After spending several weeks in Saigon at the 509th RR barracks eating three meals a day, going to the enlisted club at night, sleeping more than anyone should, no formations, no one making me paint rocks, sweep floors, pull kitchen police, no physical training of any kind, and watching Armed Forces Network television. The war in Vietnam did not seem all that bad. Yep, my time in Saigon was better than any time I had seen since being asked by Uncle Sam to join the fun in the U.S. Army. Until my visit to Vietnam my entire life in the U.S. Army was scheduled as to when to eat, what to eat, who to eat with, what to wear, how to wear my clothing, up at 5:00 AM, train all day, and in bed by 9:00 PM depending on duty requirements. My time spent in Saigon was totally different then my previous year in the Army. I was beginning to think I was not in the Army, no one dropped me off in the jungle from a helicopter as promised, life in Saigon so far was interesting and exciting, after all this was my first time outside the U.S.. Having fun in and around the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) and around Tan Son Nhut Air Base kept me busy. This entire place was so different than the U.S., it was obvious there was a war going on but so far no one had shot at me, I had not heard a shot, nothing was blowing up, no one was going crazy, all-in-all life was good for this Private First Class (PFC). Just as I was getting to enjoy life in Saigon it was brought to my attention Saigon was not my duty assignment and I would be going down the road to Bien Hoa Air Base and then Long Binh youtu.be/esWgzAF4hf8 to the 90th Replacement Detachment to get my jungle stuff! All of a sudden this war thing might be getting all too real. The trip to Bien Hoa and Long Binh in a convoy was uneventful, dusty, and hot, but did get to see lots of the country side, people, and such as shown in the youtube video someone took in 1970. All was going well, until we got ready to leave the 90th Replacement Detachment with all our new jungle stuff that included a 45 Cal pistol with ammo, and an M16 rifle with ammo. Now I felt more like a soldier but had no idea how I was ever going to wear all that jungle stuff, or where I was going to store it when not on patrol. Our day trip back to Saigon was suddenly interrupted when the lead truck in the convoy exploded; there were five vehicles in our convoy, lead jeep, rations truck, gun truck, personnel truck, and follow jeep. The enemy was trying to hit the gun truck which had two Fifty Cal turrets on it, but since they missed the gunners were able to remove the threat in seconds. One should never attack a convoy with gun trucks and no one should be in an open truck directly behind a gun truck without ear plugs, something to do with ear damage. The trip back to Saigon was easy, we were one truck light, but no one else tried to attack our small convoy. Once back at MACV compound there were orders on all our bunks in the barracks advising us where each of us would be assigned and where we had to be at 5:00 AM the next morning. After a quick breakfast and a trip back to Bien Hoa got my first ride on a C130 cargo aircraft headed for Nha Trang.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 01:56:23 +0000
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