Francis (Frank) Palmos as a correspondent for Sydney Morning Herald and Herald Sun interviewed by Greg Swanborough for 'The sharp end'

Scene 33 take 1 Roll 4. The evening press conferences in Saigon at 5.00 pm were called the "Follies" mainly because we didn't believe what was being told us; macabre sense of humour; essential for ordering the release of the news and essential news; Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) would present their version of events; body counts were cynically referred to as an 'un-natural progression upward of numbers'; official figures were inaccurate; became a total farce to demand for results.; the battle for Saigon began at Cholon; unusual coincidence for five of us to be in one Mini Moke; the five of us were allowed into Cholon as we were alone and unarmed; when we arrived it was held by the Viet Cong, holding the open streets did not want to give themselves away only when we drove into the back streets were they able to reveal themselves; we drove into an ambush and were fired upon immediately; first the jeep, then the men; I fell off melodramatically and rolled as if dead; the Viet Cong leader finished off the two wounded with a revolver; Scene 33 Take 2 Roll 4. Cut! Scene 33 take 3 roll 4. In part one of the ambush they were not aware we were journalists; in part two when Michael Birch called out and they saw we were unarmed; I am sure they felt they knew they had made a mistake; I then think they took fright and decided to finish us off; when he was reloading I escaped; I ran into a crowd of refugees and back to 'Media Alley'; the Reuters manager said he was too busy to let him in even though his own men had been killed; senior journalist from Time came down "Frank something awful has happened to you"; "yes Don, it has and John is dead"; Frozen come back with me rang the Associated Press correspondent; "tell me everything just once, let me ask the questions, then put it down, because in the afternoon, you're going to just fall to pieces" Scene 33 take 4 roll 5. explains the significance to the Viet Cong of the Second Tet Offensive now known by all historians as the battle for Saigon; important because it allowed the Communists to have more leverage at the Paris Peace Talks and secondly as a present for Ho Chi Minh; Scene 33 take 5 roll 5. the civilian population regarded Second Tet as more of the same and not unexpected; over half Saigon's populated were refugees from country areas; Saigon wasn't safe it was a magnified version of what happened to them in the countryside; Australia's involvement was not well thought out; supported the wrong people at the wrong time; it wasn't good enough for us to join a very large American force supporting a poor South Vietnamese force against a superior force and meddling in internal politics; Scene 33 take 6. Australia's involvement was never worth it; outlines reasons for his being there that he was a journalist and didn't like to be left out of things as Asia was his beat; Scene 33 take 7 roll 5. describes the "Five O'clock Follies" as evening press conferences held by MACV; explains the term 'vertical envelopment'; very necessary, neat, orderly arrangement; the "Follies" were criticised by journalists because of known inaccuracies. About 15% of journalists went into battle; the "Follies" were directed toward the 50-70 % of journalists who wanted the high pay, Saigon as their by line and didn't wish to face danger; there was never a running story like Vietnam and will never be repeated; journalists will now not be allowed near the front; he says he went out on thirty five missions - more than most soldiers; with correspondent Sean Flynn on his third mission which took them straight into a mortar attack for four to five hours; interviewed US soldiers who were surprised to learn that they, the journalists didn't have to be there; describes the excitement of flying with the US Navy at Mach 2 and how that excitement passed to general workaday habits.