Operation Montagnard Against the Viet Cong: Vietnam War - U.S. Army Special Forces Training

DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ELLCB0/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=d... More Vietnam War films: http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/search/label/Vietnam%20War

The Degar (referred to by French colonists as Montagnard) are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng (highlanders) - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic groups in Vietnam. Thượng is the Vietnamese adaptation of the Chinese "Shang" (上). Montagnard was the term, typically shortened to "Yard", used by U.S. military personnel in the Central Highlands during the Vietnam War. However the term has been viewed as derogatory and the official term is now Người dân tộc thiếu số (literally means minority people).

Before the Vietnam War, the population of the Central Highlands, estimated at between 3 and 3.5 million, was almost exclusively Degar. Today, the population is approximately 4 million, of whom about 1 million are Degars. The 30 or so Degar tribes in the Central Highlands comprise more than six different ethnic groups who speak languages drawn primarily from the Malayo-Polynesian, Tai, and Mon-Khmer language families. The main tribes, in order of population, are the Jarai, Rhade, Bahnar, Koho, Mnong, and Stieng.

Originally inhabitants of the coastal areas of the region, they were driven to the uninhabited mountainous areas by invading Vietnamese and Cambodians beginning prior to the 9th century.

Although French Roman Catholic missionaries converted some Degar in the nineteenth century, American missionaries made more of an impact in the 1930s, and many Degar are now Protestant. Of the approximately 1 million Degar, close to half are Protestant, while around 200,000 are Roman Catholic. This made Vietnam's Communist Party suspicious of the Degar, particularly during the Vietnam War, since it was thought that they would be more inclined to help the American forces (predominantly Christian—mainly Protestant).

In the mid-1950s, the once-isolated Degar began experiencing more contact with outsiders after the Vietnamese government launched efforts to gain better control of the Central Highlands and, following the 1954 Geneva Accord, new ethnic minorities from North Vietnam moved into the area. As a result of these changes, Degar communities felt a need to strengthen some of their own social structures and to develop a more formal shared identity.

In 1950, the French government established the Central Highlands as the Pays Montagnard du Sud (PMS) under the authority of Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại, whom the French had installed as nominal chief of state in 1949 as an alternative to Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam. When the French withdrew from Vietnam and recognized a Vietnamese government, Degar political independence was drastically diminished.

The Degar have a long history of tensions with the Vietnamese majority. While the Vietnamese are themselves heterogeneous, they generally share a common language and culture and have developed and maintained the dominant social institutions of Vietnam. The Degar do not share that heritage. There have been conflicts between the two groups over many issues, including land ownership, language and cultural preservation, access to education and resources, and political representation.

In 1958, the Degar launched a movement known as BAJARAKA (the name is made up of the first letters of prominent tribes; compare to the later Nicaraguan Misurasata) to unite the tribes against the Vietnamese. There was a related, well-organized political and (occasionally) military force within the Degar communities known by the French acronym, FULRO, or United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races. FULRO's objectives were autonomy for the Degar tribes.

As the Vietnam War began to loom on the horizon, both South Vietnamese and American policy makers sought to begin training troops from minority groups in the Vietnamese populace. The U.S. Mission to Saigon sponsored the training of the Degar in unconventional warfare by American Special Forces. These newly trained Degar were seen as a potential ally in the Central Highlands area to stop Viet Cong activity in the region and a means of preventing further spread of Viet Cong sympathy. Later, their participation would become much more important as the Ho Chi Minh trail, the North Vietnamese supply line for Viet Cong forces in the south, grew. The U.S. military, particularly the U.S. Army's Special Forces, developed base camps in the area and recruited the Degar, roughly 40,000 of whom fought alongside American soldiers and became a major part of the U.S. military effort in the Highlands.

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[MrVonnoobie]

Difference between Australian and US use of the Montagnard, The US tended to use large unit's, 40 men or more, While the Barry Peterson used 4 men give or take, Being the common Aussie thinking that small unit's are easier to blend into the Jungle, And they were, he was so loved and admired by the Montagnard, Both the civilian's and his troop's, That many actually cried openly when he was sent home.

[MrVonnoobie]

Shame it doesn't mention Australia's involvement in there training, The most successful man to command and work with the Montagnard was Captain Barry Peterson, Lent to the CIA, His massive amount of success and refusal to let his troop's become nothing more then Hit men meant he made enemies both politically and military.. Sadly seeing to him being removed of command, After that there effectiveness dropped Massively.

[bandutube]

@N1ceV1d , same thought 4 decades back as well :)

[iphodl]

Montagnard

[Knguyen281]

@Majik2oo

If there was/is a draft, the war in Afghan and Iraq would have ended many years ago. As of now the underclass is doing the fighting and dieing for the ruling class.

[Majik2oo]

They could bomb Afghanistan back to the stone age....nixon style and only do about 400 dollars worth of damage.....I told everyone from the get go that Afghanistan AND Iraq would be Viet Nam over again....except there is no draft and every one who volunteers get rewarded in numerous way$. Good Luck!

[talbot5445]

These old documentaries produced and presented by the US Army about US Army advisers in South Vietnam in the early '60s are interesting. Thanks, again, for putting this up.

[TalksWithDirt]

Oh my goodness. Listen to the reasoning of this film. Afghanistan really is like Vietnam again. Crap!

[sbreset1]

There is probably been more than $10 in the whole family at one time in generations, so how and where to go? There are only 4countries they can walk into: Vietnam, China, Thailand, and Cambodia; none will accept them. They're hunted as sport by anyone that wants more space. Imagine their instant loss of life and limb of unexploded bombs, mines, fragmenary cluster bomb fragments, and .slow death that Agent Orange continues to offer to anyone turning the soil.

[N1ceV1d]

i think all the Hmong people back in; Thailand, Vietname, Laos, and China, should all get out of those hellish countries.