[ansel12]

“””””In Vietnam, we had to reimburse the French $ 1 million for each rubber tree we blew up accidentally or on purpose.”””””

No we didn’t, look into it.

[silent majority rising]

I was in the Navy but had a tank commander tell me that story. I don’t trust the reporting of it by anyone, whether true or not. Do you have a source that you are referring to, or did you have personal knowledge of it?

[linMcHlp]

A friend would make USMC HMM trips to a Michelin rubber plantation in South Vietnam. “We had to reimburse the French $ 1 million for each rubber tree we blew up,” was originally a story told (and retold), in order to discourage the damaging of property owned by Michelin.

That company tried to maintain an amazing, incongruous neutrality in the face of the French defeat, 10+ years earlier - the U.S.A. somehow taking the blame instead of the French, with France being the place of future peace negotiations.

My friend left South Vietnam in 1969 after two tours. He was discouraged by ROE re both Michelin and Shell Oil Co. I can find an ROE re rubber plantation operations at:

https://militaryhistorynow.com/2021/07/05/dont-shoot-the-rubber-trees-vet-recalls-absurd-rules-of-engagement-gis-faced-in-vietnam-war/

But I am not sure of, when the story became the rule.