NVA troops find VC. 'poor hosts'

[Anonymous Vet]

NVA troops find VC. 'poor hosts'

LONG BINH, (USARV) - "There are a number of people who in their comments have labeled these brothers as doltish, clumsy, slow-moving, etc. . . . or have made fun of their accent".

". . . Worse still, there is a small number of traders who have taken advantage of these brothers' clumsiness and lack of experience to exploit them heavily."

". : . a number of cadre in units often belittled them by saying that they were brainless and that they often fell sick thus making themselves a hindrance to the units."

Who are these people? None other than long-suffering NVA soldiers, .who in these excerpts from recently captured enemy documents seem to be getting almost as much trouble from their supposed Viet Cong "brothers" as they are getting from American and RVN troops.

The two documents, one captured by the 101st Airborne Division in April and one by the 9th Infantry Division in August, reveal serious incidents of discord between North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. The United States Mission recently translated and released the papers, believed to have been written by Viet Cong' officials.

In its analysis of the documents, the Mission points out that although the second was written nearly six months after the first, treatment of the NVA seems not to have improved. Both documents chide people in Viet Cong villages who ridicule the often sick and bewildered NVA soldiers. These people are reminded that the North Vietnamese have left their homes and come a long way to help the Viet Cong cause.

The documents also criticize some Viet Cong officers, citing one case in which NVA Soldiers "while on a supply-carrying mission, got lost because of an alert. When they managed to rejoin their unit, they showed much pleasure. However, the unit commander scolded them publicly in these terms: 'Whose pants have you been washing that kept you so late?!"

The Mission points out that the second document, which refers to the NVA troops as "C" category recruits," makes it clear how heavily the Viet Cong are relying on North Vietnamese manpower.

The document states: "In the General Attack and General Uprising in a number of battle areas, especially in main battle areas, the main source of the manpower supply for the main force is dependent upon C category recruits." And so, the document continues, the North Vietnamese ought to be treated much better than they are.

The Army Reporter, 19 October 1968