During their years in the Hong Kong detentions centers, in efforts to gain political asylum, the Nungs revealed their US service histories and burned Vietnamese flags.  Visiting communist officials made it clear that reprisals awaited them in Vietnam.

When the communists gained controlled of China in 1948, over 100,000 Nung in the southern provinces emigrated to South Vietnam (SVN). Almost immediately they joined the French and fought the communists until 1954. Those that survived and many of their sons, continued fighting communism during the Vietnam War. The Nung were extremely loyal to Americans and served in US civilian agency programs, US Special Forces (USSF) units, and security units guarding the US Embassy and other sensitive installations.

In the closing days of the Vietnam War in 1975, our government evacuated 130,000 Vietnamese loyalists and resettled them in the US.  For the millions of US and SVN loyalists left behind, communist reprisals were imminent.

To escape, all with the means to do so began fleeing the country and the fastest way out was the South China Sea.  It's anyone's guess as to how many left.  We do know that up to 1980 1,000,000 Vietnamese Boat People reached the shores of other Pacific Rim countries.

Those who couldn't escape faced "reeducation" and most complied.  But the hard-core anticommunists faced execution and the harshest of punishments.  Some tried to conceal or play down their US backgrounds but relatively few were successful.  Those who weren't were severely tortured then executed or drew the longest prison terms.

In 1979, through the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), the US and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) negotiated the Orderly Departure Program (ODP). The US objectives were to provide a framework for:

(1) US immigration of SRV citizens who had relatives in the US.

(2) US immigration of those imprisoned as a result of their USG or SVN service.

With this agreement, the SRV began cooperating on the first objective, family reunification. However for the second objective, it would be ten more years and 1989 before any survivors began arriving in the US. Many had been in prisons or reeducation since the end of the war.

The ODP has been successful in bringing 470,000 Vietnamese to the US of which 160,000 are reeducation camp survivors and immediate family.  Of the balance, 80,000 are AmerAsians and the remaining 230,000 are family reunification cases.

While ODP has been a huge humanitarian success, the US Department of State (USDOS) slammed the door on our bravest allies.  Among them were our indigenous espionage agents, the Lost Commandos, Earth Angels, Kit Carson Scouts, US Special Forces fighters, and The Forgotten Army of Montagnards.

For a quick look at this travesty, click on the photo to the left.  Use your Browser Back button to return here.
 
 

Recon Team Washington, C&C Central, MACV SOG, 1971
 
 

Photo courtesy of Howard Sugar, all rights reserved.
 
 

In June of 1989, seventy countries signed the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) to deal with the mass of humanity that fled Vietnam, and Cambodia and Laos as those countries went communist.  The CPA dictated that all Boat People would be screened, first by the country where they landed. Those determined not to be genuine refugees (fleeing political persecution) were "screened-out."

If they were "screened-in" as refugees, they were eligible for the next step, review by the UNHCR.  If the UNHCR granted Mandate Refugee Status, the case was eligible for review by one of the nations that had agreed to resettle Boat People.  Thus a third round of screening took place, this time according to the immigration laws of the country that the refugee sought.

But the CPA was riddled with flaws and there was no oversight in the critical first- screening conducted by the various sovereignties.  This resulted in many abuses as thousands who deserved refugee status were barred from UNHCR review.  A total of 150,000 people were forcefully repatriated to their homeland and communist reprisals.  The US General Accounting Office and several international humanitarian organizations, cited severe problems in the local screening processes, to include Hong Kong's.  But American officials who wanted to help, found their hands were tied.  The US, according to the terms of the CPA, had no authority.

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In May 1992, Hong Kong British authorities entered a secret agreement with the Vietnamese communists (see Refugees At Risk article Human Rights Watch <http://www.hrw.org/research/hongkong.html> but be advised you can not Browser Back from that site).  The agreement called for the repatriation of all Vietnamese Boat People with assurances from the SRV that none would be persecuted.  However, at the insistence of the Vietnamese, the Chinese Nungs were specifically excluded from any such reprisal protections. The SRV also had a screening process which essentially excluded those with medical problems, non-nationals, and common criminals; yet "political" and "revolutionary" criminals were eagerly accepted.

Among the 224,000 Vietnamese to reach Hong Kong, 3,000 Nungs arrived between 1987 and 1991.  Some of the Nungs were USG and USSF employees during the war.  Having burned all or most of their documentation in 1975 to avoid discovery, some had a photo in uniform but mostly just war stories of American service.  As far as we know, only a small percentage of the Nung were screened-in as refugees by Hong Kong officials.  Except for the 207 of our recent focus and those that escaped the refugee camps in desperation, the vast majority were forcefully returned to Vietnam.

In 1993, biographies reduced to a paragraph including photos, began appearing in the Special Forces Association (SFA) magazine, The Drop.  The Nung needed to find Americans who would support their claims of US service in hopes that British authorities would reconsider their cases.  As a result, USSF veterans sent letters substantiating many of the Nung petitions.  Although we thought we did some good, the British ignored us.

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Between 1989 when the CPA was signed and 1996, 67,000 Boat People were screened-out by the British and forced back to Vietnam.  All of the thirty-one Nung cases, that were determined to be bonafide refugees as a result of our efforts, had been rejected as such by the Hong Kong Government as well as two subsequent UNHCR reviews.  One can only wonder how many genuine refugees, were among the 67,000 forcefully repatriated.

Only 143,000 Boat People were screened-in, granted refugee status, and eventually resettled in CPA-participating countries.  Annually, 300 refugees escaped from the Hong Kong Detention Center.

By early 1996, 14,000 people remained in Hong Kong in various stages of processing or were simply detained as illegal immigrants.  Pam Baker & Company Solicitors (attorneys) in Hong Kong, was heavily involved in refugee issues and the legalities of the Detention Center operations.  Pam and one of her solicitors, Wanyong Austin, an American from New York, represented many Nungs in their petitions against forced repatriation or unreasonable detention. Some of the latter cases were prompted by resourceful Nungs who had obtained Taiwanese identity papers.  The SRV refused to accept non-nationals even as forced repatriates, so these people just languished in jails.

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When the Chinese demanded that all Boat People be cleared from Hong Kong prior to the July 1, 1997 government transition, Hong Kong authorities attempted to accelerate the forced repatriation schedule.  However, the refugees themselves frustrated this effort.  They held demonstrations, burned SRV and British flags, and inspired boycotts of the airlines contracted for the forced repatriation flights.  Their relatives in the US picketed in support.  One by one the air carriers disassociated themselves from the Boat People flights due to low profits, bad publicity, and the dangers of in-flight violence.  In April of 1996, Malaysia Airlines finally withdrew its participation and Hong Kong authorities were reduced to leasing aircraft and hiring free-lance flight crews.

As the clock ticked down to the spring of 1997 and the forced repatriation flights continued, 4,000 Boat People remained in Hong Kong.  Among them were thirty-one Nung families, the heads of which all claimed US agency or USSF service in Vietnam.

On April 2nd Andy Clarke of CBS News, Tokyo got word of the Nung situation and contacted COL (Ret) Jack Isler in the US.  Andy asked if Jack would help in finding US vets to substantiate the Nung claims.  Jack agreed and contacted Wanyong Austin of Pam Baker Solicitors, Hong Kong.  Wanyong packaged the Nung biographies and photos, and mailed one to each of the seventy-four SFA Chapters.  Jack also contacted Paul Campbell of the SFA On-Line Net and Bob Jack of the SF-List (<http://teamhouse.tni.net>).  About this same time, Eulis Presley (SFA/SOA) was also in contact with Wanyong Austin.  Eulis had written a letter to a prominent American and champion of similar causes, requesting help for the Nungs; although this person was a major influence in freeing the Nungs, he prefers to remain in the wings.

As a result of the SFA and SF-List Internet activities, approximately 1,000 SF vets and Nung advocates linked-up. The Internet was exploited to generate public interest, find USSF personnel who had worked with the Nung, and to coordinate our project.

Our lobbying effort was directed at the White House, House of Representatives, Senate, State Department and other US officials. The objective was to get the USG to pressure for UNHRC intervention and grant Mandate Refugee Status to the Nung. Once achieved, the Nung petitions could be considered by US officials, but not until then. In the meantime, three more Nung families were sent back to Vietnam.

The SFA provided many addresses and phone numbers of the Americans the Nung sought. Steve Sherman was an immense asset in identifying additional USSF personnel who also served on the same teams. Bob Jack and Jim Kelley posted the Nung pictures and bios on the SF-List website for vets to identify and email/fax testimonials; the SF-List also posted regular updates on the project. Paul Campbell hammered away on the SFA On-Line Net with requests for help, congressional addresses, and situation reports.

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The balance of the "organization" just evolved as the rest of us continued or augmented our niches as needed. Besides Pam Baker & Company in Hong Kong, an experienced American in that part of the world (hereafter referred to as "Tiger"), provided advice and kept us posted on what was actually happening on the ground. I continued serving as the State Department POC and Jack Isler, SFA Project Officer, appointed me as the primary SFA Nung Resettlement Officer with Chris McClure as my assistant.

For the first month or so, our lobbying effort was deflected with the standard US State Department line, that the Nung would be safe in Vietnam. We were told, "There is a monitoring program in place to prevent reprisals ... we have not found any evidence of reprisals against repatriated Nungs and Vietnamese to date." Although we didn't buy this, we must have been having an impact. State told me the UNHCR was reviewing the Nung cases for the third time.

As a contingency for success, we started planning for a probable resettlement of the Nung in North Carolina. We alerted the Lutheran Family Services (LFS) in Greensboro and Raleigh, and the Catholic Social Services (CSS) in Charlotte. The LFS responded with an aggressive green light within a week and the CSS came on board shortly thereafter.

For the next week our State Department POC said they were waiting on the results of the UNHCR reviews; simultaneously, the UNHRC was saying the holdup was with State Department input!

As word of the operation spread, letters to Congress increased. From out of nowhere came Dee Zuber, having picked up one of our email messages. She remained on-line day and night, knew her way around Washington quite well, and exercised all of her contacts to get help. She also maintained email contact with the office of the prominent American that Eulis Presley reached earlier.

The prominent American assembled a delegation to visit Hong Kong.  Eulis could not participate so Bud McBroom (SOA/SFA) went in his place.  On May 21st a party of four consisting of Bud, Lieutenant General (Ret) Wayne Downing, VNAF Captain & former POW Dat Q. Nguyen, and the prominent American went to Hong Kong. They spent a day with Pam Baker & Company, split into two teams and during the next three days interviewed all thirty-one Nungs. Their report, concluding that the Nung were genuine and deserved refugee status, was submitted to the State Department. The tide began to turn in our favor.

Considerable weight was added when Representative Sonny Bono, Senators Alfonse D'amotto and Jesse Helms got involved. Too, the fax and email campaign to members of Congress began to have an effect as the State Department felt more pressure. Suddenly a handoff was made at the State Department and a new liaison person was assigned. We were now dealing with a Nung advocate.

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But an email from Tiger said otherwise. The SRV was demanding that Hong Kong authorities put eighteen adult children of five prominent Nungs on a flight to the SRV. Later that day the official US word remained the same, that Hong Kong's forced repatriation flights were canceled.

At 1700 hours (EST), May 29th Tiger telephoned to say the eighteen Nungs were still manifested and scheduled for takeoff in four hours. I called Jack Isler who called LTC Destatte who called the State Department Desk Officer. The Desk Officer woke the US Consular to Hong Kong at 0400 (local) with instructions to retrieve the eighteen Nungs, but there wasn't enough time for him to get to the airport.

Thanks to Tiger's friends, the plane developed "mechanical problems" and was stranded on the runway. The Consulate official arrived, boarded the plane, and removed what he thought were all eighteen Nungs. The pilot was replaced and the plane took-off for Hanoi. Minutes later the US official discovered that three of those he rescued were the wrong ones, and a young family of three Nungs were bound for Hanoi. The US Embassy in Hanoi was alerted and Ambassador Pete Peterson personally took custody of the Nungs when they landed.

The Vietnamese were fuming and frustrated Exit Permission for the three Nungs. With Madeline Albright's visit to Hanoi, the SRV relented and we were advised it would be late July before the family arrived in the US. But a status problem was about to develop.

All thirty-one of the Hong Kong Nung cases were interviewed by US officials and certified as former USG employees and refugees. They and their families, totaling 204 souls, began arriving in the US on June 20th. Three of the larger families were actually six separate cases thus yielding a final count of thirty-four families, excluding the one sent back to Vietnam.

Ten of the families were sent to North Carolina where over 90% of the US Montagnard community resides. Although very few of the US Montagnards had any wartime experience with the Nungs, they identify closely with them as ethnic minority freedom fighters and have really pitched-in to help them. The remaining twenty-four families are being resettled in other cities where they have relatives.

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It only took two faxes and two emails to the US Embassies in Bangkok and Hanoi to rectify this. My contention was that the family was forced into a different venue. Had they been processed in Hong Kong with the others, they would have been granted Refugee status as were all the other adult offspring and extended relatives of the thirty-one Nung principals. Although INS may have bent some rules in the Nung processing in Hong Kong because of the political interest, a precedent was set for this particular group. This family was part of that group and should be afforded the same latitude, if indeed there was any. Moreover, the law does provide for exceptions if "US Public Interests" are served.

Reason prevailed and the INS District Chief in Bangkok, Olen Martin, faxed me a reply within twelve hours stating, "... the family will arrive in the US on August 29th as Refugees." This was confirmed in an email a few minutes later from Eldon Hager, JVA Chief, Bangkok.
A tip of the Beret to all US Officials for their timely teamwork and cooperation in rescuing the last Nungs in Hong Kong. A special thanks to Senators Helms and D'Amatto, Representative Bono, and the prominent American for exercising their influence. For the non veterans who joined us, we're deeply grateful for you support and look forward to working with you again. To the SF'ers on this team, although many of us have never met, our spirit and brotherhood prevailed.

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Tommy Daniels
Pres. STMP                    Home