Like a Silver Dollar
Key was the flamboyant leader sporting fancy jump suits as he was a trained pilot in the Vietnamese Air Force.When I went to Australia on my R & R I had a powder blue suit tailored in the Vung Tau Village. Friend Thom Cox had a duplicate made.We called them "our Premier Ky suits! LOL.
I show the 1889 silver Piastre bearing the inscription Republique Francais. It is a beauty and I paid but $ for it in 1967. I kept it for years selling it when the price of silver was high. I have owned others. The U.S. Trade Dollars were much more expensive..$60.
Soldiers were paid in MPCs (Military Payment Certificates.) Corruption was rampant. The Black Market prevailed.Stuff was issued on our Ration Card and quickly sold for a profit. Everybody did it I guess. "Money makes the world go round!"
The Enlisted Men's Club had slot machines. They were controlled by the NCOs.Everybody was on the take including yours truly. The truth is battles were fought in the field and money was made in the Black Market.
I don't know if Ken Burns will cover this issue? Some GIs went to jail.I knew a guy who got caught stealing a truckful of bed sheets!
In March of 1967 I taught English to Adult Vietnamese! It was fun until they asked me for some money!I quit! I wanted more adventure so I befriended a shop owner in the village.."HE." Every night I spent an hour visiting..One guy was Chinese. Interesting.
The lacquers seem to be unique to the Orient. I shipped home a few for gifts and a 4 foot gem I own to this day! I had an eye for this stuff.
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