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29 Nov 2000
From: Larry Partridge Hello Navy, Thank you for contacting me. First Vanak Saovadi wrote to me regarding the book "First they killed my father" then you. Armed with your review and Vanak's remarks I quickly skimmed through the book again. This time the insult to the Khmer people was obvious. I can only say that we white Americans can sometimes be insensitive about these issues. The majority of us are quite neutral about racial matters and tend to assume others are too. I guess I feel a little better about my oversight when I notice that many Khmer readers also had to look twice before they noticed. I cannot recall ever seeing a "flat-nosed, black and kinky-haired" Khmer individual. If I had, it wouldn't have mattered...we had more important things to think about. There aren't many pictures in my book but any of our Khmer "family" that show are characteristically pleasant looking, if not handsome. I could forgive a very young (insecure?) girl of any race showing a bit of vanity but Miss Ung should have been mature enough to weed that out of her story and mind when she wrote. My book, Flying Tigers over Cambodia, is at the printer now and should be available very soon. It is basically about the airlift (rice) from Saigon into Pochentong airport but I included the fact that we quickly became as one with the Khmer we had contact with. I have never before met a people so brave and, at the same time, so gentle. We, pilots and crews, were forever changed by what we saw and felt as we came and went in and out of Phnom Penh. At the time, I knew little about Lon Nol and his government so I wrote nothing about the politics of the time. However, we did pay close attention to the Rouge as they took every opportunity to shoot either rockets or artillery at us and our Khmer helpers on the airport. I am looking at a beautiful stone (jade?) image of Prum Muk Buon (Angkor Thom) that was presented to me by our Khmer ground crew. When the man we called "The Boss" showed it to me I said how much I liked it and asked him "how much?" I was really embarrassed when he frowned then told me it was a gift from him and his crew. Later we were told that, because of their contact with us, our entire Pochentong crew, including a very old man and woman, were publically beheaded by the Rouge ( I still have hope this is not true! ). I think of this every time I look at or touch Prum Muk Buon. Flying Tiger pilots used vacation time or took leaves of absence to work at Khmer refugee camps in Thailand. Many still travel to Phnom Penh, I hope to be there in March. I would like to ask if you would consider reviewing my book. You can find a very brief description at: www.mcfarlandpub.com/ under book search...ISBN 0-7864-0768-9. If you agree, please let me know where to send a copy. Larry
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