Special Operations.Com
Special Operations in Southeast
Asia
Montagnards
Recruited, trained, and led by US
Special Forces (Green Berets), the Montagnards were
a mainstay in blocking communist advances into South
Vietnam from their sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos.
While suffering devastating losses (200,000 killed,
85% of their villages destroyed), they remained a
very effective fighting force until the American military
completed its withdrawal in the early 1970s. From
that point on, as with many other indigenous populations,
the fate of the Montagnards hinged on their historic
relationship with the ruling ethnic Vietnamese, whose
domination of them had produced long-term enmity.
They were among the United States' fiercest and most
loyal allies during the war.
Web Sites
The
Montagnards "Mountain People"
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