One night I was in the office with LT Branch . This is the first Poem that I wrote in Vietnam and is about the two marines killed in the skivvy house. Nobody even knowing where from or if they had families. Between 1969 and 1971 hundreds, if not thousands, of incidents of racial violence occurred in and around American military bases So I took a trip in September 2016 back 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 VC had taken their 782 gear (combat gear, weapons and ammo) and bugged out. Surprisingly, I never step foot on a ship, I was always stationed in Navy hospitals. 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). delivering warm water was good I served until 1970. I went to the "motor pool" at least All terrain forklifts would scurry back and forth off This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of the Naval History and Heritage Command. The weekend after the amputation I went to build a small operating room and install a examination light. who manned the PTF base at night used for transportation to and from Biologist), and chaired the Diving Safety Board. Danang Vietnam 1966 1967 Camp Tien Sha was an old French army base. It took until 2000 hours to finish that first slab. . It wasn't a normally If there were any trouble calls from the Marines (usually lights out on the perimeter or something not working at the mess hall) then it was jump in the truck drive out and check and drive over to our hooch and get who ever was needed to go fix the problem. Over the months as I got to know my Vietnamese and they opened up to me the most asked question they had for me. Soon, the fleet dispatched Naval Beach Group One Cargo Handling Battalions 1 and 2, nucleus port crew, Mine Force, Service Force, Underwater Demolition Team, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units to Danang. On Monday morning Bet returned the snorkeling gear to Special Service and noticed that they had two sets of double 70 scuba tanks with Mark-2 regulators. the fresh meat so what do I know about it. Her husband was an ARVN soldier who had been killed. So over time it was easier to just not know anyone. I held that little girl sitting on my tool box and in a short time she was used to me and clutching onto the front of my shirt. This is Judy and her puppy ( named Puppy) Judy was Coate s dog and was named after his girl friend. Charlie 2. there was a war going on. James L Chambers (cause of death,misadventure). To add your photos, please email them to webmaster@ccvva.org. So I would start the mornings dancing around the job site until the sniper was done and then we would get to work. I needed to know which of the sound meant danger! We weren't expecting any new men and we don't have the time to train you. arrive there again.. Joe Witmeyer shares this 50th He didn't mince words. " A small craft repair facility and an Auxiliary Floating Drydock (AFDL) helped keep NSA vessels in working order. On May 13,1968 we took 6 122mm rocket rounds as explained in my May 15,1968 leter. Ya, we continued our work and started building my hooch. In addition, the Navy took charge of the offloading, storage and delivery of supplies common to all the allied forces in I Corps. 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. those Nastie's were fun boats! Coate was not there to know about Puppy. for references to information received from If they were caught they were punished by court marshal and were busted one pay grade. loading the LSTs and loading onto trucks. Local Page TIMES-MIRROR and OBSERVER Section B WARREN, PA., WEDNESDAY. Around back there was a Jeep with a utility trailer on behind. Vietnam went on and I was done at the Clinic and never heard about it anymore until I went back to Vietnam in 1996 and tried to visit and the guard at the gate chased me away but I did find out that after the war in became a mental hospital for young people. maps) office in the White Elephant. They had absolutely nothing and were dependent on the charity of other refuges in Dog Patch. Both of his legs had been pretty much blown off. There was outgoing mortar rounds and incoming. The pain they suffered was of our making and they just wanted us to go home! 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"! Marine guns up to the DMZ, we looked like shoe boxes eith long gun The field had been filled with red dirt and rocks and had been compacted with heavy equipment. During our night watch I would lock the office door ,lay my M-16, (locked and loaded) on the desk pointing at the door. 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. 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. never even gave a thought that a Then we saw a little dot far up Elephant Valley. The argument got pretty heated. Just to the right of with Calif. This was a Sunday afternoon BBQ about 1800 hr. I thought they were trying to lighten their load. when I was there. 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. I turned 20 years old and of coarse it went un- noticed although I had gotten a care package from Annett Burrel, a couple surfing magazines from my brother Jay and a birthday card from my girl friend Linda! I was to hear FNG Rank Among Most Heavily Sprayed Provinces in Vietnam. Nobody bothered to help the new guy with the profoundly negative and dangerous war situation you found yourself in. On Tuesday May 14 I finished my hooch and settled into the corner right inside the door. It seemed a bit strange to see everything so neat and tidy when distributed to ships coming in. Yes, everyone called him soccer ball head ! Guess march in columns of two over to that building. Welcome! Surprise, I think that was normal precaution . camp where you get sheared. I wish I would have known about it then! was about vehicles, building The I knew I wasn't in Kansas. maids walked in and started cleaning Browse millions of high-quality stock photos, illustrations, and videos. Whenever there were 122 rocket attacks there would be casualties and being as how I was a first responder and did the damage clean up and repair and being as how medivaced Marines did not need their uniforms any more I would just help myself to what ever would fit me. What we finally did was a one man 12 hour watch. TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. there. Even now-days I hate phones,radios, air conditioning and coffee ! Some of the women were in their early twenties, so there is still hope. Maybe 6 on a side. [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. 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. 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! Don't go to Dog Patch at night and stay way from the prostitutes. of any of that. There was a bunker there. Danang, Naval Support Activity, Operations, Lighterage, U-Boats. I was going to have to hit the ground running if I intended to stay with this team. Khoi Tran and Hong Th Hin faved this 3,723 views 2 faves 0 comments Taken on March 17, 2017 Some rights reserved Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 9000 ED On May 22 at 0200 hr. The feet just kind of hanging by muscle and skin. It sure seemed longer then a month, to me it was more like a few months! Because I was just getting situated it was just mass confusion for me . With Coate gone Judy would still sleep in his hooch and she would ride around on the stake truck, hang around the office or the hooch s. Judy hated Marines, and Vietnamese men but she was alright with Vietnamese women as long as they treated her nice. Detachment Cua Viet - 1967 - 1970. basis There are 186 crew members registered for the Naval Support Activity Danang. I pretty much walked the whole base then back to the EM club for a cold beer 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. would be thinking about that meal a lot! I did a phone call to the Marine Duty officer and he calmly told me the incoming fire had already been reported by the outposts. 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. I was never in harms way. We needed to replace the awning over the entry door that was about to fall off. He was wearing his best short timers uniform. 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. Select the period (starting by the reporting year): precomm - 1967 | 1968 | 1969 - now Register and add yourself to the Crew List of the Naval Support Activity Danang. 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. right out of there. The huge fuel tank was just being build on the left out of the picture. Camp Tien Sha Vietnam 1968 from Monkey Mountain Bombardier Pretorian Aug 16, 2013 Good photo, get a good look at the base. reportedf to the USS Permit (SSN-594) at Mare Island, and got out a I asked if the prostitutes had been shot ,he didn't know but thought they were probably the ones who came to the gate and reported the incident! We had an air conditioner in the office and because I worked out side all day I was not used to air conditioning! Funny thing about the base exchange was I only went there once my whole tour. When I asked the Priest what happened to the kid he said he didn't know, the kid was at the orphanage when he took over. Just as I was putting on the spring door closer a ARVN military police jeep pulled up in front (they were halling ass through the loose sand) Two White mice jumped out, went to the back of the jeep and carried an old farmer from the jeep into the clinic. After that LT Branch never stayed late at the office, he would leave at 1700 to take Miss Nguyen home to Da Nang. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naval_Support_Activity_Danang&oldid=1137856150, Military installations of the United States in South Vietnam, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Naval History & Heritage Command, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 20:12. Luxury. 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. I will expect you to be able to do your job and if you can't then your out of here! 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. 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. MAY 10, 1967 FOR COLLEGES State-Related Status Unique By WILLIAM E. DEIBLER HARRISBURG (AP) How would yo The Navy Doc was probably in his mid 30s and it was obvious to me that he had done this type of work before. map and make modifications, please email your I cried to myself on the way back to the base. It was a strange way for a job to start. All of the workers that worked for us were dislocated Vietnamese and us putting them to work was an attempt to keep their economy rolling. Their shirt tail were hanging out and sleeves not rolled up (Marine style). Coate took care of my paper work and handing in my bedding while I was packing up my sea bag and then it was back to clothing issue somewhere in China beach to pick up my clothing issue which was 4 sets of green utilities a couple soft hats (the Marine Corps kind) and a pair of work boots. This was You FNGs get off the plane and fall in over there. I am a 20 year old US soldier and my country says I have to be here! Then to [1], By July 1968 NSA Danang handled 350,000 tons of cargo each month for the 200,000 allied troops in I Corps. (my home base). The solution that I found was just to build big rectangle frames (20 feet by 40 feet) sitting on top the ground . The two crew members jumped out just under the flames .They carried their M-60 machine guns. The doc had no idea but it was a sure thing she was going to die. say I rarely ventured onto the left I even passed an enlisted sailor with a can of white paint and he was Color home movie footage filmed by a serviceman at Camp Tien Sha and Da Nang during 1969, including footage of Freedom Hill, Dogpatch, the April 27th Da Nang ammo dump explosion & aftermath, and more. Shortly after 1000 hr the team expediter showed up and I was introduced to him . There are over 500 chapters that provide fellowship, volunteer opportunities and community service. It was at maximum power and flying very fast. When I look back it sure seems stupid but at the time what else could I do? I didn't think about the danger but was aware of it. I had my broken leg cot and was living out of my sea bag. So after the 2400 check in I would jump in the truck with M-16 and ammo. My barracks was an old French barracks at Camp Tien Sha near Da Nang. by the time they got to us AWC# 5 we would be awake (hopefully) and report in. called to general quarters was in side was a area called Bridge Ramp which was where the Navy LSTs would pull in I never really realized the high level of tension we lived under until I left Vietnam ! It was not exactly what you would call a state of the art mental hospital ! map to the right is intended to be used as a of the DaNang Military Complex, One of After the bones were cut the Doc tied off all the bleeders and removed the hemostats . the "enlisted head" identified in Da Nang marks the halfway point between Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Our generators were not even running yet so I heard the rocket coming in. After our three big generators and fuel tank were up and running that area became a target for the VC. May 27 was my birthday. I was probably in as much in shock as the farmer. Maybe it's just me. Ch Linh Camp. Drawing I thought the clinic was for children. and I was just finishing up the door. Then I started paying more attention. around on the gravel surface at the PTF base. In the future I The shop door are between the 2 telephone poles. Danang was handling more tonnage than the port of Baltimore at the time. [4]:8. Donations for May. The Chief did manage to get bedding (Ha,Ha) I got one bed sheet and one pillow case. the two boat docks at DaNang. It is just to heart breaking to see the suffering of the children in this world who are caught in a war! On the far end of the bridge right Nang officers billeting ! There was no time off just the same 12 hr work shift. They were waiting for electricity and to get more beds from Catholic Charity . [1][3]:2, In August 1967, the headquarters of NSA Danang was moved from downtown Danang to Camp Tien Sha. Some where along the line the nurse had done an IV drip. Level the frames and tie them to the stakes and I would have my concrete forms complete. The village it refers to was just north of Camp Books. I finished the shower and got Suprise, suprise, 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. Welcome to Viet----fuckn Nam you FNGs ( funking new guys) !!! What ever it was we were done by shortly after 1600 hr. And there were certainly good things there, at least in the I actually took the class in 1965 but at that time you had to be 18 years old to get a Scuba Certification. Do the job, get it done right and then sign off the work order and move on to the next one. context of what was happening. "Supply" at Camp Fay After showing him my NAUI Scuba certification card I was able to make arrangement to keep all the Scuba gear at our shop so I could use it any time that I wanted. I was called to active durty in July One night I was called out for some lights on the west perimeter. about culture clash!) pissed me off the most about the navy was the hair thing. Electrician CN (E-3) Pat Brown, Builder CN (E-3) Craig Taylor, Builder 3Rd Class Calabresi. I was driving on the perimeter road with the dry storage ASM wall on my right. It's claim to fame was that it had a black prostitute. The doctor and nurse came out of the clinic.
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