Dear Bawng Chhang Song, 40 years is a long time memory. I knew some thing also, but not as much as you. On 1st April, 1975 Lon Nol have tears in his eyes when he shook hands goodbye to some leaders in Phnom Penh. The tears in his eyes meaning that he love Khmer Republic country and its own people called Khmer Republican citizen dearly.
I believe he never want to take away the power from late king Norodom Sihanouk, little bit later on he was the only one knew how to defend Cambodia from Khmer Rouge, Khmer Vietminh + Vietcong + NVA. His intention at any moment from 1973 onwards, he wanted to give the power back to the late king Norodom Sihnouk, but it was difficult and you can tell me why our late king did not want to return to take his power back, please tell me if you don't mind? On 1st of April, 1975, I was not positively sure, but you can enlight me on this. President Lon Nol was insisted to paid a visit to his most trust subordinate Colonel Im Chhodeth (Majeur of EOA 10th promotiion who was Khmer Republican Arm Forces special attachment to the Thai Army Supreme Command) at O' Ta Pao Thai Military Air Field, was it true? Regards, Kulen Monorom Ta Ruos Village, Krabey Real Commune, Krong & Khet Siem Reap, Cambodia Tel: +61 469 345 567 Email: [email protected] Skype: woodhyapdg On Tuesday, 1 April 2014 10:11 AM, Perom Uch <[email protected]> wrote: WHAT’S ON MY MIND 1st April 2014 MEMORIES OF PRESIDENT LON NOL FROM CAMBODIA THE FIRST OF APRIL is often referred to as April Fool. It’s expected that someone will be fooling someone else. What is so providential for me is that April Fool of this year falls on a Tuesday. In 1975, Tuesday April 1st was the date I left Cambodia with President LON NOL as the Khmer Rouge pressed their ferocious attacks against Phnom Penh from all directions. It was the departure which took some 15 years before I could return to Phnom Penh. Over two million people in Cambodia have died during that period of time. There’s much to say about events leading to the departure of President Lon Nol from Cambodia while the war raged on ferociously, but not much has been said apart from the speculation around that April 1st departure. Not much information flew out of the secret maneuvering leading to the departure of the president as the Prime Minister put a tight cap on my relations with journalists and assigned me the task of working with the visiting US congressional visit to re-assess the Cambodian situation. My deputy THONG LIM HUONG fulfilled for me all the ministerial obligations. Maliciously, many journalists referred to it as a no-return flight and that Lon Nol was eased out from the leadership. The word “fled” was much in usage. At 10 o’clock in the morning, when I was climbing onto the helicopter, my former military chief briefer General AM RONG reached out for my hand and said to me that “He (Lon Nol) got us all rise up and fight. Now he’s deserting us.” នាំគេក្រោកឡើងធ្វើទាំងអស់គ្នាហើយឥឡូវរត់ចោលគេ. Close presidential aids and family members saw it as the President’s trip to have a medical check-up with his American doctors at Tripler military Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii where he had a treatment for his 1971 stroke which had left him semi-paralyzed. Prime Minister LONG BORET who had given his best to see the settlement of Cambodia’s war and who knew it better than anybody else, told me privately in the day prior to that departure that it was “un coup silencieux,” a silent coup to deprive the enemy from using Lon Nol as the major obstacle to a negotiated settlement. Still, for the rest of us in Khmer Republic’s leadership, for the American ambassador to Cambodia JOHN GUNTHER DEAN and his mentor, US Secretary of State HENRY KISSINGER, the departure of President Lon Nol on April 1st 1975 was a shot in the dark to give peace negotiation a chance and stop the war in Cambodia which had already taken over half million lives. I too had strongly hinted of that possibility and kept the hope of returning to Phnom Penh in a three-month time. By this time, enemy dry season offensive had lasted for three months, since the first enemy rocket blasted out Phnom Penh’s New Year celebration at one o’clock in the morning. So far, the enemy was capable in maintaining efficient attacks against the government’s troops with deadly consequences for the Khmer Republic. All major highways were now cut and the Mekong River, once the lifeline for eighty percent of Phnom Penh’s vital foodstuffs, ammunition and petroleum, had been cut since late January. While supplies might have been adequate for longer period of time, accessibility to the supplies themselves was becoming more difficult in the face of the tightening enemy noose. As the enemy gained in strength, the Lon Nol government weakened internally through political infighting and corruption. The civilian and military arms of the government confronted each other almost on a daily basis. Our troops fought with under-strength units, often unpaid and short of ammunitions, to stop the threatening advance of the enemy toward the city. In mid-March, Commander-in-Chief General SOSTHENE FERNANDEZ briefed the Cabinet that three to four hundred soldiers fell each day. John Gunther Dean, the young impeccable US ambassador who arrived a year earlier from his post in Laos, correctly diagnosed the major causes of weakness on the government side and sought to convince the government to take the necessary steps to gain popular support and win, likewise, the support of the US Congress which was vital to gaining the funds needed. A request was submitted for $222 million in US aid to feed the population which had grown from a mere 200,000 in pre-war time, to some three million; and to carry the war into the rainy season when the fighting would bog down. At that point, negotiation would become more of a possibility. Although US President GERALD FORD was committed to provide the Khmer Republic with that aid, it was skeptical that the US Congress would support the President. A war-weary American public and their Congress had had enough of Indochina. The towel was thrown into the ring. Some members of the US delegation who visited Cambodia in March, in particular Congresswoman BELLA ABZUG, a democrat from New York, had let it known that they would vote against provision of US aid to Cambodia. A few sympathetic members of the US Congress on that visit hinted they would support only humanitarian aid for the Khmer Republic. I wondered out loud to the US congressional delegation how such an aid could help feed a dead corps. As it became clear the military solution could not deliver victory, negotiation between the government and “the other side” became the principal objective. In fact, peace negotiation had been contemplated for several years and Lon Nol had floated out several peace proposals to that effect. Offensive operation against the enemy was suspended end 1971 since TCHENLA II OPERATION to open Highway Six to the North-Central province of Kompong Thom had ended in great disaster for Khmer Republic’s troops. Some 7000 soldiers perished in that ambitious operation against the North Vietnamese. In view of the grave deterioration, we all worked in great secrecy. Quietly, to the delight of my American press counterpart, I even coined the phrase “smooth and orderly transfer of power,” for in case I had to explain the change of regime. Plots and intrigues thickened, whispers and rumors spread in the city on the departure of Lon Nol even faster than the decision we would make on the departure The cabinet met the previous week, appointed me ambassador-at-large with the mission to work on peace settlement. However preoccupied during the his early morning of April Fool, the President took the time to sign the official papers to empower Senate Chairman SOKHAM KHOY, the retired 70-year old general of a distinguished military record, to serve as pro tem President of the Khmer Republic. While heads of political parties, of the army, of the Buddhist clergy signed a pledge to continue their recognition of Marshal Lon Nol as the President of the Khmer Republic, the President also took the time to sign my credentials empowering me to act on behalf of the Khmer Republic’s leadership in the negotiation effort with foreign dignitaries and heads of the governments. But overall, there seems to be some truth in each case produced by the rumor mill. However, the hard truth of Lon Nol’s departure was included in the package of a “search mission” for a peace settlement to the Cambodian war. For the rest of us in the Khmer Republican leadership, for the American ambassador to Cambodia John Gunther Dean and his mentor, US Secretary of State HENRY KISSINGER, the departure of President Lon Nol on April 1st 1975, was a shot in the dark to give peace negotiation a chance. That war had already taken over half million lives and it got to stop. A $one million budget was earmarked for the mission expenses. There would be fourteen of us, including minister of interior, General EK PROEUNG and the President’s private physicians, Dr. KANG KENG and his assistant, Dr. TRAN KY. For my part, I would work alone with the President and would receive a $1,200 stipend some time during the month. I believed I would return to Phnom Penh in a three-month time, would see my mother and tell her the story why I could not take the time to say goodbye to her and to make arrangement for her to continue living in Phnom Penh. At 8 o’clock sharp, I arrived at the Chamkar Mon palace, with a light suite case of clothes, book notes and photo albums. A group of Khmer Republic’s top leaders assembled there, some with tears in their eyes. Defense Minister General SAK SAUKHAN, with his new three stars shining brightly from each of his shoulders, walked briskly by me, winked his eyes and went on to his business. The President was busy shaking hands and saying goodbye to his close relatives in the large room of his residence. I confirmed my presence with the Prime Minister, then met with the President’s brother, General LON NON and talked with him about the details of the trip. Prince SISOWATH SIRIK MATAK, the major 1970 anti-Sihanouk coup leader walked in, gently looking straight into my eyes, shook my hands without saying a word before he stepped on to meet the President. Soon LON NOL walked out with his wife toward the waiting giant helicopter while saluting the people the Khmer way, wiping tears off his eyes with a white handkerchief, while from the porch of his residence, people waved him goodbye, some collapsed into quiet sobbing. That’s what’s been on my mind for the past forty years. Chhang Song, Long Beach, CA, 1st of April 2014. - +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
