–58; and Cham political program, 60, 66, 68; in Luang Prabat, 94; of Meo, 68, 94–96; in Nam Bac, 88–93; Pang Vao’s request for, 74, 75; training, 14–15; at Vietnamese leper colony, 102
Westmoreland, William, 100, 101
White Russians, 119, 120
Wienerschnitzel, 21–22
Wilson, “Shower-Shoes,” 71–72
Wishful, John. See Bongo Wa Za Zenga
Xieng Khuong, 64
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stuart Methven was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1927. He attended Lenox Preparatory School in Lenox, Massachusetts, and served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947, during the early occupation of Germany. From 1947 to 1951 he attended Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1951. He later attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a master’s degree in international affairs. From 1951 to 1978 Methven was an operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, serving in a variety of posts, mainly in Asia. From 1982 to 1984 he was the owner, publisher, and editor of the Martinsburg News, a weekly newspaper in Martinsburg, West Virginia. From 1985 to 1986 he served as a representative and consultant on matters related to Europe, Africa, and the Middle East for the Hudson Institute. From 1987 to 1988 Methven was assistant to the president of the Center for Naval Analyses. He lives in Brussels, Belgium.
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