Memories of old Saigon - journalists arrested & beaten.

[Carl Robinson]

Working through my memoirs, I was recalling one particular incident in 1970 when the Saigon Police turned on us foreign journalists during a student demonstration arresting three of my colleagues.  And then I found this old AP clipping from my sister in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Two television journalists were also beaten by plainclothesmen on this particular day.  

The problem with those arrested was a couple of them were wearing black armbands given them by protesting students -- a gesture I had turned purposefully turned down.   They were John Steinbeck IV, Jerry Liles and Tom Fox.   I escaped by showing them my press credentials and walking away but not before first reports said I'd also been arrested.  

On the same day, two television newsmen -- Jed Duvall of CBS and George Watson of ABC -- were beaten by plainclothesman and one of them was then purposefully fired upon with tear gas.   

Ah, the good old days!  Tear gas in the streets -- and not just students marching but the Buddhist and those poor old disabled ARVN veterans -- all in the wake of the Cambodian invasion and Thieu's increasing crack-down on dissent.   Covering opposition politics was part of my beat at AP. 

Best regards,

Carl 

  

  

[paul rogers]

Carl. Members may be interested in this sale of Indochina-era and Vietnam War-era books at Rulon-Miller Books of St. Paul, Minnesota. Rulon-Miller just posted this catalog today. There are many hundreds of items here. It would be interesting to know whose collection these items came from. Rulon-Miller Books :: Catalogue 147: WORDSWORDS: Language Books

			Rulon-Miller Books :: Catalogue 147: WORDSW... To Part 2: Customs - Linguistics | To Part 3: Literature - Wright 1.Abadie, Maurice. Les races du Haut-Tonkin de Phong-Tho Lang-Son. Prface de M. Paul Pelliot. Pa...
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                                                      Paul Brinkley-Rogers

                                                      Ex-Newsweek Bureau, Saigon

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[BHillenbrand]

Carl: there was a similar incident in September 1974 when Saigon police went after several reporters, myself included. I can't recall who the demonstrators were. A couple TV people were knocked about and might have been arrested. I got off with a Kung Fu kick to the stomach. I beat a hasty retreat but my name was included Ina wire and TV report. I got a rocket from NY wanting to know what the hell was happening since I was susposedly on leave having been married just a couple days earlier and was working on getting my new wife her exit visa, etc. so we could head for my new assignment in Rio. but, hey, I heard the fuss from my apartment and went to take a look. the incident was not super nasty as police brutality goes, but had the police kick been lower, my honeymoon might have been, well, altered. No tear gas was fired, although I think one of the TV reporters needed stitches. One odd aspect of the event, which got play on American TV, was a cable that arrived for me expressing concern and wishing me well. It was signed by newly minted world chess champ, Bobby Fischer. I had spent weeks travelling with Bobby reporting a TIME cover story on him prior to my assignment in Saigon. Vietnam, of course, had its peculiarities for a reporter, but compared to the craziness of Bobby, Vietnam was perfect sanity.

Barry Hillenbrand