Diplomats
24" x 32"
Oil on Canvas
Central Highlands, Vietnam – 1967
Captain Stephen M. Heller and
A Montagnard Child
The scene is a
Montagnard village near the 4th Division Base Camp
in the
Central Highlands of Vietnam.
The Montagnards, the ethnic Vietnamese
people of the highlands, had decided
to move to another locale
because of a shortage of
water.
Because of their valued friendship and assistance,
the Division wanted to
build
a village water works to induce them to stay.
Captain Stephen Heller,
on being given the task of persuading them to stay,
realized that the
Montagnards would relate
to a person, but not to an idea,
so he decided to charm the young girl shown in the painting,
who was loved
in the village.
Baby Ruth candy bars and
other gifts helped break down her shyness,
but it was necessary for
Captain Heller
to present her with a doll
to complete the conquest.
It is interesting to note that this primitive child
has all the coyness
of
a Parisian femme fatale,
and the sophisticated Captain
the clumsiness of
any male in a similar situation.
The following day
Captain Heller was made a member of the tribe,
and the little girl dogged
his every footstep.
Result:
Water works
built; Montagnards stayed; mission accomplished.
