Barbara Parsons Rozell - Secretary
~U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID -U.S. State Department)
Saigon, 1968-69
Responsibilities were to support a program director and several program officers - all
civilians and foreign service officers. We prepared CAP (capital area plan) for all the
USAID programs in country (i.e. refugees, education, public health, public safety, chieu
hoi, etc.). We basically acted as liaison to Congressional Budget Committee to get the
USAID Vietnam budget passed every year.There were only about 90 Embassy and USAID
secretaries in country at any given time if I remember correctly. I supervised two
Vietnamese clerks and one Third Country National (Filipino) clerk. We Americans dealt with
all the confidential work (Secret clearances).
Regarding security. Naturally, as I arrived in the middle of Tet, the first week incountry
our curfew was 2:00 in the afternoon. And we couldn't be on the street before 9 in the
morning. Later I believe curfew got as late as 10 or 12, something we usually disregarded.
Our offices had Marine Guards on duty 24 hours a day, (They walked around the offices
every night, checking file cabinets, etc. to be sure everything was secure and wrote us up
if they weren't) Outside, in the compound, Vietnamese guards used mirrors to check
underneath all cars coming and going into the compound.
We rode buses to and from work - all with the wire windows to protect against hand
grenades, plastique, etc. Our apt. compounds all had Vietnamese guards who stood guard
duty. In addition the villa for Westmoreland's 2nd in command was right below our apt. so
we had MP's patroling the front of our building 24 hours a day. When I was living in a
hotel downtown I was thrown from bed when a rocket hit the back of the building. And once
at the office a rocket landed in our parking lot creating a hell of a crater but I don't
remember it injuring anyone.
We were not supposed to go into the marketplace for fear of terrorist activity and were to
refrain from riding cyclos --which we never paid attention to.
I was also riding through the countryside once (a no no) in a military jeep, when we
failed to stop at the command of the Vietnamese military we were shot at, I could hear the
bullet whizzing by my ear.
Also, one night, riding in a jeep with crazy gunship pilot, out after curfew, naturally,
came around a traffic circle in town only to have two MPs pull up right next to us. The
first jeep was so surprised to see a round eye he slammed on his brakes, only to be hit by
the jeep behind him. Obviously we went scurrying by. Perhaps we created our own terror.
My Vietnam Related Websites:
Women in
Vietnam ~ Not only nurses served . . .
Dusty's Home
Page ~ Poetry and prose by a woman who was a nurse in Vietnam
Emily's Poetry
~ By a Red Cross Donut Dolly
Battle
Dressing ~ The Journey of a Nurse in Vietnam
Tim
O'Brien's Home Page ~ National Book Award Winner and Americal Vet
Shrapnel in
the Heart ~ The most moving book you will read on Vietnam
The
Irish on the Wall ~ An effort to locate the Irish who died in Vietnam
Project Hearts
and Minds ~ Help put Viet Nam back together
All About
Vietnam ~ An annotated bibliography of books about Vietnam for sale
thru Amazon Worldwide!
Photos
from a Holts' Military History Tour ~ My trip to Vietnam, February 1998
Illinois
Vietnam Women's Memorial ~ Honoring all the Illinois women who served
My Other Websites:
Chicago
Theatre Z - A ~ This is the best theater town in the country!
Writers
Theatre of Chicago ~ And this is the best theater in town
Literature
of the Korean War ~ Don't let the literature be forgotten
Poetry
of the First World War ~ Owen, Hardy and others
Samuel
Pepys ~ One of my favorite authors
Gil
Thorp ~ THE Coach
Maybe
Later . . . ~ My Creative Nonfiction
Chi-COW-go
~ Cowz plus Commentary (this used to be a cow town)
Graham
Fulton, Scottish Poet ~ Charles Manson Auditions for the Monkees
Soccer
Literature ~ I'm a fan and I read
O'Leary Lantern ~
Fire! Fire! Fire!
Other Important Websites:
PreviewPort.com
~ Connecting Authors and Writers Worldwide
Remember
Oklahoma City ~ Civil Service and Military Employees will never forget
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| Page last updated September 19, 2002 | |
