Posted on 11/25/2006 4:13:56 AM PST by jason1998
[img]http://vietnamhonnuoc.tripod.com/LyTong.jpg[/img]
BANGKOK: Some old soldiers do not even fade away. They keep on fighting, trapped in their own past as the world around them changes, ghosts of a long- dead war.
"I have the duty to liberate my country!" said Ly Tong, wearing bright yellow prison pajamas, through a double screen of wire mesh at Bangkok's central prison. "The only thing that matters is, the Communists still control my country. I'm a pilot. This is what I can do."
His country is Vietnam, and the Communists have controlled it since 1975, when they defeated the South Vietnamese Army that Tong fought for and its U.S. allies.
But time has moved on, and just last week President George W. Bush was in Hanoi, shaking everybody's hand and praising the government's great capitalist strides forward.
Tong, 62, who emigrated to America and became an American citizen, could only watch in frustration from his Thai prison cell.
The last time an American president was in Vietnam - Bill Clinton in 2000 - Tong was in action, doing what he could do as a pilot to turn back history. Pretending he wanted a flying lesson, he commandeered a small plane in Thailand, flew over Ho Chi Minh City and scattered thousands of tiny leaflets calling for a popular uprising.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Choi duc oy!
"he commandeered a small plane in Thailand, flew over Ho Chi Minh City and scattered thousands of tiny leaflets calling for a popular uprising."
And I'm sure that thousands of Vietnamese on the ground agreed with him. We'll only learn how bad it was under communism when the present regime falls, and people are free to talk.
he commandeered a small plane in Thailand
A Thai prison isn't where I'd like to spend 6 years.
If he'd not "commandeered" the plane and an instructor and just rented a plane,
he'd have gotten a fine or a few months for filing a false flight plan if it was noticed.
He's a great man. He's principled. He knows the evil communism visits upon a people and loves his country more than his own freedom. I love guys like this!
He also broke international law by hijacking an aircraft. Feel free to write him in jail. I am sure he has plenty of free time to write you back.
How many laws were broken gaining America's freedom from the British?
Study some history, learn from it and maybe you might appreciate the freedoms you have which others fought and died to acquire and protect.
I suggest switching to decaf. There are a number of brands that are just as tasty as the real thing.
"And I'm sure that thousands of Vietnamese on the ground agreed with him. We'll only learn how bad it was under communism when the present regime falls, and people are free to talk."
There have been thousands upon thousands of boat people who have fled Vietnam over the past thirty years, and thousands more who fled under the "Orderly Departure Program". When I was out at the Cu Chi tunnels, twelve years ago, I met some old guys who asked me what life was like in Georgia, as they were about to move there under the Orderly Departure Program. My friend's parents and two sisters came over to the US on the ODP at about the same time.
What went on in Vietnam after 1975, and what continues to go on, is no secret.
Thanks.
Not a lot of good news, huh? :(
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