Change of Command

I was hoping to find a news article on line for this story, but it is too good to wait for the MSM to come up with the details.  There is an article in The Fort Campbell Courier, here.


As the article tells us, on 5 February 2009 Colonel Viet Luong assumed command of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).  He relieved Colonel Dominic Caraccilo as commander of "The Rakkasans."  The 3rd CBT is also known as the 187th Infantry Regiment (Airborne Infantry Regiment, as some would point out).  The term Rakkasan is Japanese for “falling down umbrella man.”  The term was used in World War II Japanese Intelligence reports to describe the 187th.

The reason this is interesting and worth celebrating is that Colonel Luong is the first immigrant from Viet-nam to command a U.S Army brigade combat team.  Colonel Luong left Vietnam in 1975.  There are some biographical details at this web site, along with some pictures.  The basics are that Colonel Luong, age 42, was born in Bien Hoa, Viet-nam.  When Viet-nam fell in 1975, the future Colonel was 10 years old.  He followed his father, Major Luong xuan Duong, a Republic of Viet-nam Marine, to USA.  As an aside, the referenced web site has a great collection of photos of gas stations.

The reason I like this story is that is is about my vision of America--from Dominic Caraccilo to Viet Luong--Italian to Viet-namese--leading US soldiers of all ethnic groups and many different religions (or no religion), in a unit with a Japanese nickname, to execute the orders of our elected civilian leadership.

Regards  --  Cliff