Veterans Affairs leaders receive 500,000 protective masks from South Korea to counter coronavirus...

MAJ Ken Landgren, you are probably already aware of this through your parents and your heritage, but there will be plenty of folks for this is new information. Ho Chi Minh looked at the US and the Philippines, to include the Philippines' pending independence, and wanted the same thing for Viet Nam. It was because of their not wanting the French back after WWI, and their natural fear of their enemy for the previous 2,000 years -- China. In Aaron Banks' book 'From OSS to Green Beret' he speaks of his time with Uncle Ho following the Japanese surrender. The book stated that Ho asked for US support for an independent Viet Nam, thinking we would treat Viet Nam the way The Philippines were being treated. Japan had just surrendered so that left only France and China for Viet Nam to worry about. Ho even asked for a copy of the US Constitution to use as a model for one for Viet Nam. COL Bank commended we go along with Ho and make a communist Viet Nam our ally. The powers that be went against the recommendations of those with boots on the ground, and we all know how well that turned out. Just think, there probably would not have been a Vietnam War if we hadn't given in to France's demands.

Thanks for the history. What you said was covered in Ken Burn's documentary about the Vietnam War but my memory is not so good. Yeah I vaguely remember that Ho flirted with the Americans and he lived in France or the US for a few years. The documentary is on Netflix if you have not watched it. I read somewhere that Ho told his soldiers that our soldiers were not the enemy, but America was the enemy.

MAJ Ken Landgren - That's because the Americans helped the Vietnamese against the Japanese, but then betrayed them after WWII in favor of France. Aaron Bank was the founder of the US Army Special Forces in June of 1952. He is nearly a Saint to those of us that were in SF in Viet Nam, so what he said is gospel to me. Pictured is Dan Dudley, my teammate from A-344 (hat), and COL Bank (blue shirt). I think COL Bank was about 98 years old at the time of the picture.