Ly Tong Coming to Town?
Posted by: Tomahawk | 04/14/2008 9:30 AM
Apparently that's what some people are saying. I was told by a friend that Ly Tong landed in Orange County yesterday from San Jose to assist the protesters with their ongoing demonstration against the Nguoi Viet Daily News. This is certainly not a welcoming development for the newspaper.
For those outside of the Vietnamese community who might not be familiar with Ly Tong, he's a special character. The Communist regime in Hanoi labeled him as a terrorist while his supporters are worshiping him like a freedom fighter. Years ago he flew over Cuba to drop anti-Castro leaflets. Later Ly Tong hijacked an aircraft in Thailand and flew it over Saigon to drop anti-Communist brochures during then-President Bill Clinton's visit to Vietnam. He was imprisoned by the Thai government and was only released last year.
Last month, Ly Tong staged a 30-day hunger strike outside of City Hall to demand that the San Jose City Council adopt the name "Little Saigon Business District" for some commercial area. Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilwoman Madison Nguyen originally proposed "Vietnamese Business District" or "Saigon Business District", but they later caved under pressure and from community opposition.
To be continued...
For those outside of the Vietnamese community who might not be familiar with Ly Tong, he's a special character. The Communist regime in Hanoi labeled him as a terrorist while his supporters are worshiping him like a freedom fighter. Years ago he flew over Cuba to drop anti-Castro leaflets. Later Ly Tong hijacked an aircraft in Thailand and flew it over Saigon to drop anti-Communist brochures during then-President Bill Clinton's visit to Vietnam. He was imprisoned by the Thai government and was only released last year.
Last month, Ly Tong staged a 30-day hunger strike outside of City Hall to demand that the San Jose City Council adopt the name "Little Saigon Business District" for some commercial area. Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilwoman Madison Nguyen originally proposed "Vietnamese Business District" or "Saigon Business District", but they later caved under pressure and from community opposition.
To be continued...
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Viet Politics


If I recall correctly, whether Ly Tong "hijacked" the plane is questionable.
He was in the plane by himself, which makes it hard to "hijack." By one account, Tong rented the plane, and then broke several laws by not following his flight plan and flying into Vietnam's territory. At worst, he simply stole the plane (which has a significantly different connation after 9/11) but many believe that the owner plane contrived that story to over his own a**. Either way, if he "stole" it, the plane was returned to where it was taken from as soon as he was done with it so it would've been borrowed without permission.
Just what we need, yet another Viet Demonstrator......
My understanding of the facts is that the pilot made up the story to save his butt and Ly went along with it because all he really wanted to do is drop the anti-commie info.
As for the post above, we always need another freedom fighter against repressive communist regimes.