Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Tran Ngoc Luong

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Transcript

A.R.V.N. incursions into Cambodia

SR 5/ 1

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Interviewer:

Please tell us your name as well as when you entered the army.

Tran Ngoc Luong:

Yes, sir. I am Sergeant Tran Ngoc Luong I entered the army in late

1964... in Vietnam.

Interviewer:

Please tell us where your unit was located.

Tran Ngoc Luong:

My unit was the 43rd Battalion of the Special Forces which belonged to

the IV Corps. It was a logistic unit stationing in Vinh Long province.

Interviewer:

Did you ever take part in military operations into Cambodia?

Tran Ngoc Luong:

Yes, I did.

Interviewer:

Please describe the operations into Kampuchea and when they took place.

And did you meet with strong resistance from the Communists? What were

the developments of the operations, how many guns were captured as well

as how much rice, etc?

Tran Ngoc Luong:

Yes. As far as I know, during the operation into Kampuchea we moved

from Can Tho to Moc Hoa by motor vehicles. From Moc Hoa on, we rode in

tanks, sixteen-wheel trucks and twelve-wheel trucks in order to cross

over to Kampuchea. During this operation, we fought the enemy very

fiercely. And enemy's resistance was also ferocious. But because of

effective support by airplanes we were able to reach our target area

and killed about 250 on the spot. And we were able to capture 2,000

pieces of weaponry of all kinds and about two tons of rice.

Interviewer:

These amounts were captured by your own unit alone?

Tran Ngoc Luong:

Yes, only by my unit.

Interviewer:

Please tell us whether during this military operation you received

effective and sufficient support from the American forces.

Tran Ngoc Luong:

Yes, we did.

Interviewer:

What did this include?

Tran Ngoc Luong:

The American support came in the form of air and artillery support.

Interviewer:

In general, you had sufficient weapons during this operation?

Tran Ngoc Luong:

Yes, fully sufficient.

Interviewer:

When you crossed the border into Kampuchea, what was the morale of the

soldiers?

Tran Ngoc Luong:

As far as troop morale was concerned, it was very high. This was

because the Communist had stormed over to attack Moc Hoa. So the

superiors ordered the operation as a counterattack. And they cooperated

with the Red Khmers. Because of this, the soldiers of the Army of the

Republic of Vietnam were outraged and we were very eager to fight.

[Interruption]

Transcript

Transcript

Series: Vietnam: A Television History

Raw Footage: Interview with Tran Ngoc Luong

Contributing Organization: WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)

AAPB ID: cpb-aacip/15-6d5p843v9x

If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/15-6d5p843v9x).

Description

Credits: Interviewee2: Tran, Ngoc Luong
Publisher: WGBH Educational Foundation

AAPB Contributor Holdings: WGBH
Identifier: b2e52f8ec0022120d0de9f315d1d713a7512c023 (ArtesiaDAM UOI_ID)
Format: video/quicktime
Color: Color
Duration: 00:03:39:03

Citations: Chicago: “Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Tran Ngoc Luong,” WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed November 18, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-6d5p843v9x.; MLA: “Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Tran Ngoc Luong.” WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. November 18, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-6d5p843v9x>.; APA: Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Tran Ngoc Luong. Boston, MA: WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-6d5p843v9x