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. Was I scared ? The sign on the mess hall door I had my broken leg cot and was living out of my sea bag. Did he live or die? The Our electricians went to wire up the building for electricity. side was a area called Bridge Ramp which was where the Navy LSTs would pull in Well I don't know how much of an impression that left on me but these guys getting killed in the Skivvy house got my attention ! sat idle. this pic is. The crew truck got there about 1745 hr or so and the doc was still busy. really an enclosure. 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. Do the job, get it done right and then sign off the work order and move on to the next one. All the stuff that related to the I had just been recruited to help the Doc and nurse amputate this poor farmers legs. Often the convoys would drop off kids from out in the bush. I asked about the little girl and the doc said she had died Thursday night. Book cover type. world in a land that nobody cared about , I was sitting in a Continental The feet just kind of hanging by muscle and skin. I didn't This is the Hoa Kahn clinic at the time I started working there. My very first 5440 x 3520 px (18.13 x 11.73 in.) I was then sent to Camp Carter while we were opening up an old ROK base that was being used by Philco Ford to teach Vietnamese Sailors how to maintain diesel motors that were used in the river boats. I was later assigned to the Monkey Mountain Patrol. In addition, the Navy took charge of the offloading, storage and delivery of supplies common to all the allied forces in I Corps. Camp Tien Sha is a former United States Navy base located in Danang, Vietnam. I wondered how I would feel if someone burned down my home ,killed my dad and took my little brother away to a hospital. Retro. We The kids were always hanging around and the best way to keep them from stealing was to befriend them by giving them candy. Their shirt tail were hanging out and sleeves not rolled up (Marine style). We had an air conditioner in the office and because I worked out side all day I was not used to air conditioning! The Doc told me to help tie the farmer down to the desk. The tracer rounds stopped ,I gave it a couple minutes and got in the truck and sped on my way back to the shop! [1] In November 1965 500 men moved into the old French Army camp, Camp Tien Sha at the foot of Monkey Mountain. You have destroyed my country and my family! sucked and the barber dissed me for On Sunday May 19 I was dropped off alone ( The Vietnamese got Sundays off) and my job was to build steps and a door for the building. Message is: I am looking for members that served at Tien Sha Ramp in 1968 through 1969. 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. We took 2 122mm rockets about where the crates are. Vietnam Vet? 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. morning. Naval Communication Facility. Not all the time but sometimes . who manned the PTF base at night used for transportation to and from The field had been filled with red dirt and rocks and had been compacted with heavy equipment. "When I Joined VetFriends, I read about the email locator service, and sent an email to my old friend. whatever you say Mr. If you served in Camp Tien Sha, Headquarters, Join TWS for free to reconnect with service friends. The wounded are only those who were medivaced to a hospital. Suddenly the helicopter went nose high and stopped going forward. What has stuck in my mind all these years is how much that bullet hole in the blond guys head looked like the bullet hole in the back of the head of a very large possum that I had shot in the back of the head when I was about 16 years old. In your time in the CBs did you decide to be the opposite and do the right thing with newbies? The exhibit was known as "The Vietnam Syndrome". This is the inside of our shop.The office was upstairs and to the left. identified as "enlisted head" in The were riding shotgun on truck convoys to and from Danang to Quang Tri Province. Our boat and one other transported the What ever it was we were done by shortly after 1600 hr. I was aguard for Tien Sha Peninsula Security division. configuration it would hold about 10 people. Level the frames and tie them to the stakes and I would have my concrete forms complete. Yes that's puppy and our new steel worker (Calhoun). The doc asked if I could baby sit the little girl while he and the nurse did a surgery. In November 1965 500 men moved into the old French Army camp, Camp Tien Sha (Tin Sa) at the foot of Monkey Mountain. Memoir of my time served with the Navy at Camp Tien Sha, Da Nang, during the Vietnam war. On Friday May 17 I was sent out on another job. I made a series of videos about the exhibit before it was closed. I thought the clinic was for children. Well Beerworth didn't show up until 1845 and he dragged me off to the mess hall that would close a 1900 hr. snakes and other items of entertainment. The enlisted head Mark Harms reporting for duty! Amphibious fuel lines were laid along the sea floor to storage tanks ashore at Red Beach Base Area, north of the city and the Marines' Marble Mountain Air Facility to the south. We are the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1122, based in Collin County, Texas. The engine suddenly stop and flames shot out the top of both side back door openings. Sure. Closer and closer, the engine starting to whine! ] [ Base Drawing Legend ]. It seemed a bit strange to see everything so neat and tidy when and Captain David A . Don't go to Dog Patch at night and stay way from the prostitutes. Finally I interrupted and said I would sleep in the Korean bunker on the broken cot that was in there, end of argument ! What the F is wrong with her? Da Nang, Vietnam, Camp Tien Sha, 351 Days in Da Nang Ray Norton Me, age 23, sitting on my bunk drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette. through the base that would allow me to do "hot laps" as long as no The green building upper right is the hooch that I built for our Vietnamese workers. The flares were often still burning when they hit the ground. If it had detonated when it hit the ventilator we both would have been killed! My first assignment was YFU-54, then The Brief. good times in the "duty jeep". The fleet also managed logistic operations at these locations. 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. Seems like every time I was working there at least one or two little kids would go out of there dead! Book description. Before we destroyed their lives they all had jobs and skills that worked in their culture! . May 1. Later after they landed it became obvious that they were throwing out the ammo boxes so they wouldn't explode when they landed. I have absolutely no recollection of For the time being they were stashed in my hooch and on May 24, Karl Voiles spent his first day assembling beds. this place, wearing only "shower I shook my head when the CO sent you to Red Beach to exercise your idealism, knowing no one would want you there in the CB team already established. right out of there. The Doc trimmed all the skin and muscle nice and neat adding clamps (hemostats) as he went. My head carpenter ,Pham Ba told me about her during the week. After our three big generators and fuel tank were up and running that area became a target for the VC. I had never been a boss and language was an obstacle so there was a lot of pencil drawings or just comparing construction with the closest hooch. Total Area Sprayed (sq. Modern. It is very likely this was were the Marines were killed . So over time it was easier to just not know anyone. Her husband was an ARVN soldier who had been killed. The other important thing we had to do was to check the Red Beach causeway at 2400 hr. The VC had taken their 782 gear (combat gear, weapons and ammo) and bugged out. They were simply ghettos with poor sanitation , communal water supply, no roads or electricity. Well damn right I was scared. [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. Da Nang Air Base (1957-1975) was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) facility. The best attractions in Da Nang include a good mix of centuries-old pagodas, French colonial buildings, as well as tranquil beaches with clear blue waters, and verdant national parks. 4. Although the helicopter was only a couple hundred feet out there was no way to put the fir out as they couldn't cross the mine field. I do remember very clearly the event that happened that totally burned me out on working there. The memory of that little girl is as strong now as then and I can not think about her without getting choked up and teary eyed ! ALL work centers report in : AWC # 1 reports everything is quite ! I believe that on May 21 we had hits to the sick bay which was a big rebuild job. Once I went "over" once. I guess that is why there were a lot of E-2 in the Marines. I spent the last 5 months of my tour as a NSA Investigator for the Naval Support Activity, Da Nang. distributed to ships coming in. embarrassed but she didn't seem to Suddenly dozens of tracer rounds started ricocheting off the wall about 20 feet in front of the truck! I hated that phone, radio, air conditioning and black coffee! . I have spent countless hours over the past 15 years driving my motorbike around the Camp Books area looking for any of our workers. Sunday late afternoons we were able to get over to the Red Beach causeway and get in some water sessions. I couldn't grasp what was going on at the time. Thursday morning we stripped the forms and started building the framing of the first building. I was My work hours were 0600 to 1800 which made it impossible to use any of the base services! [4] : 2 Boy life was improving a lot. Later I built a wash building and cook shack just about where these cots and the officers are standing. I also came down with a mild case of the flew so was feeling rather worn out. This was the closest skivvy house to Camp Books , a very short walk. First I had to do a couple hour job at the 1st MP Quonset hut. Pett George my ex UDT instructor allowed me to go through the class early being as how my older brother Jay and my Dad were going through the class too. of any of that. Coate was not there to know about Puppy. There was a young mother with several kid and grandma and grandpa. Had tied their hands behind their backs and executed them. Over the months as I got to know my Vietnamese and they opened up to me the most asked question they had for me. I faked being a doctor from the USA and was shown around a little. We assumed everyone around us had the same idealistic desire to strive to do our best all the time. The fire was caused by a Air or artillery white phosphorus flare ( WP). At the base of Monkey mountain was Camp Tien Sha, the main Navy base. Our group that was sent to MST1 landed in She would be down on her hands and knees crying and waling. The Seabee construction crews he is referring to was my crew. The number of rockets are probably plus or minus a couple rockets. We were also vulnerable to sappers . She wanted to send care packages and letters to me as part of a High School project. The plane started to drop, going in steep and fast. This is my Poem about the farmer who stepped on the mine. It took until 2000 hours to finish that first slab. I'm at camp Tien Sha at Da Nang now. 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. Only 364 more days to go! . January 30, 1968 marked the beginning of the Tet Offensive. Detachment Phu Bai - 1965 -1970. It was time to go look for some food! I took my time cooling myself off in that shower then went would be thinking about that meal a lot! This is surely just something I've It's the 4th largest city in Vietnam. The PTFs, under Vietnamese officers and crews, conducted over 1,000 raids against North Vietnam from March-April 1964 to January 1972. said hours 1700 to 2100. When I got to the gate it was a little past curfew and the guard started to give me some shit and wanted my travel chit. I needed to know which of the sound meant danger! He was driving a 1 1/2 ton flat bed stake truck and was making the rounds to pick up supplies. Browse millions of high-quality stock photos, illustrations, and videos. That was my first time seeing dead Marines. MAY 10, 1967 FOR COLLEGES State-Related Status Unique By WILLIAM E. DEIBLER HARRISBURG (AP) How would yo These truck convoys would run from Danang to Quang Tri Marine base every few days and would spend nights or off time either at Quang Tri or Phu Bi or Danang. An example of what we did. 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 Danang Vietnam 1966 1967 Camp Tien Sha was an old French army base. because of all the flares in the mountains next to the base. This exhibit is now closed. In March 1965 when United States Marine Corps combat troops landed at Danang, the support establishment was rudimentary. At first it was because every thing was so knew and exciting. 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. The hooch in back is the doctors office and residents. Gave me the creeps then and still does now when I think about it! The helicopter crew sat down a couple hundred feet from their UH-1 and waited. navy was the hair thing. I knew I wasn't in Kansas. He's shooting from a long way out and hasn't hit anyone yet. So much for getting Sunday off. it, there were about a dozen shower You forget the bad things and you remember the good any old charts, photos or drawings of the PTF I didn't realize at the time that the intended target was me and the generators. the duty jeep normally delivered the crew to the base in the The building to the right of the Post office was the base exchange and it took a shit load of shrapnel from this hit. The course is a model in how to survive, and how to come home with honor. This is a 122mm rocket crater in the road in front of our shop. The causeway was a floating pier that extended about a 100 yards into Da Nang bay and was used to off load ammunition and bombs. thought about was the airbase in Danang was under attack, The main US Navy Fleet Post Office that processed all mail to every American in I . 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. Camp Horn is a former United States Marine Corps and United States Army base located in Danang, Vietnam. Get those Fucking Gooks away from that Damn trailer". The nurse was carrying a little girl about 4 years old. the late 60's and early 70's. The station hospital begun in 1965 had treated over 21,000 casualties, 44,000 nonbattle patients and one million outpatients flowing in from the hostile and disease-ridden I Corps environment. 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. [1], The logistic establishment at Danang functioned with growing efficiency by mid-1968 as it built new port and shore facilities. quarters. I think it was on May 22,Wednesday when I was on the night radio,phone watch that I wrote my poem about this event. We took several trucks and picked up Pham Ba and Babyson outside the gate and headed down the road. Some morning I would be more tired when I woke up than when I went to bed. camp tien sha danang, vietnam 1968. Report an offensive or inappropriate entry. Didn't get any meals so after we were finished we ate sandwiches with the mid watch Marines at the mess hall. First came the steps and as soon as that was finished I helped the Navy doctor and Vietnamese nurse move in a big grey office desk and an open book shelf unit. I had my sailboat and some I served until 1970. You will use the chain of command ,don't come to me. Nights in Vietnam were uncomfortable at best. The two guys shot in the skivvy house that night were, Pvt. BBC News, Da Nang, Vietnam Da Nang is one of Vietnam's major ports, a city rich in history. at Camp Fay, never. We also had a couple of American Philco Ford teachers. Mostly I was just kind of mentally numb. Soon there were Marines all over the place. This was a real live human! K-9 Security Unit-1 (Navy Sentry Dog Unit) Det Cua Viet 1st Naval LARC Division. know what it was about "shower of the enclosure with a "shower T is a history of NSA in Vietnam, which by 1969 was the Navy's largest overseas command with the largest public works department in the world. My day was done!! I dont know a damn thing so Over time that changed, I didn't want to know any newbies! We were not part of the Marine Civil Affair but worked independent of them. 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. Then when I went back to the shop that night I would have Bettencourt cut me a bunch of rebar stakes 2 ft long. I got a letter from Annette Burrell ( Johns younger sister) sometime in May. person who was awake had access to the keys to the jeep. [3]:8, In April 1972 all US Navy facilities in Danang were transferred to the Republic of Vietnam Navy.[4]. I had my parents send me my Scuba diving lesson book and in what little spare time we could find we would hold Scuba study sessions. I think there were only three or four of us on duty at the The advantage was that I got a whole extra year of dive time at Hoods Canal with Pett and got to do deep water dives with him ( 120 to 140 feet) in the summer of 1966. We destroyed what they had and were teaching them skills that didn't even fit into their culture. Her top was not buttoned and she had a gauze bandage about the size of a tea plate on her chest up to her neck. those Nastie's were fun boats! I cried to myself on the way back to the base. Despite the repeated assurances uttered by our senior non-commissioned petty officers that Camp Tiensha's location on the peninsula that juts out from the City of Danang, and with the location of the Danang airbase on the opposite side of the city itself, generally put our base beyond the purported 7 mile range of the Russian-made 122 millimeter Katyusha rockets . to DaNang. What the hell is that? [1], U.S. NSA Danang was officially established on 15 October 1965 under the operational control of Commander, III MAF. Go through their front gate then out their back gate to the causeway. These detachments decentralized the support function and improved the logistic flow. C Chi tunnels. Camp Tien Sha Vietnam 1968, viewed from Monkey Mountain. Didnt take long to figure out that everyone could see that you were a FNG. Surprise, I think that was normal precaution . Besides the concrete hospital was a large concrete and stone ward building which had not even been started in early June. Fun! About a mile out the crew started kicking boxes out the doors. Welcome to Viet----fuckn Nam you FNGs ( funking new guys) !!! and created an overlay of the changes to the harbor, which was He seemed totally comfortable and relaxed. If they were caught they were punished by court marshal and were busted one pay grade. Hi Dan, I've always I spent 33 years Guess earlier generations of residents at Camp Fay had their We could sleep but we had to report in every hour on the radio to our parent command at PWC China Beach. The nurse laid across the farmers upper thighs to hold him in place. I slowly walked around the trailer checking them out. enough for me. I was one of the unlucky ones who ended up shoveling a lot of shit! couple of Corvairs (ok, stop laughing!) I think he may have had scrambled brains to go with his stitched up head . very first day of war. Although the rules were they had to go back and check out. had to man the perimeter during Guest 31-Aug-2016 02:35: . 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. You are a builder so Beerworth or Yost will be who you report too." He was laying on his back and we had tied his arms (wrists) to the legs on one end of the desk and then had tide his upper thighs to the other legs of the desk. [2] Local Page TIMES-MIRROR and OBSERVER Section B WARREN, PA., WEDNESDAY. Some where along the line the nurse had done an IV drip. in Subic and got a pro hair cut. I forgotten how much it sucked being there? It was a horrifying thing to watch. [2] The camp was quickly expanded to include 25 new barracks able to accommodate an additional 1700 men, together with a barber shop, post exchange and milk plant. She is always with me ! We weren't expecting any new men and we don't have the time to train you. was directly below the building She smelled horrible! 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. The second floor office was just being framed up . In the future I They were the best I could All terrain forklifts would scurry back and forth off I was never in harms way. Some guys were able to go through their whole tour in Vietnam in John Wayne mode. He expired nine days later. ever getting my hair cut at Camp On the night of February 23, 1969, we held off an attack on the Da Nang Air Base by a large VC force. Here is the letter I wrote my parents on May 15, 1968. OK, Im new here, the rooky, I was not in the bush and am grateful that I wasn't. 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. Warehouses, open storage areas, cargo handling equipment, and good exit routes from the port were limited. It sure seemed longer then a month, to me it was more like a few months! work out the details with him. I could feel the rasping of that bone saw through the stick in the farmers mouth! My station when Then we saw a little dot far up Elephant Valley. So that's what I did, went back to work. The photos on this page are from an exhibit that was at the Collin County Historical Society Museum. The weekend after the amputation I went to build a small operating room and install a examination light. The lumber and wood crates in upper right was the start of our lumber yard. Alan on base Use tab to navigate through the menu items. He left me sitting there on the steps saying he would send Beerworth down at 1700 hr to get me settled in. After I let them go I was sitting on my tool box waiting for the crew truck to come pick me up. Ch Linh Camp. changes to : On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. One night I was called out for some lights on the west perimeter. Driving around on the perimeter of the base checking for burned out security lights could also be very hazardous . She was wearing light blue pajamas with little lambs printed on it. He asked the officer in charge about them and was told that they didn't have any use for them because they didn't have any Marines who were certified divers. In my first week at Camp Books after we were finished building the office, shop we installed a short wave radio which was used for communication with the Navy. I think that maybe it was a way to help get my thoughts together, write the event down and then move on. Mountain. 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. pissed me off the most about the I recognize the admin building on the right, everything else is pretty vague. and the LT moved to the Da. As I recall Taylor dropped out when we got to the ocean diving but Pat Brown stuck it out and we became dive buddies. Between 1969 and 1971 hundreds, if not thousands, of incidents of racial violence occurred in and around American military bases The Post office was about 75 yards from my hootch. There was an indoor movie theater, snack bar, hobby shop, NCO club and EM club, basket ball courts and tennis courts. "Ya, there has been a sniper shooting at the fence crew every morning for the past week. A sad day because we were no longer a Seabee Team ! I started building the 3 strong backs at 7 Motors on Monday morning June 3rd.
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