# Did any US soldier defect to the Viet 'Cong' (or NVA?)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-us-soldier-defect-to-the-viet-cong-or-nva/609351>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 13, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-us-soldier-defect-to-the-viet-cong-or-nva/609351 "2012-01-13T00:24:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-us-soldier-defect-to-the-viet-cong-or-nva/609351/1 "2012-01-13T00:24:45Z")

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I know two did in Korea, it was on 60 minutes.

But any G.I. go “Ho Chi Minh” on us? Surely with so many hundreds of thousands, there was one ‘Hanoi John’ among them?

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**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-us-soldier-defect-to-the-viet-cong-or-nva/609351/2 "2012-01-13T00:38:37Z")

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I vaguely remember reading that it happened. Google seems to back that up.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-us-soldier-defect-to-the-viet-cong-or-nva/609351/3 "2012-01-13T00:46:51Z")

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There were 21 in Korea, but just 2 in Vietnam, apparently:

> **[List of American and British defectors in the Korean War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_and_British_defectors_in_the_Korean_War)**
>
> This list names the 22 United Nations soldiers and prisoners of war (one Briton and 21 Americans) who declined repatriation to the United Kingdom and United States after the Korean War in favor of remaining in China, and their subsequent fates. Also listed are soldiers who defected to North Korea.
> Prisoner repatriation was one of the greatest stumbling blocks in the long cease-fire negotiations between the forces of the United Nations and those of China and North Korea. The warring factions fi...

> **[PAVN Records Search](http://www.rjsmith.com/pavn-records.html)**
>
> PAVN Records Search