I'm considered a Vietnam Veteran, due to the dates I served. Now I know where Barbee is but where is Babyson? Naval Support Activity (NSA) Danang was officially established on 15 October 1965. June 29, 2022; creative careers quiz; ken thompson net worth unix for references to information received from 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! Some of the materials for rebuilding came from my civic action salvage yard. 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 . He was honorably discharged in 1968 after completing his tour in Vietnam, as Petty . I do remember very clearly the event that happened that totally burned me out on working there. there. Some part of it was always listening to what was going on . I went out and sat on my toolbox and thought about what I had just experienced. I can find no official reports on that rocket attack and have to assume nobody bothered to make a report because the rounds hit in the swamp between the main body of Camp Books and the Force Logistics Command section. course. After I let them go I was sitting on my tool box waiting for the crew truck to come pick me up. The sign on the mess hall door They made runs north to Cua Viet at the mouth of the river (80 miles north of DaNang and 6 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone) and then upriver eight miles to Dong Ha to haul cannon ammunition to the marines. Bruce Moore says he first returned from a 13-month stint in the Vietnam War to a "poor response." "We were at Norton Air Force Base. worked that jeep to it's limits and had a highly entertaining time Their shirt tail were hanging out and sleeves not rolled up (Marine style). I also made life long friends. whatever you say Mr. C Chi Base Camp. Lieutenant Colonel Leonard A. Blasiol, U.S. Marine Corps . [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. The base appears to remain in use by the PAVN. Detachment Hue - 1965 - 1970. I wish I would have known about it then! My very first The kids were always hanging around and the best way to keep them from stealing was to befriend them by giving them candy. We were not part of the Marine Civil Affair but worked independent of them. We hopped in his truck and he took me down to H&S company supply to get bedding and mess gear. this pic sure isn't it, at least In mid-October 1968 the Deep Water Pier complex ( 16.12N 108.214E) on the Tien Sha peninsula was completed, beginning operations in September 1968. boats took place at the other base. perceived attacks. This is my Poem about the farmer who stepped on the mine. I am searching for anyone who may recall serving with me in the Seabees at Camp Tien Sha, Da Nang between 1969-1971. But I don't consider myself as one. On 1 April 1966 Naval Forces Vietnam was established in Saigon and assumed control of NSA Danang from III MAF. Do the job, get it done right and then sign off the work order and move on to the next one. We were also vulnerable to sappers . You have destroyed my country and my family! The Monkey Mountain Patrol. It was a Saturday, perhaps we were finishing up the cook shed. A couple of our guys , Craig Taylor and Pat Brown were interested in learning to Scuba dive so I took it upon my self to teach them. It really, really broke my heart! Well guess what ? With tears in my eyes I told the guard that I had been helping the doc at the children's clinic and he could take his fucking travel chit and shove it up his ass! This was the closest skivvy house to Camp Books , a very short walk. Maybe 6 on a side. Same short blond bristly hair, same small bullet hole, and same very damn dead! Every morning I was stripping floors and then in the afternoon waxing and buffing and cleaning the showers, normal Navy grunt work. basis At the base of Monkey mountain was Camp Tien Sha, the main Navy base. PTF base at after working hours. The building site was about 150 yards outside of the north perimeter and the perimeter had not been opened up yet. Book cover type. This building was about 24 ft wide and 200 feet long and was a two story building. It was common for the Marines to sneak off base at night for a couple hours in the Village. Nobody bothered to help the new guy with the profoundly negative and dangerous war situation you found yourself in. I cried to myself on the way back to the base. about culture clash!) While I was building the door the Doc and nurse moved in medical supplies to the shelf unit. There was a Marine listening ambush set up outside the perimeter in that area. I was aguard for Tien Sha Peninsula Security division. Even then every time the Doc cut through a nerve that farmer would try to fly through the roof! They were simply ghettos with poor sanitation , communal water supply, no roads or electricity. It seemed a bit strange to see everything so neat and tidy when the upper left hand part of the pic. So after the 2400 check in I would jump in the truck with M-16 and ammo. I jumped into the fighting hole beside the post and yelled at the Marines there "holy shit some one is shooting at me!" Over 130 rough terrain and warehouse forklifts and 20 cranes eased cargo handling. BU 3 Beerworth s crew took over and finished the walls and roof on Saturday May 18. 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. I started building my hooch on Wednesday May 8th at just before noon. Seems like every time I was working there at least one or two little kids would go out of there dead! world in a land that nobody cared about , I was sitting in a Continental shoes" and one of the Vietnamese The Doc took a big syringe and needle and shot both legs up with anesthesia. This is the day I started my real job. He always seemed happy and smiling and the whole time he was around the clinic I never heard him speak a single work. She is always with me ! [1][3]:2, In August 1967, the headquarters of NSA Danang was moved from downtown Danang to Camp Tien Sha. The audio is a little weak, so listen in a quiet place with the sound turned up. Chapel? [4] : 2 When I look back it sure seems stupid but at the time what else could I do? We visited Chu Laiu, Hue, and our I was at Camp Tien Sha from June '69 until Feb '70. Drawing The main US Navy Fleet Post Office that processed all mail to every American in I . 1966 and assumed I would spend two years on a submarine in WesPac. Between 1969 and 1971 hundreds, if not thousands, of incidents of racial violence occurred in and around American military bases I have never found any but I still have hope. 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 There wasn't much blood ,just a small whelp where the bullet went in. because of all the flares in the mountains next to the base. [3]:2, By 1969 NSA Danang was the Navy's largest overseas shore command and third largest supply depot after Norfolk and Oakland Naval Supply Depot and Camp Tien Sha had grown to accommodate over 6000 personnel. I believe that on May 21 we had hits to the sick bay which was a big rebuild job. I don't remember when I stopped doing work at the Children's clinic, Maybe the end of June or early July. large canvas covering over the rear area that protected bench I dont know a damn thing so We had fox holes around the generators and fuel tank and I would sit there looking up at that big ass fuel tank thinking that if the VC hit that with a RPG (rocket propelled grenade) I was going to be turned into a crispy critter. They were pissed off at him because they were sent out there that night when they had already done a day patrol, and they wanted to scare the crap out of him. We set the radio on squelch so it would make a lot of noise and wake us up. Then he pulled all that up to expose the bone where he wanted to cut the bone.The nurse held all the skin and muscle up while the Doc cut off the bones. As I recall Taylor dropped out when we got to the ocean diving but Pat Brown stuck it out and we became dive buddies. I was given our 2 new carpenters to help with the concrete pour, 3rd class builder Calabresy and builder CN Craig Taylor. not leaving a big enough tip. I spent 1968-72 in the US Navy, as a Corpsman (Medic). Jeep parts? That was my first time seeing dead Marines. A half inch pipe I can still hear the snip of the scissors as the Doc cut away the flesh. He was really short, only six more days and a wake up and he would be out of Vietnam, back to the world and his girl friend Judy. side was a barge with a sign. to my new cubicle and dressed in my slightly used green utility working She would be down on her hands and knees crying and waling. Welcome! It was just after 1700 so I was good. Sandoval. He's shooting from a long way out and hasn't hit anyone yet. He left me sitting there on the steps saying he would send Beerworth down at 1700 hr to get me settled in. It was where the French first landed in the 19th Century in their quest to control the area and. Some morning I would be more tired when I woke up than when I went to bed. This is the Hoa Kahn clinic at the time I started working there. He said that if they could ship her to the hospital in Japan or back in the states they could probably save her. The green building upper right is the hooch that I built for our Vietnamese workers. If US Mail works best for you, Anniversary story of his trip back So just go back to work and keep moving so he doesn't have a stationary target and you should be OK!" ( very much reminds me of cutting up chickens at butchering time). Coate gave me two sets of shorts and short sleeve shirts. 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. Often the convoys would drop off kids from out in the bush. Also we took care of damage at Camp Reasoner and the small CAP out posts. Naval Support Activity, Da Nang 1969 Cruise Book vietnamandmilitary $175.00 101st Airborne "Tour Book" 1967-68 The first year!!! 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. kms.) Some times she would get so drunk that she couldn't walk anymore, was really funny watch her four legs going in different directions! MST1 and thought it would be a good time to go back and see I have spent countless hours over the past 15 years driving my motorbike around the Camp Books area looking for any of our workers. Suddenly the helicopter went nose high and stopped going forward. If you have The shop doors were always open and a light on in the shop. If you were to divide Camp Fay into Guest 31-Aug-2016 02:35: . I was never in harms way. He was honorably discharged in 1968 after completing his tour in Vietnam, as Petty . At that time the base fir truck showed up. On the technical That was necessary because Then he could pick my guys up and pick up materials to build my hooch. I went to the "motor pool" at least One night I stood a four hour office watch and another night I was on a four hour barracks fire watch. The first half of my year in Vietnam (1967) I was stationed at the large U. S. base in Danang. never even gave a thought that a And there were certainly good things there, at least in the Relive & share the memories of your service time with your brothers & sisters in arms today. We took 2 122mm rockets about where the crates are. probably had some car handling skills. The "enlisted head" was pretty bare. even included a week in Coronado, a week at Pendleton (weapons Pretty big load for didnt get shot at and we safely landed and taxied off the run way. and the LT moved to the Da. Different kinds of flairs, the different mortar sounds and small arms fire. The helicopter crew sat down a couple hundred feet from their UH-1 and waited. There are 186 crew members registered for the Naval Support Activity Danang. I served until 1970. On May 13,1968 we took 6 122mm rocket rounds as explained in my May 15,1968 leter. at Camp Fay. Had fun there, especially since I had to wear civilian clothes. 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. I was not in the bush and am grateful that I wasn't. [1] In November 1965 500 men moved into the old French Army camp, Camp Tien Sha at the foot of Monkey Mountain. It was kind of like the work orders I got. 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). to develop this map. The Magazine was found 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 ! Da Nang is known as the tourist capital of South-Central Vietnam, with a west coast location that makes for beautiful sunsets against an impressive backdrop of lush mountains. I lay there waiting for the out posts to return fire, nothing happened! map and make modifications, please email your After our three big generators and fuel tank were up and running that area became a target for the VC. Didn't get any meals so after we were finished we ate sandwiches with the mid watch Marines at the mess hall. Looking back, have risking my life in a really inadequate vehicle! What ever it was we were done by shortly after 1600 hr. The harbor defense unit used landing craft, picket boats and 16 feet (4.9m) Boston Whalers to monitor and protect the maritime traffic. Find Camp Tien Sha, Headquarters unit information, patches, operation history, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com. He told me step by step every detail. with Calif. [4]:2, By 1969 NSA Danang was the Navy's largest overseas shore command and third largest supply depot after Norfolk and Oakland Naval Supply Depot and Camp Tien Sha had grown to accommodate over 6000 personnel. He seemed totally comfortable and relaxed. Pilot, youre the one flying the plane. [1], The logistic establishment at Danang functioned with growing efficiency by mid-1968 as it built new port and shore facilities. a small cargo plane in the middle of the night, all I Welcome to Viet----fuckn Nam you FNGs ( funking new guys) !!! Suddenly dozens of tracer rounds started ricocheting off the wall about 20 feet in front of the truck! called to general quarters was in Danang Vietnam 1966 1967 Camp Tien Sha was an old French army base. Da Nang Air Base (1957-1975) was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) facility. Older Vietnam veteran who served in the US Navy at Camp Tien Sha, Da Nang, 1968-1969. The lumber and wood crates in upper right was the start of our lumber yard. The new wood frame building that I did was behind the camera. Here is the letter I wrote my parents on May 15, 1968. I had just been recruited to help the Doc and nurse amputate this poor farmers legs. Some times I would bend the rules and just let them go and I would take care of checking them out. changes to : Provinces. Vietnam War Home Movies Tien Sha & Da Nang 1969 ammo dump explosion, freedom hill VintageFilmArsenal 2.48K subscribers 37K views 8 years ago Go to vintagefilmarsenal.com to purchase a. Yes, we would help them build new huts and we would patch up their children and pay compensation for the damages done. "enlisted". ---- I spent the rest of the day until after dark alone in the shop building a foot locker. But the better LCU-1498, then the chart office at the White Elephant. Yes, everyone called him soccer ball head ! Storage areas ashore were limited by space and access. Our group that was sent to MST1 landed in Thursday morning we stripped the forms and started building the framing of the first building. 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. places that you or others would be referring to. 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. Detachment Cua Viet - 1967 - 1970. NMCB THREE Main Body Flights consisting of three passenger . because of all the flares in the mountains next to the base. New customers can download this image at no cost with a risk-free trial. Gave me the creeps then and still does now when I think about it! Fishing Boats of Da Nang in In this pic the enlisted The pain they suffered was of our making and they just wanted us to go home! Suprise, suprise, Sleeping in that bunker was not good.It had 2 opening which allowed the mosquitoes to get in and eat the shit out of me. person who was awake had access to the keys to the jeep. I was to hear FNG I don't know what the building I was land based in Da Nang. I did spend plenty of time on Marine firebases around the Da Nang-Phu Bai area and spent time at a camp located at Phu Loc. There weren't even any stairs going up there yet. (a hooch is a 16 by 32 ft wood framed plywood building with 5 foot high walls and a tin roof.) Very close now and it was clear that they weren't going to make it over the hurricane fence at the perimeter. I would like to help you with your content on your website. Well sure I heard about it and even saw them down at 1st MPs. Guess earlier generations of residents at Camp Fay had their Marine guns up to the DMZ, we looked like shoe boxes eith long gun The mountain is in the background. Here is a poem that I wrote about the helicopter. 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! The bunker in back was the Korean bunker that I slept in while I was building my hooch. [ Base 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. 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. The MPs had used their white belts as tourniquets just above the knees. I was a certified SCUBA diver. The trailer was to short so the Marines legs were bent at the knees and sticking up, no shoes, pant legs up to their knees showing their very white legs. Camp Tien Sha Vietnam 1968 from Monkey Mountain Bombardier Pretorian Aug 16, 2013 Good photo, get a good look at the base. 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. layout - (07-07-02) It had been built the end of April so was brand new. Nobody even knowing where from or if they had families. The were riding shotgun on truck convoys to and from Danang to Quang Tri Province. "Sorry that's all we have!" embarrassed but she didn't seem to Significant Events 19-31 August 1970 19-28 October 1970 5 November 1970 13 November 1970 15 November 1970 click here or click "back" until you Then of course there was the dreaded incoming 122mm and 140mm incoming rocket. Don't try to cross in to the base as there were mines. The Seabee construction crews he is referring to was my crew. It was what those Before I went into the Navy I had a Still, It turned 90 degrees to the right and touched down between two rows of concertina wire in the middle of the perimeter. The other important thing we had to do was to check the Red Beach causeway at 2400 hr. The Brief. She would pull out handfuls of her hair and pound herself with clenched fists! Detachment Dong Ha - 1967 - 1970. The Priest took the kid around with him and often left him at the clinic with the nurses as the other children at the orphanage would pick on him. 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. corner and pretty balanced oversteer under power out of the corners. The thought about was the airbase in Danang was under attack, that's one of our generators upper left. This is the inside of our shop.The office was upstairs and to the left. Most of them would be dead by now as most of the men were in their mid forties then . They never did a direct hit on the fuel tank but the got damn close several times! 11. These detachments decentralized the support function and improved the logistic flow. We also had a land line (telephone) installed for communication with the Marines. He had a little Vietnamese kid with him about 8 years old. [1], In mid-October 1968 the Deep Water Pier complex (160712N 1081250E / 16.12N 108.214E / 16.12; 108.214) on the Tien Sha peninsula was completed, beginning operations in September 1968. right , Huan one of my carpenters. shower heads came out from the side [3]:8, In April 1972 all US Navy facilities in Danang were transferred to the Republic of Vietnam Navy.[4]. While my guys were working I was talking to the Gunny in the hut. You FNGs get to the back of the such a small vehicle. Had tied their hands behind their backs and executed them. this pic is. blocked. ( so we could see to make a quick exit to the bunker during a rocket or mortar attack. In the early days the security perimeter of the base was only about 50 feet from our shop and was not very well guarded. I am not sure what possessed me to write poems there. That distance above us was only 4 feet. Back at the hootch the Seabees got in a major debate about where to put me. I will expect you to be able to do your job and if you can't then your out of here! [3]:33, In mid-October 1968 the Deep Water Pier complex (160712N 1081250E / 16.12N 108.214E / 16.12; 108.214) on the Tien Sha peninsula was completed, beginning operations in September 1968. Because I was just getting situated it was just mass confusion for me . I recognize the admin building on the right, everything else is pretty vague. on the National Geographic Magazine cold glasses of chocolate milk, ice cream and an apple to go. ( Short timers uniforms were your oldest most faded fatigues but always clean and well kept.) 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. Ya, we continued our work and started building my hooch. 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. hair cutting all my time there aside 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. 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. The three strong backs that I was to build for 7th motors was put on hold. I think that maybe it was a way to help get my thoughts together, write the event down and then move on. I set up a course pilot said that was to avoid being shot at by the VC. I noticed an old gray hair lady,just a skeleton in the hospital bed and asked the doctor about that. Beerworth dropped us at 1st MPs. If you are able to extract the My AR 15 slept on my left side right next to my body so I could always feel where it was. I am a 20 year old US soldier and my country says I have to be here! In November 1965 500 men moved into the old French Army camp, Camp Tien Sha (Tin Sa) at the foot of Monkey Mountain. I thought the clinic was for children. 15x12. I asked about the little girls gangrene and the doc told me that she would die in a week or so. There was one thing that bothered me about Tien Sha. One night I was called out for some lights on the west perimeter. would be thinking about that meal a lot! Despite these positive interactions with whites, African Americans did not view the armed forces as an institution free of racial prejudice. Just to the right of ed Camp Haskins (South) for Camp Tien Sha to complete the retrograding of equipment. At the moment it happened, my buddy Dave Lozier and I were at Camp Tien Sha at the foot of Monkey Mountain. For African Americans soldiers serving in the armed forces during the Vietnam War the domestic scene loomed large. Naval Support Activity (NSA) Danang was officially established on 15 October 1965. I started building the 3 strong backs at 7 Motors on Monday morning June 3rd. It took until 2000 hours to finish that first slab. 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. Well I had 2 sets that were issued to me when I went threw weapons training at Coronado and Camp Pendleton. I was shocked when he told me she was only 15 years old! area or any of the DaNang area, I will continue The course is a model in how to survive, and how to come home with honor. context of what was happening. waiting in transit at the Long Beach Naval Station, I got orders to vietnamandmilitary $6.00 Original, In Wrapper P-38 Vietnam War vietnamandmilitary $175.00 Naval Support Activity, Da Nang 1968 Cruise Book vietnamandmilitary Seller Information Seller vietnamandmilitary Contact Seller The doctors at the Hoa Kahn Clinic were all Navy I think mostly off the hospital ships, they would volunteer for the clinic and rotate out every week. On the night of February 23, 1969, we held off an attack on the Da Nang Air Base by a large VC force. Right. The Docs loved coming to Hoa Kahn Clinic. 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. It was a long miserable cold 12 hour night. The huge fuel tank was just being build on the left out of the picture. In March 1965 when United States Marine Corps combat troops landed at Danang, the support establishment was rudimentary. Cn Th Base Camp. The Post office was about 75 yards from my hootch. Message is: I am looking for members that served at Tien Sha Ramp in 1968 through 1969. The cot had a broken leg so I had to prop it up with a sand bag and it was missing one end piece so it just wanted to fold up on me when I laid on it. On Sunday most of my team mates loaded up our flat bed truck with building materials from our salvage yard.
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