Undercover Armies - CIA FOIA - Central Intelligence Agency

C05303949
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The High Water MarkD
The relatively small size of the Hrnong population was only one of the impediments
to recruitment for Special Guerrilla Unit battalions in Military Region 2.
Previous combat losses and the substantial manpower demands of existing village
guerrilla units and smaller SGUs had reduced the manpower base of the
Hmong as well as that of allied tribes like the Lao Theung. Nevertheless, recruiting
was under way when, in September 1966, Vang Pao's arm wound-never
entirely healed-began to produce crippling pain. This time, CIA made arrangements
to fly him to Tripier Army Medical Center in Hawaii, where he was lodged
in the suite reserved for the CINCPAC, Adm. U.S. Grant Sharp.'D
I land later I Iattended him. Their best efforts did
not entirely soothe a most impatient patient, for Vang Pao well understood the
effect of his absence on the pace of activity at Long Tieng. The general's CIA
escorts served as interpreters and represented 10the military the Agency's proprietary
interest in him. As his condition improved after surgery, they found
themselves mediating between cultures in ways that, in the. fastnesses of
northern Laos, had never been required.'0
The recuperation phase was marked by an invitation to visit Admiral
Sharp's headquarters. For all his tactical brilliance, Vang Pao had only a shaky
grasp of strategy, andl Iwanted to avoid having him embarrass himself
with any bizarre proposals. And so he edited, as best he could, Vang Pao's
eager suggestion to Admiral Sharp that a Porter STOL aircraft, with himself
aboard as guide, fly low among the mountain peaks into North Vietnam. After
the pilot had parachuted to safety and Vang Pao had taken the controls, he
would proceed to Hanoi on a one-man kamikaze mission. 0 3
JI Iinterview.I Irecalled that, well before Shackley arrived, the
relocation of dependents of full-time combatants had already helped transform Long Tieng from a
tiny villageof perhaps 15 huts into a haven for some30,000people.D
'I 1 .
'Ibid.L!
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