Larry James Vietnam Report – 4

Friday, April 09, 2004

It has been a very emotional day.

     After meeting with the intelligence officer of the 2nd Go Mon battalion I thought I was prepared for where this investigation would lead. I was not. Nguyen Phi had been at the ambush but had served only as an observer to help spot and identify the location of Charlie Company.

     Today I met the commander of 1 Company, 2nd Go Mon Battalion. His name is Nguyen Ngoc Nham. He is 70 years old and possess a detailed memory of the ambush aided by a history he has written of the 2nd Go Mon.

     He greeted me in the back garden of his upscale two-story home in the Go Vap section of Ho Chi Minh City. He walked me in through the kitchen apologizing for the mess as his wife was busy cleaning up after breakfast. We sat in the dining room at a large and expensive looking hardwood table. Laid out on the table were cups for tea and a book, The History of Quyet Than (Determined to Win) 2nd Battalion Go Mon. It was opened to the section where he chronicled the events of the March 2nd Ambush of Charlie Company.

     Over the course of the next four hours he provided me a detailed account of the ambush from his point of view as a company commander. The conversation was in such detail that I cannot recount all of it here. For now, I'll close with this picture of Nguyen Ngoc Nham, former Company Commander of 1 Company, 2nd Go Mon Battalion.