The Carpenters sang that sad ass song some 30 years or more ago....well today was Monday, but it wasn't raining..sunny and almost 80 degrees on October 15th in west Ohio isn't something to get down about....Did a Freshman game at Coldwater tonight, where the home team defeated Ft Recovery 44-12....sorry to say, I'm still not giving my officiating partners much help...the back is better at times, but still can't run, and bending over is a no-no...with only a 3 man crew tonight I felt inadequate....but the season is winding down, and rest for the 58 1/2 year old back will come, not soon enough...hopefully I can avoid any cortisone shots or major adjustments.
The photo featured tonight was from my first week at Nha Trang...here I am standing on the beach{South China Sea} in my fatigues from stateside, so I know this was early in my tour...the other kicker is I had "red hair"...the reason follows:
While stationed at Dover AFB, Delaware, in the fall of 68 and winter/spring 69 I worked for a Tech Sgt a-hole named Jack Adkins..."Smiling Jack" we called the SOB...as well as a few other names....Adkins was one of those guys who acted tough, but in your heart you knew if given the chance, away from the stripes and regulations, you would kick his ass, or at least give it a go....never liked Adkins, but I knew where he was coning from....
Well Ol' Jack got tired of his "spit and polish" Sky Cops not following dress or hair cut codes...so he decided to ban bangs, sideburns, and any hair that even touched the ears...well Hell this was 68-69 and even though the Security Police had to be clean cut compared to most of the other Air Force guys, these "laws" didn't mean a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds would like it....I pushed the envelope, and given the point that Adkins disliked me(for lack of a better more obvious term), he demanded I get a haircut before the next Guard mount(cop inspection before going on duty)...well I went ahead and did the request...at the same time I purchase a bottle of "Summer Blond" and turned my dark brown locks into a California faggot look with bleach blond hair....now that pissed Smilin' Jack off to no end...but it was regulation, so not much he could do about it.....the problem was, I still had dark brown eyebrows...and did indeed look like a California Fruit.
A few week later I got my orders for Vietnam...so deciding I needed to rid myself of the blond hair before returning home on leave....I picked up a box of "dark brown"... the new problem was, when you mix blond hair with brown hair dye...you get 'RED'...
Rather than shave all the locks, I kept the red look until I was assigned to Nha Trang...figured in Vietnam nobody would notice or care....and they didn't. Eventually the red went back to brown....but still got a couple of good photos with the red hair look, among them, the one on this post holding a can of Black Label Beer on the Nha Trang shoreline...and another taken by Harry Bevan that graces the top of this blog....
For my musical interlude....no it's not the Carpenters...let's try on of my all time favorites....
Spencer Davis Group(with Stevie Winwood).."Gimme Some Lovin" 1966 or 67 Winwood was 16 when this one came out:
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4 comments:
Do they still brew Black Label? What foul, foul stuff! It was always the "beer of last resort" in those times when money was short or choice shorter. I did drink more than a few of 'em, tho. Never again!
I hear ya about the 35-10 wars. It was tough having short hair in that time frame. I used to joke that toilets would flush madly whenever I went to a party where (some) people didn't know me... ("Narc-Narc...Who's there?")
And my passive resistance/ push the "line" attitude towards 35-10 didn't do me ANY good at all when it came to APRs and promotions. Probably why I retired as a MSgt and not as an E8 or E9.
Oh well.
Black Label? We had somem colorful names for that crap...I remember back in 67(when you could drink at 18) we would get that nasty stuff for .25 cents a can....the hangover's(and the shits) were not worth it...haven't seen it of late, but I think they still make it, although the large breweries have bought the small ones out.
As far as Haircuts...Ol' Smilin' Jack is still alive and well in upstate NY....my dislike for guys like him left the building long ago...to each is own I say, as long as they don't cross my property line.
Dang, did Black Label Beer have a lock on the Vietnam concession? Seems that is all most GIs remember drinking there!
I wonder what it taste like cold?
Black Label and Pabst were always sitting on the 100 degree docks at Nha Trang....I was a regular Pabst drinker before the Air Force, but that stuff in Nam sat way too long in the heat.....my 84 year old father-in-law still drinks PBRs on occasion...he swears by it.
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