Growing up in a very conservative missionary family, alcoholic beverages were The Great Satan. Drinking was not a good thing and I was encouraged from my youth to flee strong drink. I am fortunate in that I was never tempted in that area. Even in my most liberal periods, on this issue, I was ambivalent about what others did, yet, I myself virtually never imbibed. I would guess my total, lifetime consumption of all fruits of the vine, grain, hops or trees which have had time to ferment would be less than two gallons. Other than a beer shared with my friend Don at lunch on a very hot day in Tokyo, beer just tastes bad. My occasional sips of wine were enjoyed, but, I have almost no tolerance and move from vertical to horizontal really fast. So, as a policy, as I have travelled the world, I just beg off and have tea, soda, water, lemon juice or some similar non-intoxicating beverage.
In September 1988, I began working on POW/MIA teams in Vietnam with the US Government organization charged with that mission–The JCRC (Joint Casualty Resolution Center.) with the goal of answering the question, “Are there any Live Americans Missing from the Vietnam War in Captivity in South East Asia?” This story really has nothing to do with the POW/MIA issue itself. It is just one of those little narratives that swirl around the edges of big issues that give a bit of spice to life.
Initially, the teams were small. An American Team Leader, Analyst and “Grave Digger” from the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI). The Vietnamese side was comprised of three representatives, one each from Ministry of Defence, Foreign Affairs and the Interior Ministry (Their FBI/CIA rolled into one.) Additionally, we had a driver or two per team who were either Defense or Interior and had alternate duties in the security realm. One of the men who was frequently on my team was LTC Pham Teo.
Ong Teo (Mr. Teo) was a friendly man and we got along well. He always sought some sort of accommodation. I am sure he was trained well in matters beyond normal Army LTC duties. He was a true professional. Over the three years we worked together we developed a very good working relationship.
One of the areas that frequently came up, especially early on was the issue of drinking alcoholic beverages. After the first few trips, Mr. Teo accepted I just did not drink and it was not an issue. However, one day, we ended up on the Cambodian border in an area which had been subjected to intensive US bombing, invasions by the North Vietnamese, abuses by the Viet Cong and ravages by the Cambodians. In short there was nothing left. The people were destitute. Poverty stood out like a sore thumb. The did have one area to hang their hats. They made great moonshine (Quoc Luoi). Totally illegal. Zero taxes paid. Ubiquitously consumed by low born and senior official alike. As we sat down to a dinner with the officials from Hanoi, Song Be Province and the district and the village in a small hut with a grass roof and woven bamboo walls out came the moonshine.
This fine beverage was the toast of the town. It was smooth. It was rice rendered into a fine,crystal clear, potent drink guaranteed to shrivel the hair on a grown man’s chest. I began my routine which kept me from imbibing in normal circumstances.
“Thanks so much, but, my wife has not given me permission to drink!” “Are you afraid of your wife?” No self respecting Vietnamese would ever acknowledge the deep level of fear they have for their brides so my expression of fear normally freed me from alcoholic requirements, so I said “I am not afraid of the tiger in the jungle, I am afraid of the tiger in the house.” Being as my wife was in Hawaii, that did not buy me any traction. Step two. “I can not drink because I am responsible for my team’s security, the rest of the guys will but I can not.” They retorted “The guy at the end of the table with the double sized glass is chief of security for three provinces. If he can drink, you can too.” So, the toasting began. Seven glasses later, pain no longer existed. The number of people present was seemingly doubled.
Mr Teo then leans across the table and says “You never drink with me but, today you are drinking. You have to toast me as well!” He slid the glass of clear fire over to me. It was full to the brim. I said “Here’s to you,” grimaced and shot it down my throat. Crystal Clear plain water! Mr. Teo played the game but respected my beliefs. I have always appreciated him for that.
A sad note is Mr. Teo had a massive stroke about 1993 or 1994 and has been pretty much incapacitated since. Never-the-less, I have a soft spot in my heart for him to this day. So, let’s keep in mind, even when we have competing goals, hugely divergent idiologies, and were on opposites sides in a long and bitter war, there is still room for basic humanity and respect.
As an aside, the case we were working on in the village where this took place involved a young soldier who went missing during an Army Operation in I believe 1968. Another investigation team of forensic scientists were examining remains people had turned in to the Government of Vietnam. They had alleged these were remains of American Soldiers missing from the war. They hoped by turning in American remains, they would get a green card to the US. In fact, this was a huge hoax remains traders played on desperate people. I would estimate, 99.99 percent of all the remains turned in were of Vietnamese. In this case, the young man we were seeking was one of two or possibly three Americans whose remains were recovered from the many hundreds of remains examined in Saigon while we were looking for him in the jungle.
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great post,but i have some trouble in understanding the last section, could you please make it clear a bit in depth?
Hi. Thanks for the comments. I went in and redid it so I hope it is clearer. In the late 80’s and early 90’s there was a great deal of desperation in Vietnam with people seeking any means to escape the country to a better life in The West. The sale of US Military Dog Tags and US Remains played on the false belief resettlement in the US for you and your family was automatic IF you could turn is remains of a missing American. We received reports of people who had a dog tag or a dog tag rubbing with the name of a missing American and the information the holder of the tag/information knew how to get the remains. Of the thousands of names received perhaps 50 were the names of actual missing Americans–and that may be an optomistic number. Of the remains turned in, only a tiny fraction–perhaps a tooth here or a small piece of bone there–were American. We received the same names over and over again and did resolve or partially resolve several cases based on these reports and subsequent on site investigations. Once the US had frequent and continuing access to the country and once people finally understood thre was no payment or reward, this business pretty much died out. I am sure improving economic conditions, especially after normalization, played a part as well. Thanks again. Dave Atherton
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We just got back from our vacation to Bangkok and really wish that we didn’t have to leave so soon as we absolutely loved it and will definitely come once more! We stayed at The Bungalow Mountain Resort which we would for sure recommend. We rented a scooter at $60 for 7 days, it was by far the cheapest and a convienent way to go and it was alot of fun as well! The National Park is definitely worth while taking a tour. Also restaurants in Bangkok City to visit are The Sweet n Spicy-romantic, delish and cool. Book a table with your feet in the pool!