The Nungs

     Except for some anthropologists who specialized in Southeast Asia, very few people had heard of an ethnic group called Nungs that resides in Indochina, prior to the Vietnam War.  During our involvement in that war, the name Nung became known to some, particularly those who were familiar with the operations of our Army Special Forces in Vietnam.  What little the public knows about the Nungs is mostly that they were mercenary fighters who fought for the U.S. Special Forces.  Other than that, the general consensus was/is that they were good fighters, loyal to the U.S., and were ethnic Chineses.  That's about it.
     There is, of course, much more to the Nung story.  There is also some confusion in identifying exactly who they are.  There are, in fact, several ethnic groups that were called Nungs.   There are the Thai Nungs, as well as various Tho people (another name for Nungs).  The particular group of Chinese Nungs that fought as mercenaries for the U.S. were a separate group.  The name Nung was given to all of these ethnic Chinese by the French who for political reasons, did not want to classify them as Chinese, instead they called them by the Cantonese name of Nung, which means farmer, since most of them were farmers!  There are said to be over all, more than a million Nungs in several groups scattered throughout Indochinese peninsula, most concentrated in the northeast corner of Vietnam.  However, the Nung group that fought for the U.S. was a separate group that migrated to South Vietnam around 1954.
     All of the Nungs have always had a reputation for being fierce fighters.  Some compare them to the Ghurkas, a much better known Asian warrior group.  Historically, Nungs  have fought for various employers as mercenaries for a long time.  Sun Yat Sen, hired Nungs to fight for the newly formed Nationalist China, and in fact, some of the best fighting units of Nationalist China were made up of Nungs. 
     The popular version of modern Nung history, in what was South Vietnam, is that some 50,000 Nungs, led by a Colonel Vong A Sang, a former Nationalist Chinese Army Colonel, migrated to South Vietnam when Ho Chi Minh started to take over the northern part of that country.  The 50,000 Nungs consisted of men, women, and children, an entire population of Nungs that supposedly were former Nationalist Chinese Army members who fled mainland China in 1949 when Mao and the communists took over.  They first came to the northeastern part of Vietnam where other Nungs were already settled.  But when Ho and the communist Viet Minh began to take over the country, supposedly, Colonel Vong A Sang assembled his group, as well as other Nungs who joined him, and migrated to the south.
     No doubt there is some truth in this story.  But then again, like all anecdotal accounts of history, this particular version may be made up of some half truths as well as pure fiction, who knows.  However, it does sound very interesting and could make a good novel or a movie! Whatever the case, the Chinese Nungs who fought for the U.S. Army Special Forces were exceptional soldiers, brave and completely loyal to Americans.  Unfortunately they did not get along with the Vietnamese.  In fact, the Nungs hated the Vietnamese and would get upset when some unknowing American would confuse them with the Vietnamese!  The feeling was mutual, the Vietnamese did not care for the Nungs either!
     Many Americans don't realize that we had been involved in Vietnam much earlier than reported by the media.  The first U.S. military "observers" were sent to Vietnam as early as 1954, even before the French got thrown out of that country.  One of the main reasons for the formation of the 1st Special Forces Group on Okinawa in 1957 was because of our interest and involvement in Vietnam!  By 1958 we were sending military "advisors" and "trainers" both from the 1st Special Forces Group on Okinawa and the 77th Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  The first Special Forces battle casualty in Vietnam was a Captain from the 77th who was killed on a patrol in 1958.  His death was not recognized as combat related death until some 35 years later!  The family was told he had died in a training accident, a popular explanation given in those days when someone was killed on a classified operation!
     Contrast it with today's coverage of "classified" operations such as the "super secret" operation to get Osama Bin Laden.  In less than a year after the "super secret" operation, a book was published and a movie was made with a complete list of participants of the supposed "super secret" Navy SEAL Team.   Yes, SEAL Team 6 that participated in that operation is supposed to be the most "hush-hush" unit in the US Navy!  Thankfully the names of the Army's Special Operations Aviation (Blackhawk pilots and crew) members as well as the Army's "other" members who participated in the raid were not divulged!  What is this need to tell everyone, everything!?! At least no one posted comments on their "tweeter" account during the operation!
     In April of 1962, for the first time the deaths of two Special Forces soldiers was recognized as combat related and there was media coverage on the incidents.  The two Special Forces NCOs were killed by their own men (Vietnamese that they were training and leading), at an isolated Special Forces camp.  It was discovered that the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDGs) that were trained and led by the twelve man Special Forces team was heavily infiltrated by Viet Cong (VC) and the VC had turned their guns on the Americans with the help of other VC that attacked the camp. 
     Typically, a twelve man Special Forces team would find itself at an isolated camp, training and leading a CIDG unit that could be anywhere from 150 to 500 man strength.  No matter how you looked at it, Americans were vastly outnumbered by non-Americans at locations that were hours away (by air!) from friendly units!  In case of Vietnamese villagers that we were recruiting and training, we could never tell who was a VC sympathizer or possibly even a hard core VC!  Something had to be done to prevent another incident such as the one that had taken place.
     Since our early involvement in Vietnam, we had come in contact with Nungs who had offered their services to us.  We knew that they were fierce fighters, strong anti communists, and hated Vietnamese!  The solution was to hire Nung body guards.  Initially Special Forces camps hired small units of Nungs (usually a platoon size) to provide security for camps, to watch the backs of the Americans.  The Nungs proved to be completely trustworthy and incidents of CIDGs turning on Americans did not occur again.  The Nungs were not only disliked by the Vietnamese, but feared!  The Nung security program was so successful that we decided to expand it and use the Nungs for other combat related use.  By mid 1960s, the Nungs were firmly established as part of the U.S.Special Forces operations in Vietnam.