Mr. Leefong Yang
Sergeant, SGU Veteran

“Prisoner of war” 
———————————

Just as I was crawling to a foxhole, I had not even settled down yet and was still standing; a bullet fell right in front of us. [My comrade] told me not to be scared and that it will not explode. And it really did not explode. They launched three or four grenades at the soldiers a little down from us. We heard the cries, but we did not go see them. We could see the rocks by them flying and some came flying over toward us. We stayed hidden in our little space and did not go to see them. Then at 5 p.m., he told me to call and see if we should get down. Once the gunshots stopped, all the Thai soldiers took off. They shot the Thais first and once they took off then they started shooting us. Then the North Vietnamese Army soldiers spotted us and pointed their guns at us. They ordered us to raise our hands. The rest of the soldiers were still up in the mountains, but once we got down, we were the first ones the Vietnamese tied up. 

Then there was this little NVA soldier who saw that I was all frightened and pale. I froze and turned pale, then he took out a picture from his pocket and showed me a picture of his girlfriend. He told me his girlfriend was in Hanoi and that he will return to Hanoi next year. So he told me to be good and go to Hanoi to study. And then they took us and locked us up in a cave. 

<<