Barbara Parsons Rozell - Secretary
~U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID -U.S. State Department)
Saigon, 1968-69
Responsibilities were to support a program director and several program officers - all
civilians and foreign service officers. We prepared CAP (capital area plan) for all the
USAID programs in country (i.e. refugees, education, public health, public safety, chieu
hoi, etc.). We basically acted as liaison to Congressional Budget Committee to get the
USAID Vietnam budget passed every year.There were only about 90 Embassy and USAID
secretaries in country at any given time if I remember correctly. I supervised two
Vietnamese clerks and one Third Country National (Filipino) clerk. We Americans dealt with
all the confidential work (Secret clearances).
Regarding security. Naturally, as I arrived in the middle of Tet, the first week incountry
our curfew was 2:00 in the afternoon. And we couldn't be on the street before 9 in the
morning. Later I believe curfew got as late as 10 or 12, something we usually disregarded.
Our offices had Marine Guards on duty 24 hours a day, (They walked around the offices
every night, checking file cabinets, etc. to be sure everything was secure and wrote us up
if they weren't) Outside, in the compound, Vietnamese guards used mirrors to check
underneath all cars coming and going into the compound.
We rode buses to and from work - all with the wire windows to protect against hand
grenades, plastique, etc. Our apt. compounds all had Vietnamese guards who stood guard
duty. In addition the villa for Westmoreland's 2nd in command was right below our apt. so
we had MP's patroling the front of our building 24 hours a day. When I was living in a
hotel downtown I was thrown from bed when a rocket hit the back of the building. And once
at the office a rocket landed in our parking lot creating a hell of a crater but I don't
remember it injuring anyone.
We were not supposed to go into the marketplace for fear of terrorist activity and were to
refrain from riding cyclos --which we never paid attention to.
I was also riding through the countryside once (a no no) in a military jeep, when we
failed to stop at the command of the Vietnamese military we were shot at, I could hear the
bullet whizzing by my ear.
Also, one night, riding in a jeep with crazy gunship pilot, out after curfew, naturally,
came around a traffic circle in town only to have two MPs pull up right next to us. The
first jeep was so surprised to see a round eye he slammed on his brakes, only to be hit by
the jeep behind him. Obviously we went scurrying by. Perhaps we created our own terror.
My Vietnam Related Websites:
Women in
Vietnam ~ Read about ALL the women who served . . .
Dusty's Home
Page
The
Irish on the Wall ~ An effort to locate the Irish who died in Vietnam
Tim
O'Brien's Home Page ~ National Book Award Winner and Americal Vet
Emily's Poetry
~ By a Red Cross Donut Dolly
Shrapnel in
the Heart ~ The most moving book you will read on Vietnam
All About
Vietnam ~ An annotated bibliography of books about Vietnam for
sale thru Amazon Worldwide!
Battle
Dressing ~
Project Hearts
and Minds ~ Help put Viet Nam back together
Photos
from a Holts' Military History Tour ~ My trip to Vietnam, February 1998
My Other Websites:
Maybe
Later . . . ~ My Creative Nonfiction
Irish
in Korea ~ Irish men and women who gave their lives in the Korean War
Literature
of the Korean War ~ Don't let the literature be forgotten
Samuel
Pepys ~ One of my favorite authors
Chicago
Theatre Z - A ~ This is the best theater town in the country!
Soccer
Literature ~ I'm a fan and I read
O'Leary Lantern
~ Fire! Fire! Fire!
Gil
Thorp ~ THE Coach (apologies to The General!)
Poetry
of the First World War ~ Owen, Hardy and others
Chi-COW-go
~ Cowz plus Commentary (this used to be a cow town)
Graham
Fulton, Scottish Poet ~ Charles Manson Auditions for the Monkees
Other Important Websites:
The
Truth About Caroline ~ a really good Young Adult book by
my niece, Stacey M. Lane Grosh
Remember
Oklahoma City ~
The Civil Service and Military will
NEVER forget!
United States
United Kingdom
Germany
France
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| Page last updated June 22, 2006 | |
