EXIST-SOMEHOW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000400370005-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 28, 1999
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: February 21, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

MIPS HE R.
Sanitized - ApprovecrFori' elease : CIA
. STATINTL
CPYRGHT
CPYRGH7
On This ]'age
T?te Main.ichi irCrnsl)a pegs of
Tokyo sent a Learn of corrc-
spondents to South 1/ict-!Tani to
write about the penplc, the'.tol-'
Biers and the Viet. Con.;,; guer.
rillas - giving emphasis to ? the
human paradoxes of. that
strange war, rather than to the
fighting itself. This adaptation
of what they found was pre-
pared by Washington Poet Staff
Writ cr Sterling Sear; rave.
STATINTL
CPYRGHT
His fe gave him azva
Ho Chi 1C~i~i~i sandals. IIUNJIRO lsi-IizUKA. met his first Viet Cong ..n a
A N BOTH SIDES OF THE ROAD 70 miles from Saigon, i VUL
the flooded, pale-green paddy fields gave way to was running high and yellow. In the morning, the party
stands of yellow bamboo and clumps of dense green Ishizuka accompanied set rout aboard three" armed
motor launches from the elite 7th Division's headquar Lrs
jungle. It was a hot midoafternoon, and-only the riotously at My Tho, ?10 miles southwest of Saigon.
.plumed paddy birds soaring on thermals over the ripen, The torpid heat and the fetid stink of the Mekon Delta
ing rice tassels noticed the passing jeep: g
"Cham! Cham!" swamps made everyone drowsy-until the putt-putt of
The jeep screeched-to a stop. In the tJ e. engines was interrupted by a loud "Ban,!"
cl passenger seat, "VC' snipers," grunted Capt. King, the American mlli-
Alainichi correspondent Kenkichi Konishi was startled
out of a warm doze. ary adviser.
Blocking the road were three Vietnamese.in army uni- The three launches charged into "the mangroves. Swans
forms, rifles at ready. flushed up into the sky. One launch emerged towing a
'
The soldiers surrounded the jeep. Konishi, the driver sampan and a captive.
and the Interpreter climbed out and raised their hands' His name was Phanh Le Thanh. He wore only a
ditch. He wore a black homespun shirt, baggy black, on nss;ignment for Special Forces. A snapshot showed him
trousers, and a green woven-bamboo hat. He held a semi-: dressed as a Vietnamese policeman.. In Viet Cong coum
automatic rifle pointed at them. On his bare feet were try, such document are suicidal.
black sandals cut from the tires of a'United States Army Finally, after gentlemanly interrogation, It was certain
truck. They Were "Ho Chi Minh sandals." that he was a Viet Con," and had even been captured
IIe was a Viet Cong. , before.
While the, three Communist guerrillas searched and He had, been released when he promised to change his;
:interrogated Konishi's driver and interpreter, the Viett ways, but he had soon returned to his old haunts in the
Oong commander looked Konishi over..Then~ he laughed. Go Goiig district and had become a district guerilla
This ,is the first time I have ever 'seen a Japanese." - leader. When a Viet Cong is captured twice, he is almost
certain to be
put to death,
An hour later Konishi .and his companions were re
leased after questioning. Realizing that his forged papers were serving only to':
__..~._:. dig his grave, Phanh Le Thanh,?offered to show the way;,
i cint.aued
over their heads. of black shorts and thick sp(.~etacles.
He denied being a sniper. He claimed he was
Then, looking across the road, Konishi saw another 'agent, He showed a ers whidl
Vietnamese standing in the deep grass in the roadside p p purported to show
CPYRGHT
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000400370005-9
 Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000400370005-9
MISSING PAGE
ORIGINAL DOCUMENT MISSING PAGE(S):
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Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000400370005-9