A War of Their Own

FULRO: The Other National Liberation Front, Vietnam 1955–75

William H. Chickering

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Hardback

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English

Casemate
01 May 2025

20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Vietnam War

The untold story of a mysterious Montagnard ethnonationalist movement that might have changed the course of the Vietnam War

In Vietnam, in 1967, William Chickering commanded a Mike Force battalion of Montagnards, highland tribesmen who were also members of a secret army, FULRO, whose aim was to rid the highlands of all Vietnamese, both communist and non-communist. Fighting for land and dignity, they saw the Vietnamese as colonialists and themselves as revolutionaries. For a while, FULRO appeared capable of changing the course of the war. Then, inexplicably, it faded away.

Chickering's quest to understand FULRO took him to Phnom Penh in 1973, where he found five of the six leaders, the sixth having been mysteriously murdered. He was unable to discern the truth behind their political smoke. Two years later, 150 of them-men, women, and children-took refuge in the French Embassy as the city fell but were expelled into the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Among them was the family of Bhan, one of the leaders. In the United States at the time of the fall, he tried to learn their fate with Chickering's help, but Cambodia had become a tomb.

In 1986, Bhan headed out into the world to learn for himself. He resurfaced in Cambodia 22 years later, after an extraordinary odyssey, never having found them. Had they and the rest of the FULRO Montagnards been executed, or could they still be alive somewhere in the hinterlands? Determined to learn the truth, Chickering moved to Phnom Penh. His research led him to the widow of a Cambodian Cham widely assumed to have been FULRO's puppeteer and eventually to FULRO's secret papers. From these he was able to piece together why FULRO faded away and how that was connected to its one last heroic shot in 1965 to win a country of the Montagnards' own.

This extraordinary account corrects history's assumption that Vietnam's Montagnards were only pawns, revealing how an ideology of their own-ethnonationalism-gave them the agency to create an army and clandestine movement that kept Hanoi, Saigon, and Washington guessing.

AUTHOR: William Chickering dropped out of Yale in 1963 to enlist in the paratroops. When Vietnam heated up, he became an officer, then joined Special Forces. After Vietnam, he went back to college, then medical school, subsequently working as a doctor in Korea, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Cameroon, and China. He moved to Phnom Penh with his French wife and two children in 2012 to track down the story behind FULRO.

26 photos, 3 maps

By: William H. Chickering
Imprint: Casemate
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781636245607
ISBN 10: 1636245609
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 01 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

William H. Chickering dropped out of Yale in 1963 to enlist in the paratroops. When Vietnam heated up, he became an officer, then joined Special Forces. After Vietnam, he went back to college, then medical school, subsequently working as a doctor in Korea, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Cameroon, and China. He moved to Phnom Penh with his French wife and two children in 2012 to track down the story behind FULRO.

Reviews for A War of Their Own: FULRO: The Other National Liberation Front, Vietnam 1955–75

""Chickering's devotion and research to this book is evident and the reader is rewarded with a clear understanding of the events and the ultimate sacrifice the Montagnard people made for their ideal of a homeland and cultural survival. It is a remarkable and valuable account that sets the record straight about the Montagnard and their contributions to the war in Vietnam.""--James Stejskal ""A great read, this absorbing history of the struggle of the Montagnards to save their ancient homeland is written with meticulous attention to primary sources. Written by someone who lived that history, it is an essential contribution to the record.""--Karl Marlantes, author of NY Times bestseller, Matterhorn ""This is a lost and extraordinary story. William Chickering has excavated it with heroic persistence, and now tells it with authority, empathy, and grace. Damn, what a fine and valuable book.""--David Quammen, author of best-selling ""Spillover"" and three-time National Magazine Award winner