86 I Village at War
opportunistic individuals in and out of the Government meant that corrup-
tion came almost inevitably.
But other units besides police supported the activities of Army regu-
lars. There were the local forces, consisting in Huong Thuy District of one
company of Civil Guard soldiers, most of whom were from local villages.
And in each village of Huong Thuy, including My Thuy Phuong, there
were part-tirrie militiamen, who also performed security functions. The
village had only about 20 or 25 militiamen, all of whom received some
weapons training, and whose loyalties to the Government were generally
strong.
The Civil Guard had a defensive mission. It guarded the Government
district compound, important bridges within the district, and other impor-
tant points in Huong Thuy. Militiamen guarded village offices, protected
local councilmen, and patrolled village paths. Sometimes, as in the Bud-
dha's Birthday operation, local-force soldiers and militiamen accom-
panied nonlocal Army units and policemen, and sometimes even partici-
pated in various aggressive thrusts into the villages. More often, how-
ever, local forces assisted in static or defensive phases of such operations .
For example, they often served in blocking forces along perimeters of
areas being searched.
Civil Guard soldiers, according to many sources, were not as well
trained or as reliable as the Army regulars, and even less motivated to
fight. And their desertion rate was high. ' , At least a third of my men were
usually gone at anyone time," said a former Civil Guard sergeant. "I
should have punished them, but didn't like to," he added. Typically,
soldiers deserted once every month or two. Desertion usually involved
relatively short periods-five to seven days-and nearly everyone in local
forces enlisted ranks practiced it. People considered local militiamen
something of a joke. Their generally poor training and rag-tag appearance
prompted one peasant to comment, "They could not even protect them-
selves, their training was so bad. How could they protect the people?
What ridiculous representatives ofMr. Diem. Not cruel, just ridiculous."
It should be noted in passing that there were only about 50 men from
My Thuy Phuong serving at anyone time as Army regulars or Civil Guard
members, meaning that during the Diem era military service did not take
too many away from previous occupations or transform the village's work
force. And desertions were actually minor economic stabilizing factors
locally, as many who left units for short periods often aided relatives in
the fields. Not helping much were the salaries paid Diem-era soldiers,
which were so low that they added little to families' wealth and had almost
no impact on the village economy.
The Diem years provided the people of My Thuy Phuong with ample
and clear evidence that the Government's various security branches were
strong in terms of weaponry and firepower, but weak in command, or-
ganization, and motivation. Many laid much of the blame for these weak-
Struggle / 87
nesses at the feet of about 10 Government military officers, who were
widely known in the area. These soldiers, several of whom are briefly
profiled here, held middle-echelon command positions, were chiefly re-
sponsible for Government security operations, and were indirectly re-
sponsible for administration in Huong Thuy of the entire Government
program. They found themselves deeply involved with members of the
village's pro-Government group in supporting Government programs for
the village. In effect, these 10 officers and the pro-Government minority
joined forces.
Few of these locally influential soldiers were from the area. Without
exception, however, they were veterans of the French colonial armed
forces, and in most cases were imbued with Western military strategies
and cultural preferences. One of them was a man named Phuoc. From
about 1958 to 1963, he was an Army lieutenant assigned to Huong Thuy
District. To know Phuoc is to begin to understand how the apparatus for
which he worked operated in My Thuy Phuong. So here is his story .
Lieutenant Phuoc was born and raised in a suburb of Hanoi. His father
had been a tradesman, and he was brought up as a devout Catholic. When
Phuoc was a young man, according to a relative, he volunteered for the
French colonial armed forces and trained for a year or two in France itself
before serving for about 10 years as a field artillery officer. When the
Geneva Agreement partitioned Vietnam, Phuoc was among the thousands
of refugees who journeyed from the northern to southern portions of the
country .Phuoc voluntarily joined the Army in about 1956. ' , He wanted to
fight the Communists again," said his relative. After being shifted around
from unit to unit and from province to province, in about 1958 Phuoc was
assigned to Huong Thuy District. He remained there until 1963, and in the
course of a few years rose in rank to first lieutenant. Phuoc's advance-
ment through the ranks was paralleled by an increase in his personal
influence throughout the district, including My Thuy Phuong.
Phuoc was dedicated to suppressing anti-Government dissenters.
Charged by the district chief with partial responsibility for security of the
area, Phuoc became directly involved in military and police operations.
He spent many hours every week organizing coordinated military and
police antiguerrilla operations in the villages. In this connection, Phuoc
spent much of his time setting up, supportmg, and coordinating intelli-
gence networks. People knew him best for this phase of his work.
There had been intelligence networks functioning in the area during the
colonial era, but between 1954 and 1963, the Government gave such net-
works greater emphasis than ever before for suppression of dissent.
Phuoc worked individually with the informers who constituted these net-
works, emphasizing in discussions his interest in several types ofinforma-
tion. He wanted names of local guerrillas and information on people heard
or suspected of criticizing the Government, including those not connected
with the Front or, previously, with the Viet Minh. He also was interested
in information on guerrilla activities, such as meetings, military plans, or
taxation schedules.
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