The special return journey of the Front flag

A red and blue flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam - a trophy brought back from the Vietnam War by Robert McNamara, former US Secretary of Defense (who died in 2009).

Standing against the war that his father had played an important role in since his adolescence, Robert Craig McNamara (75 years old) - Robert McNamara's son - silently kept the flag with anxiety and regret. The story of the flag taken from the soldier urged Craig McNamara to go to Vietnam.

One day at the beginning of the dry season in 2025, the car carrying Craig McNamara and a group of former liberation soldiers set foot in the Central Highlands - the former battlefield.

The Battle of Ia Drang was part of the Plei Me Campaign (late 1965). The Liberation Army of South Vietnam fought fierce battles for the first time, causing major defeats to the US 1st Airborne Cavalry Division in the Ia Drang valley, at the foot of Chu Prong mountain ( Gia Lai ). (Source: People's Army Newspaper)

Special souvenir

One morning in March 2025, after much preparation for the special return trip of the veterans and Mr. Craig, the bus left the center of Pleiku mountain town towards the dipterocarp forest in the west of Gia Lai province.

Sitting in the car, Mr. Robert Craig McNamara always held the flag in the palm of his hand. Through the car window, his eyes thoughtfully looked at the vast green of the coffee and rubber hills - the green color not only of reviving life and abundance but also the color of peace that many generations of Vietnamese people yearned to seek.

Following the instructions of the authorities and a group of veterans of Division 1 who were present in the Plei Me Campaign in late 1965, the convoy stopped at an open space in the dry dipterocarp forest.

The first time he set foot on a fierce war zone 60 years ago, Mr. Robert Craig McNamara looked up at the sky, eyes half-closed, trying to imagine his father's helicopter inspection trip over the battlefield in Plei Me area years ago.

A person used a lighter to light a bundle of incense. The flickering flame on the top of the bundle burst into flames, and smoke billowed in the middle of the dipterocarp forest. Seeing everyone lighting incense, Mr. Craig also pulled out a few sticks and went to each mound of earth to plant them. In a moment, he suddenly sat down and cried.

Mr. Pham Van Dac, a former soldier of Company 6, Battalion 8, Regiment 66 (Division 1) participating in the Ia Drang battle, Plei Me Campaign (Gia Lai), was also moved and choked up: "After exactly 60 years, because of our poor life, we are now able to visit the place where our comrades rest, the sacred feeling is hard to describe in words...".

Along with Mr. Dac from Thanh Hoa, there was also Mr. Nguyen Van Lung, also from the same unit, from Hanoi. When he saw the flag that the son of the former US Secretary of Defense brought, Mr. Lung was moved to tears. On that flag were black stains, seemingly dried bloodstains of his comrades from years ago...

Mr. Craig with veteran Dac (middle) and veteran Lung (right cover).

The Wandering Flag

Robert Craig McNamara is no stranger to many Vietnamese people. He is notable not only because he is the son of the late US Secretary of Defense McNamara, but also because throughout his life, he chose to stand on the opposing side of the war that his father helped cause in Vietnam.

On the occasion of 50 years of peace in Vietnam, a documentary film crew came to the US to meet Craig and organize his trip to Central Vietnam.

Director Le Hoang Linh - a film crew from Vietnam Television - said that while researching Mr. Craig to make the documentary series The Duel of Wills, which was released on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification, Mr. Linh found in this character's memoirs a detailed account of the red and blue flag that McNamara's son took from his father and hung in his room for decades. Because he could not read Vietnamese, Mr. Craig did not understand the content of the words written on the flag.

After much persuasion, Mr. Craig agreed to welcome the documentary crew to his home in the US. There, when he was given the translation of the words "Company 761 killed a Viet Cong on November 25, 1965" written on the flag, Mr. Craig was almost shocked.

Looking through documents from archives, director Le Hoang Linh said he found a line of information recording a flight carrying Minister McNamara to inspect the Central Highlands battlefield at the end of 1965 - a time when the Ia Drang battlefield was fierce and witnessed painful defeats of the US army.

During that trip, as a demonstration of their resistance, the subordinate soldiers presented the minister with the flag they had captured in Ia Drang.

Based on the information recorded on the flag and with the help of the Division 1 liaison committee, relevant agencies and documents, the film crew determined the location and time recorded on the red and blue flag. The crew also contacted veterans who were present at that time, including Mr. Nguyen Van Lung, Pham Van Dac...

The trip to Ia Drang to find traces of the Plei Me campaign in November 1965 was organized. At 6am, the sun rose under the old forest. After a moment of burning incense to commemorate those who had fallen, Mr. Craig raised the flag he had brought from America and raised it with the veterans. After 60 years, the flag returned to the place where it had been taken away in a story like fate. This moment made everyone who witnessed it choke up.

The words on the flag.

"A brutal symbol of war, a reminder of the value of peace"

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, both veterans Nguyen Van Lung and Pham Van Dac said they did not know when the soldier who held the red and green flag died. However, after 60 years of returning to the Central Highlands, seeing the flag go through a strange journey from the battlefield to a trophy, then kept and returned by Craig McNamara’s son right on the battlefield, made them unable to contain their emotions.

"The battlefield at that time was extremely fierce, the main force soldiers from the North entering the Central Highlands front only knew how to hold weapons and fight and fight. The flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam appearing in Plei Me at that time was really rare, perhaps some cadre had prepared in advance for the day of victory in the Central Highlands, advancing to the South" - Mr. Dac said.

Mr. Dac and Mr. Lung said that after the Plei Me Campaign, both of them continued to fight and were seriously injured. Mr. Dac was captured in a battle, taken to Con Dao and released in 1973. When peace was restored, Mr. Dac and Mr. Lung returned to their hometowns to rebuild their lives. One worked in a cooperative, the other continued teaching as before joining the army.

From the fierce battlefield, the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam has gone through a 60-year journey in the United States. As if by chance, the flag is present in the McNamara family, kept by his son - agronomist Craig to question what his father did in Vietnam.

In the eyes of this young American man of special origin and choice, the flag is a symbol of the indomitable spirit and will of the Vietnamese people for peace. After 60 years, the souvenir was brought back and placed in the hands of the soldiers of the past.

To close the beautiful story, after receiving it from Mr. Craig, the veterans of the 1st Division decided to donate the flag to the Tay Nguyen Corps Museum (34th Corps). There, the flag will continue to tell the tragic story, the price of peace.

The film crew filmed Mr. Craig and two veterans of the 1st Division in Gia Lai.

McNamara's Son's Half-Life Obsession

Director Le Hoang Linh said he felt the pain and torment of Mr. McNamara's son.

In 1965, when he first saw the spoils of war his father brought back from the battlefield, Craig McNamara quietly took them and secretly hung them in his private room. To express his anti-war attitude, Craig hung the red and blue flag neatly next to the upside-down American flag.

"A man who opposed his father and then hung his father's trophy flag for decades must have had big thoughts in his head. Such a special thing, such a special souvenir, but Mr. Craig decided to return it to the place where it was taken from.

Craig's appearance with the flag somewhat eased the pain of the Vietnamese people, and he himself found peace after the unforgettable legacy of his father. It is also proof of his affirmation: "My heart always turns to Vietnam, to the desire for peace" - Mr. Le Hoang Linh said.

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Thai Ba Dung

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hanh-trinh-tro-ve-dac-biet-cua-la-co-mat-tran-20250827094732769.htm