Memories of Saigon

I was in Saigon off and on between 1962 and 1965, flying in from my Bangkok base to help Nick Turner in times of crisis and to stand in whenever he was off base. At the Reuter office in the Vietnam Press complex on Hong Thap Tu Street our Vietnamese reporter Pham Xuan An held court, chatting to a steady stream of visitors, many of them peasant women in conical hats. He introduced them to me as relatives, friends or friends of friends. Now that I know An was a Viet Cong intelligence colonel, I realise that many of these callers must have been Viet Cong couriers.

My last assignment to Saigon was in 1965, after Nick had resigned and An had left Reuters to join Time magazine. It was a hectic few months. The intensive US bombing of North Vietnam started and the first American, Australian and South Korean combat troops landed. There was talk of China entering the war. I was glad to hand over the bureau to the new Reuters Correspondent, Rennie Airth. In London I was asked by an editorial executive if the increased US and allied military commitment meant the war would end soon. It was budget time and Head Office planners were trying to decide how much to spend on Vietnam. Remembering what An had told me just before I left Saigon, I said that the Viet Cong would regard the heavier US involvement as a sign of growing US impatience and that if they persevered victory would be theirs. The Vietnam war lasted another 10 years and scores of Reuters journalists passed through the doors of the Saigon bureau, including two who did not return. Our Saigon office manager Pham Ngoc Dinh visited London years later. He told me An had helped him get an exit visa to emigrate to Australia. ■