Mrs. Lanh, now 62, also is quoted in the article. Mrs. Luom, a mother of four, said she was ignorant of the controversy over the killings until she met with journalists Saturday. She works on a fishing boat and returned only Friday from a monthlong voyage, she said. The Vietnamese government allowed journalists to visit Thanh Phong on Saturday and to interview both women. Thanh Phong, a hamlet of about 200 people on the South China Sea, has changed little since the war.
Farmers still eke out a living growing rice.
Many live in thatched huts, which Americans called hooches during the war. In 1969, the Americans believed that a Viet Cong leader was operating in the village and Mr. Kerrey's unit planned to take him out. Late at night, the team arrived by boat and attempted to slip into the village. Things began to go wrong when the commandos came across a hooch they had not expected. There were five people inside.