On the other side

23 days with the Viet Cong.

Edición de la obra On the other side

Written by Bernie Weisz Historian/Vietnam War May 28, 2010 Pembroke Pines, Florida contact: [email protected] Title of Review: "Twenty Three Days Of Pure Hell!" This book, "On The Other Side:23 Days With The Viet Cong" by Kate Webb, sharply contrasts another book called "The Massacre at Hue" by Alij Vennema. Webb's book shows a humanistic side of the Viet Cong that is hard to picture after Vennema's description the Viet Cong's "blood debt" they extracted from the citizens of the beleaguered citizens of Hue during and immediately following the January, 1968 Tet Offensive. In that senario, the V.C. and North Vietnamese Army executed almost 1000 citizens of Hue, with their only crime being that they cooperated with the South Vietnamese Government in one form or another. School teachers, lawyers, tuitors, social workers, religious clergy etc. with any connection to the "Theiu-Ky" South Vietnamese/American camp were executed and buried in unmarked, mass graves. "On The Other Side" is the story of a UPI reporter named Kate Webb, a 28 year old woman originally from New Zealand. To understand this review, I would like to preface it with some background to the subject. Cambodia during the Vietnam War tried to stay neutral. It's ruler, Prince Norodom Sihanok, tried to keep a balance between the U.S. on one side, and North Vietnam and China on the other. In fact, he detailed his ordeal in his memoir entitled: "My War With The CIA;: The Memoirs of Prince Norodom Sihanouk". Sihanouk allowed 50,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong to create base areas on the Cambodia-South Vietnamese border, but these troops were never to stray more than a few miles from from it. Sihanouk warned the NVA not to play too rough in his country and at the same time warned South Vietnam and the U.S. to keep out when they tried to attack VC border sanctuaries in Cambodia. Trying to "play both sides of the fence," Sihanouk's act would fail. NVA and VC bases actually increased, and Sihanouk allowed U.S. B-52 bombing raids on the Communist base areas. The Communists ignored his pleas to respect Cambodia's neutrality. His overthrow was being threatened by Cambodian right wingers that controlled the cabinet who wanted Communist expulsion. Ignoring Sihanouk's demands, the Communists did not pull out, riots (obviously plotted by the right) erupted. On March 18, 1970, Sihanouk was ousted. One week after this occurred, Cambodian army commanders called for U.S. support to rid it's country of Communists. On March 27, 1970, the first big South Vietnam incursion into Cambodia (of course, assisted by U.S. "advisors" and helicopter gunships) started. A sideshow in the S.E. Asia war had become a major battlefield. Vietnamese Communists in Cambodia reacted by arming Cambodian Communist guerrillas who called themselves "Khmer Rouge". Their methods were barbarous, murdering anyone associated with democracy, the old Sihanouk regime or the U.S. On May 4, 1970 the U.S. officially announced it received a specific request from Cambodia for arms and supplies. On May 15, 1970, V.C. troops closed off Highway 3, a major road between South Cambodian provinces and Tayninh Province in South Vietnam. Prince Sihanouk's successor was Lon Nol. President Richard Nixon announced in a televised address that he ordered U.S. troops into Cambodia, not as an invasion, but to protect the remaining troops in South Vietnam from V.C. incursions originating in Cambodia and that U.S. "phased withdrawal" would continue. Nixon set limits on the Cambodian incursion: 8 weeks and 21.7 miles maximum. However, the South Vietnamese Vice President, Nguyen Cao Ky announced that South Vietnamese troops would never leave Cambodia. At the time this book was printed, this was still the case. On June 3, 1970, Nixon dubbed the Cambodian incursion "Operation Total Victory". However, as we know today, this was premature. Webb's story starts out by describing the death of Frank Frosch, the initial UPI bureau manager who was killed by the V.C. while covering a story. Webb replaced him and was sent to continue covering the fighting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On April 7th, 1971, Webb found out of an outburst of fighting between the V.C. and Cambodian troops loyal to the U.S. supported Lon Nol Government. Webb took her driver-interpreter, Chimmy Sarath to the site of the battle, 56 kilometers from Phnom Phen southwest along Highway 4 near the "Pich Nil Pass". The Pich Nil Pass had been Communist held until early 1971. Lon Nol and his troops had tried to recapture it, and was successful on Jan. 21, 1971. In subsequent months, the pass had changed hands four times. However, with Webb watching the April 7 action, out of nowhere, and with no time to react she was caught in a crossfire. To escape the heavy artillery and gunfire, Webb and her small entourage burrowed into a shallow ditch unharmed and fled into the protective jungle cover behind V.C. lines. There were four others that fled with her:"Suzuki", a Japan