Submitted by Angelique Kenney (Fr. Crawford Kids)
I am looking for information about Bernadette Radda and/or Chuck Canham, who was a Green Beret in 
Saigon 1962-63. Bernadette was there 1961-64.
I am also wondering if there are any people who were adults there at the time. I am writing a book and need help on fleshing out where people went and what it was like there then for adults.
I was born in Saigon, March 1964 and am writing about how I came to be conceived there.
I have had the wonderful gift of having returned twice as an adult, once in ’93, which was amazing and two summers ago.
Any help with names of restaurants, clubs, hotels, etc, that were popular with Americans, will be much appreciated.
Please leave any information you can provide in the Comments below.
Many thanks,
Angelique
PS: Please feel free to email me at *angeliquekenney2 [@] gmail dot com*.
Admin Note: CLICK HERE to read how Angelique was assist by Father Crawford.
Angelique, I was not in Saigon during those early days you mentioned, but I did a Google search for Chuck Canham Special Forces and the top result was a biography page from the United States Military Academy where Charles D.W.”Chuck” Canham graduated class of 1951.
The biography says that Chuck Canham served with Special Forces in Vietnam in 1962-1963, just as you mentioned. Sadly, Chuck Canham passed in 1997, but the bio has info about other family members who may be able to assist you.
I think other Saigon Kids who were in Vietnam in the early sixties will be able to give you info about what the place was like then.
Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.
Mike McNally
I was there from 1962-1965 but not as an adult. However, I know there were lots of bars popular as my father took me to several near the US Embassy where he worked. I don’t remember the names.
I do remember eating at the Caravelle Hotel which probably others do as well. They had a sunday brunch on the rooftop and we went to it frequently. I believe the Caravelle survived the war.
I was a member of Circle Hippique (sp?), the riding club and boarded a horse there in addition to competing in shows there. There is a hill in the club called “Johnson Hill” which was named after LBJ because it is one of the places he spoke when visiting Saigon.
Angelique,
I was there as a dependent from November 1959 to early May 1962. All the BOQ and BEQs had food service and if you can come up with the names, you should be able to do a fairly good search online. The Caravelle was a favorite partly because it was at the top of the building and that added some peace of mind. The Intercontinental just on the other side of the National Assembly building was also famous as a meeting and dining place. One of the places that is famous world-wide was the L’Arc en Ciel. It was a nightclub/restaurant/bar that had a wide range of customers and I suspect it was the place where deals were made, commercial, political, sexual, and clandestine.
Do a search using Google l’arc en ciel Cholon and see what you get.
Kevin
Angelique, Brodard’s on Tu Do (not far from Caravelle) was my family’s favorite place for ice cream. There was still a Brodard’s there when I visited Saigon in March 2012. I lived in Saigon from October 1959 to October 1961.