In trip down to the delta, US envoy Kerry catches up with an old Viet Cong foe
Opponents tarnished secretary of state’s war record by claiming he killed a teenager
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 US 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.
Ambush strategy
The plan, the Vietnamese guerrilla told his former adversary on Saturday, was to use rifle and grenade fire to lure the heavily-armed American craft into range of a shoulder-held 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 guerrilla and shot him dead, saving his crew from a counterattack.
Vo Ban Tam remembered the dead man, 24-year-old Ba Thanh, as a respected member of the Viet Cong’s main force in Ca Mau province, trained to use the prized launcher.
“He was a good soldier,” he recalled, speaking through an interpreter on the banks of same river, shortly after Kerry re-visited the scene of the ambush for the first time.
Kerry had never before learnt the name of the man he shot. During his unsuccessful 2004 White House campaign, opponents tarnished his war record by claiming he killed a teenager.
But US officials preparing for Kerry’s visit tracked down Vo Ban Tam and his account confirmed Kerry’s memory that his slain adversary was an adult.
Vo Ban Tam admitted that thanks to Kerry’s action the Viet Cong had not been victorious that day.
Education is key
Kerry returned from Vietnam later in 1969. Despite holding Silver and Bronze stars for valour and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action, he became a prominent anti-war activist.
The tall, young, erudite Yale graduate stood out among veterans and his devastating testimony before a Senate committee in 1971 sealed his celebrity.
Kerry went on to become a senator, a presidential candidate and finally secretary of state — and he never forgot Vietnam, becoming a leader in the post-war reconciliation.
Now, with just days to go before the start of Donald Trump’s presidency marks the end of his tenure at the State Department, Kerry plans more visits.
He wants to work on environmental problems with the Lower Mekong Initiative while he and fellow veterans are involved in plans to open a USfunded Fulbright University in Vietnam.