Iframe32s
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Semper Fi "Doc!" You were worshipped and appreciated by many...to say the least.
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Snubby in Vietnam
- Thread starter SF VET
- Start date
Semper Fi "Doc!" You were worshipped and appreciated by many...to say the least.
Eddie Southgate
Member
Best way to cool beer (lacking refrigeration) is spinning it on a block of ice .
Eddie Southgate
Member
there is more to there small pic above than most folks know. The photographer who shot the pic later regretted it. The Vietnamese office puling the trigger came to the US, and died about five years ago, forever haunted by his reputation. The VC had just killed some non-combatents.
The VC did the same to local community leaders in my district.
Wars are hard on everybody.
All the best,,, and stay safe. SF VET
The VC did the same to local community leaders in my district.
Wars are hard on everybody.
All the best,,, and stay safe. SF VET
I have always just loved military aircraft, so when up to Saigon I would wander over to the air base, and shoot pictures. This is a bombed up AD Skyraider. They were made from just after WWII, and were extensively used in Korea. After replaced, they were sold to the French, and later, when our search and rescue Jolly Greens needed support, we needed planes with an extended loiter time and bought them back from the French. AD's were armed with wing 20's, and were the first plane able to carry more wt in ordnance that the plane weighed. My dad went into the Navy in the latter '30's, along with his brother, both were enlisted, and left the USS Langley in about '40, to go to flight school, the ship later sunk in the Java sea with great loss of life, and one of the escorting four stackers ran straight into the Japanese fleet, and the circumstance of its loss was not known for a decade or more.
My dad was flew over 30 years, mostly PBY, but told me his favorite planes were the B25 and the above AD. He showed me his list of fellow navy flight school grads, almost all the names were crossed off.
One for the AF guys on the forum.
All the best, and stay safe, SF VET
My dad was flew over 30 years, mostly PBY, but told me his favorite planes were the B25 and the above AD. He showed me his list of fellow navy flight school grads, almost all the names were crossed off.
One for the AF guys on the forum.
All the best, and stay safe, SF VET
Around Danang the flavor of the day was most often National Bohemian, can still see those pallets of rusted cans in my mind.
mscampbell2734
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My father was an Army tug boat captain running supplies into forts in the Mekong river dealt. He didn't talk about the war much when I was growing up but as I got older and joined the Corps we sometimes talked weapons.
His boat mounted four dual 50 cal/81 mm mortar mounts, and about half a dozen M60s. The 60s were not official TO/E but over time the captains had picked them up and had shield mounts installed on either side so the crew could respond to ambushes.
His boat mounted four dual 50 cal/81 mm mortar mounts, and about half a dozen M60s. The 60s were not official TO/E but over time the captains had picked them up and had shield mounts installed on either side so the crew could respond to ambushes.
We ran into VC that looked just like the guy in that photograph, looked like common people. I spent more than a few nights off limits downtown Danang, on more than one occasion I remember a back door to the club I was visiting opening up and a half dozen or so well armed characters with AK's and field gear dressed in civvies rolled in toss their gear in a corner, grab a girl and went upstairs. We were well surprised, I asked one of the girls who the hell they were, she calmly said "Oh they V.C., be gone soon, you relax have good time." Danang must have been Charlies R&R center, as well as one of their supply lines. From the Harbormaster office we could watch stuff going over the fence that surrounded the pier complex at night with our big Starlight scope.
Ugly Hombre
Member
CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website – See what War is like and how it affects our Warriors
Found this website surfing around and thought it might fit this thread, and thought that some here might like to see it. There is a article there- about NVA/VC terror tactics that fits into the Adams photo post above it explains quite well what we were up against and the reality of the enemy imo.
Those who fought the Communists in Korea and Vietnam fought a enemy just as bad if not worse than the National Socialist Nazis and the Imperial Japanese. You guys who were there- have my highest respect.
Joined the military in 73 never went to Vietnam never was in combat.
Found this website surfing around and thought it might fit this thread, and thought that some here might like to see it. There is a article there- about NVA/VC terror tactics that fits into the Adams photo post above it explains quite well what we were up against and the reality of the enemy imo.
Those who fought the Communists in Korea and Vietnam fought a enemy just as bad if not worse than the National Socialist Nazis and the Imperial Japanese. You guys who were there- have my highest respect.
Joined the military in 73 never went to Vietnam never was in combat.
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LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
Outside of the HQ areas, on the fire bases and in the bush, that "block of ice" was a luxury to be dreamed about but never seen in reality.
On the other hand, I remember monsoon season in the bush, rains that can only be described as "biblical" in volume and duration, overnight temperatures dropping into the mid-40F range. Constantly wet and cold to the bone for days on end. It wasn't always a hot, sweaty, tropical nightmare. There were times of teeth-chattering cold in the mud, huddling under a poncho and wishing for dry socks.
ron_c
US Veteran
We found a supply of ice while at Duc Pho (Duck Foe) ('67) but we was only able to get the ice one time. The water that was used was not drinkable but very dirty water with debris that could be seen in the ice. Seems one of the Infantry HQ units found a grenade in a block of ice and well, that was it on getting ice.
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about every two months or so, I would hitchhike up to Saigon, my pay was always messed up, had to square that away when I DROS'ed back to Bragg after my tour. Make a PX run, and walk back to the airbase and see who and what was heading south. Usually, some aircraft was about to go to Can Tho, in the Delta, and from there I would see when any choppers were heading further south. Typically, some sort of supply UH would drop me off at my own Vietnamese compound. I have a great selection of aircraft pics, this one I think is an OV10, but the AF guys here can correct me if incorrect. I think this Bad Boy looks like some sort of terrible insect. Off to the side of the airbase was a big pile of wrecked aircraft.
All the best, and stay safe. SF VET
[url=https://postimg.cc/k6HJqvkM]
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All the best, and stay safe. SF VET
[url=https://postimg.cc/k6HJqvkM]
[/URL]Went out to Me An for a week or so, small district team, two US, they had three interpreters. Their District Senior Advisor was a Major, who played the John Denver song "All most heaven, West Virginia" non stop all day every day. I was a Captain, but in a Major's slot on my own district. These mini guns were pretty impressive, especially at night.
All you needed was a source of electrical power to fire this gun, as it was purely mechanical, so when a chopper was downed with one of these, it was imperative to recover or destroy the gun immediately.
The three Vietnamese interpreters played Monopoly relentlessly, and non-stop.
All the best, and stay safe.... SF VET
All you needed was a source of electrical power to fire this gun, as it was purely mechanical, so when a chopper was downed with one of these, it was imperative to recover or destroy the gun immediately.
The three Vietnamese interpreters played Monopoly relentlessly, and non-stop.
All the best, and stay safe.... SF VET
Oscar Zulu
Member
The above reminds me of the line from the movie Air America, "I was always the weirdest guy in the room. Here I'm not in the running."
OZ
OZ
For the first six months I was a MAT leader, ie, Mobil Advisor Team Leader, and I would go out with a SSG and be dropped off by a Chopper for about a week, at some remote VN outpost. My job was to try to teach the local's how to call in American airstrikes, but they were usually too drunk to learn anything.
The SSG who accompanied me was a body builder, with a big eagle tattoo on his chest. Every evening, the local troops would gather around to see him take off his top, and flex his muscles. He also would put heavy dumbbells in his ruck, and when the chopper would hover for us to jump off, he would smile and toss his 80# ruck for the local troops to catch for him, and they would go rolling backwards with his ruck. He was a quiet chap, didn't talk much. He was also a pistol guy, and always wore 5 or 6 pistols strapped on him.
Lots of strange people in wars....
Here, a pic of a typical outpost, note the rusty mortar, unusable weapons, and drunk troops. To much rice wine. I got drunk once on it too.
All the best, and stay safe.... SF VET
The SSG who accompanied me was a body builder, with a big eagle tattoo on his chest. Every evening, the local troops would gather around to see him take off his top, and flex his muscles. He also would put heavy dumbbells in his ruck, and when the chopper would hover for us to jump off, he would smile and toss his 80# ruck for the local troops to catch for him, and they would go rolling backwards with his ruck. He was a quiet chap, didn't talk much. He was also a pistol guy, and always wore 5 or 6 pistols strapped on him.
Lots of strange people in wars....
Here, a pic of a typical outpost, note the rusty mortar, unusable weapons, and drunk troops. To much rice wine. I got drunk once on it too.
All the best, and stay safe.... SF VET
This is an outstanding thread, and no issue with posting the pictures so keep going. An interesting time in our history, and for those of us who lived through it but just missed joining in the fun the stories and pictures can be sobering. I have a number of good friends who passed subsequent to their time in SE Asia, and the stories they told are consistent to the experiences being shared here. The pictures are the bonus round, so keep 'em coming!!
Sistema1927
US Veteran
SF Vet,
Your mention of having pay problems brought back a memory.
While inprocessing ROK, I went into the finance office where a Maj. was chewing out a PFC payroll clerk. The Maj. soon left. The PFC said "Hang on Sarge", and proceeded to put his chair on his desk. He then climbed up on it, lifted the ceiling panel, and threw the Major's pay file up there. He then climbed down while saying "That will teach that XXX, he will be drawing casual pay the entire time he is here." I was really polite to that young private.
You didn't tick off a payroll clerk, did you?
Your mention of having pay problems brought back a memory.
While inprocessing ROK, I went into the finance office where a Maj. was chewing out a PFC payroll clerk. The Maj. soon left. The PFC said "Hang on Sarge", and proceeded to put his chair on his desk. He then climbed up on it, lifted the ceiling panel, and threw the Major's pay file up there. He then climbed down while saying "That will teach that XXX, he will be drawing casual pay the entire time he is here." I was really polite to that young private.
You didn't tick off a payroll clerk, did you?
I'll say this about the Vietnamese, they could be ingenious when it came to building something but if they ever repaired something mechanical it might work but would forever remain Vietnamized and un-repairable by just about any American. They would get an old worn out air conditioning unit from the Navy hospital working, if you looked it over it would be a rube-goldberg nightmare of tubing and hoses...but worked, chugging and thumping away.
Ziggy2525
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SF Vet,
Your mention of having pay problems brought back a memory.
While inprocessing ROK, I went into the finance office where a Maj. was chewing out a PFC payroll clerk. The Maj. soon left. The PFC said "Hang on Sarge", and proceeded to put his chair on his desk. He then climbed up on it, lifted the ceiling panel, and threw the Major's pay file up there. He then climbed down while saying "That will teach that XXX, he will be drawing casual pay the entire time he is here." I was really polite to that young private.
You didn't tick off a payroll clerk, did you?
Just my perspective as a former enlisted guy. In the Army anyway, Captains and Majors seem to go through a time where they have an exaggerated sense of how powerful they are. Usually a Spec-4 around to make their life difficult. The PFC was definitely promotion ready.
My second six months, was a District Senior Advisor, and our transportation was a Boston Whaler, with two Johnson 40's. In time, I became a pretty accomplished Johnson mechanic. Our motors were maintained up in Province, by Vietnamese mechanics, who had no idea of the difference in metric and SAE fasteners and threads. So parts of our motors were always vibrating off. I read in a car magazine about the new aerobic thread lockers, so wrote the Permatex company and they sent me two bottles of their product, which helped some. I have always had a "soft spot" in my heart for Permatex.
Our whaler was pretty waterlogged with all the holes in it, so it would not get up on a plane. One day, radioed higher we needed a replacement motor, and a chopper dropped one off. Then SSG Tom C and I were carrying it down to our whaler, and when crossing a log bridge, looked down and the muddy creek was full of pretty young Vietnamese ladies bathing and laughing in the nude, and we looked at them and lost our balance, and dropped the motor into the muck, so radioed higher and told them to send another Johnson, this one wouldn't work.
Here a pic of Tom C loading a wounded Vietnamse to take up the river to Province for care.
All the best... and stay safe.... SF VET
Our whaler was pretty waterlogged with all the holes in it, so it would not get up on a plane. One day, radioed higher we needed a replacement motor, and a chopper dropped one off. Then SSG Tom C and I were carrying it down to our whaler, and when crossing a log bridge, looked down and the muddy creek was full of pretty young Vietnamese ladies bathing and laughing in the nude, and we looked at them and lost our balance, and dropped the motor into the muck, so radioed higher and told them to send another Johnson, this one wouldn't work.
Here a pic of Tom C loading a wounded Vietnamse to take up the river to Province for care.
All the best... and stay safe.... SF VET
