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The housing market here is getting way out of control. Million dollar for something that should cost 40k. Even homes in the ghetto now costs close to a million.
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It has been a while since my last visit to San Jose. Property price cooled down a lot, now it explodes again you say. Apparently too many people with money plus too much speculative purchases.

If that is what it means when only claiming rightful territory, then so be it.
Your victory means little. Do you remember you were forced to stop drilling some few times ago? You can't drill we can't drill. We go back to square one.

In respect to your rightful territories, the central plain is only yours. Pls leave and give back everything to the respective owners! Thanks.
 
The Forgotten South Vietnamese Airborne



Troops of the Third Batallion, 60th Infantry, 9th Division, 2nd Brigade arrive in the United States after being withdrawn from Vietnam in 1969.
BETTMANN, VIA GETTY IMAGES

AUGUST 8, 2017
Vietnam '67
By BARRY R. MCCAFFREY

I arrived in Vietnam in July 1966, and for the next year I served as an adviser with the South Vietnamese Airborne Division. It was the last year we thought we were winning. It was the last year we could define what we thought winning would be. It was a year of optimism, of surging American troop strength that largely took over the war from the Vietnamese — and of wildly expanding American casualty lists.

By the end of 1967, there were 486,000 American troops in the battle. The number of Americans killed in action that year roughly doubled from 1966. Amid all of that, the sacrifice and valor and commitment of the South Vietnamese Army largely disappeared from the American political and media consciousness.

The South Vietnamese Airborne Division, which I joined as an assistant battalion adviser, was an elite combat unit. By 1967 these paratroopers, with their camouflaged jump uniforms and distinctive red berets, had grown to 13,000 men, all volunteers. Those of us privileged to serve with them were awe-struck by their courage and tactical aggressiveness. The senior officers and noncommissioned officers were extremely competent and battle hardened; it’s easy to forget that while the Americans were new to Vietnam, many of these men had been at war since 1951.

As advisers, we essentially acted as staff and liaison officers at the battalion and brigade levels. We had spent a year preparing in California, including 16-hour days of cultural and language immersion at the Defense Language Institute. I ended up with a sub-fluent command of spoken Vietnamese. Counterinsurgency tactics and training in the World War II-era weapons systems that the Vietnamese still used took place at Fort Bragg, N.C.


The author, right, with Col. James B. Bartholomees, after a battle south of Danang, South Vietnam, in 1966.


We played a wide range of roles: coordinating artillery and airstrikes, arranging helicopter lifts and medevac and providing intelligence and logistical support. We didn’t give orders, and we didn’t need to. Our Vietnamese counterparts were men we admired, and they were glad to have us — and American firepower — with them. We ate their food. We spoke their language. We trusted the Vietnamese completely. I usually had a paratrooper as a bodyguard and as a radio operator.

Normally, a battalion-level advisory team like mine consisted of three men: an American Army captain, a first lieutenant and a senior noncommissioned officer, usually a sergeant. The sergeants were the core: While officers rotated in and out, many of the sergeants stayed with their assigned South Vietnamese units until the end of the war — or until they were killed or knocked out of the fight.

My introduction to Vietnam was a bloody experience. We deployed by American Navy assault boats and Army helicopters into the swampy river delta south of Saigon. This was combat without glory, fighting and drowning in the saltwater muck. There was none of the adventure that we felt in Ranger school. My captain, an incredibly professional and competent senior adviser, was killed. Back at base, I helped carry his body off the helicopter. It was only the beginning.

Four months into my tour with the airborne we were involved in a giant, bloody battle supporting American Marine units north of Dong Ha, near the coast in the northern part of South Vietnam. Two of our battalions were inserted by helicopter into the Demilitarized Zone to check a significant force of North Vietnamese moving south. It turned into three days of intense and bloody combat. My senior adviser was killed. Our incredibly courageous noncommissioned officer, Master Sgt. Rudy Ortiz, was riddled from head to foot. He asked me to load his M-16 and put it on his chest so that he could “die fighting” with the rest of us (luckily, he survived).




We took hundreds of casualties and came very close to being overrun. But the South Vietnamese paratroopers fought tenaciously. At the critical moment, with supporting air and naval fire, we counterattacked. The executive officer of my Vietnamese battalion walked upright through heavy automatic weapon fire to my foxhole. “Lieutenant,” he told me, “it is time to die now.” It gives me chills to remember his words.

In combat, the South Vietnamese refused to leave their own dead or wounded troopers on the field or abandon a weapon. In another battle one of my West Point classmates, Tommy Kerns, a huge Army football player, was badly wounded and stuck in a narrow trench as his airborne battalion tried to break contact with a large North Vietnamese force. The Vietnamese paratroopers with him, all much smaller than Tommy, couldn’t haul him out of the trench. Rather than withdraw and leave him, they held their ground and won a violent engagement over his giant wounded body. He survived because of their courage.

The America advisers and most of the Airborne Division were stationed in and around Saigon. We loved the energy and fun of the city. We loved the culture and the language and the Vietnamese. We were terribly proud of our status with the Red Berets. We were sure the entire world envied our assignment — we were working with the country’s elite. With combat and airborne pay, we had what seemed like a ton of money. We lived in air-conditioned quarters. We were young and harebrained and aggressive. The American colonels and lieutenant colonels who ran the advisers were older, stable and battle-hardened men who had seen much worse combat in World War II and Korea as paratroopers.

Life as an adviser in the Vietnamese Airborne Division was unpredictable. The division’s job was to serve as a strategic reserve, to be inserted into combat whenever commanders needed an edge. A Vietnamese airborne battalion or a full brigade would be alerted for emergency deployment in the middle of the night. We would cram into American and Vietnamese Air Force transport planes, which sat, engines roaring, in long lines at Ton Son Nhut Air Base, near Saigon. Live ammo would be issued. Sometimes parachutes were issued. A hurried battle plan.
And then — mayhem. The battalions deployed to wherever they were needed. We could head anywhere in the country and find ourselves in the middle of a firefight. Many of the America advisers and hundreds of the Vietnamese paratroopers I served with did not come back from these operations. I can see their young faces still. Capt. Gary Brux. Capt. Bill Deuel. Lt. Chuck Hemmingway. Lt. Carl Arvin. My very young radio operator, Pvt. Michael Randall. All dead. Brave. Proud.

Vietnam wasn’t my first combat tour. After graduating from West Point, I joined the 82nd Airborne Division in the Dominican Republic intervention in 1965. We had deployed to the island and quashed the Cuban-inspired Communist uprising, and then stayed as an Organization of American States peacekeeping force. We thought that was what combat meant, and when we returned to Fort Bragg, we were eager to get to Vietnam — several lieutenants from my infantry battalion jumped into a car and drove all the way to Army headquarters in Washington to volunteer for the battle. We thought we were going to miss the war.

Now we know the end of the story. Two million Vietnamese probably died. The United States lost 58,000 and 303,000 were wounded. America descended into a bitter and convulsive political civil war. We knew nothing of it then. I was so very proud to have been selected to serve with the Vietnamese airborne. My new and beautiful wife, whom I loved dearly, knew I had to go. My dad, an Army general, would honor me if I was killed.

All this was over 50 years ago. The Vietnamese Airborne Division soldiers who survived the collapse of South Vietnam either escaped through Cambodia or went through a decade of brutal “re-education” camps. Most of them eventually made it to the United States. We have an association of the American advisers and our Vietnamese comrades, and there is a memorial to our efforts at Arlington National Cemetery. We gather there every year and remember how we fought together. We wear our red berets. We laugh at our old stories, but there is a deep sadness that we lost so many, and that it came to nothing.

People often ask me about the lessons of the war in Vietnam. Those of us who fought with the Vietnamese Airborne Division are not the ones to ask. All we remember and know is the enduring courage and determination of the Vietnamese Airborne privates pushing forward into battle. They have no monuments except in our memories.

Barry McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) served as an adviser in the Vietnamese Airborne Division. He retired as a four-star general, later served as the Clinton administration drug czar and is now a national security commentator for NBC News.

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Vietnam Bends the Knee to China
More proof that in the South China Sea, Beijing is king.
By Jeremiah Jacques • August 14

https://www.thetrumpet.com/16157-vietnam-bends-the-knee-to-china

Here is another recent news article that looks over the development in the South China Sea.
Vietnamese fought Chinese not once or twice since we gained independence, and Chinese dynasties had won over us more than once.
We are scared of China because of all those invasions and superiority. Unlike Korea which was more friendly and dependent toward China in the past to fight against Japan threat, Vietnam didn’t feel so. All we felt about China is admiration, caution and fear
That is why, when things relates to China, Vietnamese usually goes skeptical and irrational, very much so. Even for educated Vietnamese
Vietnamese will be always very irrational toward China. Even more for soldiers. For soldiers patriotism is pushed to extreme . That is why if things relates to China, Vietnamese will not yield, the Vietnamese leaders can’t yield in fact. From What I see about ASEAN, Vietnamese leader is finding the way to confront Chinese threat in SCS.
 
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Well said sis @xiao qi Women can change the world too :tup:


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Tran Bich Huong, chief executive of Epomi


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Thuy Nguyen, president of US Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California


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14 year golfer Khue Minh


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Phuong Thao, CEO of VietJet
 
Training on oversized 100mm mortar launchers out of domestic production. First batches have been delivered to the infantry.

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Vietnam Bends the Knee to China
More proof that in the South China Sea, Beijing is king.
By Jeremiah Jacques • August 14

https://www.thetrumpet.com/16157-vietnam-bends-the-knee-to-china

Here is another recent news article that looks over the development in the South China Sea.

Since the mods totally let you trolls run around so guess we can play around a little.

Hoh hoh hoh bend the knee ? Beijing is king ? Oh sure we will bend the knee then kick China right in the nuts. Happened thousands of times before and we will happy to repeat more. And of course you bring forward "reliable proof" from "Thetrumpet". If my memory is not too shitty then that is the same website with the notorious article comparing Chinese with Japanese and oh boy they bring up some very "interesting stuffs" that will make you curse the site for eternity. Want to me show it in this forum ? Got "very nice" pictures too

And we thought that after being owned hard by the UK and then the Japanese, Chinese can finally act with brain but noooooo, have to search around for something to make them feel more superior to everyone in the region. Well you can have your wet dream nice and steady. When the time come, better keep your nuts protected

20882309_1766578410308262_8992091458757033212_n.jpg


20799814_1766578430308260_5287593497651480853_n.jpg


A PLAN J-15 with engine fire due to bird strike. The pilot manage to make safe landing and the fire was put out before it reach the fuel tank and weapons. Could have wish the the plane crash right at the hangar and kill everyone there but I don't since making low blow is not my thing. But well, if there are still people that wish Vietnam to "Bend the knee" then probably my wish is not too cruel....
 
Vietnam’s Place In The Asian Century
By Anirban Lahiri

09 Aug 2017

bigstock-Aerial-Skyline-View-Of-Hanoi-166922528.jpg



“VIETNAM IS THE ‘NEW CHINA’.” MANY OF US HAVE HEARD THAT phrase before and there is some truth to the statement. A war-ravaged and impoverished country just a few decades ago, Vietnam is associated less today with the Viet Cong tunnels, guerrilla warfare in steamy jungles, and Agent Orange than with humming factories, a swelling middleclass, and its emergence as the new export wonderchild of Asia.

Ever since the introduction of the doi moi (renovation and restructuring) economic reforms in 1986, Vietnam has been on a tear. Apart from a brief period of economic distress and financial volatility experienced from 2009 to 2012, the country has been a development posterchild with sustained gross domestic product (GDP) growth of approximately 6 per cent a year, and is now knocking on the doors of the middle-income club of economies. With a per capita GDP of around US$2,200, the Vietnamese are starting to experience a sustained consumption boom as disposable income is now large enough to kickstart a surge in discretionary spending on everything ranging from entertainment to cars and holidays.

In many ways, Vietnam is a microcosm of the classic Asian development story of recent decades—an erstwhile European colony that shrugs itself free of its oppressors and then turns deeply insular, suspicious of the West and its ideals, only to then emerge from its isolation as an economic tiger riding on the coattails of globalisation and free-trade.

But what makes Vietnam particularly special is that it could well be the last in a generation of Asian economies that have exported their way from rags to riches. Japan in the seventies, Korea and Taiwan in the eighties, Thailand and Malaysia in the nineties, and China in this century all rapidly ascended the economic ladder through exports of manufactured goods, primarily to the West. Low labour costs and foreign investment-friendly policies were the secret sauce, and as wages rose, these trading nations migrated up the value chain from low-end exports of garments, footwear and furniture to automotive parts and electronics. Some of these countries, like Japan and South Korea, went that extra mile to develop their own world class Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) brands, and became world renowned crucibles of technology innovation.

Vietnam has been treading in their footsteps—from exports of furniture and agricultural commodities a couple of decades back, it has become a favoured production hub for textiles and footwear, and is now dabbling seriously with electronics: Samsung has invested close to US$15 billion in factories in Vietnam and accounts for nearly a quarter of the country’s exports. Vietnam is now one of the world’s largest exporters of handsets as well as flat panel televisions—its rapid rise from exporting rice to assembling smart phones would have been inconceivable even ten years ago. A large and young workforce, solid primary education system and its proximity to China’s manufacturing heartland in the Pearl River Delta made Vietnam’s rapid ascendance as an export powerhouse possible. But as automation and robotics loom on the manufacturing horizon, one can’t help but wonder if Vietnam might be the last one to squeeze through the hallowed gates of upper middle-income-hood before offshored manufacturing becomes a relic of the past.

Regardless, Vietnam will be an important contributor to and beneficiary of the Asian Century. First, its highly strategic location and long coastline have already rendered it a geopolitical playground for superpowers. With China, on the one hand, and the United States, Japan, South Korea, and India, on the other, trying to cement their influence in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has been able to successfully play each side off against the other and, in the process, gained concessions from both. The Japanese have been funding the roll-out of hard infrastructure including a nationwide expressway network, and upgrades of airports and urban mass transit systems in Vietnam at a frenetic pace to secure it as the last bastion of Japanese influence in the region amid a sea of China-leaning regimes such as Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia—and more recently—the Philippines.

But to fund nearly half a trillion U.S. dollars of infrastructure investments needed over the next five to ten years, Vietnam is likely to turn to loans from the newly formed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)—China’s response to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)—as the flow of overseas assistance from Japan and Western allies tempers in pace.

India, for its part, sees Vietnam as a vital piece in a complex regional chess game with China, and is tightening its relationship with the country as a response to China’s intrusion into its own South Asian backyard—“if you get into my backyard, I will get into yours” seems to be the message India is sending China by deploying its Akash and Brahmos missile systems in Vietnam, and providing training to the Vietnamese armed forces.

Secondly, with China having dominated global manufacturing for over two decades and, given its rising labour costs and economic re-orientation towards domestic consumption, Vietnam stands to benefit enormously. Despite all the talk of South Asia and Africa becoming the next manufacturing export hubs due to large and low-cost labour pools, one must remember the importance of staying plugged into China-centric supply chains. Samsung would not move its factories all the way to western India to assemble handsets for export around the world when several of the handset component suppliers are still in China. Given China’s migration into higher-end manufacturing, Chinese suppliers will only further grow their share of the supply of critical components across a whole array of manufactured wares. This will mean that assembly can never move that far away from China without compromising on supply chain responsiveness.

Enter Vietnam. With its long coastline hugging one of the most important maritime corridors of the world, and only a couple of days by ship away from the mega ports and transshipment hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore, Vietnam has an unparalleled advantage as a choice for factory relocation out of China. As China continues to migrate up the manufacturing value chain, this trend will continue, with Vietnam following in its wake, nibbling away at each stage as China becomes uncompetitive in industries, or stages of the value chain within industries, and moves up one notch at a time along the value chain. Vietnam’s sizeable and young labour force and good quality of basic education and numeracy will only help reinforce this trend.

China’s continued tilt towards domestic consumption presents another huge opportunity for Vietnam. With the country’s 1.3 billion consumers splashing out on a whole range of discretionary purchases, Vietnam’s location could become even more of an asset. Given its proximity to China, Vietnam is the natural choice for setting up factories to export goods into China. As Chinese consumption starts to overshadow consumption in the West, Vietnam could become the favored sourcing hub for a whole range of consumer product categories. This will provide a bulwark against growing protectionism in the West.

With a highly strategic location, a young population of nearly 100 million, a highly literate and numerate workforce, a vibrant consumer class with a demonstrated taste for adoption of new technology, Vietnam is likely to continue its pole-vault towards developed country status. As the country’s economy starts to matter in the region, so will its geopolitical significance.





Anirban Lahiri is a Founder and CEO at MediSetter.
 
Training on oversized 100mm mortar launchers out of domestic production. First batches have been delivered to the infantry.
Have you fired this before ?
What you mean by oversized 100mm?
I think this is the 120mm.
Common sizes are 120, 81, 60.
Quite fun firing mortars.
More fun than 155 howitzers.
Because target is not too far, we can see the bombs go off in a nice pattern.
At night, firing Ilum (as in illumination) is like having fireworks.
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Have you fired this before ?
What you mean by oversized 100mm?
I think this is the 120mm.
Common sizes are 120, 81, 60.
Quite fun firing mortars.
More fun than 155 howitzers.
Because target is not too far, we can see the bombs go off in a nice pattern.
At night, firing Ilum (as in illumination) is like having fireworks.
.
I thought of oversized because the caliber appears too big and weights more than usual on the shoulder of an infantryman. The army should mount the gun on truck that will increase mobility. 100mm is about the gun caliber of VN T54/55 tanks. Yes lots of fun and fireworks when such mortar spits granate. No I have never been in an army, never hold a gun. VN has seen so many wars in history our country shall never see any war again.

This VN military thread seems to be the only english speaking place to learn a bit about her military, history and people. That makes my motivation here to contribute.

Have you joined the army service in Singapore?
 
I thought of oversized because the caliber appears too big and weights more than usual on the shoulder of an infantryman. The army should mount the gun on truck that will increase mobility. 100mm is about the gun caliber of VN T54/55 tanks. Yes lots of fun and fireworks when such mortar spits granate. No I have never been in an army, never hold a gun. VN has seen so many wars in history our country shall never see any war again.

This VN military thread seems to be the only english speaking place to learn a bit about her military, history and people. That makes my motivation here to contribute.

Have you joined the army service in Singapore?

Every Singaporean mandated to joint National Services once they reach the age, no one can be spared
 
I thought of oversized because the caliber appears too big and weights more than usual on the shoulder of an infantryman. The army should mount the gun on truck that will increase mobility. 100mm is about the gun caliber of VN T54/55 tanks. Yes lots of fun and fireworks when such mortar spits granate. No I have never been in an army, never hold a gun. VN has seen so many wars in history our country shall never see any war again.

This VN military thread seems to be the only english speaking place to learn a bit about her military, history and people. That makes my motivation here to contribute.

Have you joined the army service in Singapore?
Oh, you are not aware all Singapore males have to do National Service.
I thought most people here have military experience.
Time in the army is quite exciting actually, you have hundreds of active young men whom you can call upon if you ever had a brawl with some gangster, which we do from time to time.
For weapons, not guns but knives, changkols(digging) and parangs(used to cut bushes) are readily available at the army store.

I never seen real action, but have seen colleagues die in military mishaps and its not pretty.
1st time you see intestines flowing out of the stomach and people burning alive can be quite traumatic and for a long time afterwards. During my time all mishaps are confidential.

You should at least fire a rifle and its very enjoyable when you realize you can hit a target so far away.
That is if you are shooting from a prone position and aiming while relaxed and not after a strenuous run.
A pistol is not so easy to fire accurately.

The new mortars are mounted on trucks and fire automatically.
Those in the picture are antics.
Ya, its quite heavy, that barrel alone is around 90kg for that obsolete Singapore model.

Forgot to mention, machine-gun is very fun as well.
Throwing grenades is boring.
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Since the mods totally let you trolls run around so guess we can play around a little.

Hoh hoh hoh bend the knee ? Beijing is king ? Oh sure we will bend the knee then kick China right in the nuts. Happened thousands of times before and we will happy to repeat more. And of course you bring forward "reliable proof" from "Thetrumpet". If my memory is not too shitty then that is the same website with the notorious article comparing Chinese with Japanese and oh boy they bring up some very "interesting stuffs" that will make you curse the site for eternity. Want to me show it in this forum ? Got "very nice" pictures too

And we thought that after being owned hard by the UK and then the Japanese, Chinese can finally act with brain but noooooo, have to search around for something to make them feel more superior to everyone in the region. Well you can have your wet dream nice and steady. When the time come, better keep your nuts protected

20882309_1766578410308262_8992091458757033212_n.jpg


20799814_1766578430308260_5287593497651480853_n.jpg


A PLAN J-15 with engine fire due to bird strike. The pilot manage to make safe landing and the fire was put out before it reach the fuel tank and weapons. Could have wish the the plane crash right at the hangar and kill everyone there but I don't since making low blow is not my thing. But well, if there are still people that wish Vietnam to "Bend the knee" then probably my wish is not too cruel....

As much as we would like to deny china of its dominance in the area, fact is, they are the most powerful military in Vietnam's neck of the wood. Just giving credit where credit is due.

The quality of their military, on the other hand, from the men to their most sophisticated stealth planes are absolute garbage. Its under powered, cant maneuver for shit, inexperienced pilot, ineffective arms, just crap to simply put. America would wipe the floor with chinese weapons of war in a conventional war. Russia is the only match for America.

With that said, the fact that china can produce a stealth plane is quite an accomplishment.
 
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