Ky's Image During the Diem Era
From: ryan nelson
Date: 2009/1/18
I’ve run into a snag while researching Nguyen Cao Ky's narrative and am curious if anyone has some knowledge about the RVN military figure’s image during the Ngo Dinh Diem era. Does anyone know at what point Ky started to regularly sport a dashing Clark Gable mustache, dawn daring dress (e.g. a black nylon jumpsuit accentuated by a flowing lavender scarf) and carry one or two holstered Wild West iconic pearl-handled revolver(s)? Did Ky develop the flashy image during the Diem era or more towards his appointment as prime minister?
Any help at all on this issue would be greatly appreciated.
Peace
Ryan Nelson
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From: Balazs Szalontai
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 12:23:44 AM
Well, I know only that he became quite conspicuous (or notorious) because of these things in the mid-1960s. It was in the same period when he expressed his admiration for Hitler. But you may find something about his pre-1963 activities in Sheehan's "Bright Shining Lie," since Vann's military career in the RVN started in the Diem period, and the book contains a lot of info about the various ARVN officers who were in some contact with him then or later.
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From: ryan nelson <sociolgst@yahoo.com>
Date: 2009/1/19
To: vsg@u.washington.edu
Thanks, Balazs. I'll definitely look at my copy of Bright, which, unfortunately, still smells of rotten snake flesh and cheap Vietnamese alcohol from when the large glass jar of snake alcohol I bought for my friend shattered in my suitcase half-full of books on my return from the Trang months ago (Yes, a smooth move on my part to put such a souvenir in an overfilled suitcase. When I arrived in Seattle, the look on the Delta Airlines employee's face when I told her I had a partially decomposed four foot long dead cobra in my suitcase was classic.). I'm sure nausea will ensue when I do dig Bright out of the book pile -- both from reading about Ky's notoriety and from the putrid smell of 861 pages not even copious Charmin drier sheets have perfumed after several months.
I did not specify in my original query but my curiosity about Ky’s image stems from the dubious nickname Diem affixed to Ky, "that cowboy." According to an exiled Can Lao Party official, the term was only reserved for the most flamboyant Cholon gangsters. About Ky's narco-trafficking (e.g. gangsterism) during the Diem era I'm aware. However, I'm curious if the flamboyancy Diem spoke of may have been a reference to Ky sporting a scarf and six-shooter as well.
A funny random story about Ky, Balazs. My Uncle Bill recently told me a story about how as base chief (I believe that was his title) at Pleiku (in 1965 or 1966) he drove Ky around the base during one of his visits. He said that wherever Ky went his two cronies followed closely. They were well trained my uncle said. When Ky climbed up the ladder to enter the cockpit of his plane they were quick to catch Ky’s rapidly-falling six-shooter holsters when Ky unfastened them from his waist without warning. My uncle said something to the effect of how the cronies’ whole world seemed to revolve around not letting Ky’s pistols and holsters hit the ground. I can imagine why. Ky was not the nicest guy and surely would have frowned on his holsters and pistols being dropped on the ground.
My uncle also told me about an another interesting story about Ky. He said that in exchange for letting the US air force (and not the RVN air force) run a certain operation the US built Ky (or let him run or tax) a brothel in return. While this may have been a rumor, it is completely plausible this happened. According to Hamilton-Paterson’s Greedy War, Ky’s nefarious powerbroker, Nguyen Ngoc Loan, sent men out every hour on the hour in police jeeps to collect dues at Saigon prostitution houses.
I’ve rambled on enough :)
Peace
Ryan Nelson
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From: Tuan Hoang <thoang1@nd.edu>
Date: Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 12:29 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Ryan,
I don't know the answers to your questions, but you may want to check
out photos in articles on Ky from US and South Vietnamese periodicals,
such as the NYT archives.
If I may interject a thought or two on a broader topic... A few years
ago, David Marr wrote an article in Modern Asian Studies about
Vietnamese concepts of "self" and "individual" & observed that photos
of early Vietminh troops show some wearing scarves, hats, and other
fashion statements. By the early 1950s, however, the Communist Party
worked vigorously to stamp out "bourgeois individualism" and such
artifacts disappeared from sight. The article did not mention South
Vietnam, but some juxtapositions of photos of ARVN and PAVN officers
and soldiers may provide some hints to the divergence at the time.
Back to Ky, I suppose it isn't hard to think of his "style" as showy
and superficial. Certainly many Americans found him flashy while some
South Vietnamese (and not only his critics) thought of him as, at the
least, lo^' la(ng or over-the-top. There might be a good deal of
truth in this criticism. But it may be helpful too to place his image
in the larger context of Vietnamese debates about the place of the
individual in society. Clothes may or may not make the man, but
twentieth-century Vietnamese saw a lot of changes about what to wear
and what not to wear: a topic that, to my knowledge, remains very
much unexplored.
~Tuan
--
Tuan Hoang, PhD Candidate
Department of History
University of Notre Dame
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From: Charles Waugh
: 2009/1/20
Thanks for that thoughtful post, Tuan.
Ryan, a bit of a tangent, but one that might lead to something else: Operation Ranch Hand historian Paul Cecil attributes Ranch Hand's purple neckerchief and beret to Ky's influence while he was still Air Vice-Marshal, so he must have had some kind of flair even then. No word on the mustache.
Charles
--
Charles Waugh
Assistant Professor
Utah State University
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From: Nhu Miller
Date: 2009/1/20
Ryan,
Ky appeared on the scene in 1964 during Nguyen Khanh's short lived presidency. Wearing black
one piece pilot's suit and sporting a lavender scarf, he proclaimed his admiration for Hitler and fascism.
He was thought to be dashing and emulated by other air force pilots, including my cousin's husband
who grew a mustache and combed his hair like Ky and was a ringer. When he was courting his 2nd
wife Mai (he was then married to a French woman) an Air Viet Nam stewardess, he would buzz her house
by flying low over the neighborhood. She soon began wearing matching captain Midnight outfits and
the two of them, hand in hand, sporting scarves and sunglasses, were quite a pair. Echoes of Mr and
Mme Ngo Dinh Nhu, although more flamboyant.
When Ky and Thieu ousted Nguyen Khanh, he became somewhat less flashy as Prime Minister and
began wearing suits and trying to be more statesmanlike.
Ky imagined himself as a romantic, dashing figure and because of his slangy twangy American
English, he was considered a good old boy by the US military vs. Thieu who was stodgy and
humorless.
Last TET, he was honored at a reception for Viet Kieu in Ha noi. He acknowledged the applause
in a business suit, looking like the prosperous business man who has come full circle.
His daughter Duyen Mai is now a famous MC in the Viet Kieu community, hosting the
variety show: "Paris By Night" pronounced "Paris Bi Nit" by my elderly aunts who adore
the show.
T.T. Nhu
ex-reporter
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From: Nhu Miller <trantnhu@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/1/20
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Addendum: In the U.S Nguyen Cao Ky entrepreneurial activities - liquor store, boutique etc failed
one after the other. Unlike hard liner in Orange County, in 2004, he decided to be a Vietnam
business consultant and came back to Ha noi to set up a golf course and
reunite with his boyhood friends who'd joined the revolution. Perhaps it was just
circumstance that divided them. All things being equal now, everything is copacetic.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ky moves back to Viet Nam where he is more popular than
in Southern California.
T.T.Nhu
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From: ryan nelson <sociolgst@yahoo.com>
Date: 2009/1/20
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Thank you, Tuan, indeed I will check out the NYT archives. In fact I've been contemplating for some months paying membership to one of those online newspaper archives to assist my research. It would be interesting to read when the NYT mentioned Ky for the first time in an article -- and what the author had to say about him. Any photos of him would be helpful as well.
I definitely need to review my copy of William Colby's Lost Victory. Colby worked with Ky to infiltrate commandoes into the DRV during Operation Tiger from 1961 to 1963. From what I remember about the book he definitely had some interesting things to say about Ky.
Interestingly, Tuan, your comments about “bourgeois individualism” and how certain attire was stamped out by the CP parallels somewhat the similar but less effective actions of MACV to end a fashion trend started by Ky. After accompanying an Agent Purple Spray Organization sortie during a Project Ranch Hand mission in 1965, Ky was so pleased with the operation he gave away his purple scarf to the commander. He stated ceremoniously, “These are your colors, wear them with pride.” The gesture was well received. APSO pilots adopted the purple scarf as part of their uniform proudly. The accoutrement did not go unnoticed by MACV Headquarters. In one of the several attempts to prohibit the purple scarf, MACV Headquarters decreed a ban on wearing unauthorized uniform items. Like he had done -- seemingly instinctively -- times before, Ky intervened with a bold threat to resolve a situation stacked against him or his colleagues. This time the threat was directed towards one of the most powerful men in Vietnam, MACV Chief General William Westmorland. He promised Westmoreland -- through the American ambassador -- to close Saigon’s bustling Tan Son Nhut Air Base if the scarf ban was not lifted for his flying Cowboy posse. Westmoreland acquiesced and the APSO retained their scarves. The scarves remained a feature of the APSO until the programs replacement.
Thank you for directing my attention to Marr’s piece. Now that I’ve been made aware of it I’ll most likely find someway -- probably in a glorious footnote -- to inject a broader context to Ky’s situation.
As well thanks go to Nhu for writing a wonderfully descriptive piece on Ky. It was quite helpful. To your addendum I’d like to add the following about Ky’s entrepreneurial activities in the U.S. While living in California Kleinknecht alleged Ky directed a shadowy contingent known as ‘the Dark Side’. His ‘Dark Siders’ terrorized law-abiding Vietnamese Americans by extorting money from them. The funds raised were ostensibly used to finance an effort to overthrow Vietnam’s communist government.
Though Ky considers himself Buddha’s child, I imagine Quan Am may have a difficult time saving Ky from his destiny as a nga qui (greedy, self-absorbed tortured person) in nia ngoc (hell).
Peace
Thank You All For Your Help
Ryan Nelson
B.A. Washburn University