History: The Commando Raid On Ponchentong, Jan 22, 1971
The presence of North Vietnamese forces inside supposedly neutral Cambodia had been a contentious issue for as long as the conflict had been waged. Following the coup of 1970, the…
History: William H. Bird And The ’75 Phnom Penh Air Lift
Oakland, California, 1975: A telex machine in an office inside the Leamington Hotel whirs into action with a message sent from across the Pacific. A name is printed, that man…
Literary History: Nou Hach- Cambodian Author
Nou Hach (នូ ហាច) (1916 – 1975) was a famous Cambodian author, perhaps best known for his novel, Phka Sropoun (The Fading/Wilting Flowers). He was born in Battambang in 1916, and died in…
Plots & Conspiracies- Son Ngoc Thanh & The Khmer Serei II: 1957-60
This continues from PART ONE After the election victory of Sihanouk’s Sangkum in 1955, the new government soon facing suspicion from neighboring Thailand and South Vietnam. Both nations were fighting…
Happy Merry Christmas!
A poem, submitted by Little Timmy, the hog badger, who has been on a internship since he was kicked out the orphanage last September. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, at…
Son Ngoc Thanh & The Khmer Serei I: 1955-56
By 1956, the nationalist, long-term rebel and sometime politician Son Ngoc Thanh had seen the fragmentation of the Issarak movement he helped found in the 1940’s. Many of his former…
The Rise & Fall Of Sam Sary
Sam Sary (1917 – 1963?) was a prominent Cambodian politician, who fell from grace after a series of scandals both at home and abroad. Sam Sary was born on March…
The Murder Of Le Commissaire: Jean de Raymond, 1951
Two years before Cambodian independence, the most important representative of Colonial France in the country was found lying dead in a pool of blood. Jean Léon François Marie de Raymond…
‘Political Basketball’: The Strange Tale Of Captured US POW’s, 1968
Weeks after arriving in Vietnam in 1968, Korean War veteran Sergeant First Class Floyd Wilmoth- who enlisted in the US Army in 1953- stepped aboard the river vessel LCU1577 ‘Sunset…
Monks, Media & Militias- The Umbrella War, July 1942
By 1942, with much of the motherland under Nazi occupation and the rest under the collaborating Vichy government rule, the few French left in Indochina were isolated and cut off…
Cambodian Prime Ministers VI- The Khmer Republic At War
*Continuing from PART I , PART II, PART III, PART IV, and PART V Hang Thun Hak 14 Oct 1972 – 16 May 1973: 214 days Hang Thun Hak was born on August 21, 1926…
Cambodian Prime Ministers III- Independence & Early Sangkum 1953-60
*Continuing from PART I and PART II After King Sihanouk took control of government for the 3rd time (June 16 1952 – January 24 1953), he rushed forward his plans for…
Cambodian Prime Ministers 2: 1949-Independence
The term ‘Prime Minister’ is used loosely to refer to the parliamentary Head of State- as other terms are used in Cambodian political history. There may be major gaps in…
Cambodian Prime Ministers 1945-49
The term ‘Prime Minister’ is used loosely to refer to the parliamentary Head of State- as other terms are used in Cambodian political history. There are major gaps in some…
McKinley Nolan: A U.S. Traitor’s Odd Twist of Fate
According to the U.S. military, McKinley Nolan, an infantryman, was one of only two officially recognized traitors of the Vietnam War. The other was Marine Private Bobby Garwood, the subject…
Choppy Rides- Accounts Of UNTAC Helicopter Crashes
The UNTAC operation, which began in March 1992, needed serious logistical support. Air transport services were given- in somewhat (later thrown out of court) shady circumstances- to a Canadian firm…
