Later it would be obvious that this was instigated by the American
CIA. The military needed to be able to openly bomb and invade
Cambodia...the key sanctuary for all those NVA soldiers I passed on the
highway the day before. So much for turning the war over to the South
Vietnamese military!
I found the freelance cameraman who shot film for NBC News and we went
to work. He didn't have audio capability so I just recorded stuff on my
handy cassette recorder...and even tried to do a standup report that
way as I knew the folks back in New York could match the audio to the
video.
We shot a bunch of film and recorded a lot of stuff but we had a couple
of problems. The first was my very presence with a cameraman and tape
recorder. I was not supposed to be there...so that killed the
possibility of doing interviews, etc. I was nervous about approaching
any of the Cambodian officers. We did film General Lon Nol as he
marched into what appeared to be the legislative building near the
palace but I didn't know who he was at the time and didn't approach him.
All communication in and out of Cambodia was down because of the coup.
The only way we could get the film and tapes out was to drive to the
Thai border and hopefully hand it over to a Bangkok staffer. NBC news
Bangkok could satellite to New York.
I found out that once you left you couldn't get back in. And...border
officers were not letting anyone new come in either...so I had a hell of
a scoop.
I contacted my driver...told him of our project and advised him that we
might have to sit at the bridge on the Thai border until someone from
NBC News managed to show up. He said he could probably bribe someone to
let him go across and find a telephone to call NBC in Bangkok.
We headed out for what could have been a long, long drive....not in
miles...the border was only an hour away...but in wait time for the
pickup.
When we arrived at the bridge that crossed into Thailand...my driver
confirmed that the border guards were not letting anyone back in...so we
couldn't leave.
About a half-hour later some British journalists from the BBC pulled
up...telling us they were headed for Bangkok. I had met one of them
back in Saigon so I ask him to hand carry our stuff to the NBC News
office in Bangkok and he agreed.
The BBC had an ongoing deal with NBC news anyway so this was perfect and I knew he wouldn't abscond with my material.
So that was all settled nicely...and I turned to get back in the car to
return to Phnom Penh when I heard someone yelling at me from
Thailand...at the other end of the bridge.
It was a CBS news crew and the correspondent was begging me to help them get into the country.
For probably the first and only time I can remember not being a nice
guy...I just shrugged and turned back and got in the car.
Well,...what would you have done.
About a month later I would be touring the CBS news offices in New York
inquiring about a position. The radio exec was interested in hiring
me...when the fellow in charge of foreign desk found out I was there he
went into a screaming fit about not helping their crew at the border...
so my possible career at CBS with Cronkite and Rather was not to be!
Everyone did make into Cambodia in a few days after things cleared up.
I got to get back on the plane headed for vacation before returning to
the states.
Before I left Phnom Penh the correspondent for Newsweek ask me to read
over his story before he got it out to wherever. I did and it was good.
A week or so later I picked up a copy of Newsweek and read an entirely
different version with no byline for him. Someone back in New York
decided they knew better than the guy on the scene as to what actually
went on in Cambodia.
Since that time...I've not had much faith in what I read in either Time or Newsweek.
And...finally...this quirk of happenstance.
My flight back from Vietnam to New York was the fastest and most direct
but also the most tiresome I could take. I flew to Bangkok and changed
to a SAS 707 which flew directly to Copenhagen. Well...more or less.
We flew OVER the Himalayan Mountains...the highest in the world and
were told we would make only one stop to refuel in Russia...either
Moscow or Tashkent depending on the weather.
But here's the kicker.
Remember why I got off the plane at Phnom Penh? I wanted to cover that
story about the ship that had been hijacked in the South China Sea.
Well,...the some crew members of that ship were on board this plane...headed back home.
I chatted with a couple of them but they didn't say much. Apparently
they were wary of anyone asking too many questions at that point.
Our refueling stop was sadly...not Moscow but Tashkent in the Soviet
Union. Russian customs officials looking very mean and more like police
than anything else came on board and the flight attendant announced
that we could deplane for the terminal for refreshments and shopping but
only if we handed our passports over to the Russkies first.
I
did so as I wanted to stretch my legs after the first long portion of
the flight. Inside the terminal things were sparse...except for several
very pretty girls sitting around...smiling and inviting possible
interest. I took this as a blatant attempt by the KGB for some reason
or another and didn't pay much attention to them.
After
a short period..we went back to the plane...and I gratefully retrieved
my passport from the official as I came on board.
The only other interesting note was that when we left southeast Asia it
was the heat of summer and in the 90’s and when we landed in
Denmark...it was winter and cold as hell. I had to buy a coat before I
left the terminal!
I had been to Copenhagen once before...in the summer. Tivoli Gardens is just not the same in the snow.
stanmajor@aol.com