The first half of my year in Vietnam (1967) I was stationed at the large U. S. base in Danang. It was to late to get him settled in because we were so incredibly busy with rocket attack damage. head has about the lightest colored It wasn't a normally It was not exactly what you would call a state of the art mental hospital ! They were only a couple hundred yards away! Long , long ago, far, far away on the other side of the After a short rest to pull my self together I went back and finished putting the door spring on and about that time one of my team mates picked me up and took me back to the shop. Well sure I heard about it and even saw them down at 1st MPs. Welcome to Viet----fuckn Nam you FNGs ( funking new guys) !!! He asked the officer in charge about them and was told that they didn't have any use for them because they didn't have any Marines who were certified divers. thought about was the airbase in Danang was under attack, Suprise, suprise, There were Seabees, Korean Philco Ford, Vietnamese all working like mad . right out of there. Then when I went back to the shop that night I would have Bettencourt cut me a bunch of rebar stakes 2 ft long. In mid-October 1968 the Deep Water Pier complex ( 16.12N 108.214E) on the Tien Sha peninsula was completed, beginning operations in September 1968. The doc explained that she had been burned by napalm and had gotten gangrene and that was the smell. His name was Coate and he was a 3rd class yeoman. click here or click "back" until you After the farmer passed out and the legs were cut off the nurse was able to stop holding the farmer down and assist the Doc by handing him the clamps and other tools as he needed them. On 30 June 1970 NSA Danang was deactivated and on 1 July new Army-Marine service support agreements went into effect. Just keep on working in the rain. LCU-1498, then the chart office at the White Elephant. Rank Among Most Heavily Sprayed Provinces in Vietnam. The map I sent you is how I remember that there. [3]:8, In April 1972 all US Navy facilities in Danang were transferred to the Republic of Vietnam Navy.[4]. U.S. MARINES IN VIETNAM THE DEFINING YEAR 1968. by. It was time to go look for some food! This is our new Chief Builder. Jeep parts? Detachment Hue - 1965 - 1970. Report an offensive or inappropriate entry. The memory of that little girl is as strong now as then and I can not think about her without getting choked up and teary eyed ! Camp Horn is a former United States Marine Corps and United States Army base located in Danang, Vietnam. I slammed on the brakes and dove out the truck door head first catching my foot under the clutch peddle on the way out. It was what those Here is the letter I wrote my parents on May 15, 1968. That's how we got our beds, enough for everyone. Pilot, youre the one flying the plane. We had an air conditioner in the office and because I worked out side all day I was not used to air conditioning! Around back there was a Jeep with a utility trailer on behind. Donations for May. It was a long miserable cold 12 hour night. That episode followed rioting along China Beach by black . The Marine on the left was blond and looked like a California surfer.He to had been shot in the back of the head. Yes that's me smiling up from the 122mm rocket crater. The Gunny Sargent assured me that the cost of the 782 gear would come out of their final pay check! area or any of the DaNang area, I will continue Honorably Discharged as a QM2(SS) in 1971ish. He didn't mince words. " Danang. The lumber and wood crates in upper right was the start of our lumber yard. this pic sure isn't it, at least He was transported in critical condition to the NSA Hospital in Da Nang with a massive head injury. One rocket struck this barracks, but the man in this room survived by . Her top was not buttoned and she had a gauze bandage about the size of a tea plate on her chest up to her neck. I suppose that I needed that time alone to recover from the amputation! He seemed totally comfortable and relaxed. Electrician CN (E-3) Pat Brown, Builder CN (E-3) Craig Taylor, Builder 3Rd Class Calabresi. was the building directly adjoining Hard at work in the Investigations Office, Camp Tien Sha annex, Da Nang area, 8/69 to 7/70, Ray Norton. It Was a different Doc and Nurse and they didn't know anything other than the farmer had been moved to the civilian hospital in Da Nang City. The course is a model in how to survive, and how to come home with honor. CD-ROM, but it didn't provide any new I didn't think about the danger but was aware of it. You'll see scenes filmed along the roads between Da Nang and Camp Tien Sha -- driving through villages and countryside, past ships in the harbor . Memoir of my time served with the Navy at Camp Tien Sha, Da Nang, during the Vietnam war. Seabees, initially using materials pre-stocked before the war in Advanced Base Functional Component packages, constructed three deep-draft piers for oceangoing ships, two 300 feet (91m) wooden piers an LST causeway and the Bridge Cargo Complex that consisted of a 1,600 feet (490m) long wharf, 300,000 cubic feet of refrigerated storage space and 500,000 square feet of covered storage space. Soon there were Marines all over the place. Chapel? When the Doc was finished he told me I could remove the stick. As time passed and I saw all of these kids sick and broken I realized that most of what this clinic was doing was trying to repair the damage done to these kids by the war itself. The new pier facility allowed deep-draft ocean-going vessels to unload cargo directly onto trucks instead of offloading into Lighters while anchored in the harbor. worked that jeep to it's limits and had a highly entertaining time My station when It was good for our working relation ship to do them favors so that I could count on them to perform for me when I really needed them. We took several trucks and picked up Pham Ba and Babyson outside the gate and headed down the road. What the F is wrong with her? The MPs had used their white belts as tourniquets just above the knees. Style attributes. I always had hot meals and a warm bed. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. I had a ball throwing that jeep Well damn right I was scared. There are over 500 chapters that provide fellowship, volunteer opportunities and community service. Naval Support Activity DaNang (1965-1970), the U.S. The List of battleships of the United States Navy, http://www.worldcat.org/title/southeast-asia-building-the-bases-the-history-of-construction-in-southeast-asia/oclc/952642951&referer=brief_results, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/by-sea-air-land-marolda/chapter-4-winding-down-the-war-1968-1973.html, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, United States military bases of the Vietnam War. Not all the time but sometimes . training), ands a week at Whidby Island (E&E, and SERE. I think it was on May 22,Wednesday when I was on the night radio,phone watch that I wrote my poem about this event. Often the convoys would drop off kids from out in the bush. I pretty much walked the whole base then back to the EM club for a cold beer The second floor office was just being framed up . Some part of it was always listening to what was going on . Recent photo of Cheryl and me About a mile out the crew started kicking boxes out the doors. The exhibit was known as "The Vietnam Syndrome". I'm considered a Vietnam Veteran, due to the dates I served. They cut a hole through their new fence and cleared a path threw the tangle foot and mines wide enough for a 4 wheel drive mule. and drop their bow ramps. You'll see scenes filmed along the roads between Da Nang and Camp Tien Sha -- driving through villages and countryside, past ships in the harbor, port activity, etc. background old PTF Base and Monkey Naval Communication Facility. 1966 and assumed I would spend two years on a submarine in WesPac. Luxury. While I was building the door the Doc and nurse moved in medical supplies to the shelf unit. camp tien sha danang, vietnam 1968. They had been covered with poncho liners but they had blown off. In the fall of 1966 I was transferred To know all the different sounds was to be able to read what was happening at night and how safe I was. We weren't expecting any new men and we don't have the time to train you. She did not cry but there were big tears running down her checks and every once in a while she would let out a loud shuddering sigh! I stretched it to it's I shook my head when the CO sent you to Red Beach to exercise your idealism, knowing no one would want you there in the CB team already established. Mountain. So there I would be for over a week trying to keep the mosquitoes off of me by covering with the sheet and putting my head in the pillow case. Once I went "over" A couple of our guys , Craig Taylor and Pat Brown were interested in learning to Scuba dive so I took it upon my self to teach them. I hated that phone, radio, air conditioning and black coffee! I was new in country and still in John Wayne mode. MAY 10, 1967 FOR COLLEGES State-Related Status Unique By WILLIAM E. DEIBLER HARRISBURG (AP) How would yo to Danang. Work started at 0700 hr and we got off at 1700 hr. In my first week at Camp Books after we were finished building the office, shop we installed a short wave radio which was used for communication with the Navy. at Camp Fay. When I came off my Saturday night watch I was told I would be standing six hours duty at the PWC trouble desk on Sunday morning. My very first Closer and closer, the engine starting to whine! Here is the satellite view of [2] During the next several years, the command created subordinate NSA detachments at Chu Lai, Hu, Tn M, ng H, Ca Vit, Ph Bi and Sa Hunh. Fun! Late in the day we had built them a nice hootch and had them moved in. Our mess hall, about 70 yards from my hootch took a direct hit on the serving line and kitchen area. navy was the hair thing. When Puppy was big enough our secretary, interpreter Miss Nguyen took Puppy home with her to Danang. DaNang Harbor. We are the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1122, based in Collin County, Texas. A regular jeep would accommodate 5 people, while in this There was a bunker there. aspects of it are certainly more memorable than the bad parts. What that means is we stood a four hour night watch every other night. I was not in the bush and am grateful that I wasn't. It was where the French first landed in the 19th Century in their quest to control the area and. We got danger close rockets in that area often. I am very grateful to Annette for the support she gave me while I was in Vietnam. layout - (07-07-02) The saw he used was a miniature version of the bone saw we used when we cut up cows or pigs at butchering time on the farm! I set up a course The Navy Doc cleared off the big desk and the MPs deposited the farmer onto the desk. I was driving on the perimeter road with the dry storage ASM wall on my right. He had a little Vietnamese kid with him about 8 years old. I went out and sat on my toolbox and thought about what I had just experienced. I started building the 3 strong backs at 7 Motors on Monday morning June 3rd. Between 1969 and 1971 hundreds, if not thousands, of incidents of racial violence occurred in and around American military bases So what did I do for work uniforms ? Coate introduced me to a Chief Boatswain Mate who was our executive officer.The Commanding officer wasn't there( a lieutenant Junior Grade.) Well I don't know how much of an impression that left on me but these guys getting killed in the Skivvy house got my attention ! There wasn't much blood ,just a small whelp where the bullet went in. One of our guy went with Babyson to the local market and bought blankets, cooking supplies, sleeping mats and food. The hooch in back is the doctors office and residents. June 29, 2022; creative careers quiz; ken thompson net worth unix Issues related to race and race relations helped to define the African American experience in the United States, and these same issues defined the experiences of black soldiers in Vietnam.Race relations in combat were typified by cooperation, shared sacrifice, and a sense of brotherhood. Within a hundred feet of the generators. in Subic and got a pro hair cut. I wanted to go back and see that little girl before she died but all that next week I was to busy to get off early ( or maybe I was just to scared and heart broken). a lot in Vietnam. Well it scared the crap out of me and probably took a few months off my life ! Retro. Find Camp Tien Sha, Headquarters unit information, patches, operation history, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com. He was standing about 10 feet from me and the first round of a rocket attack went through the ventilator on top of our building ,exactly four feet above the LTs head and exploded in the ware house bay next to our shop. The nurse was carrying a little girl about 4 years old. delivering warm water was good Da Nang Cluster. If one of the other bases in our AO got hit by mortars or rockets then our siren went off and we were on red alert which meant we had to role out with weapons, helmets,and flack jackets and man our posts. I don't remember when I stopped doing work at the Children's clinic, Maybe the end of June or early July. I had my sailboat and some When that needle went in that poor farmer screamed and jerked up headed for the ceiling! Camp Horn is a former United States Marine Corps and United States Army base located in Danang, Vietnam. While the Seabee's exploits in Vietnam would carry on the tradition set during the Second World War, their work in Southeast Asia actually . side was a barge with a sign. These positive relations were largely a reflection of the fact that black and white soldiers in combat were heavily dependent on one another. Relive & share the memories of your service time with your brothers & sisters in arms today. Naval Support Facility DaNang (1970-1972), and the Detachments. Tracers were bouncing all over in front of the truck. This is the Hoa Kahn clinic at the time I started working there. We visited Chu Laiu, Hue, and our ACTOV addition Admiral Army assets assistance attack August base Beach beds began boats Bridge buildings Camp Tien Sha cargo Center changes Class closed combat Commander Communications. Just kind of shut it off excepting that I had very little control over my situation and excepting that if shit happened ,shit happened !! C Chi tunnels. [ Base Funny thing about the base exchange was I only went there once my whole tour. It had 4 windows so I went to the window for H. I handed the clerk my records pack. It is just to heart breaking to see the suffering of the children in this world who are caught in a war! All terrain forklifts would scurry back and forth off Some of the materials for rebuilding came from my civic action salvage yard. I had my broken leg cot and was living out of my sea bag. I got a letter from Annette Burrell ( Johns younger sister) sometime in May. I didn't realize at the time that the intended target was me and the generators. [6], In April 1972 all US Navy facilities in Danang were transferred to the Republic of Vietnam Navy.[1]. When I started working on this clinic project I was full of good feelings as to how we were helping these poor Vietnamese people. There was a young mother with several kid and grandma and grandpa. "Sorry that's all we have!" I would sit at the desk and drink coffee, write letters or poetry. The audio is a little weak, so listen in a quiet place with the sound turned up. Do the job, get it done right and then sign off the work order and move on to the next one. That was the LTs first rocket attack and he didn't react fast enough. In your time in the CBs did you decide to be the opposite and do the right thing with newbies? They were simply ghettos with poor sanitation , communal water supply, no roads or electricity. I was in country from June 1969 to June 1970. That night at the mess hall it was, " did you hear about the 2 grunt that got shot and killed at the Skivvy house last night"! Vietnam War Home Movies Tien Sha & Da Nang 1969 ammo dump explosion, freedom hill VintageFilmArsenal 2.48K subscribers 37K views 8 years ago Go to vintagefilmarsenal.com to purchase a. Detachment Nha Trang - 1965 - 1971. Camp Tien Sha is a former United States Navy base located in Danang, Vietnam. Get those Fucking Gooks away from that Damn trailer". It was the Spring 1967 and I had a choice to make, get drafted into the Army and go to Viet Nam or join the Navy Reserve. I spent 33 years After he was medivaced one young labor worker(Baby son) would ask me every morning If I had heard how Barbee was and if I got a letter from him. The Priest took the kid around with him and often left him at the clinic with the nurses as the other children at the orphanage would pick on him. Some morning I would be more tired when I woke up than when I went to bed. Go through their front gate then out their back gate to the causeway. I had plenty of time to take it all in and it was very UN-nerving. Relations outside of combat were typified by racial tension and violence. There was always something interesting to watch at Camp Books. Nobody bothered to help the new guy with the profoundly negative and dangerous war situation you found yourself in. Well I had 2 sets that were issued to me when I went threw weapons training at Coronado and Camp Pendleton. May 5,1968 was my first rocket attack in Vietnam and you can see the hit 7 different places in my AO including my new home at FLC Camp Books. limits and no one ever said a word to me about these activities. There was to much noise from the generators and air conditioner to hear the rockets explode or the warning siren go off . Don't go to Dog Patch at night and stay way from the prostitutes. He had to re arrange his schedule to accommodate me. I thought they were trying to lighten their load. The Brief. Apart from some shopping highlights and historical sights, the main reason for most travelers staying here is its proximity to the well-known My Khe Beach, Lang Co Beach, Hoi An and My Son. The Post office was about 75 yards from my hootch. He's shooting from a long way out and hasn't hit anyone yet. Danang, Naval Support Activity, Operations, Lighterage, U-Boats. I was going to start building my own hooch so I would have a place to sleep ! On May 15 I had finished 6 or 8 escape doors. context of what was happening. boats took place at the other base. Some times she would get so drunk that she couldn't walk anymore, was really funny watch her four legs going in different directions! All in the name of saving them from Communism. He was honorably discharged in 1968 after completing his tour in Vietnam, as Petty . With chow finished I had the rest of Here is a poem that I wrote about the helicopter. loading the LSTs and loading onto trucks. The weekend after the amputation I went to build a small operating room and install a examination light. I asked about the little girl and the doc said she had died Thursday night. shoes" and one of the Vietnamese I got used to the nights but was never comfortable enough to sleep well. Naval Support Activity (NSA) Danang was officially established on 15 October 1965. Anniversary story of his trip back The Monkey Mountain Patrol. at Camp Fay, never. risking my life in a really inadequate vehicle! In addition, the Navy took charge of the offloading, storage and delivery of supplies common to all the allied forces in I Corps. Driving around on the perimeter of the base checking for burned out security lights could also be very hazardous . That's danger close to the shop! After I let them go I was sitting on my tool box waiting for the crew truck to come pick me up. He got in line and they loaded his truck with beds, lots of beds. We looked a lot more hard corps than we were. was about vehicles, building Vietnam Vet? The Seabee construction crews he is referring to was my crew. The hardest things for them to figure out was the batter boards, how to measure and cut rafters and how to measure and cut gable end studs. the two boat docks at DaNang. basis sat idle. Browse millions of high-quality stock photos, illustrations, and videos. After a couple rocket and mortar attacks my brain never went completely to sleep. I was land based in Da Nang. They had to be manned 24 hours a day. ed Camp Haskins (South) for Camp Tien Sha to complete the retrograding of equipment. Travis, Hawaii, Subic Bay (and shore patrol in Olongapo), then to standing duty after working hours you were pretty much alone. at Camp Fay. One of them used to take me to the MACV Club located by the USS Repose. Link to Silent Spring Deadly Autumn (the best book ever written about Agent Orange and the other chemicals we were exposed to in Vietnam. I have absolutely no recollection of Tour: August 2, 1969 through July 17, 1970. I think that maybe it was a way to help get my thoughts together, write the event down and then move on. I didn't understand at that time the danger of rocket attacks. What amazed me was by brakefast time at 0530 the marines had already set up a field mess trailer out side the mess hall and were serving breakfast. We set the radio on squelch so it would make a lot of noise and wake us up. T is a history of NSA in Vietnam, which by 1969 was the Navy's largest overseas command with the largest public works department in the world. I went home in August 1967, So over time it was easier to just not know anyone. The Marines slept 12 to 14 men in a hootch. On the evening of May 23 we got a knew man in, Karl Voiles. From 1800 hours until 0600 we had to have some one stand watch. They were the best I could You FNGs get off the plane and fall in over there. There was outgoing mortar rounds and incoming. (a hooch is a 16 by 32 ft wood framed plywood building with 5 foot high walls and a tin roof.) My work hours were 0600 to 1800 which made it impossible to use any of the base services! Well I never did hear from Barbee. What has stuck in my mind all these years is how much that bullet hole in the blond guys head looked like the bullet hole in the back of the head of a very large possum that I had shot in the back of the head when I was about 16 years old. Then I was out the door, I passed LT Branch halfway down the stairs and was waiting for him in the bunker! [3] NSA Danang originally operated from a commercial pier on the city side of the Hn River and this "Museum Ramp" (160300N 1081328E / 16.05N 108.2245E / 16.05; 108.2245) near the Cham Museum began operation in November 1965 off-loading LCU's and LST's. We were supposed to protect our base generators and fuel tank from sappers. Some of the rocket attacks were on Camp Books (FLC) . and the LT moved to the Da. Vietnam veterans, age 60+, American. Paperback. say I rarely ventured onto the left She wanted to send care packages and letters to me as part of a High School project. seating along the sides of the rear area. The I had never been a boss and language was an obstacle so there was a lot of pencil drawings or just comparing construction with the closest hooch. It's claim to fame was that it had a black prostitute. I remember one time showering in Ten of them cluster around one of the three air bases that became the most contaminate with dioxin: Da Nang, Phu Cat and Bien Hoa. The carpenter flat bed truck. They made runs north to Cua Viet at the mouth of the river (80 miles north of DaNang and 6 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone) and then upriver eight miles to Dong Ha to haul cannon ammunition to the marines.