Word: defectors
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...scantiest information about the mood of North Viet Nam or how that mood might affect the Communists' bargaining position. About all that U.S. policymakers can do is ponder the clues that slip out of Ho Chi Minh's secretive land by means of foreign visitors, an occasional defector, and the North's own radio broadcasts...
...life difficult for his jailers. There were recurring tales about a prisoner that the Viet Cong called "Mr. Trouble," apparently because he had made several attempts at escape and remained utterly defiant of his captors. Some in Saigon thought that Rowe was Mr. Trouble. In 1967, a Viet Cong defector who had seen Rowe in a prison camp grudgingly characterized him as "stubborn, sneaky and very smart." At that time, the defector reported, Rowe was with five other Americans. Two of them later died, two were freed in late 1967, and one was executed in retribution for the execution...
...most courted combatant in the history of war may well be the Communist in South Viet Nam-or rather, the potential Communist defector. Bombarded with leaflets promising a better life on the other side, the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese fighter who comes in from the heat can often within min utes collect tangible rewards at a government reception center. The rewards include fresh food, medical care and cash. In the four years since the government launched its Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) program, 83,000 Viet Cong have defected. That is the equivalent of 33 enemy regiments...
...chanh, or "rallier to the true national cause," spends his first six to eight weeks in a Chieu Hoi center. He is given two sets of clothing, entertained with tours, television and basic educational films, and granted $1.60 a month pocket money. The defector is also rewarded according to a fixed bounty scale for whatever he brings with him. A pistol is worth $10, an automatic rifle $62, and an 82-mm. mortar $500. One happy ex-Communist became an instant capitalist when he collected $16,000 for pointing the way to a sizable arms cache...
Operation Kit Carson. After re-indoctrination, most hoi chanh go home or to a Chieu Hoi hamlet, and about 40% are drafted after a six-month grace period. Thus the defector can soon find himself back in the jungle, fighting on the allied side. One in five signs up as a scout for the U.S. Marines' Operation Kit Carson or joins an armed propaganda team, touring the countryside as living proof of the benefits of the Open Arms program. For an elite few, there are government jobs. Two former lieutenant colonels in the Viet Cong, Le Xuan Chuyen...