Etienne Oggeri Knihy

In a Vietnam torn by racial hatred exacerbated by the French-Vietminh war, a French student, Stephan, fell in love with his classmate, a beautiful Vietnamese girl, Kim. Social ostracism could not separate the two lovers, but her rape by three legionnaires her family sent her to Tonkin, partially under communist control and off limit to French civilians, to keep her away from Stephan who belonged to the hated race.The break of communication between them made them end up on opposite sides of the racial barrier. He became a wealthy planter in South Vietnam. She became an important Vietminh leader after creating a secret weapon against the the deadly Love Brigades of Ho chi Minh, also called the Brigades of Slow Death in which the attractive female members sacrificed their bodies to the treponema of syphilis. Thus contaminated they approached French officers and soldiers by selling them leis of frangipani flowers. For the price of a garland, the men had the gift of a beautiful body. Operation Frangipani Flowers made havoc in the army of occupation.Fate brought Stephan and Kim together for a last time. Their indestructible passion ended like a forest fire, leaving only ruins and ashes after its passage.

Vietnam was once known as a paradise for big game, and Etienne Oggeri, the last living PH from Vietnam, grew up and hunted in what was known as French Indochina. As we all know, the Vietnam was destroyed by civil war, and only recently has it opened to hunting once more, and that on a limited basis. Thus, to have someone with Oggeri’s background write his memoirs of big-game hunting in French Indochina is something not to be missed. These very well-written vignettes give us a view into a hunting world that was once equally as vibrant as Africa. Ultimately, Oggeri was forced to leave his beloved Vietnam, not because the Vietcong, and not because of his poaching, but because of the torrid love affair he had with Lechi, the sister of Madame Nhu, the first lady of Vietnam. This iron lady ruled over a corrupt government and arbitrarily ordered his expulsion in 1962.