This Is Saigon (1967)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ธ.ค. 2013
- National Archives - This Is Saigon - National Security Council. Central Intelligence Agency. (09/18/1947 - 12/04/1981). - This film covers topics relating to Saigon urban activities, population growth, night life, and the effects of the war. - ARC 616381 / LI 263-78
I born and grew up in Bangkok, I always thought Bangkok is most beautiful and well organised until I visited Saigon in July recently. I totally fell in love with Saigon; the people, the infrastructure; the city planning and everything was soo beautiful!!
I really appreciate Vietnamese to make their country so prosperous, and I'm looking forward to visit again, Vietnam will definitely become power house of SEA soon!
Everything that Saigon currently is was built and designed by the United States. The Communist just claim it
if you like Saigon, you should try Cambodia! it's even closer to bangkok
I always felt Việtnam and Cambodia were better for expats to live in, but all those Americans and Europeans are making it like Thailand is best. I think Thailand overrated.
Cảm ơn bạn
Nowadays Ho Chi Minh.
I was in Saigon during 1967-8. Tet was my birthday. I found it fantastic. A New Frontier. The guy telling this story kind of entirely missed the big picture. This was a war of attrition for the North. Ho lost at least 10 people for every one we lost. 2 million men of a country of 16 million , (N. Vietnam). That's one in four men. My wife's family fled there on foot because of the wholesale murder of Catholics, Buddists, educated people and anyone the Communists thought could be an enemy. Saigon was filled with refugees and kids. I was surprised how clean most of them were. The news correspondents stayed in the big hotels down town, like the Continental and if the bathroom walls were any indication many were gay and most were alcoholic. Gold was still $35/oz and Saigon had stores that sold gold dollar bills, chains, bracelets, etc . TuDo street was mainly bars and Nguyen Way was where the USO and Black Market was. I read 11 of 12 GIs were in support providing food, mail, admin, fixing flat tires, building roads, etc; never issued weapons. There were Army waterski boats on Cam Ranh Bay and Navy scuba tank rentals. One buddy from High School wrote menus for the Air Force Mess Hall there for 4 years, drawing hazardous duty, overseas , etc pay. Another got drafted and worked in a PX until he got an early out. I was in Special Forces and at Nha Trang a Black Russian cost 25 cents at the Playboy Club. I worked at the 5 day Jump School quite a while and then did some Grunt scouting. I could have taken an R&R to 11 vacation spots like Australia or Bangkok but I didn't, either Tour. I liked where I was. I returned there as a LOH pilot for the excitement and because the people were hardworking and smart. The radio never had polkas and crap music. We listened to The Four Tops, The Impressions, Sam Cook, The Platters, Top 40, the best music ever. Not once did I ever hear The Eve of Destruction or any anti-war songs. I never heard Good Morning Vietnam on the radio but it wouldn't have had elevator music like this video. By 1971-2 Saigon was totally different. Not so dangerous. No curfew or the incredible noise of gunfire between buildings in Cholon and Saigon, (sister cities). I was shot down 5X and wounded twice, (never seriously), but if we weren't pulling out I would have stayed for the excitement of the job. In 20 years we averaged less than 2400 killed a year in Vietnam. 47,000 not padded by non-combat injuries. The NVA lost that many in Tet alone. What a trouncing. In both the tours I spent there more than 52,000 were killed on our highways each year. My wife returned to Vietnam to see her aged mother in 1993 and was killed in a freak traffic accident. My girls and I returned to recover her body. The Communist government was a pain and every policeman and government person tried and succeeded in ripping us off but the people and the great food were still the same. Instead of being the rice bowl of Asia, they had to import rice. Many GIs have retired there on their Social Security, living in places like Dalat in the mountains and near the beaches. Yes the differential between our money and the Vietnamese was great. They had been living on a $2 a month barter economy, but they didn't hate us for our wealth. In Saigon a prostitute could make better wages than I did as a Sp/4. They began to cultivate our friendship and found that they liked most of us. When they married an American they didn't get divorced soon after reaching the US. They were faithful and worked hard to create a family, unlike many foreign mixed marriages. I was married 22 years and would still be.
Thanks for relating your story.
Thank you for your story, I was there in 1990 , What you say about the history and Viet people I agree with , I had been an Aussie draft dodger during the war and I had believed the propaganda that the "Vietnamese" only wanted freedom and liberation from colonialism . I stayed with a Viet family in 1990 , the father had been high ranking in the Sth Viet forces. He had survived 10 years of "re education" (imprisonment). What shocked me most was the fact that after the war the Northern invaders had forced his wife to marry a communist party member , or otherwise be a "non person " to die on the street begging , she chose survival , My Viet friend could not forgive her for that . he was a broken man . From that moment on my real "education" about the war began .
. To this day we are still fed the propaganda about the war, I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your wife.
My dad was in nam 68-69.
Ronald Pryomski of Detroit 101st. in battle of hue city during the tet offensive. Started second tour when wia. Miss you pop❤
@@Elephantsss❤ interesting
Thanks for detailing your experiences ❤🙏🏽
My father was there USMC,he brought back several photos albums full of pictures,As a little boy I remember looking through them and seeing a picture of a Beautiful Blonde with long hair,and a message on the back,never found out who she was,my Father never talked about his time there,two tours,I was born in 66,I went in at 17,We moved to DFW we he returned,I lost him in the 80s,Motorcycle!Love ya Pops 🇺🇸🍺
I was a civilian in Vietnam 1966-1974 working under the guise as a military contractor out of Saigon In all of my 41 years working and living in Asia nothing was as exciting,intense,interesting,wonderment and sometimes down right scary as Saigon. God I wish that I could live those experiences all over again. Dirty Jim
Hello we are writing a novel about the time period, would it be possible that we could have a conversation about your experiences?
Wish I could buy you a beer. I'd love to hear them stories.
Would love to hear these stories! Did you visit The King Bar?
CIA spook, eh?
Space after comma, full stop after the sentence ends. Did you even finish grade school!
Back in the day when quality journalism existed.
That is propoganda; not quality reporting
I was in Saigon many times while serving in Vietnam in 1970.
It was a wild and crazy place for a young G.I. - almost everything was for sale.... for the right price.
Fifty years later, I have never forgotten the experience.
where were you stationed sir? I myself have been to Saigon 3 times and visited many residences. April I will go back to Saigon to make a report. Regards from the Netherlands
@@Frank009-fl
Greeting to my friend in the Netherlands! 👍
Yes, I served during the final stage of the War from 1970 - 1971. It was an anxious and desperate time for the people of Saigon (read Fire in the Lake by Francis Fitzgerald).
I was stationed at military intelligence detachments in both Long Binh and Bien Hoa - both near Saigon.
As a result of my duties, I frequently journeyed to Saigon to coordinate with the CDEC (Combined Document Exploitation Center), MACV, Cong Hoa Hospital, the National Police, and the ARVN III Corps HQ.
I became quite familiar with Saigon.
My main hangout was the San Francisco Bar near Tu Do Street.
I became family with the Vietnamese mamas that owned the bar - perhaps because of my fluency in Vietnamese or I could have been the occasional gift of Johnnie Walker Red or Black... 😁
The bar girls certainly helped to 'rise' the morale of a lonely G.I. (both literally and figuratively!) 12,000 miles from home.
I hated the war and the military establishment, but fell in love with the country: the people, the food, and especially Saigon - where everything was available... for a price!
Health concerns prevent me from returning. My last visit was in 2001, but even as an old man, I retain very fond memories of that beautiful country.
Enjoy your trip and have a Ba Muy Ba (33) beer for me at the old Rex or Continental Hotels.
I knew them well.... ✌
It hasn’t changed anything you want for the right price usually cheap! I was there in October and went to their “War Museum” but it’s a new age I guess! I retired to the Philippines and have been living here so I guess it wasn’t a culture shock to me, but I can imagine someone from the US seeing all that traffic at anytime much less rush hour. We also went to Da Nang and Hue it’s a different world yes their tan by communist but it’s a capitalist society and the pork sandwich’s and a cold Leo beer man just talking about makes me want to return lol take care sir USMC 93-07
@@michaeldowdy3176
Thanks for the reply, Mike. 👍
I've been back to Vietnam a few times myself and agree that not much has changed since my original time in country.
Yes, it may be governed by communists, but the heart and soul of most Vietnamese (at least in the south) is entrepreneurial - capitalism.
You also put your life at risk when trying to cross a street in Saigon - INSANITY!
Imagine if all those motorcycles were automobiles... 😱
Glad you made it home and hope you are doing well. We ain't getting any younger but keep on truckin'! ✌
Thank You For Your Service
I made two trips to Saigon in the early 90s, '94 and '95 to be exact. We had just finally reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam and there were three ways to get a visa to go there; the Vietnamese Youth Tourist Association in San Diego, the Vietnam embassy in Bangkok or Hong Kong. I went to Bangkok after trying through the Vietnamese Youth Tourist Association. What a cluster fluc and a whole other story.
In just the little time I was there the experiences i had could come close to a good sized article, maybe a book. It was bustling, magical, unique to my experience and nearly 20 years on from the war. I stayed at what was the Century Saigon in the city and a former French hotel called Petro House in Vung Tau. The trip there from Saigon and back is vivid in my memory and would take a lot of space to write about.
I missed the war show being just barely too young for it and find it hard to imagine just how many experiences someone there a year would have had, a lot not good at all of course but the majority of people never saw combat. I figure there was not a lot but bars and booze and girls for them in the precarious tension of the city or a base somewhere.
My trips to SE Asia were the highlight of my world wide work. It was a lot to take in and I was so enthusiastic I could see more in a week of evenings and weekends than most people who lived in a given location did in five years. I would come home exhausted from the travel but ready to go again in days.
I definitely was enchanted with Vietnam from my first trip in 99 and went back four more times although it’s been at least 15 years since my last trip like everything else it’s now becoming gentrified, commercialized and over touristed
I was in the Central Highlands in 1967, never made it to Saigon. Wish I had, looked like fun.
people don't day this enough. Thank you for your service
@@bretlarsen2066 - The grunts used to call us, that who were stationed in Saigon, Saigon Commandos or Saigon Warriors. I was there from Nov '66 to Jan '70 stationed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. I was on another extended six month tour in country but I cancelled it since a PCS assignment to Taipei Air Station, Taiwan, was being given to me. I served six years in Taiwan. I have to this day many memories of being stationed in Saigon.
@@GuonMr better than being called a REMF right? Saigon was where MAC-V headquarters were, so I'm assuming were you pretty big time.
I am not sure this lady knew there was a war going on.
It’s beautiful when we arrive, it’s Shanty when we leave. Nothing’s changed.
I arrived in Saigon in 1967 station on a army base in Ton Son Nhut Airport, I had a interesting 2 years as a draftee in the Army. First sent to Fort Polk for basic training but one the CO found out I was an artist he had me painting a mural in the Day Room my last month in basic training. I was given orders to stay a Fort Polk for Advanced Infantry training but in 1966 with Johnson wanting 500,000 GIs in Vietnam the Army had a hard time organizing training and my orders were change from Infantry training to Technical Illustrator and I was sent to the Drill Sergeants School to make training aids. After 7 months I got bored and was curious about what was happening in Vietnam. Again luck was on my side and I was station at the Airport just outside of Saigon.
My first night I was was in a processing and given a bunk bed, that night trying to sleep I kept hearing the Beatles and Rolling Stones playing just out side the barracks, confused that the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were playing near me I followed the sound and learned it was a Filipino band that sounded exactly l like the the Beatles and Rolling Stones. The next morning I was sent to the the unit I was assigned to at the airport. There I met the first sergeant that told me what hutch I was to sleep in and then showed me the pass box where I could get a pass that allowed me to go to down town Saigon any time I wanted. also besides the pass box was a box of condoms that I was told to take as many as I wanted free. The following morning I was down in Saigon with a free condom. As a 21 year old I was the kid in the candy store, never did I get a girlfriend there was just two many beautiful women in Saigon and I never could settle for just one. I was also introduced to pot, and the beautiful city of Saigon that I must have taken a 1,000 photos of since I was with a Signal Unit with it's own photo lab. The second week I was in Vietnam our company had a party on an island in the Saigon River, There was the bar-b-Q , free beer, steaks and a waterski boat, I was waterskiing with a flack jacket on right in the middle of Saigon, I could trun this into a novel about all the fantastic things I did and say but the one thing I did not see was the war, even the Tet offensive, just my luck I had taken my first R&R to Australia , 2 days after I arrived in Australia the Viet Cong attacked most of the cities in Vietnam. When I got back to Saigon the Tet was over.
Sounds like part of a script for apocalypse now ! You said you took a lot of pictures. Are they posted anywhere? And you never saw any real combat I take it… sounds like to me that anybody that wasn’t in the field was living it up in and around Saigon in this exotic weird but wonderful land known as Vietnam. I’ve been there four times myself. Unfortunately it’s become commercialized and westernized to death.
Nowadays it's called Ton Son Nhat btw! either that or they changed the pronunciation
Denise: code for denial. When she crosses the boulevard at 12:14, it looks like a scaled-down version of what it's like now: waves & waves of scooters, bicycles, rickshaws, and the occasional car. You shuffle across, not too fast but steady, and they'll manage to miss you by inches and a smile.
Lived there for 6 years during the war and after.Went to Phoenix Study Group school across from Marie Curie School.Cercle Sportif was our tennis and pool club.We loved Saigon!Ate at ALOT of restaurants on Tu Do.Even the Floating Restaurant.Caravelle,Blue Diamond,La Castelle,Brinks,Continental Palace Hotel,Maxims,Na Mi,La Cave and many more wonderful viet restaurants we ate at.We had to leave in 1975 and I still miss Vietnam to this day.
Correction:Nha My restaurant instead of Na Mi.
@@belga3513 did you eat at Cheap Charlie's?
It's Friday March 4th 2022 And My Relative was there in Saigon 1967 plus I knew a Vietnamese Woman who's Knew Someone who worked for the US Embassy in Saigon She was lucky when She got out in 1975
Lived there 65-66, went Back in 69 for a year, but lived in Tay Ninh.
I was 4 years old living in Saigon at the time
Thank You to all GIs had fought to protected the South of Vietnam!
God Bless you all
vietnam undefeated
Who is GIs? Why does a country with sovereignty and history need protection from foreigners? We don't need them!
What an idiot, you are thanking people who worked to keep imperialism alive in your country and people?
@@DaiCaThanh71 it’s good nowadays Vietnam is kissing American, butt
Holy crap.
How is this not a mandatory viewing.
Những kí ức lại ùa về trong tôi nhớ lại năm này tôi 3t mẹ đã 32t đc biết là chuẩn bị cho một chuyến di dời nơi ở mới,, ôi mẹ tôi một tấm lòng can đảm quyết liệt 👍👍 thương thật 😒😒😒
Chuc ban cung gia ₫inh ₫a cam dui xom tro Bolsa thanh cong. 48 nam qua ben ban & gia ₫inh ₫a la My moi 3que ky sinh trung !
A great book about America's early involvement is Graham Greene's "The Quiet American". One of my faves on Vietnam,and a great read for anytime.
"The Quiet American" (1955) and "The Ugly American" (1958) . . . were both written years before American involvement in Vietnam. The fact that they didn't help is worth pondering . . .
Wonderful book. Practically foretells all that will happen over the next 20 years.
@@johnhopkins494 I didn't see the movie,but it couldn't have matched the pre-American war vibe the book gave off. Felt like you were "in-country"
@@markberryhill2715 Interestingly there are two film versions. Have seen a very good one with Michael Caine. There’s another earlier one with Michael Redgrave but apparently it is a poor adaptation. Nothing like the book though is there.
@@johnhopkins494 some things are impossible to recreate. That time period from 1945-1965 in Vietnam would be one.
My opinion, this is a great video. I visited Saigon many times during my tour in 71-72. HN
My parents grew up here during this period. What blossomed here was a vibrant culture, individualistic and modern in spirit but still uniquely Vietnamese, reflected in wonderful books and music. All this would be erased 8 years later when the North took over though, through cultural purging and replacement with soviet collectivist propaganda. Books were burnt, music was banned, and people sent to "re-education" camps. Despite the government there today still trying to suppress it with stilted propaganda and one-sided school curriculums, the young generation in Vietnam have been rediscovering this old culture because of the internet. Hopefully they re-discover that beautiful individualistic Vietnamese spirit as well.
It sounds like Florida.
Great footage and good history. I enjoyed watching that couple dancing the Argentine tango, they did it with skill.
I heard and read from veterans that lived and vacationed there that it was a virtual powderkeg at the time this was filmed. One veteran even mentioned that he drank and ate with a Vietnamese girl on building tops and balconies watching mortar attacks and bombings in the outskirts. He even was told by his companion, "Don't worry about the people jumping from rooftop to rooftop. They won't bother us." They all had ak47s and other weapons to hide from the MPs and police on the street. It didn't stop anyone from partying.
Adapt to the situation. Bet Regards
15:53 several minutes into interviewing an eloquent 22 year-old and not a single “like” or “ummm” in sight. Delightful.
There were plenty of ahhhhs and ummms
Candy would now be 77 if she is still alive.
Imagine going to Saigon in 67 for a holiday. Madness.
Remember the song by The Dead Kennedies: “Holiday in Cambodia” ?
More like stupid.
@@Boris_Chang It has been said by some historians that Nixon's bombing of Cambodia destabilised the country and to the Khmer Rogue taking over later - and, of course the killing fields.
@Peter Mackie Kinda of like Bush jr. Implementing regime change in Iraq and then suddenly you have ISIS in Iraq.
She seemed quite naïve to the whole situation. Then her thoughts on the "Americanization" of Saigon. Well it comes down to dollars (American) and what the GIs wanted. Home or familiarity.
Everyone should visit Saigon, today. Was there a couple years ago, and they were digging for a subway. Can you imagine Saigon with a subway system? Holy mackerel!
They are finishing line one, this year. It is a beautiful city.
Not surprising Tunneling comes natural to Vietnamese. It is odd to see Vietnam now with sky scrapers
@@harrybriscoe7948 lol
@@harrybriscoe7948 you're so funny :)
This was a real eye opener for me, that tourists from the US visited Saigon during the war.
I remember reading the accounts of British journalists such as Julian Pettifer and Max Hastings, about eating wonderful food in Saigon, and then the next day being out at the sharp end with US forces.
Spent two years in NAM. First year 1965 was in Saigin. 2nd year 69-70 in Tay Ninh.
thank you for your services
What unit in 69-70?
so cool! thx for uplloading this.
Interesting listening to "Denise from Denver", lovely lady and right on... I'm also from the Denver area and went up river into Saigon by ship four times during 1967, great memories of traveling around that city by foot, jeep, bus and boat... Amazing to be able to compare my many photos with YT and google street views, what a change... And a "hello" to Denise if she's still around and sees this...
I find it a bit odd but maybe it was the spirit of the times for Denis to travel there……alone, no less. I’d love to know the rest of her story.
THANK YOU GREAT FOR MORE HISTORIC LEARNING & UNDERSTANDING
This is GREAT, more from this series PLEASE!!!!!
i was 19 what struck me about saigon was all the young men my age riding around on a scooter with beautiful girlsd
I was in saigon; assigned to Tan Son Nhut AB 69-70; age 19; what an adventure that was; lol...
R.I.P. Adrian Cronauer, a truly inspirational man.
LOL we just saw the real Adrian Cronauer. Up to now I did not realize that the Robin Williams character was based on a DJ bearing the same name.
This is Kramer Haas, not Adrian. There were several DJ’s that used the “Good Mornin’ Vietnam “ phrase
@@eddenoy321 That's Kramer Haas, not Adrian Cronauer.
@@steverhodesvideos6244 ok ty
Nice to see the old 218th MP Company again while they were still young. Some of the best and oldest friends I'll ever have.
Was that before the 716th MP Batallion. As a member of the 377th Security Police, we worked closely with the 716th.
Nathan Armstrong Good catch Nathan. In this video it was B Company 716 MP Battalion. The Jeep in both scenes was the “Rat Patrol” Jeep number B27. And I was the driver.
218th was a medical dispensary on Tran Hung Dao.
Candy was making $910 a month in 1967 Saigon. Not bad at all.
That's about $7067 in today's dollars. Candy was living large.
That would've been a princely sum back then. Even today you have to be a qualified professional to be making $1000 a month in Vietnam. Saigon was just high on GI Dollars.
Minimum wage in the USA was around $150 an hour
My brother spent his young years over there, and his letters are still saved in a box. All he would tell us is that he was still alive, and getting drunk whenever he could !!!
I spent over a year in Saigon, 1968-69, and this film really distorted the character of the people and the conditions they lived in. Mostly poor, mostly jobless, the situation was a daily crisis of survival. Women of all ages took to pleasing GIs and TuDo street was a long block of graft, thievery, black marketers and tea girls. If you had money you could get and do whatever you wanted. The GIs were mostly isolated from the population in spite of living among them. The language was difficult to learn and not many soldiers were willing to give their time to learning it. Life was sad and corrupt and the river was cluttered with small boats and people living on them.The blonde in the film wasn't very bright in spite of comments otherwise. Bringing 200 dollars greenbacks had to be BS because there was a strict rule about having greenbacks in Saigon. She also fails to mention traveling a few miles outside of Saigon and the absolute danger it provided. In short, this brief look at the city does little to enlighten anyone abotut the truth of the city or the ultimate disaster soldiers faced as the war came closer to an ending.
"Denise Schreiner of Denver CO" was a dolt. She obviously failed to notice how few young men around Saigon were not in uniform.
@@signore1043 thanks for the real word.
@@signore1043 It's a classic example of propaganda. I knew a Marine who was working in Saigon for years then. He was lucky enough to remain in Saigon during his entire tour of duty. Mostly doing office work.
@@signore1043
Everyone's a critic. What you have to realize is this film was made in the late 60's and likely had to be screened and approved by the U.S. Government before it could be shown here. Although it was not a declared War, the Vietnam conflict was still War in other terms and reality.
I enjoyed the video and more than ever appreciate not having to serve in that S-hole country with its rabbit-like over population. The Vietnam conflict did cause me to join the U.S. Navy for four years to avoid being drafted for two years. And it all worked out well for me.
Crazy times for all involved. One of my cousins died in the war in the late 60s. A few years later, I was in the Army, but I never left the states. I met more than a few soldiers who had been stationed in Saigon and they all had crazy stories to tell.
And they should all be sorry for the death and destruction they helped cause.
@@sammyd7857 Don’t forget, back then there was a draft. Most of those guys weren’t exactly there voluntarily.
@@jasjas-rm9kc yeah that wasn't the problem, the problem was and still is that the US has too many dumb arses that are blood thirsty criminals.
@@sammyd7857no, the elites caused that.
Cannot see why anyone wants to go back as a tourist. Army DAV 63 69🇺🇲🇺🇲🪖🤕
Her name is Denise Schreiner from Denver, CO visited Saigon 2 years after the My-Canh incident (1965). So it was 1967 as the video is titled.
Tom Winds do you have any informations about her?
@@DungPham-mu9fv She is fine looking but I imagine she is about 70 now.
She lives in North Carolina now, has a Facebook page and "Liked" this video on her page. Likely the same woman.
That’s not Adrien Cronauer doings the “Good morning, Vietnam!” slogan. It’s Kramer Haas, who was one of several DJs that used that. Haas died in 1990, at the age of 46.
Was that what the Robin Williams film got based on?
@@roblestako8221 yes...
I was there for business about 8 or 9 years ago. They were really excited about the highly anticipated opening of their first McDonald's. Needless to say, I apologized in advance. Eating lunch at a noodle shop with the locals was a unique experience and far better than mickey dees. Traveled to a pipe plant well south of Saigon that required a ferry ride, which was unexpected. Overall though, being a red blooded American man in my 40's at the time, I found the entire two day trip depressing because I could not shake the ghosts of the Vietnam war. I asked a young female rep from the company shuttling me around if people her age ever thought of the war. She dismissed my question with a no, that's ancient history. That would be the same response you'd get in the US from a 20 something, if they'd even heard of Vietnam or the war. Time marches on, but old men like me remember. God bless every veteran who served over there...on both sides.
the young generation doesn't give a damn. the old generation remembers well. the older remembers much better, and some even think that the US will invade Vietnam in the future... this generation fought the war and got no PTSD.
¹¹
Such as the my lai murderers? Gtf
I m an American who lived in Nha Trang for two year before the Corona, I used to go to Saigon every time I had to do a visa run. I would always make sure o had a few days to recover when o I went back.
Your special , we had to recoup from wounds , people like u make me sick!
I went to Nha Trang in 99 it was still fairly sleepy and met a local girl who i ended up marrying and is now living here in the states. Unfortunately, we split up, but no hard feelings. I remember the airport used to be right in the town now it’s far away.
my Dad was there Aug 66 thru Aug 67 at Ton Son Nhut Air Base . He was glad to come home and has no desire to go back.
TSN doesn't exist any more. I saw only 1 building I recognized. He'd never recognize anything now.
I was in Saigon in '67. this little snippet barely does it justice...
I was in Saigon in 1968. I was billeted at the St. George Hotel in Cholon. We went out every evening to the dozens of bars that lined the street to have a few beers and talk with the beautiful girls that worked in the bars. A couple of weeks later I was in DaNang , my duty station, where the bars where off limits to U.S. personnel.
Bet you could get a room and a girl for barely 10 bucks maybe even less
Good morning, Vietnam! Hey, this is not a test. This is rock and roll. Time to rock it from the delta to the DMZ!
The pretty American Blond from Denver was very interesting to hear. There is truth in what she said. Shocked that she was there in the first place.
it's chaotic ,It's tense and it's relaxed . it's strange and familiar , it's poor and it's rich , it's ... USA 2020
hahaha
Viet Nam 🇻🇳✊
This is big nose America
@@binguyen2277comunists=💩
It is so much ritch in the comunists countries😂
Combat wounded 68 And again in69 we thought we were doing the right things but American industrial complex made billions we lost limbs
Great video 👍
Wow. Kramer the record man. Perfect radio voice.
With people like Denise inheriting the world back then no wonder we are so screwed up now.
*I lived in Thailand and taught English in Bangkok. I would not go today and stay under the same conditions.*
My father was one of the slick platoon leaders of the 120th Aviation Company based in/near Saigon during early 1967. He had previously flown as the UH-1B Huey Gunship platoon leader of the 155th Aviation Company, seeing heavy combat primarily in support of the 1st Cav and the ROK Whitehorse Division in and around PLEIKU, KONTUM and BAN ME THUOT. In addition to the occasional combat assault, the 120th was tasked with transporting VIPs and members of the international press corps. (I just listened to a tape he made around this time and he had had General Westmoreland, Defense Secretary McNamara and Ambasador Lodge in his helicopter that afternoon. No pressure...) Because of the nature of the mission, only very experienced Army Aviators with current combat experience were assigned to this company. I think there's an excellent chance that my father was the pilot for some of the aerial footage in this film.
Thank you for telling these details of your father's military biography and experiences. There are so many men no one ever hears of, men to be proud of, thank you again!
Was in Saigon 12/69 courtesy of Uncle Sugar, life went on in the big city. Met a gentleman from Terra Haute , IN asked him what he was doing there, said it was the place to be ; told him I rather have been in Terra Haute...
A fascinating place; a fascinating time. Wow.
IBM had a tech and parts and supply warehouse there in '68. Talked to a couple of guys who came back in '69. They had a couple of wild stories about TET.
Growing up watching Walter Cronkite CBS News I finally made it there 2017. I watched and now I lived it
I feel so sorry for these gentle simple and friendly folk who were abused by the French and then the Americans
So many never wanted to go to Vietnam, and too many went home in body bags. I was in the military at that time, and Vietnam was to be my next duty station. I had orders and all the things needed, but out of the blue, my orders were cancelled, and I was sent to an RAF base in Germany. To this day, I do not know why. That wasn't the first time that happened to me. My first duty assignment was to Shaw AFB, S.C., but at the last minute I had my orders changed and was sent to the Panama Canal Zone. I often wonder why and have never come up with any satisfactory reason. Anyone out there who served in personnel could explain it, which would be appreciated. Even stranger, or almost stranger, is that the RAF base I was on in Germany closed nine months after I arrived, and I was sent to Turkey.
I was stationed at I was stationed at thompson note airport saigon
this is history now, this is a way to understand, this is beyond trancendental
2:01 - I was thinking "that sounds like the guy in the Robin Williams movie".
Saigon in 1967 was safer than Chicago in 2023
You weren’t in hell in saigon
Blacks murdering black is not a war it’s criminals
Dumb comment Joe lot of us were rarely in Saigon KheSanh was right around the corner
Agreed!
Cholon district?
Funny how our troops won tactically and perhaps operationally. But we still lost the war strategically. Yet despite this loss and our vastly different cultures, we have a pretty good relationship with Vietnam and their people today. Better than a lot of our allies.
perfectly ur right
Well, they never took Saigon with the US present. They only did it after the US left. Would've been a different story had the US military stayed.
I joined in 1965 Nov went to Basic at FT. Dix N.J. then A.I.T. FT. Gordon GA. 1966 Then off To Vietnam with the 1st. Cav. Div. Aco 2/12 Camp Radcliff in the Central Highlands An Khe Vietnam. If our Leaders Had Any brains then we could have Defeated the North In less then A year .But same as Now we Have Brainless President Like Dumb A## Johnson Then A jerk Like Nixon now we have dumb A$$ Brainless Biden.. And the call Girl VP Harris and Nazi Pelosi
Yes, once we stopped killing them and new generation was born and came of age.
@@Westcoastguy ???????????? the u.s. haz NO moral authority anywhere...at this time most African & Indigenous ppl were treated az sub-humanz........u need 2 clean up thoze foolz who attacked the capitol on 1-6-2021,.......
So many Lives wasted...and so little learnt!
I cant handle seeing a label made in viet nam 50,000 lost plus the aftermath and for what? a trade partner.
50 000 Americans and maybe 1 of these brave souls could have been a good president today (instead of the gas lighting guy with bone spurs)
@Jesus Christ like when he says he always knew it was a pandemic. Then look back at his statements since January. Lying scum bag.
@Jesus Christ BTW, I need my garage re-roofed. Are you available?
John Lim Late January, 1968... that so called gem blew up in ALL thier faces. Sadly. And each and every person got a WHOLE HEAPIN' HELPIN' of just how downright demonically dangerous and deadly that a combat area of operations could be to the Nth power!!!! ESPECIALLY urban combat. It was never the same after that EVER again!!
I was in the Central Highlands in 1966 TO 1967,I SPENT MY MONEY IN SIN CITY IN AN KHE VIETNAM WAS WITH THE 1ST CAV, DIV. ONLY SEEN SAIGON WHEN WE LANDED THERE
I have a feeling "Candy" sold a lil more than drinks at her "bar"! 😁
Does anyone know what happened to Nguen Thi Phi Yen She was the Tiger telephone operator in the film called Squeaky
She disappeared after fall of Saigon
Thank you for your response. She was a very special friend. How do you know she disappeared?@@cedricliggins7528
Part 84? There were 83 episodes such as this? It's friggin' two years into the conflict.
The movie 84 Charlie MoPic is a hell of a movie. If I remember correctly 84 was an identifier for the Motion Picture Unit of the US Armed forces. At any rate the movie is titled "84 Charlie Mopic" and it is one of the movies shot in the documentary Cinema Verte` style as was the "Battle of Algiers". It was Viet Nam era vet told me to watch 84 Charlie Mopic saying it was the most realistic Viet Nam movie. It was a Sundance film. I knew the guy from bars on Ave. A. East Village in like '89.
Lived there the entire year 1966. Went back 69 and lived in Tay Ninh.
What was it like in 66 probably still livable, but getting precarious
@@jamesmack3314Never bothered. I lived in two private villas. Could walk all over the city without fear.
@@multitieredinvestor183 wow why were you there? Were you involved with the military or a civilian type assignment? ( CIA?)Have you ever been back? I’ve been there 4 times,my first trip was in 1999 ,planning on going back this year hopefully
Never had an answer for any problem that arose. It just got worse and worse.
Been there, done that
MACV-3 Compound, Cholon, Dai Nam Hotel Billet, 4/66 - 5/67
Army SP5
Cholon was incredible
Chuck F : The first I heard of "MACV" was from Franklin Millers book,"Reflections of a Warrior".
Amazing book.
What was your MOS?
@@tapptom PMOS: Infantry, SMOS: Clerk
Originally assigned as MACV Infantry Advisor but when I got to Saigon I asked if they needed any clerks with a Secret Clearance in Saigon an got reassigned to MACV HQ. Got a TS Clearance soon after.
@@ebayerr At MACV-3 Compound there was so much brass that only Lt Gen and above were saluted. It is also where SOG HQ was located.
Talk about an exotic place back then I was there 32 years later it was still fairly exotic. Those guys must’ve been freaking out with all those beautiful young ladies in ao dais
I wonder what happened to "Squeaky"? Does anyone know?
Ah Yes I do remember the (almost) compulsory attendance of the "Five O:clock Follies"and the excuses to get out of meetings .What a bunch of crap.You could get the real low down from your favorite bartender or your maid (who were both probably VC informants in real life and are now living in The US. I remember that several times in Da Nang it was "Chu Jim,You can not go your home tonight on this road.You go to hotel please".
Poy Ester
1 second ago
Two Commie bastards that should have been put in prison when we gave up Saigon in 1975 are; Woodward & Bernstien ! It is on record today, that Richard Nixon and Kissenger had the peace deal with Ho Chi-Mingh and his N.V.A. to allow us (the U.S.A.) and France to keep Saigon , like Briton held Hong Kong for 99 years ! Those two power hungry Commie low-lifes forced Nixon out of office , thus allowing Ho Chi-Mingh to snowjob & bully Gerald Ford to bend over and give up 100% of the once created country of So. Vietnam that we fought so hard for ! Some of my best friends died over there and we got zilch , zero and stu-gotz out of many years of war !
thank you for the insight.... they must have liked you, that bartender or maid
I spent my entire RandR in Saigon. I was going to go to Australia but fell into the hands of a few beautiful Asian flowers. At the ElPresidenta hotel.
What, were you a teenager? Oversexed jerk. You saw what you could get there when you would never get this at home.
@@joebiernacki7346 "Ronnie" did not seem to have any regrets about remaining in Saigon vs going to 'Stralia. Being a male American teenager and an oversexed jerk has always been about the same thing. So now he has fond memories of brown p----y vs. blonde p-----y . And it was "Me love you long time GI!" vs "G'day Mate!" (they are all the same in the dark). And he made it home alive= WIN-WIN....
@@Frank-mm2yp All very true, he was lucky guy.
I made it to Australia R & R and it was a very pleasant change.
My duty station was the headquarters area of the airbase in Saigon. It was too interesting in parts and I did not need a R&R. My job was administrative and non threatening. I consider myself to be very lucky.
Love John Scali's bar code and horned rim glasses look ! He was a classic.
ABC news John Scali was a trusted "New Frontiers News Man" during the JFK Administration.
So trusted that he played a minor role acting as a covert back channel go-between the US and the USSR during the Cuban Missile crisis.
Definite watch !
I wish that I could have been living in Saigon as an adult during 50's and 60's...!
Go there now, it’s safer. They love you long time.
This D.J was obviously the inspiration for robin williams character in" Good morning vietmam".
Obviously
@97RAVINEAVE Yes thats what i was talking about.
You don't say?
mark ruane Um, yes. Your comment shows I’m old. I assumed it was general knowledge.
@@mariekatherine5238
Are you older than dirt? ;)
2:19 Looks like Robin Williams stole the Good Morning Vietnam bit! Or was he actually playing army specialist Kramer Hass the record man? Someone please tell me!
He did it on the fly as only Robin could do.
18:05 Their argentine tango was not bad at all.
Good morning Viet Nam!
I love Saigon!
cc đso là tp Hồ Chí Minh
Amazing city, my favourite place abroad. April ill go back
And then came Tet in 1968. What a big "surprise," that was. Right.
I turned 21 in Phu Cat Vietnam, I went to Saigon and stayed at the El Presidente hotel, big club on the top floor. The map of Vietnam looks like a dragon.
Denise, with bleached-blonde hair, could be as unconcerned as she wished about Vietnam in 1967 because as a female she was NOT susceptible to be drafted! Even as a 13 year old in ‘67 I was worried about the potential of being drafted, even more so because I had 3 older brothers who were closer to it. In fact my oldest brother joined the National Guard in 1965 because my father was tipped off that my brother was about to be drafted. (This was the same thing the second Pres. Bush did.) I was fortunate that the draft ended the year I turned 18.
But Denise’s scorn for antiwar protestors - “what do THEY know?” - is, again, because there was no personal threat to her, so she could remain dismissive and uninvolved.
if you and your brothers were real men, you would have volunteered and fought instead of hiding away under your mommys apron like the cowards you were !
A friend's brother signed up for the Texas National Guard one morning, circa 1968. That afternoon, he got a draft notice in the mail.
@@dt10539 Exact same thing happened to my brother in 1965. He was out of the USA when my father found out from a friend who worked at the draft board (located in the same building as my father's office) that he was to be drafted. He flew back immediately and then signed up for the National Guard on the same day his draft notice was delivered. This was a common thing at that time; being in the NG usually meant you avoided being sent to Vietnam.
Same as Somlia.
@@hebneh Like George W. Bush.
The old film was probably film that started out with an ASA of 500 pushed to 800 which increases the grain to what you'd call golf ball size. 1200 equivalent ASA now on a digital camera in low light is still better than what was produced by these cameras and the film used. One guy was wearing a lot of gear if it was just one cameraman with a Nagra. There were some mag stripe cameras. I've got a book of the cameras and sound gear. I'll have to look it all up.
Transcendian
In the 60’s, most 16mm film used for news and documentary footage would have been either 25-100 ASA for colour or 50-200 for b&w. Pushing one stop was okay, two stops was only for the most dire situation - 16mm film, even with fine grain, lost a lot of resolution and lost highlight and shadow detail altogether. 35mm film could manage two stops, I used that technique a lot for sports and concert footage to keep shutter speeds high enough to freeze the action. Even so, compared to today’s cameras, those pictures were quite grainy and didn’t enlarge well. Funny when I look back at old magazines and books from that era - up until the 90’s - just how much the quality of both photography and printing have improved through the use of digital imaging.
@@dwm1156 Thanks, I forget things sometimes. I have a roll of 7250 I never had developed here by me in my submarine captain's desk area. Reads 400 for clean lens & 250 for 85 B filter. Yes in so many ways the best camera I have personally owned is my Olympus Tough.
Transcendian
Yeah, 7250 was great film for the very things I was speaking of - 400 ASA right out of the box, no push needed! Unfortunately it didnt come along till the late 70’s... you should get that roll processed someday though!
Saigon was the official American Government brothel for its soldiers and military.
18:01 - Lawrence Welk must be somewhere in the house.
JEROME IN DA HOUSE 🕺🕺
Lawrence Well was my dad's first cousin.
I wonder if this American woman was around when the TET offensive went down in January 1968?
John Scali was later U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. I wonder how many times "Candy" received the old "zippo lighter" proposal in a bar. "Denise Schreiner of Denver CO" is fortunate that she's a woman. Otherwise, another draftee from Denver CO would be wearing baggy green fatigues in Saigon.
Giong cua co gai de thuong qua
Whatever happened to Denise Schreiner from Denver, Colorado?
There was only a brief period on the USA when this kind of news reporting from a war zone was allowed - where criticism and negative realities were permitted to be disseminated. And after Vietnam, the government clamped down and never let it happen again.
Wow, ho chi minh city has not changed alot, some of the buildings are still there today.
Very beautiful place.
It has changed a lot though many of the old buildings are still there. I am afraid most of them will be gone soon. Sad.
To those of us who love freedom it will always be Saigon. We'll never call it that other name.
@@tedmccarron you right...and the Vietnamese still call it sai goon (saigon)
@@tedmccarron for those who love freedom we are proud to call it Ho Chi Minh City, named after one of the greatest Liberty Fighter, President and human being :)
@@ManuLMalik no, those who love freedom would never name Saigon after a brutal Communist dictator. Ho Chi Minh took from and liberty away from people, he didn't defend it. He took away their freedom of speech, freedom of religion, free enterprise oh, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly. The man was an evil monster who persecuted people for disagreeing with communist ideology even the slightest bit. He was an enemy of freedom and liberty, not a supporter of it.
super
"B52 bombing raids on the edge of Saigon". Ya, right. A full B52 strike would shake the entire city
I was thinking that too, I am thinking the B52 strikes were farther north.
They did shake Saigon. I was stationed in an old mansion along the Saigon river and the overhead lights would sway and the walls vibrate. They bombed around the outskirts of the city trying to destroy the enemy who were really hiding in the tunnels of Cu Chi.
what happened to denise shcreiner from Denver?
Joe Blow: Me too, i'm curious about what has become of her? What a keen observer she was: "what did they (the anti-war Americans) know about the real situation on the ground in Vietnam" and "how could they get so upset over something they didn't know or experience first hand?" Denise has certainly succeeded in exposing the hypocrisy and the naiveté of that TV room bound anti-war American generation with those very valid questions!
Best wishes to you, Denise Shcreiner, wherever you are at the moment, on earth or in heaven.
hoang tran did u ever find out what happened to her?
Tom Tapp: No. Nothing is known of her whereabout after "This is Saigon" of 1967. If she's still around, she should be in her 70s or 80s by now, judging the way she looked in the documentary footage.
hoang tran Yeah...likely 72 73...I think she was a usa CIA plant. No girl 22 from america would be in saigon without a reason...at that time. Your english is good...where are u now?
Her name is probably "Schreiner", as it's a common German name. Very interesting to see her challenging the standard thoughts and views of that time and go find out for herself - if she actually told the truth. I can see where you get the idea that this would be CIA propaganda. Then again, from what I read and heard, she's closer to the truth than those hippies that thoughtHo Chi Minh was bringing freedom.
I read "Triumph of the Absurd" (watched the video to get a feeling for Saigon at that time) and wonder about all the people Siemon-Netto met there and what might have happened to them.