US ENVOY JOHN KERRY MEETS FORMER VIET CONG ENEMY

CAMAU: Viet Cong veteran Vo Ban Tam remembers the first time he crossed paths with John Kerry on the banks on the Bay Hap river, a day that ended in bloodshed.

Almost a half-century later, the now 70-year-old Mekong Delta shrimp farmer locked eyes with the United States secretary of state on Saturday and they warmly grasped hands in mutual respect.

Kerry returned to the Vietnam waterway at the end of a visit to the Communist nation, less than a week before he was to leave office, searching for the spot where he won a Silver Star for bravery as a young US Navy lieutenant.

On February 28, 1969, as the skipper of Swift Boat PCF-94, Kerry was patrolling when Vo Ban Tam’s unit launched an ambush. The plan, the Vietnamese guerilla told his former adversary on Saturday, was to use rifle and grenade fire to lure th craft into range of a rocket launcher.

This tactic had paid off for the Viet Cong in the past but on this day Kerry made a dramatic decision, deliberately beaching his boat then storming ashore to pursue the operator.

Grabbing an M-16 rifle the then 26-year-old chased down the guerilla and shot him dead, saving his crew from a counterattack.

Kerry returned on Saturday to the waterway at the end of a visit to Vietnam, less than a week before he was to leave office, and described the experience as “surreal”. AFP