Air America Plane "CIA's transportation". At province level there were two American Captains; the senior Phoenix coordinator and the Deputy Phoenix Coordinator. In my last two months I assumed the position of Deputy Phoenix Coordinator. There was also a CIA compound in Ca Mao, we called this place "The Embassy House". Most of the CIA advisors I worked with were extremely cocky and arrogant and I did not respect them. There was an Australian CIA guy who was recruited by a CIA agent posing as a drunk in London Pub. The Aussie at the time was training British Special Forces. Compared to the brave/honorable Army Advisors like Col. Nick Rowe and Capt. Rocky Versace the CIA advisors that I met could not hold a candle. The Phoenix Advisors in An Xuyen served honorably and should have been welcomed home as liberators	THE MEN I RESPECED MOST WERE AMERICAN SOLDIERS" When I arrived in Ca Mao in early Jan. 69 the buzz was still in the air about the liberation of Major Nick Rowe who spent 5 years in captivity. He was rescued just two weeks before my arrival, liberated by a B 52 raid. His book "Five Years to Freedom" is a book we all should read. Nick was killed by the communist in the Philippines in 1989; he spent his life fighting communism. Nicks friend and team member Capt. Humber "Rock" Versace, was the first Medal of Honor recipient (posthumous by Pres. Bush on Dec. 28 2001) of the Vietnam War. Capt. Versace was executed by the Viet Cong on Sept 29 1965 for his refusal to reject god, his country and his fellow prisoners. These men were not "Phoenix Advisors", but I believe that the officers who served in the "Phoenix Program" were dedicated to the same principles. Versace
Ca Mao headquarters for Advisory Team 80. My sleeping hut was a short distance from this building, a wooden slat huts myself and a newly arriving major. On one occasion I had to kill a Bamboo Viper that had fallen from the door jam of may hut. I also had a 20 ft. Python that I inherited from a Lt. who ETS'd.	Co Ha, a Vietnamese bar maid who later married an American Lt. who was stationed at headquarters in Ca Mao. Co Ha was fairly fluent in English and she had a great personality. There was a slot machine in the O club and we would roll the dice for drinks. I have fond memories of the O club.
At right Ca Mao Airport where Nick Rowe was liberated in December 1968. They told me that all he could say was "thank you for liberating me", over and over again Rowe