Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Processing the Memories, or lack of...part 3

After a quick basketball scrimmage at Delphos Jefferson Middle School on Saturday morning, I basically spent the weekend watching football....both Ohio State, who really sucks this season, and the better than expected Bengals, lost close games.  In addition to the basketball work Saturday, I did do some weight lifting and managed to get a 40 minute walk in yesterday.  Other than than, except for an occasion run out of the house to usual destinations, Patricia, Anissa, and I, spent the weekend around the homestead.  Pat began making her batches of Christmas cookies, although she vows not to make as many this season...good by me, it's hard enough to keep the 30 pounds I have lost over the past couple of years off, without that temptation.

Still no Grandson in site just yet...the official due date is November 28th, but Hal and Lisa thought Kaysn would come early...that doesn't appear to be the plan that he has however.  As of now, he's still not ready to come out, but we do plan on heading down to Centerville, with Sam coming from Columbus, and fix Thanksgiving Dinner for them.  A change over the past years....unless the baby decides to come before then.

Tan Son Nhut a final look(for now)_____

On Friday's blog, I presented a list of names from my tour at Nha Trang, names and faces I remember vividly.  Since Vietnam,  I have hooked up with some of those guys, some have passed, and others remain lost in time and space.  The same can be said for Dover, where I was from the fall of 68 until my Vietnam Vacation which began on 30 June 1969, and my final Air Force stay at Griffiss in upstate New York, from August 1970, until my quickie discharge in May 1972.  Names and faces are clear as a bell, even now, 40 and more years later....but as for Tan Son Nhut, not so much.

When I started thinking about Vietnam back in 1999, 30 years after the tour began, the memories, faces, names, and places from Nha Trang came flooding back.  From the flight out of TSN to Nha Trang, to the day I got my orders to return to Saigon and the 377th.  I wish now I had kept a complete diary of the time I was there, because although I remember many things from my 6 months at Tan Son Nhut, the names, almost all, are gone from my memory banks.

My drill instructor{TI in the Air Force, for Technical Instructor} from Basic Training at Amarillo, in the summer of 1968, Joe Prokop picked me up at the airport, but Joe would be on B flight, so I only saw him a time or two before he headed back to the states.  My buddy Aceavedo, a Hispanic from Texas, and I spent much time in downtown Saigon, in the bars and brothels together, but I don't remember his first name...we had Tuesdays off, so we spent a boat load of time together.  My cube mate in the barracks, was another Hispanic, a great guy, but frankly, although I remember his face, I cannot remember his name, Martinez? Manuel? Hell I just cannot recall....other names are completely forgotten, although I did connect with one guy through VSPA that I had worked with...but everybody knew Chris Godfrey, although I really didn't know or remember his name, we just called him "Surfer Joe".  Chris, from California, spent 4 of his 6 years at Tan Son Nhut working Security...and is a member of the VSPA...he saw a lot of faces come and go during his tour. I salute him for sticking it out that long, I only wish I had done my final two years there as well, although as I mentioned on a previous post, sometimes you don't know what would have happened, if you had stayed...I am happy with the way things worked out in the long run.

So there is my block or 'brain freeze" when it comes to Tan Son Nhut....I just don't remember the names...not sure why...maybe it was working nights, or having a bout of insomnia.  During that spell, I would get off duty on C Flight, first in Echo Sector, then with Blue Patrol, head to the NCO Club, and try to drink myself to sleep...it seldom worked...I battled the lack of sleep for at least 2 months, finally after returning from my R&R in mid April, and managed to get back to some semblance of normal sleep.

Hawaii April 1970_____

I'm really not sure why I choose to take my R&R in Hawaii?  Most of the guys who were not married, went to Australia, Hong Kong, or some other southeast Asia location...the married guys were hooking up with their wives in Hawaii.  Regardless, I headed out to Honolulu, and as luck would have it, another guy, unmarried, from Army Artillary, Denny Moneypenny, from West Virginia, was seated next to me.  Now, for some reason, I remember his name, clear as a bell.  Denny and I decided to save ourselves some bucks, and would share a room at a off beach hotel called the Kalakaun, we rented a car for the 5 days, and toured the Island, either together or on our own.  We hit the local bars at night, but pretty much went our own way most of the trip, especially during the daylight...each searching on our own, for whatever we were looking for...{insert obvious conquest attempts here}.  

On our final morning, before jumping on that 707 back to Saigon, we grabbed a cab, from an outfit called "Love Cab Company".  A "Hippy Dude" was our driver of the flower power Chevy, he took one look at us and asked "You guys heading back to Nam"?  Answering the affirmative, he opened his dash pocket, where a jar of small rolled joints was stashed....he fired one up, and we proceeded to smoke it on the way to Honolulu International....topping off that R&R, I slept most of the way, or at least a good portion, back to Tan Son Nhut, where I would face about 10 more weeks of duty.

The Final Days____

The next two and one half months rolled by, me and "Ace" continued to spend our Tuesday off days downtown...sure I had some concerns about safety, but I knew life would not be the same when I returned to the states, and wanted to do as much living as I could muster when in Saigon.  

With my insomnia clearing up{I think}, I would get my 5 or 6 hours sleep in, until the sun and heat would wake me....most days, I would head to the outdoor swimming pool, working on my tan, so I could at least look like I was in a tropical location when I returned home for my 39 day leave{30 days plus 9 days allotted travel time}....when 29 June 1970 arrived, I was ready to return home, sure I had my doubts, well founded, about serving 20 months in the USA, but I was ready to come home.....

I have no regrets about my service in Vietnam....no gung ho war hero am I, no draft dodging coward either, just somewhere in-between, someone who has no doubts about my service there, and I don't worry what people think of those of us who served....those that continue to dis us for our service, and those, now some 40 years later, who claim to praise us today, while when we were there protested us, do you hear me Bill Clinton and Company?  Can kiss my ass!

back later>>>>

Photos-top left...the only piece of the self-serving "Award" I received for my duty with the "Blue Patrol"...from March 24 through my late June 1970 final days at Tan Son Nhut...The Terminal at Tan Son Nhut....I traveled out and arrived here on more than one occasion.  The Monsoon Rains come down on our Barracks Compound 1300... On the Beach at Waikiki,  The Kalakauan Hotel, where I spent my five day R&R in Hawaii....and finally, getting ready to leave the Honolulu Airport and return for my final couple of months at Tan Son Nhut.

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}

Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Processing the Memories, or lack of...part 1

Got out and walked yesterday, also began alternating my weight lifting regiment with Gladiator push-ups and other weight training in addition to those I do 3 days a week...why?  Frankly, Hell if I know, maybe it's the ego as I approach 63 this coming March, to show that I can still do this....what doesn't kill you just breaks down your body.

On the coming Grandson thing... youngest son Hal called, still no baby, and no plans on inducing labor...so Kaysn will come, it appears, when he is ready.  The actual due date is November 28th, but Lisa is more than ready, as the coming youngin' is already at the 8 pound plus mark....looks like he will be a Big One...just like his old man.

Weather~wise things have cooled, but he sun is shining, 40 for a high today, with some wind, so the walk may be a brisk one this afternoon...tonight I head for Coldwater to have a brew with "Wulfie" and Kent....

Processing Tan Son Nhut_____

I have written many times over the past 4+ years on this blog about my Vietnam "Experience".  Regular readers know that Nha Trang Air Base was my favorite duty, not only in Vietnam, but for my entire 3 years and 10 months in the Air Force....my "other" Vietnam base, Tan Son Nhut, located on the outskirts of Saigon, at times gets shorted in my flashbacks and memories.  As far as why?  Frankly I'm not so sure...but I have my guesses and opinions.

First off let me say, all of our Vietnam experiences are unique and different...no two could ever be the same.  As for the men of the Air Force Security/Air Police, I have not in the past 41 years since my return found two to be the same.  Some have, or claim to have PTSD{Post Traumatic Stress Disorder}, others suffer from the ravages of Agent Orange exposure.  I cannot, or will not, claim either...in my life, neither is something that I see as a part of my post Vietnam life.  My two duty stations, while different to the maximum in the Vietnam setting, are not something as I see as a negative.  We were cops, Air Force cops...some died, some were in short term combat, some like me, suffered from no more than a bout of insomnia.  Frankly, after the first few days in country, I never remember be scared, except perhaps while on a tower one stormy night on the Tan Son Nhut perimeter, when lighting was hitting near and around that 30 foot tower, and I climbed down out of that metal death trap and laid in the roadside ditch with the snakes and rats, figuring I was safer there than in that damn tower, not because of 'Charlie", but because of Mother Nature.

Despite the war around me, I just did not dread that year in Southeast Asia, and as I have said before, if not for the worry from the family back home, I would have spent the final two years in Vietnam, rather than with the Chicken Shit workings of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Griffiss Air Base in frozen upstate New York.  In fact, sick of SAC, I walked myself to base opts in the late spring of 1971, and volunteered to go back to Vietnam...but was told (1) The War is beginning to process down, so you can't go back unless (2) you re-up/extend for another 2 years.  Well, that took care of that, no way was I staying in the AF longer than I had signed up for.   I never regretted  joining, but that is not to say I liked military life...I hated every minute of it...I could not take orders, didn't like haircuts, and sure the Hell didn't like calling people "Sir" or saluting those,  that I had little respect for, and thought frankly that I was far more intelligent than{arrogant little prick that I was}.  So there I was...one more year at Griffiss, and then out on my own....perhaps in the long run, things were best that way...who knows what would have happened if I had returned, nobody but God, that I can say with confidence.

But back to TSN and the 377th SPS, my original purpose of today's blog post...

My friend from the VSPA, Charles Penley, created a web site for veterans of the 377th SPS a dozen or more years ago....and I discovered that site, about the same time I found the Vietnam Security Police Association{VSPA}....it was about that time I finally started to come to terms with my Air Force and Vietnam Service.  Not that I ever regretted either, but frankly for almost 30 years following Vietnam, I just choose to move on with my life and did not dwell on those years...they were in the past.  I hardly was ashamed that I was a Vietnam Veteran, but neither was I going to relive those days, while sowing my wild oats either...life had moved on once out of the Air Force, and back then, I was not into reminising, it just wasn't in the make-up, time sure has changed me, at least in that respect.   Now I embrace the bases and men I served with while in Vietnam and even those at Dover and Griffiss, my non-Vietnam bases...no I still hated the military service, just not those I served with or the service I performed.

To the point Patrick, to the point....Charles Penley, who served on "Charlie" Flight during the bloody Tet Offensive against Tan Son Nhut and the 377th SPS,  has updated his web site honoring those of us that served with the 377th SPS...and as was my point in this posting, the updated and new look 377th SPS web pages can be found at this link:
http://www.377sps.org/index.html 

You might even be able to find a photo of a 21 year old smart ass...listed on the ECHO Sector link, around the years 1969-70.  As for the Vietnam Security Police Association you can always find more about the life of the Air Force Security and Air Police in Vietnam there:
 http://www.vspa.com/aspprotect/vspa-nav-index-menu.asp 

And this is why I added "Part 1", as usual I've waxed nostalgic way too long for one sit down and read....more on this tomorrow, where  I will compare my memories, or lack of same, of service at Nha Trang and Tan Son Nhut.

back later>>>>

Photos-Top Left..the 1300 Compound of the 377th SPS, my living quarters were on the top floor of the second barracks in...there were two rows of 8 two story barracks, 16 in all, sandwiched between the Base Exchange/Movie Theater and the MARS Radio HQ...The map overview of Tan Son Nhut...I spent 4 months working the towers, bunkers, and flight line of Echo Sector, before working the inner sections of the base with the Resource Protection{Blue} Flight, both jobs under the cover of darkness on Charlie Flight.  Tango Tower 1{I believe}, me on my 21st Birthday, March 16, 1970, heading out to work my final days of Echo Sector duty, before switching to Resource Protection...The aftermath of the Tet Offensive at Bunker 051 in Echo Sector, where four Air Force Security Police heroes, including Charles Hebron(pictured) met their final fate on January 30,31, 1968...

{All Photos, with the exception of the one of me, are from Charles Penley and other Tan Son Nhut Veterans, with thanks}

Remembering Tan Son Nhut

Light snow flurries greeted the old Airedale, Reagan, and me when we walked to the bird feeders, to give the daily ration to the sparrows and squirrels. It was a change from the past couple days of drizzle, fog, and melting snow banks....the ground is grimy, the snow has turned a somewhat muddy brown on top, and the back yard is a mess of bird seed, droppings, and a few piles of Reagan's works...which I will get to tomorrow when it freezes...always fun when the snow melts..Not!

JD and I were at the Church last night as the South Division Dartball Playoffs between Hopewell Lutheran, and Mt Carmel Church of God, were held at our place(being this years host team/Church)...Upstart Hopewell with some young players won the first half championship, while perennial power Mt Carmel topped the South in the 2nd half....Last night Carmel got off to a fast start and won the first of the best of 3...before Hopewell got hot, winning the second game 9-8 in 10 innings, and taking the series with a 10-5 win in the final game.

Hopewell will take on Schumm from the North next Monday, for the League Championship. Meanwhile Mt Carmel will join Schumm, Mendon, and Rockford, in the semi-finals of the post season tourney....we at St Johns are long gone, except to host the event...although JD, Ed, and I will take part in the All Star Game on March 8th, also at St. Johns.

Nothing going on tonight, no Dartball, no Basketball, no meetings.....maybe my shoulder and neck can make a recovery, although this pain is different than most back and neck problems. I may have to see the chiropractor if it doesn't work itself out soon.

Tan Son Nhut(Saigon) RVN_____

I have written many times on this blog about the time I spent at Nha Trang AB on the South China Sea in South Vietnam. A full dozen of those men I served with I have met through the Vietnam Security Police Association.....one, Phil Lange, my NCOIC, honored me with a Life Time Membership in the VSPA, before he passed away last spring. The names and faces of Nha Trang, where I worked day shift(A Flight) Law Enforcement are etched in my memorty banks, as clear as the days at that base usually dawned. Bevan, Lange, Payan, Thompson, Niemotka, Copland, Johnson, Sandridge, Sloan, and others. Not so for Tan Son Nhut......

I first set foot on Tan Son Nhut on July 1, 1969. Just a day stop on arrival from San Francisco, via Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines....one day and one night at the Transit Barracks, before heading back to Base Operations and jumping a C-130 to Nha Trang on July 2nd. I left Nha Trang and returned to Tan Son Nhut on December 27, 1969....crazy part is, I don't remember the flight, the plane, or for that matter even my arrival. The trip from TSN to Nha Trang 6 months earlier, I remember in great detail, the flight back, not at all.

But arrive I did...I would spend the next 6 months working Security, 3 months on Charlie Flight Security, walking the flight line, working the towers and bunkers...the final 3 months I would work "Blue Patrol"...once again on Charlie Flight, but this time in the alleys and buildings of the interior base, keeping down crime, and busting locals and GIs who would rob the place and base blind if given the opportunity.

The clearest memories of my time at Tan Son Nhut are the days I spent downtown in the bars and brothels of Saigon, and my 5 days in Hawaii on R&R in April of 1970. I suspect the reason TSN memories are not as clear comes down to a couple of reasons.

(1) The Size of the Squadron...the 377th SPS was the biggest group of Security Police in Vietnam, while the 14th SPS at Nha Trang was one of the smaller units on a smaller base.

(2) Working day flight at Nha Trang made things clearer...that along with plenty of sleep. At TSN, I worked overnights, and ended up with Insomnia for at least 2 months of the 6 I spent there. I would work until 6am, unable to sleep I would go the the NCO Club and drink beer until I figured I could go back to the barracks and pass out.

Regardless of the reasons, I just don't have the clear memory of people and their names as I do from Nha Trang, even though I served my time at TSN, after Nha Trang.

I do however have memories of a few....

Me and Aceavedo waking up on our off day at a brothel in downtown Saigon... it appears we had been slipped a "Mickey" and passed out. We were 2 miles from base, and broke(robbed), except for the $5 MPC(Military Pay Currency) that I had slipped in my fatigue pocket...enough for us to grab a cab ride, hangover and all, back to the base entrance, where a couple of LE Guys, fellow Cops, gave us a ride back to the barracks.

I also remember working a tower out in Bravo Sector on the perimeter one stormy night. The tower was medal with a lightning rod...during a heavy rain and rare thunderstorm a large bolt of lightning struck the fence line, not 50 yards from my "metal" tower. "Screw This" I said to myself....I wasn't about to get fried(like what happened on more than one occasion to SPs while manning towers during storms)...so I grabbed my M-16, my equipment bag, threw my rain poncho over my head and climbed down out of that tower. I plopped my ass down in a small ravine covered the weapon with the bag, and waited for the storm to end....I was soaked when relieved by the day shift the next morning, but damn, I was still alive! Hell, even "Charlie" as Gung Ho as those crazy sons a bitches were, wouldn't be out on a night like that. What I did was of course illegal, I basically left my post...tough luck.....I survived the storm.

The Hawaii R&R trip and the day I left Tan Son Nhut on my way home to the states, 29 June 1970 are also well remembered....but as far as hooking up with folks I actually remember, or those that might remember me, just has not happened. With the exception of Chris Godfrey from California...of course everybody knew Chris...we called him "Surfer Joe", he spent over 3 years of his tour with the 377th, still kicking around in California today, Chris Godfrey is a Tan Son Nhut legend.

Despite that, I have met many folks that were there the same time, before ,and after my time with the 377th...I just have not found Ace or the guys from Boston I hung around with...but I will keep looking. If I could just remember a few more names???

One great location for those that served with the 377th SPS in Vietnam is Charles Penley's(A fellow VSPA Member) great web location:

http://webpages.charter.net/cepenley/377th/index.html

And for former Security Police and non Sky Cops, there is the Tan Son Nhut Association web site:

http://www.tsna.org/

Captain Paul Christensen_____

Captain Paul Christensen was one of the men that worked Charlie Flight the same time I did....he was one of the "bosses", whom I probably met, saluted, and saw, during my 3 months in Charlie Flight Security at Tan Son Nhut....Paul arrived before I did, in August 1969, and left about a month after me....so I'm pretty sure we crossed paths. But I just don't remember him. However I did contact him regarding his on line photos of Tan Son Nhut and the 377th SPS....most of those here, but not all are credited to Captain Christensen...Thanks Paul!

back later >>>>

Photos-(1)Entrance to the 377th Squadron(2) Me, getting ready for Charlie Flight work in March 1970, just after getting my Sgt stripes....(3)The Barracks inside the 377th Compound, I lived in the 2nd from left on the top floor(4) Tango Tower #10, I spent many nights in this and other towers...trying to stay awake.(5) A view from one of the towers overlooking TSN (6) And the Terminal at the Saigon Airport...I arrived and left from this building on more than several occasions. Photos 1, 3, 4, and 5 are credited to Paul Christensen.

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!