Americans Train South Vietnamese Natives
Editor's nola A can
lury ago. tha U. S. cavalry
used Indian icouli to light
fellow Indiani during the
battle for the old wait. To
day, American Forces in
South Vietnam are trying
to train primitive natives
to carry guerrilla war to
the Communist Viet Cong.
Military experts say the out
come of the project may
mean the difference be
tween victory and defeat
for non-Communist forces
In the jungle-infested South
east Asian nation.
By NEIL SHEEHAN
Plciku. South Vietnam
-(CPliTo the average Vietna
mese, the tribesmen who in
habit Vict Nam's jungle-infested
central highland are
'moi" savage. The word
has a connotation of utter con
tempt. But regardless of the alti
tude of their countrymen, I he
primitive, spirit-worshipping
mountain people are the ob
ject of a great tug-of-war be
tween the wily Viet Cong
guerrillas and U. S. special
forces who are helping the
beleaguered South Vietna
mese government fight the
Communist marauders.
American military advisers
believe Hie outcome of the
struggle for the loyally and
support of the 700,000 mon
tagnards (monlagnard Is the
French word for Highlander)
may be the difference be
tween victory and defeat in
this ill-defined war to keep
South Vietnam outside the
Communist orbit.
The Viet Cong have de
pended on the montagnards
for food and other logistical
aid in their forays against the
more civilized Mekong delta
and inlo coastal regions. The
U. S. special forces are 'Ty
ing to train the tribesmen us
an effective counter-guerrilla
force to beat the Viet Cong
at its own game.
In Action
American military advisers
hope lo use the montagnards
against the Viet Cong the way
the U. S. cavalry used Indian
scouts to help subdue warring
tribes in the old west. Two
companies of m o n I a g nard
"scouts" recently went into
action against the Communists
and nine others are in some
striae of training.
Monlagnards, some descend
ants of Indonesians who came
here 1,000 years ago and oth
ers of Cambodian slock, share
primitive customs and relig
ious practices but their 20
odd tribes speak a variety of
languages.
They live in thatched houses
raised on poles as protection
against roving animals and
snakes. Woven reed and grass
walls protect the multiple-!
family "long houses" from
torrential rains of the mon
soon season.
Monlagnard men basically
arc hunters and many act ill
prefer brightly colored loin
cloths to western style shirts
and pants. The women, often
bare-breasted, perform most
of Ihe domestic work, much
of it heavy, laborious chores
shunned by women in more
civilized societies.
Not Warlike
These mountain tribesmen
are not warlike by nature hut
have not scruples about kill
ing enemies who threaten
them. U. S. advisers say they
make enthusiastic fighters.
The vast majority of the
montagnards today live on ap
proximately the same cultural
level the American Indian did
in the lilth century. Civiliza
tion probably would have
passed them by for m a n y
more generations If Ihe jun
gles and mountains they in
habit were not so strategical
ly important in the struggle
lor Southeast Asia.
The central highlands of
South Vietnam dominale the
coastal area to ttie east, the
rich Mekong delta lo the south
and lie athwart the main Viet
Cong infiltration route acro.-s
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GIVES INSTRUCTIONS American military advisors in
Vietnam believe the outcome of the struggle for the loyalty
and support of the 7011,000 Montagnards ("montagnard"
Is the French word for "highlander") may be the difference
between victory and defeat in the ill-defined war lo keep
South Vietnam outside the Communist orbit. U. S. special
the northern Cambodian and
southern Laotian borders.
During the past few years
the North Vietnamese have
infiltrated thousands of crack
guerrilla specialists into the
area.
This infiltration, American
officers say, has risen alarm-
gly since formation of Ihe
coalilion government in Laos.
Strong Bases
The Viet Cong also have
established strong bases In the
central highlands from which
they raid freely into the coast
al area to Ihe easl. The even
tual aim, American advisers
say. is to gam control of a
section of the central high
lands and split South Vietnam
in two. The war, the Ameri
cans say, will be practically
won by the Communists if tills
happens.
The only way lo regain con
trol of the central highlands
and deny II In Ihe Viet Cong,
American advisers say, Is to
gain the sympathy and sup
port of the montagnards.
American advisers claim,
and apparently with great us
tification. that if the montag
nards were won over lo liie
governmenl side the Viet
Cong would he deprived of
a vast source of food, recruits
They'll Do
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! They point out. that any
Vietnamese - and most of
tlie Viet Cong cadre are Viet
namese is at the mercy of
the tribesmen, provided the
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forces are trying to tram tribesmen as an effective counter
guerrilla force to beat the Vict Cong. Here, U. S, Army
Ranger Lt. Bruce G. Smally, 28, of Stowc, Vt., gives
Vietnamese Cpl. Y-Bhung bayonet training in the village
of Buon Ki, outside of Ban Me Thuot, while other Viet
namese trainees look on. IUP1)
montagnards are well-armed,
and willing to fight.
Accurate intelligence on
Viet Cong bases and move
ments through the central
highlands could be compiled,
the Communists constantly
harassed by jungle-wise tribes
men and guerrilla units de
stroyed by superior forces
when located, the Americans
say.
Love Land
But unlorlunalely, the Sai
gon government's policy in
the past has largely resulted
in alienating the montagnards.
The situation results from the
traditional attitude of the
Vietnamese toward the mon
tagnards. who look on the
tribesmen as savages.
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The montagnards, a dark
skinned, short people with
the more angular features of
the Indonesian race as op
posed to the lighter skin and
Chinese features of the Viet
namese, love their land of
mountains and valley covered
with lush green jungle on
which soft white mists float
during the rainy season.
They resented fiercely the
intrusion of land - grabbing
Vietnamese who came after
French administration ended.
As a University of Michigan
study pointed out, the situa
tion bears a close resemblance
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to the influx of American
settlers into the west during
the 19th century.
Like the American Indian,
the tribesmen were given
"fire water" in this case
strong chaume-chaume wine
and then cheated of their
lands and goods while drunk.
The result was to create
widespread discontent and a
natural target for Communist
subversion and propaganda I
from the north.
Communist, p r o p a ganaa
promises the tribesmen that
if the Diem government is
overthrown, they will be al
lowed to create an autono
mous area of their own.
Had Free Hand
Until the American mili
tary buildup began in South
Vietnam in December, t h e
Communists practically had
a free hand with the montag
nards. The government troops
rarely dared venture beyond
the safety of the larger towns
and outposts.
In February a special Amer
ican counter-guerrilla organ
ization with a headquarters in
Saigon began to initiate proj
ects, aimed at winning the
support of the montagnards.
A team of U. S. Army spe
cial forces men and Depart
ment of the Army civilians
began working with the Rhade
tribesmen around Ban Me
Thout farther south. The aim
was to convince the Rharies
in the area, who were under
the control of the Viet Cong
at the time, that they could
resist the guerrillas them
selves and gain independence
from Communist demands for
food, recruits and intelligence.
The special forces team
trained and armed tribesmen
( and sent them back lo their
I villages to fight as a defen
sive home guard. Propaganda
teams were created, a Rhade
medical staff was trained and,
as the number of villages
grew, a radio net was created
to tie them in and give warn
ing of attacks. A strike force
of 700 men was created as a
mobile reserve.
Has Paid Off
The project has paid off
handsomely. Some 113 vil
lages around Ban Me Thout
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for Guerrilia Warfare
encompassing 30,000 tribes
people have been -won over
and the village home guards
now amount to 4,000 men.
Other similar projects have
been started in neighboring
province:! and the eventual
hope is io tie them all togeth
er, denying the area to the
Communists.
The Vict Cong already have
become so worried about the
Ban Me Thout project that
they have assigned a special
battalion to attack the villages
on the perimeter and prevent
the organization from spread
ing. So far these attacks have
been fought off and the spe
cial forces men have their
lingers crossed.
Other attempts to train spe
cial montagnard scout compa
nies as a counter - guerrilla
force have met with less suc
cess because of Vietnamese
suspicion and discrimination.
Not Paid
When this correspondent re-'
cently visited four of these
companies in training at Tan
Canh in northern Kontum
province he found that two
of the companies had not been
paid in six months and had
had 80 deserters. Most of the
men were dressed in ragged,
torn fatigues and lacked other
essential equipment.
But if the experiment suc
ceeds, the Americans hope the
scout companies will ierve as
a valuable and highly mobile
strike force against the Com
munists, able to exist and
operate in the jungles for
long periods of time.
The Communists also have
made serious mistakes over
the past year in dealing with
the montagnards but the
creaky Saigon bureaucracy
has been excruciatingly slow
to exploit them. Because of
increased numbers of Vict
Cong who have infiltrated
into the central highlands and
the consequently greater de
mands for food and recruits,
thousands of montagnards
have fled their remote vil
lages to seek protection along
the more secure areas near
the towns and main roads.
Thousands of others have been
taken from their villages by
Vietnamese army troops and
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resettled in safer areas.
Over the past year, it is
estimated by American offi
c i a 1 s, 96,000 montagnaf-ds
have fled Vict Cong control
led areas. Most of these tribes
men are in dire need of food
and medical attention which
government propaganda
promised them but which so
far has arrived in very inade
quate quantities.
Negotiations have been go
ing on for the last two months
to commit 50 million piastres
in American aid funds (73
piastres to one U. S. dollar)
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to montagnard relief, but ara
still bogged down in red tape
I and the funds have not yet
! been released.
! Washington has agreed to
ship 750 tons of surplus corn
and other grains to Viet Nam
as aid to the tribes, but this
will not arrive in Saigon un
til October, according to
American officials.
American military advisers
warn that if the montagnards
i in need are not helped soon
! they may return to the jun-
gles and mountains and ba
lost to the government cause
forever.
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