Where is ly tong

Tong continued his fight, dressing in a military jumpsuit and bomber jacket with his jet-black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Urging residents to take up arms against the government, he performed a similar pamphlet drop above Havana, where his rented Cessna was shadowed by Cuban MiGs as he flew back toward South Florida. He was suffering from lung disease and had drawn hundreds of well-wishers in recent weeks, including many South Vietnamese veterans who sought to pay homage to a man who was variously regarded as a terrorist, a revolutionary, and a misguided idealist.

Nobody else will do what he did. Among Vietnamese Americans, Mr. Tong said he had a bomb strapped to his body — it was actually a set of binoculars taped to his leg — and forced the pilot to descend to feet, reduce speed, and circle Ho Chi Minh City. He spent half an hour throwing sacks of pamphlets out the cockpit window. Ask the police to join the revolution or return to their barracks. No passengers or crew were injured, and Tong was arrested within two hours.

He returned to the United States a folk hero: a Vietnamese magazine in Houston had solicited poems written in his honour and a California radio station held daily readings from his page autobiography, Black Eagle , which took its name from the fighter squadron he served in at the close of the Vietnam War. Two American planes had been shot down off the coast of Cuba in , but Tong returned to Florida unscathed.

Again, he dropped anti-communist pamphlets, this time on the eve of a visit from president Bill Clinton. Tong said he had hired the plane, not hijacked it, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. No matter, he told The New York Times from jail in , one year before his release: he was merely doing his duty.

Le Van Tong was born in Hue, the former imperial capital of Vietnam, in His father was a farmer who was killed during the war against the French when Tong was aged two. By the time he was 17, Tong had joined the South Vietnamese air force. His A attack plane was shot down near Nha Trang shortly before the end of the war, and Tong was captured and sent to communist prisons.

Some of his toenails were ripped out, he was placed in solitary confinement in a cargo container, and he was strung up by his feet and beaten. Tong escaped in and embarked on a month trek through Cambodia , Thailand and Malaysia, travelling by bike, bus, rail and foot. News Politics News News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

By Julia Prodis Sulek jsulek bayareanewsgroup. Report an error Policies and Standards Contact Us. More in Politics.