Pacific Stars & Stripes.

02 May 68-Former VC Gets Cash For Info

TAM KY, Vietnam (IO) - A thousand piasters isn't much money - unless you happen to be a poor, hungry, unwilling 16-year-old VC.

For Doan The Tu-who was all of these things - 1,000 piasters ($8.50) is a start toward a new life.

The money was awarded Tu at the Tam Ky Chieu Hoi center recently for giving information which led to the capture of 14 Viet Cong suspects.

Forced into the Viet Cong in December of last year, Tu spent three months prowling his native Ly Tin District, planting mines on Highway One as a member of an enemy sapper unit.

He became aware of the Vietnamese government's "Open Arms" returnee program through air-dropped pamphlets picked up around Ky Khuong village near Tam Ky.

After several unsuccessful attempts to desert, Tu finally made it as a "Hoi Chanh" - returnee-in mid-March.

Doan The Tu wants to be a soldier. But not for the Viet Cong.

He's waiting now for a chance to enlist in the South Vietnamese army.