When I got to Cam
Ranh, I needed some jungle fatigues. I was told that I would have to
purchase them from the "black market." I asked why don't I just
get them from the Army Supply. Well, the problem was that Supply didn't
have any, because they were all stolen. It was easier to just get them at
the market. I remarked why don't we just take the fatigues from the
sellers at the market. The fatigues had stamped on them "Property of
the US Government." I was told, no, no, we could not do that because
that would offend the Vietnamese people, since Vietnamese law says one is
not a thief unless caught in the act of stealing.
Taking the
fatigues from the sellers would accuse the Vietnamese of being thieves,
and that would be wrong. This was a sore point to me since I and the rest
of us were there to help the Vietnamese people.
Is there anyone
out there that could advise me if I received a correct interpretation of
the law, or did I receive some confused information.
Ernie
Vagedes
