History 21 The Podcast - 5.01 Gary Nereson
In 1969, Gary Nereson said goodbye to his pregnant wife and crossed the world to serve in the Vietnam War. After three long months with the 9th Infantry Division, he was reassigned to Advisory Team 66 because of his background in electrical engineering. His new job: help bring electricity to rural villages in South Vietnam. Gary sat down with Rebecca to share his story in November, 2024 as part of ACHS’s Echoes of Bravery project.
Host Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator, and Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director.
Gary Nereson Final Electrification Report
Gary Nereson submitted his final report on his time in Dinh Tuang Province in June, 1969. The 18 page report included history, the REP and private projects worked on, and the future of the program:
Essentially, past efforts at rural electrification have been failures. Under the old programs, however, there were two villages electrified, and two are in process, in this province. Presently, there are three other private systems, and one electric cooperative.
The Tan Hiep Electric Cooperative was Vietnamese initiated and funded, but helped to completion with U.S. Advisor assistance. As a result of this success, one more village is already attempting the same thing, with two others following close behind.
With the success of the cooperative approach, there need to be some additional channels open (i.e. source of generators, loan assistance program, etc.), such that CORDS could lend more concrete assistance, and insure that a proper system is built.
Library Minute
The Remarkable Untold Story of Rural Electrification and the Vietnam War
In spring 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson agonized over the deteriorating situation in South Vietnam. After authorizing a furious bombing campaign to halt a communist takeover, Johnson also faced the grim prospect of committing thousands of American troops. Yearning for a solution that would win the villagers’ “hearts and minds” by offering them a better life, Johnson embraced an innovative plan by his close friend and kindred spirit, Clyde T. Ellis, to bring light to the villages of South Vietnam, just as LBJ had pioneered rural electrification in his beloved Texas Hill Country.
Ted Case’s Poles, Wires and War is a dramatic story of an increasingly desperate president who, as he stepped deeper in the quagmire in South Vietnam, counted on electricity to stem the tide of communism in Southeast Asia. It is also a gripping, untold story of an elite team of rural electrification specialists on a near impossible mission. Under pressure from LBJ, the team battles turf-conscious bureaucrats, the president’s own advisers and a ruthless enemy determined to keep the countryside in darkness.