HueyPilotVN
Well-known member
I really enjoyed just reading the chapters by Seajay. This is a story that I have posted on the jeep commander web site where I am a moderator. This is not a typical war story and I do not write upsetting stories for posting. This story is contemporaty with CJ's timeline.
Not all war stories are related to bad memories. This one is one of my favorite memories of Viet Nam and though it has only been told a few times to close freinds during the last 40 years, I think it is time to tell it.
There was a Vietnamese doctor that grew up in a very respected family in one of the provinces of South Viet Nam. His father and older brothers were also Physicians. They had all been educated and trained in Medical School in Paris. France is closely associated with colonial Viet Nam and it was once known as French Indo China. There are and have been strong ties between the two countries.
This Physician was a Hemotologist (worked with blood diseases). While in Paris he met and married a French woman and they had six children together. His name was Captain Tu, in vietnamese a captain is called "Di We". He spent almost ten years in Paris where his father and brothers were practicing medicine. Just prior to qualifying for citizenship at ten years residence in France, Captain Tu was conscripted into the South Vietnamese Army as a Physician. He spent several years operating a Hemotology lab in the western part of the Delta.
I met him several times as he would pass thru the base where I was stationed in "Vinh Long" in the center of the Delta. He would make trips back to his home province and old family home. He was selling family assets and converting the vietnamese Piasters to American Greenbacks. I met him thru our Flight Surgeon who was a friend of his.
Captain Tu had managed over the years to send his three oldest children to live with their Grandparents and Uncles in Paris and to go to school there. His obligation in the Vietnamese Army continued to be extended.
Captain Tu, his wife and their three youngest children llived in "Long Swin" for years until he got a transfer to a different assignment.
One bright sunny morning a Huey picked up Dr Tu and his family and took off to the east into the morning sun, flew across the big river and out of sight. Shortly thereafter the Huey turned to the left and flew to the NorthWest up across the green rice paddies of the Delta. About an hour later the Huey crossed over an imaginary red line and continued Northwest. At a spot on a map where Highway One intersected a small village the Huey landed. An ancient French Citrogen car was waiting with a monk as the driver in his safron and orange robes. Doctor Tu shook hands and he and his family got into the small car and continued NorthWest to "Phnom Pen" where they had tickets on a French airliner to Paris.
That was over forty years ago. I have never heard or seen Dr Tu since and he would be in his seventies by now. I like to think of him with his reunited extended family living all these years together. The Huey turned south and dodged around palm trees until we returned across the red line on the map whereupon we climbed to altitude and rejoined the war.
I flew lots of interesting single ship missions during the two tours I spent over there, but I do believe that this was my most productive mission flown.
Sorry for the long post. That's my story and I am sticking to it.....and I think the statute of limitations has expired.
Not all war stories are related to bad memories. This one is one of my favorite memories of Viet Nam and though it has only been told a few times to close freinds during the last 40 years, I think it is time to tell it.
There was a Vietnamese doctor that grew up in a very respected family in one of the provinces of South Viet Nam. His father and older brothers were also Physicians. They had all been educated and trained in Medical School in Paris. France is closely associated with colonial Viet Nam and it was once known as French Indo China. There are and have been strong ties between the two countries.
This Physician was a Hemotologist (worked with blood diseases). While in Paris he met and married a French woman and they had six children together. His name was Captain Tu, in vietnamese a captain is called "Di We". He spent almost ten years in Paris where his father and brothers were practicing medicine. Just prior to qualifying for citizenship at ten years residence in France, Captain Tu was conscripted into the South Vietnamese Army as a Physician. He spent several years operating a Hemotology lab in the western part of the Delta.
I met him several times as he would pass thru the base where I was stationed in "Vinh Long" in the center of the Delta. He would make trips back to his home province and old family home. He was selling family assets and converting the vietnamese Piasters to American Greenbacks. I met him thru our Flight Surgeon who was a friend of his.
Captain Tu had managed over the years to send his three oldest children to live with their Grandparents and Uncles in Paris and to go to school there. His obligation in the Vietnamese Army continued to be extended.
Captain Tu, his wife and their three youngest children llived in "Long Swin" for years until he got a transfer to a different assignment.
One bright sunny morning a Huey picked up Dr Tu and his family and took off to the east into the morning sun, flew across the big river and out of sight. Shortly thereafter the Huey turned to the left and flew to the NorthWest up across the green rice paddies of the Delta. About an hour later the Huey crossed over an imaginary red line and continued Northwest. At a spot on a map where Highway One intersected a small village the Huey landed. An ancient French Citrogen car was waiting with a monk as the driver in his safron and orange robes. Doctor Tu shook hands and he and his family got into the small car and continued NorthWest to "Phnom Pen" where they had tickets on a French airliner to Paris.
That was over forty years ago. I have never heard or seen Dr Tu since and he would be in his seventies by now. I like to think of him with his reunited extended family living all these years together. The Huey turned south and dodged around palm trees until we returned across the red line on the map whereupon we climbed to altitude and rejoined the war.
I flew lots of interesting single ship missions during the two tours I spent over there, but I do believe that this was my most productive mission flown.
Sorry for the long post. That's my story and I am sticking to it.....and I think the statute of limitations has expired.
