European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Gene Spanos kneeling end a vietnamese officer discuss the locations of mines placed during the Vietnam War. Conli Nudd from Page 3 boo to 1 ,000 percent in the. Past to years by the government s own admission and the leading Louril hold in Hanoi won t accept the local currency the Tjong. Of Loreign Loutish. Professionals such As doctors in she South who were Ili Fried with the old regime make the equivalent of $13. A month very Low even by vietnamese standards. Northerners have taken important posts in he unlike the carpetbaggers after the . Civil War a. Postwar baby Boom has loll the country of 63 million Wilh a birthrate much its Economy can support. Faced with overwhelming evidence of failure the government decided to change. Nguyen Van Linh new general Secretary of the country s comm Uriss party vowed 1o to Ante owners and remove Corr up local officials who had taken tie Best Farmland for themselves to also ordered most of the Camps where some former optic gals languished Lor 13 years emptied. Government officials say Only about 150 people remain in the Camps and say Lucy of. Wll eventually be released the country s 6lh communist parly Congress in late 198gloofcsteps toward private and factories with 20 or fewer employees were allowed id open and hundreds sprang up immediately Farmers were allowed 1o keep profits from heir crops alter a 10. Percent government tithe and Lood production increased Nguyen Xuan Oanh a key government economic adviser and member of the National Assembly was the chief architect of this change and lakes Pride in it i Don l Call ii capitalism. Thai s a bad word. I Call it a Market he said smiling we re South Korea 25 years ago " the country Ranle matted 25.coo tourists in 1967,38.000 in 1938 and expects 50,000 in 939, said Tran Tuan Mau Deputy manager of Vietnam tourism the government Agency thai controls tourism to said 30 percent of these Are viol Sirju he said 5,000 of the 1938 tourists wore to Serners including several Hundred . Vietnam Velo ians. The government which still does no recon Imp vie Narri. Has tried to discourage these visits Beloro Miller now in Law school in Illinois wont Back a year ago he got a Lei Ler bom he slate Depar Lenl strongly advising him not to make the in he laughed and said where were they when 1 needed them and went anyway tha United states has enforced an embargo on Trade wild Vietnam since the end o tha War under the tracing with the enemy act tentative talks on resuming Normal relations were halted when Vietnam invaded Cambodia 10 years ago _ " Vics Nam has announced that its troops will leave Cambodia by september it a political settlement is leached and by next year in one is not after some shaky moments in recent years the vietnamese Are also now cooperating Ono her major issues including pow mias and the departure of. Amerasian youngsters. If relations Are normalized,.the Stream of returning veterans will grow to a torrent said bit Kimball of South a Soldier turned Christian oriented veterans group vets with a Mission took 5,000 bibles to a or Blostan Church in. Vietnam task month and build an orphanage in to Chi Minh cily. .-.-. As for Bill Johnson s mine Mission Lime Willsch what effect it has the Iden . Publicity despite a certain Lack of locus. It was t Clear. Whether the marines were just going to give vietnamese officials some homemade maps or dig for mines or try to Delasp them. As the idea evolved they would see whether mine Fields they planted 20 years ago along the pm Allied Doz were still there. If would recommend to both the . And vietnamese governments Hal me problem be corrected. Although some vietnamese officials downplayed in. I was no secret that unexploded ordnance mines shells rockets and grenades is Siuli a problem in Vietnam or. Nguyen Binh Ngo. A chemist and govern men Olli Cial. Delivered a paper that covered the prob pm at the american Public health association s annual meeting in november in Boston. He Binh Tri Thien prov col site of the we and consistent throughout the War hero were an estimated 10 million unexploded mines and shells in 1975. He said a three year government program to Clear the explosives from 1975-78, did not Gal every hindi it was much Wise 10 years ago bul in remains a he sad he said Young children dig Tor Shell casings to sell As scrap Metal and sometimes set ail unexploded rounds or mines Farmers plows Sorn Timas do the same thing. He said 8,000 people since 1975 have been killed or wounded by the explosives. In three Days along the old Doz Johnson s group found kids digging for shells heard reports of mine Fields even saw rounds lying on the ground at two Welt known lire Baso Sites Khe Sanh and Gio Lmh Gio Linh looked like a potato Larm dug with hoes Lor potentially lethal scrap Metal. There miss be a Hundred cd Over. Heie. Johnson said porting to the Fields there s a whole howitzer left and hundreds of shells lying aft Over the place. I found a kid with a handful of unused m-16 shells whether the Visil by the former Marine combat engineers does any Good depends on what happens when word of the problem gels around the Fox to work is planning a documentary on the in if that or other publicity helps Start a removal project they la consider the trip a Success. If not. The vietnamese at least appreciate the gesture Ngo Sari. For Johnson it was a Chance to make a statement Lor Mysell to do something Postl Rve " Page 14 the stars and stripes military discuss p by Janet Agostino Slaff Weller v. Michael Hukowski was an adores Jewhen he joined the army and went Loviet Nam at 17. He celebrated his 16th19th birthdays Wilh b co. 3rd inf in the 563th trans Convoy escort and it. Security. When he finally loll the Rice Fields and Jun he decided to remain in the army because he Covili near the things he had become familiar Wilh unil and weapons now in his 19th year Wilh Tho service Hukowski a sergeant first Iho Jbf is signal c6 in heidel1 West Ger Riany. Plans on retiring and wonders How or. Fare away from his military i Haven t known anything else since i was 17,".said. I feel now Hal i can leave Iho army and thai going to be hard. H s like leaving your parents Hon the Hukowski is a Parli Cipal in a Vietnam veterans. Discussion group offered periodically by the Heideb. Army Cor Munif service. Tho most recent group me six weeks beginning last month group Facilitator Nar Tait said As the veterans near mid life As they. Approach Rel rement and As their children reach adolescence unresolved issues from viol Nam May a exacerbated. Recurrent nightmares Guill fear Angel disappoint men in the country s response to them As veterans Are issues often discussed by the veterans. I wanted to make sure Hal whenever i Tell the am. Was t All lied up in the ," said. Ronald Graddy i 1 who a. With the army criminal investigation come in Heidelberg Graddy was inc and Xuan Loc Vilh the 2nd" in 35lh fiend arly and in in 34lh Armor of the 25th w Oil from 1968 to 1969. During a recent meeting some of the men sch that Vietnam veterans who Leti. Hie military probably had More difficulty adjusting after the War Shari the who Gayadin i did 1 think i could Capo Wilh Tho outside Zhukov ski said i personally decl Hal if 1 did t slay in army 1 Don t know whal would have happened to me mind Iho Way in was when i Cama Home from Viel Narn but by staying in the military the men said they not escape the problems Hal slowly began toe Ruf Many veterans As the years ticked by arid the memories refused to 1ado. They talked about Havir Lew friends trusting Only o her Vietnam veterans keeping a tight lid Pri e motions having i Roubid Petalio ships and enduring sleepless nights. As co Laci Wilalor for the group. Or. Col William said he noticed that even though Here were Many Vietnam veterans on Active duly they apparently not talk often to each other about How they fell or problems they were having Vietnam veterans who the in Hilary perhaps have received More attention support than those who remained in uniform he at the military group traditionally has been Somei neglected maybe our fault maybe Ihler fault 1or re asking bul Lor whatever reason they Are beginning get together said the psychiatric consultant for 7lh medical come in Heidelberg Vietnam Veteran Wayne a Wilson said there s a denial As Jar As is Uherc or in t problem. You always rationalize no there Ibn l and spend Yea years trying to keep this under control and then All of sudden it s gang to break Wilson 41, a senior i who works As a medical the Hospital at Hal Wesl Germany served with the 303rd special opera so in Bien Hoa from 1967 to 1969 i found i was an outcast. Ii seemed like i Cou never gel along Wilh anybody said Thomas Rabi 4i, who retired irom the army As a stall sergeant i 1988 and now works for the Karluf who military Community properly Book Otico. "1 knew my Job. I my Job bul ii seemed like something was wrong. 1 did t have anybody to Lalk to because most of la sunday v
