OAMag-V7N4-Cover [Converted] - Orient Aviation

f e a t u r enot blame the man who shot my father. TheSouth Vietnamese Government and PresidentDiem were to blame.“I decided there and then that when I wasolder, if I had the opportunity, I would bombthe President in his palace.”Even at the end of the day he could nottalk to anyone. Not even his family. He caughtthe ferry to go home to Banh Tre that night,but before he reached the family’s house afriend told him his mother and young sisterhad been thrown in jail and the army waswatching the house.“I could not go back to school because thedormitories was closed. I stay on the ferry allnight sailing to and fro across the MekongRiver thinking about my father and my motherand sisters in prison.”In those days the U.S. presence in Vietnamwas small. But in each province there were U.S.advisors helping the South Vietnamese andits unpopular regime under President Diembattle against the threat of invasion from theCommunists in the North.Some time later the president was killedin a military led coup, but Capt. Trung wasstill determined to make the regime pay forhis father’s death and bomb whoever was inoffice in the palace.“There was a lot of killing going on. Iwould walk to school and sometimes see thebodies in the road. They used to hang thedead women on fences along the road. It wasa warning to others who might turn againstthe regime,” he said.Capt. Trung spent the next six years atschool, by which time the Vietnam War wasdominating the world headlines.He joined the South Vietnamese Air Forceand trained at U.S. air bases in Texas, Louisianaand Mississippi.When he returned to Vietnam he becamea first lieutenant and a member of the elite534 Squadron. He flew two to three bombingmissions daily on the Viet Cong and later theadvancing North Vietnamese Army in SouthVietnam. But a day never passed without Capt.Trung thinking about his eventual goal.“An old and trusted friend of my fatherapproached me and asked me to go into thejungle and speak to the Viet Cong commaner.I told him my plan. He agreed with it, but saidthe time must be right and he would chooseit,” said Capt. Trung.Towards the end of 1974 as the war wasturning against the South Vietnamese, Capt.Trung and the North Vietnamese began planningthe palace attack. A 10-day period fromApril 1-10 was chosen.Capt. Trung faced two major hurdles.Happy family: Capt. Trung poses at home with his wife Thi Cam and youngest daught ThanhMuong, who was only eight months old when she was imprisoned with her mother after herfather bombed the presidential palaceFirstly, the most difficult problem had to beresolved – how to seize an F-5 fighter jet tocarry out the raid. Secondly, Capt.Trung had tohave a safe place to land after the mission.Only three people was aware of the plan,including the prime minister of North Vietnam.He wanted Capt. Trung to fly to Hanoi. Thiswas ruled out because it would be easy forhim to be intercepted and shot down.There were no runways long enoughfor an F-5 to land in the southern provincesoccupied by the North. At first, it was decidedCapt Trung would fly to Loc Ninh, eject fromhis plane and be picked up on the ground.Then, on January 10, the Communistscaptured Phuoc Long. It had a badly damagedrunway, but it was a short flight from Saigonfor an F-5. However, the runway was only3000 feet long, very short for the fighter.For the next two months, 200 Viet Congworked non-stop repairing the runway forCapt Trung’s arrival. To keep the secret theworkers were told the runway was to be usedby North Vietnam planes flying South.“I managed to get the information Ineeded about the runway: the length, thewidth and the surrounding terrain,” said CaptTrung. “I then started to practise stoppingmy F-5 within 3,000-feet on my return frommissions.“The first time I tried a short field landingin an F-5 one side of the main landing gearcollapsed. The second time the main geartyres burst. The third time the nose gearcollapsed.“I was summoned by the head of theSouth Vietnam Air Force, Gen. Minh. Hewanted to know why one of his top pilots,who had never damaged an aircraft, had hadthree accidents with F-5 planes on landing insuch a short time.“I told him I was very upset that the SouthVietnamese had withdrawn and left our landto the Viet Cong. I said I was not sleeping well,I was worrying. He said he was not happyabout the withdrawal either and acceptedmy explanation.”About this time word had reached theSouth Vietnamese that the Communists hada man inside the air force and a special missionwas being organised. A Viet Cong under interrogationhad said he did not know the man’srank, name or mission but he was from BienHoa, Capt. Trung’s town.“There were 10-15 pilots in the air forcefrom Bien Hoa, but only one other was in 534Squadron,” said Capt. Trung. “They chose tointerview him first because he had a sisterwhose husband had taken part in an antigovernmentdemonstration and spent timein jail.“He knew all about me, but he did notsay a word. I told my contact in the Viet Congabout this and he said not to worry. He wouldknow as soon as any decision was taken todrop the interview with the first pilot andinterview me and would get me out beforethe South Vietnamese Intelligence had time to58 | Orient Aviation | February 2000