For some reason they sent me over there with only 10 months left in my hitch. I arrived January '70, and went home on an "early out" due to troop reduction in November '70.
I was stationed in Saigon, but I was a soundman on a motion picture crew, and traveled all over the country. Never made it to Phu Bai or Hue. The farthest North we got, was Da Nang. Between there and Saigon, we managed to see the sights in Pleiku, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh Bay, and countless villages whose names I can't remember if I ever knew them. Spent a lot of time with the 1st Cav over by Tay Ninh and the Parrot's Beak. Now THAT was an interesting area. The photo was taken over there somewhere.
Aside from getting shot at by rifles, 51 caliber machine guns, mortars and rockets, the worst moment I had in Nam was getting lost at Tan Sa Nhut air base in Saigon. I turned into a compound that was shielded by a very high solid fence to turn around, and inside the compound, piled as high as the top of the fence, and as far as the eye could see were thousands and thousands of, as yet, unused coffins. I wept.
Second worst moment was sitting on the airplane, waiting for it to take off to take me home. My anxiety level was through the roof. I had the overwhelming feeling that somebody was going to come walking down the aisle, tap me on the shoulder, and say "Sorry soldier. There's been a mistake with your orders. You aren't going anywhere." No Lie. I was petrified that was going to happen. I wasn't the only one cheering at the top of my lungs as the plane lifted off the ground.
Thanks to you and F107 for your service and sacrifice. I'm glad you made it back to the world.
Apologies to Amie for hijacking her thread with old war stories. Rome has seen it's battles, too.
