Tan Son Nhut Memories, or lack of....part 2

As I headed out for my daily walk around the fairgrounds yesterday, after my weight lifting session, I realized that I would be needing a bit more clothing than I have in the past....so I donned my winter coat with "hoodie" attached.  The wind was whipping pretty strong from the southwest, and the temperature was in the mid to upper 30s, that would be the high for the day.  Today, and again tomorrow, it will be just as windy, coming out of the southwest at 25 mph or so, but temperatures will moderate, reaching the upper 40s today, and mid 50s tomorrow.

Tonight and tomorrow the Regional finals in High School football will be played.  Garry is still officiating, working the Backjudge spot at Wapakoneta tonight as WBL's Elida takes on one of the Columbus teams...due to Elida being in the playoffs, my Varsity girls scrimmage at Lincolnview has been canceled....tomorrow I have a Junior High scrimmage at Delphos Jefferson...taking next week off in anticipation of Thanksgiving, and the possibility of Grandson #1 being born...so far however, Kaysn is refusing to be rushed out into the world.

Tan Son Nhut part 2

I mentioned yesterday that my days and months at Tan Son Nhut, were completely different than those at Nha Trang.  At my first duty station, Nha Trang, I was situated on the South China Sea, we had a beach, and I worked day flight Law Enforcement... the 14th SPS was a small squadron, among the smallest, especially compared to what I would see at Tan Son Nhut.  I believe we had no more than a dozen of us working each shift, and perhaps, if you included Security and K9 handlers, maybe 75 or 80 Sky Cops at one time, on the base.  Also I remember many of the guys I worked with, and their names....Bevan, Claflin, Payan, Niemotka,Thompson, Walsh, Sloan, Lange, and others, and many of those I still have contact with today.  Fast forward to Saigon:

When I arrived at Tan Son Nhut on December 27, 1969, it was a completely different world...same country, still in the Air Force, still a cop,  but the location and duty were completely different.  Once I got situated in the 1300 compound, I walked over to the 377th SPS HQ and processed in.   It pretty much was a blur after that...I was assigned to C Flight Security with as many people as comprised our entire squadron with the 14th at Nha Trang...I ended up working mostly ECHO Sector.  My first night on duty was December 30th/31st and I {although I didn't know the history at the time} was placed at the infamous Bunker O51 location..."51" although rebuilt, was ground zero for the Tet Offensive nearly two years earlier, on the night and morning of 30/31 January 1968.  Four SPs lost their lives that night on that bunker, dozens of NVA and Viet Cong also lost theirs during the assault. 

Of course if you read news accounts of the day, or listened to the American Idiot Walter Cronkite, tell the world that we had lost the war, you would think TET was the American "Waterloo"...in reality, at Tan Son Nhut, and throughout Vietnam, the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies kicked the crap out of Charlie and the north...but of course in the minds of the haters of America, like Uncle Walter and the rabid left, that would never do....so they lied, and the suckers back home bought it, hook, line, and sinker.


After that first night at the new Bunker 051, I do not remember manning it again.  I would spend the next 3 months or so, working mostly the towers in Echo Sector, on occasion I would work foot patrol around the flight line and the LOX{liquid oxygen} Plant.  Then in March 1970, a new flight was formed...It was to be officially named "Resource Protection" or unofficially "Blue Patrol".  We were a small group of mostly trouble makers, long hairs, and guys they wanted to keep away from the inspecting eyes of superiors that liked "spit and polish", the men of Blue Patrol, were anything but spit and polish.

I would work the first week walking the building areas of the inner base..."protecting" the huge base from thieves both military and civilian....then, being one of the few NCO types, a  Buck Sargent, with time in country, but little left, I was assigned the Coffee Wagon.  I, armed with my M16 and .38 Smith and Wesson side arm, would drive that Jeep around for eight hours in the dark and make sure the dozen or so other Blue Patrol guys were awake, BSing with them, giving them coffee, fruit, milk, or a smoke...it was a great way to finish off my duty in Vietnam.  First however, I would take R&R in Hawaii...that, and more Tan Son Nhut, in Part 3, coming on the next post.


back later>>>>

Photos-Me, on typical duty at Nha Trang, before heading to Tan Son Nhut...The firefight at Bunker 51 with Tango Tower 4 in the background.  Bunker 0-51 in it's better days, before the attack of TET...Who Won the TET Offensive?  Not this group of VC who met their maker at the hands of the Security Police and Army at Tan Son Nhut on 31 January 68.  And finally the map of Tan Son Nhut the day following TET....Bunker 51 is located on the Western Perimeter of the base.

  {First photo is from my collection, the others, in order, ASIS International, TSNA, TSNA, and VSPA, with my appreciation}

October 12, 1969...Nha Trang Rocket Attack

I was checking out the Vietnam Security Police website tonight, and noted a date...October 12, 1969:

http://www.vspa.com/aspprotect/vspa-nav-index-menu.asp

It said "Nha Trang AB, 0550 hours, Rocket Attack, 3 Rockets, No Injuries, No Damage"  Or something like that...I remember that morning well.  I and the rest of A Flight Law Enforcement with the 14th Security Police Squadron, usually woke up, showered and dressed in no particular order, and we at Guardmount, and on duty sometime before 8am...truth is, 42 years later I don't remember the exact time our shift got underway.  But I do remember that morning.

I had been in country about 3 1/2 months, so I wasn't exactly a rookie, but other than a few alerts, I had not seen much action either.  In LE, especially day shift(A Flight), we were usually watching entry control points to the base, or riding around in Jeeps, giving the guys on the LE posts breaks for lunch, or latrine breaks.  Frankly it was not hard duty....and as I've posted many times on this blog, that tour of duty at Nha Trang, was my absolute favorite of my nearly 4 years in the Air Force, nothing else comes close.  War Zone or not, Nha Trang, at least for Security Police was prime duty.

That morning however, just before dawn I, and the rest of our concrete barracks, were awakened by the sound, all too close, of something hitting the base.  As it turned out the radar or TUOC Building next to the barracks was hit, as was the outdoor movie theater, located right across the street.  We were out and about pretty quickly, and our Law Enforcement duties began a couple hours early.  As for the "No Injuries, No Damage" line...maybe no injuries, but I  can attest that there was damage...and pieces of the rocket, called shrapnel lying around...I grabbed a couple of pieces, put them in my foot locker, and still have them today...along with a few other pieces of memorabilia.

There were only a few of us, maybe a dozen, working A Flight Law Enforcement....the late Phil Lange was our NCOIC, as for the rest...I have contact with at least a half dozen, and three of us got together last week at the VSPA Reunion in Dayton....Harry Bevan, Tony Niemotka, and PRH....it brought memories flooding back, as did the mention of the rocket attack that occurred 42 years ago today.

back later>>>>

Photos-from Harry's Collection from the VSPA Reunion....left to right: Harry Bevan, Pat Houseworth(PRH), and Tony Niemotka, all three of us worked A Flight Law Enforcement and we in the barracks when the rocket hit....a piece of Shrapnel from the rocket attack at Nha Trang 42 years ago today...and the Base Outdoor Theater, right across the street from our living quarters...it, along with the Radio/Radar TUOC Building both took direct hits.

The Summer of 69.....Nha Trang, RVN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f06QZCVUHg


I have written about my Nha Trang months(July through December1969) many times over the past 4+ years working on this blog...and as I mentioned, they were indeed my favorite times, and Nha Trang, with the 14th Security Police, my best duty station and jobs in the four years of Air Force.  On the other hand the 3 years stationed stateside were boring, and SP duty was, even after all these years, for the most part, pure unadulterated Chicken Stuff(crap, dung, etc)...  The people I met and were stationed with, became some of my best friends, and many of those I still have or have had contact with over the 40 years since I left the AF.

From those departed souls like Jack Friedl, from Moon Township, PA,  Phil Lange, my Law Enforcement boss at Nha Trang, and Joe Prokop, my basic training TI(Technical Instructor), who I would work with again at Tan Son Nhut(Saigon) as a SP...to those still living, like Harry Bevan, Bruce Dei, Tony Niemotka, Marc Payan, Bruce Thompson, Johnny Claflin, Richard "Jack" Gates, and even those I wasn't stationed with, but met through the VSPA(Vietnam Security Police Association), like Sam Lewis, Bill Marshall, Rich Gidcum, Tillman, Adams, Cowboy Smith, McCandless, Ramey, DeZarn, and a dozen others.  Lifetime friendships have been secured.  Others, like Melvin Sloan and George Huntley, whom I never saw after our Air Force days, remain in my memory banks for all time.

No, I didn't like much about the Air Force...never liked to take orders, give orders, be required to do certain things at certain times, press my pants, keep my hair cut and trimmed, so because of those and other items, I was in trouble much of my tour of duty...so much so towards the end, in early 1972, after an encounter with a smart ass First Lieutenant, I was asked to leave a couple of months early.  Sure I would still get my Honorable Discharge, because what I was supposed to have done, really had no witnesses.  So I would not have to serve the remaining 2 years of my Reserve Duty, and I would be denied the "privilege" of re-enlistment...that always brings a smile to my face...."Me Re-enlist"?...not in this life, not on this planet....way too independent in both spirit and with my mouth to put another four years, or even four more months wearing a uniform.

So. despite my dislike for the rules and regulations of the Air Force{I cannot imagine serving today with the Political Correctness that has infested the entire Military Complex, I would be in jail for sure)...that dislike did not include the vast majority of men I was stationed with....sure there were those I disliked, especially at my first duty station at Dover AFB, Delaware.  I was still a skinny punk from Ohio with a big mouth, who didn't know his way around.  I had run-ins with various "clicks" in our ranks, and with various "lifers" who I had little respect for, and did my best to make their lives miserable when I was on duty with them...Hello Tech Sarge Jack Adkins!

The duty was so miserable, in my mind, at Dover, that I finally was sick of it, and headed down to base operations, and volunteered for Southeast Asia...Thailand or Vietnam I told them, but I knew in my heart which it would be...and when I got those orders in May of 1969, I was of course apprehensive.  Unless you were a fly boy, being a Sky Cop, was just about the most dangerous job in Vietnam for us Air Force folks.  It turns out I need not have worried.  Except for almost rolling a Jeep on patrol at Nha Trang, and surviving a lightning strike at the perimeter fence, just a few feet from the guard tower I was in at Tan Son Nhut, the biggest dangers I faced in Vietnam were at the bars and brothels of downtown Nha Trang and Saigon.  The duty, and the bases, were about as good as it got for a 20/21 year old Security Police Buck Sargent....I would have no complaints. At least until I returned stateside to upstate New York.

As I have said on many occasion to anybody that would listen...if I had to do it all over again, I would have finished out my final two years in Vietnam.  I think some think I'm lying, others look at me like I am nuts, but in my mind, there would be no doubt, my final Air Force years would have been better served in that "Crazy Asian War" than freezing my ass off, and getting large servings of CS at the SAC Base in Rome, New York. But you can't change history and it is what it was.   And as it is, Vietnam, especially the 6 months in the Summer and Fall at Nha Trang, remain my favorite memories of those years in uniform.

And that is probably why I look forward to the two reunions coming this fall...The big camp outing for Vietnam and all vets in mid September at Howard County, Kokomo, Indiana...where thousands of Veterans will gather for the 28th year for anywhere for 3 to 7 days, depending on how long you can "rough" it....then in early October, the strickly Air Force Sky Cops from Vietnam and Thailand will get together for the 17th year, this time in Dayton at Wright-Patterson AFB, where we last held our get together in 2002.

Football____

Worked a scrimmage at Lima Perry last night, nothing tonight, then bright and early tomorrow morning, will work another scrimmage...this one here in Celina at 10am, between the Freshman squad of the Bulldogs as they host the Lima Senior Spartan frosh.

enjoy the weekend, back later>>>>

Photo-Me in the Summer/Fall of 69 at the Civilian Worker gate as you entered Nha Trang, AB, through the back side of the base.  TSgt Phil Lange and a couple of his senior NCO cohorts in early 11969 at Nha Trang.  Tango 10 Tower at Tan Son Nhut....the problem with these was the rain blowing in during Monsoon season and trying to stay awake on the overnight shift.  And me(left) and my buddy Harry Bevan on patrol at Nha Trang....Harry who is coming to the reunion this fall in Dayton, went home and became a Philadelphia Police Officer for 35 or so years.

My Favorite Places, Part #2 {Life's A Beach}...the new Nikon Camera

Patricia and I headed out to Wally World yesterday afternoon....needing to pick up some plants for mom's place, a few bananas, and to look at cameras, since the kids decided to replace my less than 2 year old Fuji for me.  If you recall the Fuji took a cold stream bath while I was hunting mushrooms back in mid May, and although it still takes decent photos, after the drying out period, it does not work 100% when setting up the action.  Thus there is no play back and some of the indicators are shot.  Granted it still works, but the family or at least my wife decided a new one was needed.  And with the way the technology changes, I was more than happy to go along.

After talking with the expert at the Wally World electronics area(and this guy seemed to know his stuff)...I decided on a Nikon, with 14 MPs and 3.6x Zoom.  I could have went a bit more expensive with a 16MP and as much as a 10x zoom, but the more zoom, IMO, the more unstable the shots can be.  On his advise we opted for the less expensive version, that takes two AA batteries, rather than the Lithium type, which frankly needs recharged when there may not be a place to recharge them...the AAs, you give the heave-ho and put two new ones in.  This weekend at Hal and Lisa's, and the Reds/Toronto game, the new camera should see it's first real action.

Storms are set to move into west Ohio within the next two hours or so...this may cancel Garry and my game up in Kalida....but you never can tell what these crazy fronts will do....Sam and I both got our games in last night, him here in Celina, and me at Parkway(Rockford).  The home teams won both contests.

My Favorite Places part #2______

I sent a certain amount of time yesterday thinking about where I have been in my life, and the places I enjoyed.  Not only if I lived there, but if I just visited a time or two, for a short while.  That got me to thinking...."This is going to take up a lot of time and space, on this blog".  For I have visited a vast number of places in my years, lived in over a handful for at least 6 months or longer, and traveled through, or at least made a stop in 48 of the 57(up yours Obammy), er, 50 States... in short I have seen a lot of places, at least in the states and Canada, not so many 1n the International setting.

So here goes:

Life's a Beach:

Favorite Beach locations:

Venice, Florida

We as a family took our first long vacation back in 1997...the boys were old enough to figure out what was going on and enjoy the trip.  After stopping in Kentucky at Mammoth Cave, for some cave tours, we headed south to Florida and ended up in my old home town of Venice, Florida(see yesterdays blog).  We had no set itinerary, so we stopped for the night at the Inn at The Beach(which if you look at yesterday's post, is located at the exact spot that old photograph was taken), just across the street from Venice Beach "The Shark Tooth Capital of the World", or so it claims...we ended up staying for 3 days.  Ever since that day vacation, nearly 14 years ago, we have stopped at the Inn for at least a couple of nights on our trips through Venice and on the Gulf of Mexico.

Key West, Florida

That same year, 1997, we headed south from Venice, stopping at youngest sister Kelly's place in Naples, so 90 miles to the south....after a day there, we made the trek down the Tamiami Trail,, old US 41, through the Everglades and then south on US 1 down through the Keys and Key West, at the bottom of the United States.  Key West in not the place for the moral values crowd...but if you know what to expect, it's a fun trip.  The freaks of nature plant themselves in Key West, kind of like the San Francisco set, only sunbaked.  Fruits and nuts abound in the Keys...but you can still enjoy the place.

We  stayed for a few days in 1997 and then again the next Summer as well.  The first year we elected to stay at a Hampton Inn, outside of the main drag on Duval Street, in 1998 we went full tilt, and stayed downtown at the purple behemoth called the Pegasus.  The southern most point, the Hemingway House, Captain Tony's Bar, Sloppy Joes, the now burned down KW Cigar Factory, and others were my haunts...usually opting to have a cold one in the confines of Captain Tony's as Patricia and the kids walked around seeing the sites.

Nha Trang, Republic of Vietnam

I arrived at Nha Trang on July 2, 1969...the first of my two stops in Vietnam during the war.  The AB and the town still live vivid in my memories, even some 42 years since I first stepped foot on that base at the beach.  Not sure how many days I would wander down to the beach, located just outside our main gate(which I worked on numerous occasions as an Air Force Security Cop)...but in my six months there, I would venture to say I soak up beer, sand, and sun, at least a couple of times a week.  A clean beach with Shark Nets to protect the swimmers.  I was never into getting into the South China Sea...but did get my feet wet on a number of occasions.

Today the Beach and town are tourist traps, at least from what I read and see on you tube and the Internet.  Seriously I have little desire to visit Nha Trang or Vietnam, like many of my fellow vets do...I prefer to remember Nha Trang and it's beach in my memories.  It was after-all, my favorite stopping point in the 4 years of Air Force toil.  War or no war, Nha Trang was then and still is in my memories today, my favorite base and town.

So there you have my favorite salt water beaches....there were others as well, including Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, from my early Air Force days at Dover.  Ormond Beach and nearby Dayton Beach, where mom used to Condo for the decade of the nineties into the early 2000s, and where, along with Venice and Lido Beach(Sarasota), Patricia and I spent our Honeymoon in 1977.  So I've got to admit, sometimes "Life is a Beach".  And finally,  I cannot forget where I spent my 5 days of R&R from Vietnam in April 1970...Waikiki Beach, Hawaii...a few days respite from the sites, sounds, and smells of those days in Vietnam.

On the next blog I will look at Lakes and Streams in my favorite places.

back later>>>>

Photos-top left...A shot I took of a fishing boat off the Key West Pier in August 1997.   The new Nikon Camera, which will be getting a workout this weekend.  The Inn at the Beach on Venice Beach Florida...where we have spent many days and nigbts, enjoying my old home town on the Gulf of Mexico.  The Southern Most Point....we got a couple of "beach guys, looking for a couple bucks in the summer of 97, they needed a couple of beers, and took a great shot of the family...Me with the obligatory Black Label Beer, on Nha Trang Beach, my first week in Vietnam, in July 1969...Nha Trang Beach as it looks today, and finally me in April 1970 standing at the water's edge at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.

Doc Visit, Dartball, a Cold Forecast, and more Nha Trang 1969...

The cold freezing drizzle from last night, turned to rain with accompanying fog this morning, and as temperatures rose into the upper 30s, our ground cover began to melt....that is not destined to last however, as more snow is forecast for Thursday, then the bottom will drop out of the forecast...lows near zero with single digit high temperatures for the early part of the weekend.

Junior High basketball double last night at Delphos St. Johns, again tonight at St. Marys, then depending on the snow amounts and road conditions, another 6 games starting Thursday and lasting through Saturday Night.  After basketball last night, I headed back to Celina, for Dartball.  We played perinneal champion Schumm Lutheran, out of Van Wert County, whom had swept us 3 games to none early in the season.  Matter of fact, despite beating them a couple of times in tournament play over my 16 years, I can never remember us sweeping them in a 3 game series.  That all changed last night, somehow our struggling team of old men and young untested kids, pulled out a three game sweep, by the scores of 5-3, 4-2, and 6-5, crawling out in the last game from an early 5-nothing hole.  This moves us to 5 wins 4 loses on the second half of the season, after the miserable 6 win 15 loss first half.  Arriving late in the first game,  I went 4 for 9 with a couple triples and 2 RBIs, to move to .357 with 12 runs batted in for the season.  I'm still down about 100 points from last season, but plenty of time left to creep towards .400, if I don't have any terrible nights.

Waking up early this morning, I headed to Minster to get some blood drawn, will head back tomorrow morning for my semi-annual checkup.  Blood Pressure, pre-Diabetes 2 update, and medication renewal.

This morning and early afternoon, I spent checking out a couple of "burned" CDs to see if I should change the music on this blog....my jukebox has got some breaks in it...at least certain songs do.  I also down loaded some photos from Nha Trang, that were put on CD, but my old NCOIC, the late Phil Lange, and fellow Sky Cop,  Bill Morgan...I'll add more diverse shots from that time to future posts as we move forward into 2011.

gotta run...back later>>>

Photos from Nha Trang Air Base 1969...top, me with a V100...we used several of these with our "on call" SAT(Security Alert Team) groups.  TSgt Phil Lange, my NCOIC at Nha Trang, we met 30 years later when we found the VSPA on line, sadly Phil passed away in 2009, but gave me several items from our days at Nha Trang, as well as a life time membership in the Vietnam Security Police Association, before he left this earth.  "Bailey's Speakeasy", our own Security Police hangout..movies, a bar, and the occasional "cook out" when our "gofers" could wrassell up steaks, burgers, and fixings....and the RED STAR marks Nha Trang on the South China Sea...a top Vietnam vacation spot today(and frankly not bad duty in 1969, for being in a war zone).

Sunday: Songs From my Vietnam Year(1969-70)

'I usually don't post on Sundays...but sitting here watching the sun bounce off the snow, I figured, what the heck?  This Sunday is certainly much calmer that last weekend, when the left wing loons were doing their full court "Blame Palin, Fox News, and Right Wing Radio" for the Arizona Shooting.  That turd didn't float, no matter how hard the far left bloggers, and the space cadets on MSNBC and in the NY Times tried...and despite the Obama Cheerleaders at the Tucson Memorial Service, most Americans are not buying it.  So politics be damn...life moves on.

Of late I have been posting much about Arizona and the leftist nuts, both here and on Facebook...I figured it was time for a change.  After working 3 basketball games yesterday, as well as 2 on Thursday, and a rough and tumble JV game on Friday night, the rest for the knees, back, and legs are appreciated...10 games(including 3 double headers) await me this week, with my season, which ends in late February, half over, I can say I am looking forward to some late winter rest, before the Baseball season, and a large umpiring schedule, begins in mid March.

The Music of my Life______

I posted some songs on FB the past few days, mostly from the late 60s and early 70s.  Those songs got me to thinking about my year in Vietnam, and how much that music was a large part of our lives during that time.  Of course later on I would become a radio DJ and music would continue to influence my daily activity.  So if I appear to be stuck, at least musically, in the 60s and 70s, so be it....while some of the newer stuff has merit, I just don't enjoy much of it.

When I arrived at Nha Trang Air Base on July 2, 1969...I was a Top 40 contemporary music and radio fan, by the time I left Tan Son Nhut AB on June 29th a year later, I still liked Top 40, but also had gotten into the newer "country rock" and what we called "Head Music" by the likes of Led Zepplin, Cream, and others.  That time between "The Summer of Love(1967)" when I graduated from Celina(Ohio) High School and time after my Air Force days were completed, in May of 1972, were some IMO of the best times for music.  The period between the old rock of Elvis, the newer, but tame stuff, by the Beatles, and the time before,  in the later 70s that the garbage knows as "Disco" appeared on the scene.  Of course Disco was nowhere as bad as the crap known as "Rap" that still infests the music world today, or worse yet, the trash that so-called performers like Lady Gag-Me, and others put out as "music"....anyway, back to the Summer of 69 and some of the songs that were on AFVN(Armed Forces Radio in Vietnam) when I stepped off that C-130 at Nha Trang, that sunny, hot, and humid day, in early July.

Here are a few of the songs in their original forms:

David Clayton and Blood, Sweat, and Tears, had several hits in a short time:  "Spinning Wheel" was one I remember from my early days at Nha Trang:
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=kK62tfoCmuQ&feature=related 

Kenny Rogers, before he was country icon, performed with "The First Edition" group...the song about a returning disabled Vietnam Veteran was still being played on AFVN when I arrived in-country:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EJGZt3X6uU

And one of my favorite artists, as hokey as it sometimes sounds today, back in 1969 was Glenn Campbell, who followed up his "Wichita Lineman" with the Jim Webb classic about a solider in Vietnam singing about his town and girl back in Texas..."Galveston":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIUPCfIihQ4 

And finally "Galveston", a more poignant version by the song writer/singer himself Jimmy Webb, on a salute to Vietnam Veterans on you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaMf6ydI-YI&feature=related 

Damn, that wasn't hard....enjoy the remainder of the weekend, back later>>>>>

Photos/Pictures~PRH a couple of months after arriving at Nha Trang on the South China Sea, playing "Sky Cop" with the 14th SPS...day shift Law Enforcement was pretty easy duty in a "war zone"...and the album and .45 covers of BS&T, The First Edition, and Glenn Campbell back in the Summer of 1969

 

The Plane Crashes at Nha Trang Air Base 1969

Still no sun in the past 2 weeks now...a cold rain yesterday and now a cold front moves through. It seems more like March than January for the past couple of weeks. After yesterday reaching near 50 for a high, this week looks snowy, cloudy, and cold.

Yesterday my old radio buddy "Wulfie" and I headed to Coldwater to visit and old friend who is laid up in the Hospital with a serious infection. Kent's infection is due to the cancer fight that he is currently going through, and it appears the infection has entered where the "port" for the Chemotherapy is being administered. Kent is a pretty young man{upper 40s}, and he is in a pretty rough fight, but being the exercise freak he is, he's beating the double demons he is facing...my prayers are with him in this go.

As more normal January temperatures approach, Mom will be heading south to the Fort Myers area for the remainder of the winter....unlike the past years however, older brother Mike will be holding down the homestead, so no winterizing will be needed. It appears the temps in Florida have warmed up...got a couple calls from old friend Tom, who headed down to train horses for the winter in Central Florida, and things have returned to the 70s and 80s for highs.

Looking back at the 1969 Crashes of Nha Trang_____

I have mentioned several times, including here:

http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2007/12/air-vietnam-crash-12221969.html

The plane crashes that I witnessed while stationed at Nha Trang during the Vietnam War....now being a Cop(Security Police) in the Air Force, stationed at various Air Force Bases, you invariably have witness of or secure plane crash locations...the 2 in the last part of 1969 are the ones that stick in my mind more than the others from my 4 year hitch.

The interesting thing is that I have had several comments and contacts from guys that were stationed there during the same time...they just happened to drop by this blog, either by accident or search. This past week I was contacted by a Army Vet who was stationed at our sister location, Camp McDermott, located on the perimeter of Nha Trang Air Base....Bruce Beagley contacted me, saying he had some old grainy black and white photos of the incidents. He sent those to me over the weekend, and I will share some with you today.

October 1969....Jet Goes the Wrong Way off Runway___

{photo at top of page left}

I remember it was my day off in October 1969, when a Air Force Jet Pilot crashed landed at the end of the Nha Trang Runway....I'm not sure of the real true story, but rumors were that he thought he was heading into Cam Rahn Bay, suffered combat damage, or was just landing the wrong way...what I do know are the results.

He crashed landed going the wrong way, not far from the Main Gate, being manned by a couple of fellow Law Enforcement guys with the 14th SPS, and their partner QCs from the RVN Air Force. The pilot went through the barrier fence and ended up going past the beach road that ran in front of the base before ending up in the sand. He survived, but 2 Army Troops were killed in a 1 1/2 ton{or 3/4 ton} as the Jet smashed into them....several civilians on the road were killed as well. I had seen several photos of the events, but the black and white one sent by Bruce seems to set the mood of that day.

Air Vietnam Sabotage 12/22/69_____

Air Vietnam was the Trans American airlines of it's day in South Vietnam. On a sunny hot day shortly before Christmas Day in 1969 I had received orders to transfer to Tan Son Nhut(Saigon) for the remainder of my tour...on that morning we received a call that there had been an explosion in mid air on a Air Vietnam DC 6 carrying a large number of passengers, it turns out that someone had blown a hole in the skin of the aircraft with some sort of explosive:

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1969/1969-80.htm

As the Cops and the Fire Protection guys were waiting near the runway, the plane sat down, bounced, and skidded off the end of the runway hitting a school house and parts of the shanty village located near the end of the runway...as you can see from the enclosed photos, it was a miracle that only 10 were killed on the plane, and 24 on the ground{although I have seen some reports that the numbers killed on the ground were much more than 24}.

Of the 6 months I spent at Nha Trang....these 2 events as well as the Rocket Attack on October 12, 1969, stand out as my biggest memories of my time on base. Thanks Again Bruce for the opportunity to use the photos.

The Rest of the Week____

It's gonna be a busy week Basketball wise....games tonight through Saturday night without a evening off....will see how the back and legs hold out. Plus Dartball tonight after I drive back from the Freshman game at Antwerp.

back later>>>>

Photos-Top and Left is the aftermath of the Air Force Jet after it overshot the runway and crashed on Nha Trang Beach...the other phots are from the Air Vietnam DC-6 that had a explosion in flight, landed and overshot the Nha Trang runway, finally hitting a school and out village and burning...10 were killed on the plane, and another 2 dozen on the ground...the color photo is one I took of the school in August 1969, before it was destroyed in the photo from 12/22/69...bottom is an Army Jeep that got caught in the resulting explosion, after the AV Prop Plane it the ground and burnt. The expression of the civilian women compared to the military personal is an interesting contrast.

Christmas Eve in Vietnam 1969, Nha Trang Air Base, RVN

I got a comment from "Jan" on yesterday's blog about wanting to see a few photos of Patricia's famous Christmas Cookie collection.....

My wife usually makes several thousand cookies of 20 or more varieties for the family, co-workers, and friends....this year however it was cutback on the cookies time....with my battle since Labor Day against the possibility of getting Diabetes 2...she decided to take away much of the temptation of eating my way through them....with the 20 pounds lost thus far and the drop in my Blood Pressure, I am thankful for that...although I am sure the boys and those that usually get their share are disappointed....but sacrifices must be made...at least that's what I'm saying.... She did however, made several hundred of maybe a dozen different kinds, and got them out of the house and delivered before I got my hands on them....a couple of "named" plates remain, and honest, I have stayed away from those....Honest!

So just how is the diet going through the Holidays, you ask?

Well, when we headed to Wisconsin for our "Pre" Thanksgiving with the wife's family I weighted in at 192...a drop of 16 pounds...since then I have been as low as 187 and a bounce back up to 193...right now I'm in the middle of that at 190. Tonight at the family get together and next week at Rick's place for our annual New Year's Bowl fest, will be the 2 test days....I hope to stay at the 190 level or less through that, and then finish off the final 10 pounds before the end of basketball season, and our Vietnam Security Police "Mini-Reunion" at Dayton the first weekend in March. By that time I will know where I stand blood sugar and blood pressure wise...I hope to stay off any Diabetes meds and get off the BP medication{although that really is not a big issue}.....

Christmas at Nha Trang_____40 years ago

By the time Christmas Eve 1969 had arrived at our pristine little base on the South China Sea, called Nha Trang, I had received orders to Tan Son Nhut and Saigon....I had arrived at Nha Trang on a C-130 by myself from TSN 6 months earlier...I would be returning the same way on December 27th. Seems the Air Force was bound and determined to keep me separated from those I served with before.

I had left Dover AFB, Delaware, for combat training at San Antonio with just Walsh and Lippencott. Then it was on to Nha Trang by myself, with a stop over in Saigon....I would head back to Saigon/Tan Son Nhut as the lone cop from Nha Trang...others headed to Phan Rang, Tuy Hoa, Phu Cat, and other places in groups of 2 or 3. I was hoping to stay in Nha Trang...I really liked the place, plus I had secured a place to stay out near the down town and beach area on my days off. It looked like luck would have me staying, but Uncle Sam's Air Force decided to throw me one more(or should I say another, there would be more to come later} curve. I got my orders for Tan Son Nhut and the 377th Security Police Squadron on December 22nd....4 days and a wake up call and I would be out of Nha Trang....so I spent Christmas Eve 1969 packing and working a night shift(I had been on days for the entire first 6 months) driving a patrol Jeep near the Beer and Soda Storage Compound....As far as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Nha Trang....they seem like a blur these 40 years later.

Did I miss home? I'm sure I did...but to tell the truth, I really don't remember much about those 2 days...the days before, the day I got orders for Saigon, New Years Eve working the old B51 Bunker at the edge of Tan Son Nhut's Perimeter? I remember those as clear as it was yesterday...but those 2 days, Christmas and XMas Eve, somehow have escaped my long term memory....but I was there indeed, 40 years ago.

On a Holiday Note: It appears that our "White Christmas" may become a "Wet" Christmas...icy drizzle is being called for this morning, with rain arriving this afternoon and more rain tonight and tomorrow...our 3 inches of snow on the ground may be a muddy, icy, memory by the time nightfall on Christmas Day happens....Regardless:

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL.....

Back Later>>>>

Photos-Me with a cheap beer(a common sight) on the Beach at Nha Trang in 1969/Part of Patricia's limited Cookie output for the season/and Nha Trang Beach as it looks some 40 years after I walked in it's sand.

That Damn Global Warming!

While the eastern US digs out from under 2 feet of snow in some places...like my Vietnam buddy and fellow Air Force Cop from our days in Nha Trang describes on his blog:

http://harrysrantsandraves.blogspot.com/

To the record cold in Europe....where death comes a calling:

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/World/2009/12/22/Big_cold_kills_at_least_80_across_Europe_409339.html

Meanwhile that fat, bloated, useless son of a jackal Al Gore, the Liar and Thief, Barry Soetoro Obama, the Euro Trash Union, and a few Marxist so-called climate experts continue to cry "Wolf"....the only wolves are these bastards and the socialist power hungry money grabbers trying to prove that unprovable science and lie called 'Man Made Global Warming'

Our own small taste of winter____

This morning I jumped into the Jeep and heading out on West Bank Road to take a look at Grand Lake and to check out how the 13,000 acre pond was freezing over.....with the exception of a few "open water" spaces that the Canada Geese were using as their own private swimming pool....the Lake appears to be on the way to a complete freeze over...More Global Warming???

Dartball Results other Sports____

Last night we took on our old South Division rivals from Mount Carmel to end the first half of play in the Wabash Valley Dartball League....used to be when we met, a title or at least half championship was in the balance....not so this time. We came in at 7 wins 11 loses, while they were in control of their own destiny, with a tie for first at 11-7 and the tie breaker over Hopewell St. Johns....we stunk up our home board in the first two games, losing 8-1 and 6-0, while managing only 11 hits, including 3 in the 2nd game shutout....in game 3 we strung a few hits together and pulled out a 4-3 win...I ended the night 5 for 10 with 2 triples and a couple of RBIs...to move to .427 on the season..getting home I find out Hopewell had swept Bethany Church and clinched the first half of the season with a 14-7 record...Schumm won the North First half with the same record. So, despite the first half flop, we did have a say in who won....by eeking out that last game. I end the first half at .427(good for first or second in the league so far, a down year for the league) and 12 RBIs...I remember winning the RBI total one year with 72....and finishing 2nd in batting with a .491 average, those days are gone forever.

Off next week, then the league resumes the final half on January 4th...as we take on Hopewell at home.....

Basketball tonight, I'm at St. Marys for a girls/boys combination double header at the Freshman level...girls first at 5pm, boys to follow...both teams play their rival Wapakoneta...Sam has a girls Junior High double header at Spencerville.....

back later>>>>

Photos-top left/This Morning the light snow as it falls on the PRH abode...Me(left) and my Nha Trang Buddy Harry Bevan in our "Summer of 69" at Nha Trang AB, RVN....Harry retired last year after 35 years as a Philadelphia Cop....a picnic table at the shoreline of frozen Grand Lake on Celina's west bank....and the bike/walking path along the shore with a fresh cover of snow...and finally some Widdy Darts from the Wabash Valley Dartball League.....one half season down, one to go!

A Sweet Update: Obama Approval in the Crapper:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/obama_approval_index_history

Looks like Barry got no bounce from his Marxist/Socialist take over attempt of Health Care....choke on it liberals...your boy and his lemmings in Congress are in deep crap come next election cycle{if the clueless, gutless GOP can figure it out, which is pretty doubtful} We are being railroaded by a group of power hungry radicals....

December 8, 1969....Orders to Saigon

It appears that Winter has settled in here in western Ohio....snow, rain, and wind, in the forecast for the next few days...and only a high of 20 by Thursday. Nothing out of the 30s for the foreseeable forecast through next week. All this while our idiot Kenyan-in-Chief heads to Denmark to try to bankrupt the country with "Cap and Tax" in pursuit of the fake science of Global Warming. Said it once, will say it again...Global Warming doesn't exist, and is nothing more than a political power grab by the left....far left. Should we protect the Environment where possible? Yes....Should we be taxed into serfdom to try to achieve something that cannot be done? Hell No!

Now a look at some headlines in News and Sports:

Speaking of Criminals_____

The White House is full of em'

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/33941/

And it appears that this Felon is writing the Health Care fiasco and rubbing elbows with King Barry and Queen Michelle.....nice job, you dolts that voted this swine and his minions in.

Sports_____

With the Packers 10 point win over Baltimore last night, it appears that the Bengals have a stranglehold on the AFC North

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/bal

The sad tale of an American Superstar, one Tiger Woods, just keeps getting more weird:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579698,00.html

How far and how fast has this guy and his squeaky clean reputation fallen?

Meanwhile in my Dartball World...St Johns-Celina defeated St Johns Hopewell 4-0 in the first of 3 last night, but that was as good as it got...dropping the final 2 games by scores of 4-3 and 5-2. We now stand at a miserable 5 wins 10 loses in the season's first half, {thank gawd for split seasons} while Hopewell stays firmly in 1st place at 11 wins 4 loses....on the other hand, I had a pretty good night individually...going 7 for 12 with a couple of RBIs to move my average back above 400 for the season at .411 with 9 runs batted in.

Vietnam 40 years ago today____

By the time December 8, 1969, had arrived, most of us at the 14th Security Police Squadron knew our numbers were up....We knew, except for a few, that we were going to be shipped out from our beach front base on the South China Sea for places unknown. I was hopeful that I would stick around, even though many of my friends had already been sent home{Harry Bevan and Marc Payen} or shipped to other bases {Johnny Claflin and others}

.

Nha Trang, in my opinion, was as good as it got in terms of Air Force Security Police during the Vietnam War....and my 6 months had been as good as time as I had in the Air Force. But those times were not going to last....on that sunny Vietnam morning, I was summoned over to SP Base Police HQ and give my marching orders....On December 27th, I would grab a flight south to Tan Son Nhut....the big base at Saigon, where I had entered the country 6 months before, and report for duty with the 377th Security Police Squadron. The 377th, a squadron that had actually been in combat, was going to be my new home....dandy, just freaking dandy!

I still saw plenty of 'action' in my final 3 weeks at Nha Trang....with less personal I was moved to C flight{midnight till 8am} from the day shift, which gave me a chance to ride jeeps into the beer and soda compound, and abscond with some goodies for the troops. I also saw a horrific Air America plane crash, where I worked the perimeter and kept the rubber necks and gawkers from seeing the carnage....10 people on board and the ground died when that plane, after an in air bomb explosion, slid into a local school house.

By the time Christmas Day{and strangely I don't remember that X-Mas Day at all}rolled around, I was packed and ready to take a C-130 back to Saigon....

Tan Son Nhut and Nha Trang had little in common...TSN was large and set in a large city..Nha Trang was small and set in the tropic like setting on the South China Sea...I worked Law Enforcement with the 14th SPS, during the daylight....I was slated to work overnight Security at TSN.....it was going to be a whole different world.

More on the transfer to Saigon later.....

Boys Junior High Basketball double header tonight in Van Wert County at Lincolnview Schools....the head cold is improving, as is the back.....hopeful for a pain and illness free December and Christmas season, but you never know how things will work out.....

Back Later>>>>

Photos-top Working Law Enforcement at Nha Trang, October 1969, and "Sargent" Houseworth 5 months later, working night flight Security at Tan Son Nhut....pssst...yes Global Warming is a lie!

40 Years Ago Nha Trang September 1969

So here it is..09-09-09, nothing special so far...maybe by the time 10-10-10 strikes next year we will be closer to knowing just exactly what Barack Obama and his Marxist henchmen have done to the long term survival of the Republic. With the mid term elections being only 3 weeks or so away, at that time, what the voters will do to the Democrats and complicit Republicans in charge of this coming disaster.

Sam and I headed to Spencerville yesterday and officiated a 36-0 freshman win by the home squad over Columbus Grove...we dodged the rain showers in the second half, by speeding up the game, i.e. continuous clock, no penalties...etc. No game, just a meeting at Van Wert tonight, double header{Junior High followed by a Freshman game} at Convoy tomorrow. Sam heads for Columbus Saturday, and working for the OSU Athletic Department, gets into the USC vs Ohio State game and will man the camera for the Post Game Press Conference....I didn't like what I saw out of coach Jim Tressel or The Savior, Terrelle Pryor, on Saturday against Navy....my prediction Southern Cal 23 Ohio State 14. Pryor, while a great athlete, is a poor Quarterback, can't think on his feet, and no accuracy in the arm. Tressel is overrated as a coach, the 7-1 record over Michigan being the exception, but we know what Michigan has become...a shadow of it's former glory years.

Nha Trang AB, Republic of Vietnam, September 1969____

By the time Labor Day 1969 had rolled around, I had settled in at my duties on "A" Flight(Day Shift) Law Enforcement...Have I mentioned, even though the job of a Security Policeman was one of the more dangerous Air Force jobs{except for the fly jockeys who actually faced death on a daily basis}, at Nha Trang things were pretty sweet? Despite the dangers of being a Sky Cop in Vietnam, unlike the guys out in the boonies, in 1969 most of the Air Bases had pretty sweet digs, not the tents and out house facilities of the early years. At Nha Trang, we SPs had it as good as any enlisted folks around.

We also had pretty sweet amenities...a base theater right across the street from our barracks, a small movie house called Bailey's Speakeasy, for cops only, and the BX and small "shopping mall" was pretty nice...get your film developed, get a real haircut, buy your booze{if you couldn't Shanghai it from the Beer and Soda Compound, which we were in charge of "guarding"}...and if we wanted to rub elbows with the common Airman, we could always head off to the NCO Club on base, where you could play the slots, or get into a fight if you desired.

Yep, I had been in country for 2 months, not a single danger faced, unless you count me almost rolling my Jeep on patrol one afternoon, any homesickness was gone, a good boss, TSgt Phil Lange, I was frankly enjoying myself, war zone be dammed.

The Photos are from the Phil Lange and Bill Monroe Collections are shown as follows: Top to Bottom:

Top Left-Our Home Sweet Home, the Security Police Barracks...I live on the bottom floor somewhere towards the other end. TSgt Phil Lange, NCOIC of Law Enforcement, enjoying a Cigar in our private movie and bar house, 'Bailey's Speakeasy", The outdoor movie theater, located right across the street for our barracks, as was the {next photo}..most of the movies shown there and at Bailey's were pretty first run stuff. The Barber Shop within the BX a early day "Mini Mall". Me{left} and Harry Bevan on Patrol....The locals tooling down Beach Road, always amazed me how many locals could fit on a mini scooter...count em' 4 on this one. And finally, it wasn't all fun and games...The Security Police did actually carry and use weapons, and we had a pretty good arsenal. And me in August of 69 in one of the Patrol Jeeps...the one I almost rolled that summer.

back later