Colonel Jean Andre Sauvageot

Colonel Jean Andre Sauvageot

Colonel Jean Andre Sauvageot was born in Ohio and studied Philosophy (major) and English (minor). He wasn’t thinking of joining the army since he was considering joining law school. He, however, joined the navy and later volunteered to the military since there was a shortage of soldiers, and it would also earn him extra income. He did not study Vietnamese in class, but he learned it while he was a junior captain. At the camp, the soldiers were quite confident in their work. He served under the tutelage of Frank Scotton. Frank, who was an information officer at USI, became his friend. He helped him to stay in the place and gave him confidence that the war was going to be over eventually. He had in-depth knowledge of the war, and he mainly worked as an adviser to the battalions

According to Colonel Jean, to win the war, they had to make the people understand that the soldiers were working in the best interest of the people. The legitimate government that was in power and the elders of the districts were the ones who were going to help the residents be safe. During their time there, they never tried to set up ambushes to destroy their enemies, but they provided air cover to secure themselves from the enemies. They set up programs promoting peace where they would directly engage with residents. This program required that the solders be physically and mentally fit. Tests were carried out to weed out some soldiers due to incompetence, and it, and it needed hard work way for a comprehensive program revolutionary to be implemented.

Most Americans were killed in an ambush that took place when he was still an advisor. At one point, there was a trap, and a grenade thrown at them. It landed just next to their feet. He described it as a horrifying experience. The soldiers were scared, they turned to look at each other, and there was confusion amongst them, not knowing what to do. Moments later, the grenade started smoking, and they realized it was a dud. It was a great relief to all of them.

In an interview conducted by Sgt. Dave Cumming, Sgt. Carl Bauer gave an overview of their mission, which was entirely supplying food to the people so they could have faith in them. Refugees were giving both psychological and physiological support. It included foodstuff, a place to stay, medical care, and sometimes land to settle. All these resources were provided by the government. Although the refugee camps were not their home, the refugees seem to be happy staying at the camps since it was safer and provided for their basic needs. The majority of the time, the people wandered around because of there as not a lot to do. It was hard for veterans to take up new lives because they are so far from their families, and starting a new life is not easy.

The reception at the camp was not very bad; the people sometimes invited the soldiers to have dinner with them. Sometimes people come to greet them, and they were happy to see them. However, others completely ignored them. Other refugees reacted to the soldiers according to the way they presented themselves. Having feelings for the people and expressing some bit of emotion made a soldier look friendly and approachable. Success in the mission only made sense when military victory was accompanied by psychological triumph. They, therefore, needed the people to trust them. These Psychological operation soldiers and local leaders had to work to ensure people believed the soldiers. And sometimes, the local leaders were not supportive, making it hard to win the trust.

There was also constant airplane supervision to ensure their safety and that of the refugees. He said that other soldiers were given the assignment to escort ships and patrol the sea and the canals around the borders with neighboring countries. He was once given a mission to make sure that their food and medical supplies, ammunition and manpower were not infiltrated by the enemy. At that time, controlling the rivers of that country was the most effective way of keeping the country safe.

Robert R. Simmons completed training within a year and went to Vietnam. During his training, he noticed that most instructors were skilled in military discipline, and they learned a lot. However, they were only given general practice when they first joined the army. There was no specific training for the region they were going to work. Most of their training included how to survive in the snow or the mountains but did not contain any specifications about Vietnam. When they arrived, they were given a few days to process the nature of their mission. They were later sent to their assigned districts. He wasn’t expecting to be taken there but thought he would go to the delta. The good thing is that they were trained to work anywhere, so adapting to the environment took a shorter period.

The first few days were very challenging. Some soldiers were not happy with the placement and could not take it. One of his colleagues lost his mind because he was expecting to be posted in Vietnam but was sent somewhere else. Another soldier was scared of staying because he thought his life was in danger. He was so scared to a point where he walked with his weapon everywhere. He was a particular police chief, and he spent a lot of his time at his office in the police contact. The office housed several translators who received information and translated them for the soldiers. Other officers stayed in their residential areas, and rarely to the office went far away from their place. Interviews were conducted on prisoners, and the translators helped with the translation. He held the interviews even when he knew just a little Vietnamese. Prisoners were treated well so that reports would not claim that they were brutalized. It would make them look bad.

During the interview, he seemed composed and made a few jokes about the time he served in Vietnam. After the war, Simmons placed his loyalty to the people of America. He briefly served as a Republican US Congressman, and he continued to support the eternal war on terror passionately.

Joining the army for most of them was voluntary, whereas, for others, they had no choice since they joined the military after graduating and were sent to Vietnam. Whichever way they found themselves there, they still dedicated their lives to serving their country. They sacrificed their youth for this sole purpose. Losing their friends along the way was hard, but they had to press on. After the war, most of these soldiers were traumatized, and psychological evaluations concluded that they were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders. They left their families for long periods, and coming back to them was very challenging to a point where others opted to go for a divorce. However, some of these soldiers did cope well as they went ahead to occupy government positions in pursuit to continue serving their country.