This week marks a remarkable anniversary that half a century
ago I never, ever dreamed of. The day
after Valentine’s Day (February 15, 1968) will mark the 50th anniversary
of a big Eastern Airline stretch DC-8 landing in the Republic of Vietnam with a
brand new GI on board – me! Below is a
story that I wrote in 2011 about my first few days in a war zone.
For Christmas 2005 my son Nick gave me a book
titled Voices from Vietnam – Eye-witness
Accounts of the War, 1954-1975, by Richard Bank Verrone and Laura M.
Calkins. I’d recommend it for any of you who would like a little help with
faded memories that are nearly forty years old.
After reading about the 90th Replacement Battalion Long Binh, I remembered that I arrived at the 90th Replacement on the day after Valentine’s Day 1968. On 18 February I was assigned to pull sentry duty (without any kind of a weapon, however!) at the 93rd Evac Hospital at Long Binh. My job was to stand by a door and just monitor who came and went. I don’t remember what the entrance was, but there were a lot of people coming and going. I had not been on duty very long when, all of a sudden, there was a terrific whoomph! and the air was transformed into a fog of red dust!
Turns out it was Tet. And the enemy had just hit the hospital with a rocket attack. I don’t remember if there was more than one explosion, but I imagine there were multiple rockets and mortars; these lasted pretty much all night. As I was lying flat on the ground (must have been a basic training learned reaction) my thoughts were “Oh sh-t!” and “Welcome to Vietnam!”
Later on, after my shift, I went back to the barracks to try to get some sleep. That was a little difficult, what with the VC attacking, the gunships that were in the air all around and the huge amount of adrenaline that was being pumped through the bodies of all us new guys. At about 3:00 in the morning there was a HUGE explosion when the VC blew up the 12th Combat Aviation Group’s ammo dump where 8 pads detonated with a total ammo value of $2,774,348 (in 1968 dollars).
After reading about the 90th Replacement Battalion Long Binh, I remembered that I arrived at the 90th Replacement on the day after Valentine’s Day 1968. On 18 February I was assigned to pull sentry duty (without any kind of a weapon, however!) at the 93rd Evac Hospital at Long Binh. My job was to stand by a door and just monitor who came and went. I don’t remember what the entrance was, but there were a lot of people coming and going. I had not been on duty very long when, all of a sudden, there was a terrific whoomph! and the air was transformed into a fog of red dust!
Turns out it was Tet. And the enemy had just hit the hospital with a rocket attack. I don’t remember if there was more than one explosion, but I imagine there were multiple rockets and mortars; these lasted pretty much all night. As I was lying flat on the ground (must have been a basic training learned reaction) my thoughts were “Oh sh-t!” and “Welcome to Vietnam!”
Later on, after my shift, I went back to the barracks to try to get some sleep. That was a little difficult, what with the VC attacking, the gunships that were in the air all around and the huge amount of adrenaline that was being pumped through the bodies of all us new guys. At about 3:00 in the morning there was a HUGE explosion when the VC blew up the 12th Combat Aviation Group’s ammo dump where 8 pads detonated with a total ammo value of $2,774,348 (in 1968 dollars).
I have had a picture in my mind of the massive explosions that night, but I had never seen a photo of it. Last week, at http://www.nonags.org/members/raffia/, I found a photograph, which is published here and is remarkably very close to what I remember.
Later that day, my name was finally called and I was on a C-130 on my way to Nha Trang, and the 17th Group HQ. They told me I was assigned to the 225th at Phu Hiep (I responded “Phu What?) and not long after that I became a member of the Blackhawks .
Please feel free to share your story of the your first days in VN. I know others would love to read your story!
