# Big Picture — Operation Montagnard



## Trip_Wire (Apr 30, 2011)

This film examines how the Montagnards (a primitive tribe living in the Vietnamese central highlands) were trained by the U.S. to defend their territories against the Viet Cong. The film illustrates the methods used by Army Special Forces to win over these tribesmen to the South Vietnam cause

http://www.archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.1174345


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## pardus (Apr 30, 2011)

Such a shame and a betrayal that they (and other similar tribes/groups) were abandoned to their fate when we cut and run...


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## Trip_Wire (May 1, 2011)

True padres. That said, the SFA and many Vietnam era individual SF soldiers have supported the Montagnard community here in the USA.

http://www.chapter57sfa.org/VFG/usmont.html


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## HOLLiS (May 1, 2011)

We had some good friends in RVN who where left behind.


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## pardus (May 1, 2011)

Trip_Wire said:


> True padres. That said, the SFA and many Vietnam era individual SF soldiers have supported the Montagnard community here in the USA.
> 
> http://www.chapter57sfa.org/VFG/usmont.html



That is great to hear.


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## QC (May 1, 2011)

No history would be complete here without mentioning the Tiger Man of Vietam, Barry Peterson.
http://www.armyjob.com.au/news/2008/4/20/lawrence-of-the-highlands/


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## Manolito (May 1, 2011)

Interesting read. The line between the good guys and bad guys in the CIA is very blurred in my eyes.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/b...ar-hero-with-a-difference-20101112-17r9r.html


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## pardus (May 1, 2011)

First Ive heard of Barry Peterson. What an awesome Soldier!

CIA certainly fucked that job up good and proper.


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## sfmike (May 2, 2011)

Let' not forget the Cambodes that we left to Pol Pot and his bloody crew!


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## pardus (May 2, 2011)

sfmike said:


> Let' not forget the Cambodes that we left to Pol Pot and his bloody crew!



Indeed.
Ironic that it was the Vietnamese that ended that genocide.
Also ironic that China and Vietnam went to war after all was said and done.


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## HOLLiS (May 2, 2011)

^^ Yep,   a mess.   But we can all agree.............  Sat Cong, Sat Trung Quoc,  And Hay Ben (let's party)


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## pardus (May 2, 2011)

Sat Cong is one of the very few Vietnamese phrases I know.
I know it from a tattoo an ARVN Soldier had in a magazine.


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## Typhoon (May 3, 2011)

The Montagnards did not like the Vietnamese, and as I recall we hung them out to dry when we left in 1975. Standby I have a picture somewhere of my grandfather with Montagnard tribesmen taken in 1928 while he was on leave from duty in the PI. I will try to scan and post it tomorrow. Pardus will like it...


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## pardus (May 3, 2011)

I think I may have actually seen that pic in the past mate.
Would love to see it again.


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## Manolito (May 3, 2011)

Some Beer 33 with ice a little record of Loretta Lynn and the smell of a phân bón ao. 
That is how I remember the parties. 
I dressed my son in tiger greens one halloween and camoed his face and in the black I wrote Sat Cong. We went to a lot of houses without a comment then I am at the curb waiting while he is at the door when a lot of commotion at the door brought me running. The guy had dumped the whole bowl of candy in my boys bag and was laughing and crying at the same time. I haven't thought about that story in a long time. I will have to look for the picture now. 
Bill


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## HOLLiS (May 3, 2011)

Never had bia ba ma ba in RVN.  I brought home a pair of black PJs, not sure what ever happened to them.  I got to know some people over there and always wondered what happened to them.


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## sfmike (May 5, 2011)

The  Cambodes that we had in B-36 were fiercely loyal to the USSF but not to the VNs (Either the enemy or RVN).  We had to stop convoys to disarm the 'bodes before going through villages to make sure that the VNs were safe!


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## Manolito (May 6, 2011)

http://www.uswardogs.org/new_page_18.htm
This is a interesting compilation of statistics.
If you think posers today are bad look at the statistics from the census bureau.
Respectfully,
Bill


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## Typhoon (May 6, 2011)

Here is a scanned version of the photo that Pardus has seen. It was taken by my grandfather and the American in the picture was an Army buddy of his that  he traveled with extensively across SE Asia while they were on leave from their duty in the PI. Even the poor image from the scanner shows clearly that the natives in the picture are Montagnards. The caption reads:
"Old tiger killed in woods near Moi native village of Klong Beuss, Cagne Plateau; 14 Kilometers northeast of Djiming, French Indo-China. November 8, 1928."

The species of tiger shown is, to my understanding, a subspecies indigenous to SE Asia that is currently endangered with only a few hundred left in the wild. I do not know where the places referenced in the caption are, and could not locate a map on line to indicate where this was. Also, I have no idea how my grandfather and his buddy got to this location as it must have been, at the time, way out in the middle of nowhere. As far as I can see even now most of the roads in Vietnam are close to the coast. It was not my grandfather's only trip to Indo-China, as I have home movies he took as late as 1936 or 1938 when everyone in the military knew it was just a matter of time before we would be at war with Japan.

If anyone has more information as to where this photo was taken, I would love to hear from you.

Also, when I can get a better image from a better scanner I will post it.


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## pardus (May 6, 2011)

Awesome, thanks for posting that.


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## Typhoon (Jun 24, 2011)




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## Typhoon (Jun 24, 2011)

I finally had time to work with the scanner. Here is the photo with  a much better resolution.


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## Manolito (Jun 24, 2011)

What a great memory to have. Four men to carry that cat it was a big animal.
Thanks for posting the better immage.


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## pardus (Jun 24, 2011)

That really is a great pic. Thanks S.


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## dknob (Jun 24, 2011)

well I'm sure most of the CIA's officers were shit back then - mostly because they recruited Ivy League yuppies to run things. 

And nobody likes an Ivy League yuppie.


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