2024 Update on Helping the Montagnards in Vietnam

Many US Army Special Forces (“SF”) veterans who served in Vietnam worked with the local indigenous peoples, largely Montagnards, to create an effective fighting force to counter Viet Cong and NVA forces operating in South Vietnam. Whether deployed at an A Camp where an SF team would recruit, train and operate with their indig troops; to Mobile Strike Force (Mike Force) units that acted as a quick reaction force (QRF); to MACV SOG or to other Greek alphabet units, the importance of working with these indigenous soldiers cannot be understated.

Close bonds between these troops and their SF counterparts were formed as a result of working together. When the US withdrew from Vietnam, many of these “Forgotten Warriors” were captured and put into re-education camps or killed. Their families were uprooted and their ancestral lands were confiscated. All who had worked with these soldiers felt we had abandoned them, and many worked tirelessly to try to help them emigrate to the US. While a small contingent of them were able to successfully relocate to the US, most were left behind.

Many Special Forces veterans and others who worked with the Montagnards during the Vietnam era have worked tirelessly over the years to help them. Organizations such as Save The Montagnard People have helped those who were able to escape to the US, and various other organizations have been working to help those who remain in Vietnam.

One Special Forces veteran who served in Vietnam who has been trying to return to help the Montagnards remaining in Vietnam is John Padgett, MAJ (Ret) who was an SF medic in Vietnam. John has been involved with a charity organization called Refugee Relief International Inc. that has worked in many areas of the world helping those in need. I had the pleasure of working with John trying to help him get into the Central Highlands prior to COVID with the help of Jane Coyle, the founder of The Vietnam Fund. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese government at the time would not allow outsiders into the area and their efforts were thwarted.

In 2023, those efforts were rekindled, and with the help of an organization that has been working in the Highlands called Viet Dreams. Their work has been primarily helping to install fresh water systems and provide educational and medical assistance to schools and orphanages. John and his wife Vicki, MAJ USAF (Ret), were able to return to visit Kontum and the Quang Nam area where they visited various schools and orphanages.

Viet Dreams typical water system installation.

According to John, the key takeaway from his trip is that the teachers and staff at the schools/orphanages that they visited, who were comprised largely of Catholic nuns, had little education or experience in caring for sick or injured children. As a result, Refugee Relief International Inc. is currently planning another trip to the Highlands in 2024, subject to Vietnamese government approval, to provide basic pediatric health training as well as providing first aid materials that are not available in the Highlands.

Anyone wishing to support the Montagnards remaining in Vietnam should make a donation to either Viet Dreams or Refugee Relief International Inc. which can be accomplished at their respective websites shown above.