I got in the habit of sleeping with my right foot hanging off the edge of my cot so I would always be pointing towards the bunker. Didnt take long to figure out that everyone could see that you were a FNG. I joined the Navy Reserve and went to . said hours 1700 to 2100. The tents were on the right. So much for getting Sunday off. Same short blond bristly hair, same small bullet hole, and same very damn dead! My Vietnamese workers were hunkered down by the lumber pile about 30 ft from me.Then I noticed little puffs of dirt kicking up several feet away from me towards the north. I would share it with my team mates but a lot of it I gave to the Vietnamese children at the Clinic or whenever I worked off base. Well, the Camp Tein Sha barracks got me for Friday, and Saturday. The two guys shot in the skivvy house that night were, Pvt. ( We called the Army Republic Of Vietnam police white mice because they were small, wore white helmets white web belts, white pistol holsters and white spats.) Luxury. He got the point and let me through the gate, no more questions asked. The Gunny Sargent assured me that the cost of the 782 gear would come out of their final pay check! loading the LSTs and loading onto trucks. So that's what I did, went back to work. Anyone who tried to open that door without giving our pass word would have been shot. So just go back to work and keep moving so he doesn't have a stationary target and you should be OK!" Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Recent photo of Cheryl and me. The doctor and nurse came out of the clinic. Barrels of asphalt damaged by rocket attack, April 1969 . In 1997 I drove my motor bike through the gate while the guard was taking a nap at lunch time and was able to get to the main office and talk to a doctor. I was in country from June 1969 to June 1970. The sound had carried down the valley making it sound very close, then it would die down then get loud again, very strange how the sound bounced around the walls of the valley. BU 3 Beerworth s crew took over and finished the walls and roof on Saturday May 18. APL-30 and dock at Da Nang harbor. 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). 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. Detachment Cua Viet - 1967 - 1970. They were simply ghettos with poor sanitation , communal water supply, no roads or electricity. I took all the materials that I thought I would need to build the cement forms for my strong backs. At NSA Camp Tien Sha, an enlisted men's club was constructed. Map of the Vietnam War. Even now-days I hate phones,radios, air conditioning and coffee ! I am sure this little girl will be my last thought when I punch out from this world. There was outgoing mortar rounds and incoming. The rest of my tour I did what every good Seabee team would do, I stole them ! Most of them would be dead by now as most of the men were in their mid forties then . 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. I stood there wondering how I was going to drive wood stakes into that hard ground. . It seemed a bit strange to see everything so neat and tidy when Actually there wasn't a shop or office there yet, They had just divided off a corner of a large warehouse and were building a shop and office. By the time I graduated from High school I was a damn good diver! Camp Tien Sha Vietnam 1968. The Doc told me to help tie the farmer down to the desk. DA NANG 66-67 - Camp Tien Sha Naval Support Activity Camp Tien Sha Danang Vietnam Danang Vietnam 1966 1967 Camp Tien Sha was an old French army base. camp tien sha danang, vietnam 1968. What the hell is that? Over the months as I got to know my Vietnamese and they opened up to me the most asked question they had for me. That's how we got our beds, enough for everyone. One of them used to take me to the MACV Club located by the USS Repose. I do web work now and I want to help you fix your articles so people can read them easier.I'm not asking to get paid I just want to do something for you. You have destroyed my country and my family! The only answer I could give them that they would except was. 6320 Selago Drive. The take-in was the same as you wrote. Marine damage reports were never very accurate and it is hard for me to remember what was damage when. It was a real learning experience for the three of us. Iowa. This 800-page book provides a meticulous catalogue of American facilities during the Vietnam War -- bases large and small, BOQs, BEQs and memorials -- which were named for individuals who had fallen in battle in this war of our youth. Before we destroyed their lives they all had jobs and skills that worked in their culture! Photo libre de droit de Camp Tien Sha banque d'images et plus d'images libres de droit de Vietnam - Vietnam, Base militaire, 1968. OK, Im new here, the rooky, All terrain forklifts would scurry back and forth off When the Doc was finished he told me I could remove the stick. What we finally did was a one man 12 hour watch. I was able to remain calm and under control and do what ever he told me but inside I was on the edge of losing it! It was creepy doing that trip to the causeway. Inside of that trailer, face down were 2 dead Marines. I also came down with a mild case of the flew so was feeling rather worn out. 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. Coate introduced me to a Chief Boatswain Mate who was our executive officer.The Commanding officer wasn't there( a lieutenant Junior Grade.) [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. I lay there waiting for the out posts to return fire, nothing happened! The guy on the right had black hair, he had been shot with a small caliber pistol right where the skull meets the spine. Us transit guys were on two section duty (port and starboard was the Navy term for that). Detachment Phu Bai - 1965 -1970. Was I scared ? to my new cubicle and dressed in my slightly used green utility working Now I know where Barbee is but where is Babyson? The 53rd had five (5) CO's from 1942 through 1946. . 3. Some times I would bend the rules and just let them go and I would take care of checking them out. I would have to find some time to build a foot locker. Camp Tien Sha, Vietnam. It had been a very busy month with a lot of things happening. There was a Marine listening ambush set up outside the perimeter in that area. "Honcho come", he pulls me around the Quonset hut, his eyes were as big as saucers! Go through their front gate then out their back gate to the causeway. The doc had no idea but it was a sure thing she was going to die. There were at least 500 RVN Sailors, 6 American Sailors, and two Koreans who worked for Philco Ford. Don't go to Dog Patch at night and stay way from the prostitutes. ( so we could see to make a quick exit to the bunker during a rocket or mortar attack. So as May 1968 ended I had been in Vietnam for 1 month! The Seabee construction crews he is referring to was my crew. Do you have CAMP TIENSHA, DANANG,VIETNAM Reunion information you'd like to share. One night I stood a four hour office watch and another night I was on a four hour barracks fire watch. I don't remember when I stopped doing work at the Children's clinic, Maybe the end of June or early July. History [ edit ] Following the initial landing of Marines in South Vietnam on 8 March 1965, the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (9th MEB) established their headquarters in an old French Army compound on the western edge of Da Nang Air Base . LCM is up to port side of barracks craft. Another thing that screwed up the night for us was our night radio, phone watch, it was a real bitch ! Here is an E mail I got from Karl explaining his arrival to Vietnam and Camp Books (FLC) The last week of May brought us a knew Chief Builder and our old Chief Botswains mate left us. a lot in Vietnam. the fresh meat so what do I know about it. At that time the base fir truck showed up. There were two supply tents up there and when the Field Marines (grunts) would come in from the bush they would strip off all their dirty clothes and throw them in piles in one tent then go into the other tent and pick up clean uniforms. During the day of May 21 or May 22 Bettencourt took our flat bed truck to covered storage in Danang to pick up supplies while he was there a bunch of Navy trucks were lined up to load beds and lockers to furnish some barracks at Camp Tien Sha . We were here, I was standing in front of the hut assessing the job. Nice history lesson for me. 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. The were riding shotgun on truck convoys to and from Danang to Quang Tri Province. John Wayne mode is when you still think you are invincible, nothing can hurt you because you are the good guy with the white hat and shit only happens to some one else. On Friday May 17 I was sent out on another job. LCU-63 * MI Camp Tien Sha, Da Nang Camp Tieu Khu, Binh Duong Province Camp John R. Tine, Kien Phong Province Torello . An electrician CN (E-3). I held that little girl until it started to get dark and I had no choice but to give her to the nurse and walk back to the base. A smell I have never smelled again in my life time. I was in Danang less than a month when the Vietcong used rockets to attack the Danang Air Base for the first time in the war, on the morning of February 27. My body was always waiting to react. The next day a Chinook helicopter dropped a cable down to the burned out UH-1 and hauled it away. Why are you here in Vietnam ? nstar48; Media item; Jan 30, 2008; I served there and just would like to hear from some of the guys that was there. A love affair. . The rocket attacks after that the would be on target! I had to make a quick exit when the patients got excited when I walked towards the main ward! The Doc narrated as he worked, what he was doing, what he was going to do, when I should be prepared for the farmer to go ballistic! Familiar Places. didnt get shot at and we safely landed and taxied off the run way. Some times a lot of shit happened . For the time being they were stashed in my hooch and on May 24, Karl Voiles spent his first day assembling beds. Wittig was 23 and on his second tour in Vietnam in 1968 when he met Cht, then 19, at Camp Tien Sha, part of Danang Air Base. Between 1969 and 1971 hundreds, if not thousands, of incidents of racial violence occurred in and around American military bases During our night watch I would lock the office door ,lay my M-16, (locked and loaded) on the desk pointing at the door. Camp Tien Sha Vietnam 1968. nstar48. We set the radio on squelch so it would make a lot of noise and wake us up. Don't try to cross in to the base as there were mines. Trouvez d'autres images libres de droits dans la collection d'iStock, qui contient des photos de Vietnam facilement tlchargeables. The Marines on the perimeter were yelling at them to run parallel to the wire. Bombardier. march in columns of two over to that building. Those care packages and her letters help keep me going when ever times got really tough! 15 rounds hit us with 3 KIA and 15 wounded. Naval Communication Facility. Nights in Vietnam were uncomfortable at best. meal in Vietnam was roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, green peas, 2 large In July 1966 the "Bridge Cargo Ramp" (160307N 1081352E / 16.052N 108.231E / 16.052; 108.231) began operations increasing NSA's supply capability. The authorized stockage list for Vietnam was reduced from a high of 297,000 different items in July 1967 to 74,900 items in March 1971, without any loss of the high quality of support provided to the combat forces. I jumped into the fighting hole beside the post and yelled at the Marines there "holy shit some one is shooting at me!" His name was Coate and he was a 3rd class yeoman. by the time they got to us AWC# 5 we would be awake (hopefully) and report in. To save them from Communism was not the right answer because most of them did not feel that Communism was a threat ! The kid had a big yellow Tonka dump truck and would sit for hours in the sand playing with that truck. Detachment Hue - 1965 - 1970. The little girl was fusing and didn't want to leave the nurse so it took a little effort to hand her off to me . 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. 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. Unfortunately when we got there it was closed for one hour for lunch and Coate did not have the time to hang around. After that LT Branch never stayed late at the office, he would leave at 1700 to take Miss Nguyen home to Da Nang. The poor farmer had stepped on a mine. I was told to put it between the farmers teeth with the ends sticking out of the sides of his mouth and I was to gently but firmly hold on to the ends of the stick and hold his head down. In August 1967, the headquarters of NSA Danang was moved from downtown Danang to Camp Tien Sha.:33. Don enlisted in the US Navy and attained the rank of Builder Third Class (BU3) with MCB 53. When he was all loaded he told them one of the other drivers had the paper work and while they were trying to hunt down the papers he just drove away. Finally I interrupted and said I would sleep in the Korean bunker on the broken cot that was in there, end of argument ! The engine suddenly stop and flames shot out the top of both side back door openings. Any damage at FLC was my teams responsibility to asses , clean up and repair or replace so I had direct involvement in all rocket and mortar attacks at FLC. 89 helpful votes. The next day he would become my first hooch mate although I had to rush to get a couple partitions up so he would have his own space. Uss garrett county ( lst-786 ) uss garrett county ( lst-786 ) uss garrett (. Camp Tien Sha is a former United States Navy base located in Danang, Vietnam. I didn't realize at the time that the intended target was me and the generators. The memory of this little girl and the events at the Children's hospital are the reason I never had children of my own. Here is the battalion report for May 1968. Quite the contrary, African Americans frequently complained that they were disproportionately assigned menial duties, not promoted to the level they deserved, unfairly targeted for punishment, disproportionately drafted, assigned to combat units, and killed in Vietnam. Camp Tien Sha. I have 'issues' from that crap hole as well.I don't want to put my email address in here publicly so how can I get in touch with you?Ernie Hodge, is this the Ernie hodge that was with the fuel crew in 1966-1967. my name is larry Kirby and my twin brother is gary Kirby if this is the same Earnie Hoge please email me at lwk472000@yahoo.vom. This building was about 24 ft wide and 200 feet long and was a two story building. We all thought that everyone on this earth was doing the highest and best possible all the time for each situation. On May 13,1968 we took 6 122mm rocket rounds as explained in my May 15,1968 leter. There was a young mother with several kid and grandma and grandpa. Some of the women were in their early twenties, so there is still hope. Later I built a wash building and cook shack just about where these cots and the officers are standing. When I look back it sure seems stupid but at the time what else could I do? Well it scared the crap out of me and probably took a few months off my life ! line. Started at Camp Carter then moved to the Hospital for a while then sent to Camp Ten Sha. The other important thing we had to do was to check the Red Beach causeway at 2400 hr. Bruce Moore says he first returned from a 13-month stint in the Vietnam War to a "poor response." "We were at Norton Air Force Base. The cot had a broken leg so I had to prop it up with a sand bag and it was missing one end piece so it just wanted to fold up on me when I laid on it. I even passed an enlisted sailor with a can of white paint and he was Vietnam veterans, age 60+, American. The truck dropped us at the work sight. It was in a large dirt field 150 yards outside of the north perimeter. I cried to myself on the way back to the base. These positive relations were largely a reflection of the fact that black and white soldiers in combat were heavily dependent on one another. March 29, 1969. Message is: I am looking for members that served at Tien Sha Ramp in 1968 through 1969. 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. Danang was handling more tonnage than the port of Baltimore at the time. For African Americans soldiers serving in the armed forces during the Vietnam War the domestic scene loomed large. There were many places within NSA/NSF DaNang where personnel were assigned. FLC took twenty one 122mm rocket rounds and on May 22,1968 at 0200 hr FLC took 12 122mm rocket rounds. So my hooch would now have 5 of us. Often the convoys would drop off kids from out in the bush. Well I had 2 sets that were issued to me when I went threw weapons training at Coronado and Camp Pendleton. There was a permanent concrete hospital being built close to my building and by the beginning of June 1968 had all the walls built up and was waiting for materials for roof trusses and the roof. Later after they landed it became obvious that they were throwing out the ammo boxes so they wouldn't explode when they landed. MCB . Then he could pick my guys up and pick up materials to build my hooch. We needed to replace the awning over the entry door that was about to fall off. One about half way from knee to foot and the other just below the knee! Remember the talk we got about staying away from the prostitutes that I got my first day in Vietnam? What that means is we stood a four hour night watch every other night. It took until 2000 hours to finish that first slab. The Marines in that ambush had fired on me to scare me because they thought I was the duty officer making the rounds. He's shooting from a long way out and hasn't hit anyone yet. Supported COMSEC 705 (Camp Tien Sha), Operation Big Look (Da Nang) and USMC ground missions (1st Radio BN). With tears in my eyes I told the guard that I had been helping the doc at the children's clinic and he could take his fucking travel chit and shove it up his ass! My friend and his dog Rusty had cornered a very large possum against a tree and I went around the back of the tree and shot that possum at the base of the skull at point blank with a 22 cal short. The pilots jumped out . Nang officers billeting ! Tracers were bouncing all over in front of the truck. building. Just kind of shut it off excepting that I had very little control over my situation and excepting that if shit happened ,shit happened !! It had been built the end of April so was brand new. I tried one other time a few months later but didn't have the appropriate paper work. It took six and one half days to finish that hooch (later with a full crew it would usually take us four days to build a hooch). I'm sorry my last letter to you was so abruptly ended, but I figured I'd best get it sent, otherwise you'd still be waiting. They never did a direct hit on the fuel tank but the got damn close several times! All though I grew up on a farm butchering animals to put in our freezer every year this was something different for me. 5 stages consumer decision making process pdf, medtronic severance package, test valley crematorium diary, Two Koreans who worked for Philco Ford a few months off my life time go their... Very damn dead was constructed clinic, Maybe the end of April so was new. 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