Chhang Song -- sad news.
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Carl Robinson
May 19, 2021, 2:29:44 AM5/19/21
to Vietnam Old Hacks
I am very sad to report that our old friend from the Cambodia War, former military spokesman and then Minister of Information Chhang Song, is now on Life Support at Long Beach Hospital after suffering a heart attack and internal bleeding, plus kidney failure, over the past 24 hours.
Chhang Song's long-time partner and carer Run Sum passed along this sad news today via Facebook Messenger, including pictures and a video -- all very heartbreaking -- which I will not re-post here for obvious reasons.
She reports the hospital is now waiting the arrival of his children -- and from whom he was very sadly alienated in recent decades -- for the final decision to take him off Life Support.
While I only came to know Chhang Song well only over the past dozen years, I will always be very proud at helping him fulfill his lifelong dream of, first, that only-ever reunion in Phnom Penh in 2010, and then a permanent monument to our colleagues who died in the Cambodia War inaugurated two years later, including that Bodhi Tree down at the country site where we lost the most of our colleagues back in May 1970.
He survived four strokes after that very successful Reunion and in recent years was confined to a wheelchair, but he kept up his annual returns to Cambodia where we last caught up three years ago.
May Buddha bless this wonderful man and carry him safely into his next life.
Sadly yours,
Carl Robinson
don kirk
May 19, 2021, 7:12:56 AM5/19/21
to Vietnam Old Hacks
Very sorry to hear that. Remember him well from the old days and that reunion visit as well. Always helpful, informative, good to know. Sad news indeed. Don
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Jim Laurie
May 19, 2021, 7:31:03 AM5/19/21
to Vietnam Old Hacks
Very sad to hear the news of Chhang Song.
As the person who first invited - Soc Sinan - the woman who features so prominently in my book - to the Phnom Penh military briefing in June 1970, I have much to thank him for.
I last had dinner with Chhang Song some years ago at Van's Restaurant also known as the Palais de la Poste in the old Bank of Indochine building on Post Office Square.
It was only a block away from the first location of the Khmer Republic's military briefing where Mlle Phang Ming sat behind a bar at the back of the room and offered cafe au lait et croissants at a prix raisonnable.
At the front Chhang Song with Colonel Am Rong provided their daily ritual of growing misery sprinkled with jokes about troops going to war in Pepsi Cola trucks. "If we had Coca Cola trucks, we would do better, because everyone knows things go better with Coke."
They were, as most of you know, were extraordinary times.
And may Buddha bless him indeed.
Stanley Cloud
May 19, 2021, 9:34:06 AM5/19/21
to 'Paul Mooney' via Vietnam Old Hacks
I've known Chhang Song for a long time, both during the war and afterward when he was living in the D.C. area and was close to the family of Huot Seng, all of whom I sponsored in their transition to American citizenship. I am deeply saddened by this news.
Arnold Isaacs
May 19, 2021, 10:43:47 AM5/19/21
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Yes, sad news indeed.
Below is a short reminiscence I wrote about Chhang Song five or six
years ago. I might have sent it to the Hacks site before, but think it
bears reposting now. A good man. Here's the piece:
Remembering Chhang Song
I originally met Chhang Song on my first visit to Cambodia, which
would have been sometime in mid-1972. I was a war correspondent for
the Baltimore Sun, based in Saigon; Chhang Song was a captain serving
as press officer for the Cambodian army. Over the next three years I
returned to Cambodia numerous times to cover the unfolding tragedy
there; meanwhile Chhang Song continued to be a principal contact for
visiting journalists. By the time the war entered its final phase in
early 1975 he was serving as information minister, a post he held
until he accompanied Lon Nol into exile shortly before Khmer Rouge
forces took control of Phnom Penh.
I and I believe most of my journalist colleagues who dealt with Chhang
Song during the war appreciated him for his humor and good nature in a
very depressing time. But my regard for him became stronger and more
meaningful when we renewed our acquaintance in Washington after the
war. When I reencountered him there he was he devoting his time and
energy to an organization he founded called Save Cambodia, which
sought to preserve or restore aspects of Cambodian culture that were
devastated during the Khmer Rouge regime. As an example, he found
emigres who had some training in Khmer classical dance and supported
teaching classes for the refugee community, so the art would survive
after so many dancers, like other artists, had been murdered in the
home country.
My respect for him grew particularly after 1979, when Vietnamese
forces drove the Khmer Rouge out of Phnon Penh and installed a new
pro-Vietnamese government. Almost alone (as far as I know) among
prominent Cambodian exiles, Chhang Song refused to support a supposed
anti-Vietnamese "coalition" in which the Khmer Rouge were the
overwhelmingly dominant partner. His position put him in opposition to
the U.S. administration and most other Cambodian emigre leaders, whose
opportunistic support for the coalition rested on a highly dubious
argument that despite the bloodbath their regime had carried out while
in power, the Khmer Rouge-led resistance was somehow legitimized by
its alliance with two much smaller and weaker non-Communist factions
loyal to Son Sann and Norodom Sihanouk.
Chhang Song saw that the truth was exactly the opposite. By joining
the Khmer Rouge, Son Sann and Sihanouk fatally compromised the cause
of Cambodian freedom. Instead of legitimizing the resistance, he
argued in his magazine Cambodia Today, the coalition would "legitimize
instead the Vietnamese occupation," since Cambodians would continue to
fear a return of the Khmer Rouge. In backing the coalition, he wrote,
Washington and the Cambodian exiles who went along with its policy had
"in fact eliminated all alternatives for the Cambodians and has
instead forced those long-suffering people to make a choice between
two Communist regimes: one in Phnom Penh which would guarantee the
Vietnamese domination, and the other, the 'coalition,' which would
guarantee death."
I believed then and I believe now that Chhang Song was absolutely
right and that American support for the coalition was one of the most
deeply immoral U.S. policies of my lifetime.
I don't know any particulars but I am fairly sure that taking that
position was not without risk, perhaps significant, to personal
relations and possibly to support for projects he was engaged in or
would like to have pursued. So I admired his stand not only for its
moral clarity but also for his courage in taking it.
My contacts with him have been sporadic in the years since he left
Washington and has divided his time between California and Cambodia.
But from what I know of his career in those more recent times, he has
continued to represent the right principles and the true interests of
the Cambodian people and nation. A great many of my memories of and
about Cambodia are ones I wish I didn't have, but knowing Chhang Song
has been one positive outcome, and I am thankful to him for his
friendship and for being who he is.
Arnold R. (Skip) Isaacs
Baltimore Sun Vietnam war correspondent, 1972-75
Author, Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia; coauthor, Pawns
of War: Cambodia and Laos
On 5/19/21, 'Stanley Cloud' via Vietnam Old Hacks
>
Below is a short reminiscence I wrote about Chhang Song five or six
years ago. I might have sent it to the Hacks site before, but think it
bears reposting now. A good man. Here's the piece:
Remembering Chhang Song
I originally met Chhang Song on my first visit to Cambodia, which
would have been sometime in mid-1972. I was a war correspondent for
the Baltimore Sun, based in Saigon; Chhang Song was a captain serving
as press officer for the Cambodian army. Over the next three years I
returned to Cambodia numerous times to cover the unfolding tragedy
there; meanwhile Chhang Song continued to be a principal contact for
visiting journalists. By the time the war entered its final phase in
early 1975 he was serving as information minister, a post he held
until he accompanied Lon Nol into exile shortly before Khmer Rouge
forces took control of Phnom Penh.
I and I believe most of my journalist colleagues who dealt with Chhang
Song during the war appreciated him for his humor and good nature in a
very depressing time. But my regard for him became stronger and more
meaningful when we renewed our acquaintance in Washington after the
war. When I reencountered him there he was he devoting his time and
energy to an organization he founded called Save Cambodia, which
sought to preserve or restore aspects of Cambodian culture that were
devastated during the Khmer Rouge regime. As an example, he found
emigres who had some training in Khmer classical dance and supported
teaching classes for the refugee community, so the art would survive
after so many dancers, like other artists, had been murdered in the
home country.
My respect for him grew particularly after 1979, when Vietnamese
forces drove the Khmer Rouge out of Phnon Penh and installed a new
pro-Vietnamese government. Almost alone (as far as I know) among
prominent Cambodian exiles, Chhang Song refused to support a supposed
anti-Vietnamese "coalition" in which the Khmer Rouge were the
overwhelmingly dominant partner. His position put him in opposition to
the U.S. administration and most other Cambodian emigre leaders, whose
opportunistic support for the coalition rested on a highly dubious
argument that despite the bloodbath their regime had carried out while
in power, the Khmer Rouge-led resistance was somehow legitimized by
its alliance with two much smaller and weaker non-Communist factions
loyal to Son Sann and Norodom Sihanouk.
Chhang Song saw that the truth was exactly the opposite. By joining
the Khmer Rouge, Son Sann and Sihanouk fatally compromised the cause
of Cambodian freedom. Instead of legitimizing the resistance, he
argued in his magazine Cambodia Today, the coalition would "legitimize
instead the Vietnamese occupation," since Cambodians would continue to
fear a return of the Khmer Rouge. In backing the coalition, he wrote,
Washington and the Cambodian exiles who went along with its policy had
"in fact eliminated all alternatives for the Cambodians and has
instead forced those long-suffering people to make a choice between
two Communist regimes: one in Phnom Penh which would guarantee the
Vietnamese domination, and the other, the 'coalition,' which would
guarantee death."
I believed then and I believe now that Chhang Song was absolutely
right and that American support for the coalition was one of the most
deeply immoral U.S. policies of my lifetime.
I don't know any particulars but I am fairly sure that taking that
position was not without risk, perhaps significant, to personal
relations and possibly to support for projects he was engaged in or
would like to have pursued. So I admired his stand not only for its
moral clarity but also for his courage in taking it.
My contacts with him have been sporadic in the years since he left
Washington and has divided his time between California and Cambodia.
But from what I know of his career in those more recent times, he has
continued to represent the right principles and the true interests of
the Cambodian people and nation. A great many of my memories of and
about Cambodia are ones I wish I didn't have, but knowing Chhang Song
has been one positive outcome, and I am thankful to him for his
friendship and for being who he is.
Arnold R. (Skip) Isaacs
Baltimore Sun Vietnam war correspondent, 1972-75
Author, Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia; coauthor, Pawns
of War: Cambodia and Laos
On 5/19/21, 'Stanley Cloud' via Vietnam Old Hacks
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Dan Southerland
May 19, 2021, 12:23:26 PM5/19/21
to Vietnam Old Hacks
Dear Carl,
Thanks for passing along the sad news about Chhang Song.
Like many of us covering the war in Cambodia, I met him on occasion there.
But I saw him more often when he visited the RFA offices in D.C. When he was in D.C., he made it a point to drop by.
And no matter how badly things were going for him, he retained a sense of humor that I think helped him to survive.
Dan
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Ron Yates
May 19, 2021, 2:07:47 PM5/19/21
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I'm sorry to hear this. Chhang Song was always available and helpful to us hacks. He is also a fine human being.
Ron Yates
On Tue, May 18, 2021 at 11:29 PM Carl Robinson <robinso...@gmail.com> wrote:
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Dawson
May 19, 2021, 6:22:09 PM5/19/21
to Vietnam Old Hacks
Thanks Carl. Definitely not good news.
Song and my ex-wife and I became VERY close friends during my almost-one-year Phnom Penh posting kicked off by the Kate Webb search in 1971. He showed me so much about Cambodia, certainly including the power structure but also down in the villages. Not to mention he was damned good fun to hang out with.
Song and my ex-wife and I became VERY close friends during my almost-one-year Phnom Penh posting kicked off by the Kate Webb search in 1971. He showed me so much about Cambodia, certainly including the power structure but also down in the villages. Not to mention he was damned good fun to hang out with.
Michael Putzel
May 20, 2021, 2:38:30 PM5/20/21
to Vietnam Old Hacks
May he rest in peace after such a turbulent time on Earth.
Carl Robinson
May 20, 2021, 5:09:10 PM5/20/21
to Vietnam Old Hacks
Our friend Chhang Song's partner Run Sum remains hopeful of his recovery and has just put out this statement. I have no independent verification of his true condition, only those grim photos I described.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT: Dear friends, family & esteemed colleagues, this is RUN SUM, Mr Chhang Song’s wife and caretaker for the last 13 years. I want to THANK YOU all for your tributes and condolences. You memories and kind words have been a great source of strength for me. The reports of my husband’s death, however, are inaccurate. His Excellency has not passed and he is still clinging to this world on life-support in the ICU. He is in extremely critical condition but we remain hopeful for a miracle to bring him back. I appreciate everyone’s patience and restraint as we navigate the next perilous days. But so we have no further miscommunication, I ask that you please refrain from passing on information that does not come from this direct source. Such speculation and inaccuracies have been painful for the family.
What I do ask for is PRAYER. PLEASE PRAY and share and say his name [Chhang Song] to beseech my husband’s recovery. No matter the odds, I will pray for him and ask that you do the same. THANK YOU for your outpouring of love and support. We understand the concern and desire to visit but ask that you please respect the space, time, and privacy needed for his continued critical care. I will keep everyone updated on this page with true and accurate information.
With tremendous gratitude and appreciation for your continued love, support and prayers, I remain sincerely yours, Mrs Chhang Song.
Best regards,
Carl
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