An Incredible Saga of Seaman Hegdahl - American Hero - Page 7

Rich Man's Water Buffalo

He never gave up. A Vietnamese fishing boat picked him up and turned him over to the military. Doug was interrogated, but, as he said later, "Gee, they're officers; they must know what they are doing." So he decided his best ploy was to pretend to be stupid. He got them off target by comparing farms in North Vietnam and South Dakota. He didn't realize that even then the Communists were categorizing him to gauge his usefulness to their cause. His dad had about ten motel units, numberless vehicles and all kinds of land - but no water buffalo. No water buffalo meant in Vietnamese parlance that he was a "poor peasant."