A Gracious Enemy
The full story of the three Indochina wars, told from both sides and including the plight of civilians caught up in the fighting. Of necessity, the politics of Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, and the USA towards the push for independence and freedom by Vietnam and Laos are examined. The region known as Indochina is made up of the countries of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The First Indochina War was the patriots of Laos and Vietnam working together to defeat the French, at Dien Bien Phu. The French were there in overwhelming numbers and were supported and supplied by the USA, which directly supplied many thousands of tons of weapon directly to the French. As well as aircraft, pilots for these were at times, also supplied to the French by the USA. The USA interfered with the Paris Peace talks and Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel, resulting in the Second Indochina War, which is also known as the Vietnam War. That was lost by the Americans and the USA allies when the last US soldier was withdrawn from Vietnam in 1975. The USA lost more than 58,600 men Killed in Action (KIA). That is an alarming level of casualties when you remember that for every soldier at the "Sharp End", the USA had another ten in support. In other words, when the USA numbers of soldiers in Vietnam was at 500,000, only about 50,000 of these personnel were involved directly in combat. That means the American ratio for those in support compared to those in combat was 10:1. Now look at the American KIA figure for 1961-1975, of in excess of 58,000 and you should be horrified at the killed in action figure being higher than the total amount of those involved in combat duties. After the departure of Allied forces in 1975, the Vietnamese Army invaded Kampuchea in 1978 (Third Indochina War) and then replaced the Pol Pot Government with the Hung Sen Government.
A Gracious Enemy
Perhaps the most comprehensive study of the three Indochina wars ever told in story form in order to make it more entertaining.
Arminius and Thusnelda Versus Rome
In September of 9 A.D., The three legions and their supporting units under the command of Varus thought that they could complete the Roman conquest of Germania. Due to the efforts of Thusnelda and her husband, Armin or, if you like, his Latin name, Arminius, the Romans lost! When he was informed about the loss of his legions and their supporting units, Augustus began wailing, "Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!" For months afterwards, he left his hair to grow and also his beard and he appeared to be totally unkept! What made it all much harder for the Romans to bear was a few warriors only supported Arminius and Thusnelda. However, they did manage to increase their number for the final battle at Kalkriese Hill in the Teutoburg Forest. That battle set the current boundaries of Europe, between those who drink wine and speak the Latin based language, as opposed to those who like to drink beer and speak the Germanic languages!
A Gracious Enemy & After the War Volume Two
In 1975, the last American soldier was withdrawn from Vietnam after the shameful bungling at the American embassy in Saigon as Vietnamese tanks came crashing through the gates on their way to liberate Indochina from American capitalist exploitation! The new national governments took over in all Indochina countries (Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam). Many of the heroes who sacrificed all to ensure victory now came out of the forests and some of them took for themselves property, houses, flats and cars belonging to many of the former ruling classes. Unlike the the scenes in Europe after WW2, there was not wholesale revenge and killings of former ruling classes, the new government choosing instead to send the former rulers to re-education camps. There were some cases where people denounced others in order to obtain their wealth or power. Such is the mean-spirit of jealous people! They caused many to flee from their homelands in Indochina. Many of these people became 'Boat People' and successfully settled in Australia, becoming Australian citizens and successful business people. This is the story of a cross section of these brave people.
A Gracious Enemy & After the War Volume One
The Allied war effort in Indochina (the French colonies of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) was a war of aggression which allowed many millions of US dollars of arms sales. All allied service men that I cam into contact with did their duties to the best of their abilities. As an Australian serving with the First Battalion Royal Australian Regiment in Vietnam during 1968 - 1969, I feel that it is my duty to inform readers of how the Australian infantry soldiers saw the war and how they felt about fighting the Vietnamese. Because of the fact that this story is so vast, I am splitting the full story into two volumes. "A Gracious Enemy & After the War Volume One cover events in Indochina from 1770 to 1975, when the Americans withdrew from Vietnam after loosing more than 50,000 war dead. It must be remembered that the US army has a rate of 10 soldiers in support for every "Grunt" at the "Sharp End". When viewed in this way, the American KIA figure for the the Twelve years of US involvement is extremely high. After the American withdrawal in 1975, the Vietnamese Army invaded Kampuchea and removed the Pol Pot Regime from power. The yet to be completed "A Gracious Enemy & After the War Volume Two", deals with events in and outside of Vietnam after 1975 and includes the arrival and successful integration into Australian society of the Vietnamese Boat People
