Vietnam War Pacific Stars and Stripes

Pacific Stars and Stripes information

For date 680210

South Vietnam
Location, Saigon
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Copter Foils VC Execution." Saigon (UPI) - A helicopter interrupted a Viet Cong execution squad just as a group of prisoners was being given the coup de grace Wednesday, a Vietnamese newsfilm cameraman who escaped the execution said Thursday. Vo Thanh Son, who was taking film for CBS News, returned Thursday from Viet Cong captivity and near death after eluding the execution squad in Saigon's China town. "I showed them all my papers but they wouldn't believe I was a newsman." Son said. He said his Viet Cong captors brought him and five other prisoners - including three Vietnamese army officers and two Koreans - before the execution squad Wednesday night. He said he thought the Koreans were a member of the Korean Embassy and a newsman. Korean sources confirmed that a member of the embassy and a Korean correspondent had been captured by the Viet Cong. "The Viet Cong tied us up, blind-folded us, and ordered us to kneel down in the middle of the street," Son said. "One of the Viet Cong fired a burst at us from an AK50 submachinegun and I instinctively collapsed on my side," the cameraman said. "I didn't know whether I was dead or alive. Then I heard somebody shouting, "Give them the coup de grace." "I heard footsteps," he said. "Then there were the pistol shots. Bang bang bang it almost deafened me. And then I heard the whirling noises of a helicopter swooping down. "I heard some more shots," he said. "I thought I must be dead. I thought I was dreaming in hell. I was wondering if the dead would feel like the living." The helicopter dived low. The Viet Cong fled. Then everything was quiet. "I became aware that my head was resting on the asphalt," Son said. "My head felt cold. My forehead was sore. I was breathing hard. I struggled and the blindfold came loose. It was dark as hell and the smell of death was all around me. I knew I was alive." Son said he could see the crumpled bodies of some of the other prisoners. He dragged himself to a deserted gas station, kicked the door open and jumped inside. He squirmed loose from the rope which bound his arms behind him. Son said he stayed in the gas station all night. In the morning, he ventured out and reached a police station where he called the CBS office to notify his family and friends that he was still alive.

The source for this information was 6802pss.avn supplied by Les Hines

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Last updated 02/21/2000

Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023