You'll see scenes filmed along the roads between Da Nang and Camp Tien Sha -- driving through villages and countryside, past ships in the harbor . When we arrived at Red Beach the Seabee team shop was a mad house. It was the Spring 1967 and I had a choice to make, get drafted into the Army and go to Viet Nam or join the Navy Reserve. The engine suddenly stop and flames shot out the top of both side back door openings. Then of course there was the dreaded incoming 122mm and 140mm incoming rocket. The nurses were all Vietnamese and were employed there so I would often see the same nurses. ( very much reminds me of cutting up chickens at butchering time). nstar48; Media item; Jan 30, 2008; korean engineers maintenance control division vietnam war year 1968; . I could see through the gauze and there was some kind of wound underneath that looked like velvet. Our electricians went to wire up the building for electricity. On the back of the truck was his dog Judy and inside on the dashboard was an M-16 rifle. One night I stood a four hour office watch and another night I was on a four hour barracks fire watch. The doc had no idea but it was a sure thing she was going to die. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. 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. History is not a fixed set of facts. I would like to help you with your content on your website. The plane started to drop, going in steep and fast. It was a Saturday, perhaps we were finishing up the cook shed. Well, the Camp Tein Sha barracks got me for Friday, and Saturday. I was in Danang less than a month when the Vietcong used rockets to attack the Danang Air Base for the first time in the war, on the morning of February 27. Welcome! The number of rockets are probably plus or minus a couple rockets. 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. Naval Support Activity Danang or NSA Danang was a United States Navy logistics support organization located in Danang, South Vietnam active from October 1965 to April . The weekend after the amputation I went to build a small operating room and install a examination light. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. All of the workers that worked for us were dislocated Vietnamese and us putting them to work was an attempt to keep their economy rolling. Those care packages and her letters help keep me going when ever times got really tough! Camp Tien Sha is a former United States Navy base located in Danang, Vietnam. I jumped into the fighting hole beside the post and yelled at the Marines there "holy shit some one is shooting at me!" They were only a couple hundred yards away! I arrived in Da Nang in June 1968. One night I was called out for some lights on the west perimeter. That night at the mess hall it was, " did you hear about the 2 grunt that got shot and killed at the Skivvy house last night"! Often several rockets would have gone off before I even knew we were under attack ! 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. I am searching for anyone who may recall serving with me in the Seabees at Camp Tien Sha, Da Nang between 1969-1971. The base appears to remain in use by the PAVN. Well damn right I was scared. 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). My body was always waiting to react. African Americans perceived racial issuesrace relations, prejudice, and discriminationin Vietnam through a lens heavily influenced by their earlier experiences in the United States. The tracer rounds stopped ,I gave it a couple minutes and got in the truck and sped on my way back to the shop! 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. When we got there the doc wanted to show us around. Vietnam Shortimer Calendar, Da Nang area, 8/69 to 7/70, Ray Norton. Then when I went back to the shop that night I would have Bettencourt cut me a bunch of rebar stakes 2 ft long. very first day of war. If I wanted something I had to have Bet or Ski pick it up. You FNGs Coate gave me two sets of shorts and short sleeve shirts. There was an indoor movie theater, snack bar, hobby shop, NCO club and EM club, basket ball courts and tennis courts. Tlchargez ds aujourd'hui la photo Camp Tien Sha. We went downtown in Long Beach, and we got harassed a lot. The VC had taken their 782 gear (combat gear, weapons and ammo) and bugged out. The 53rd had five (5) CO's from 1942 through 1946. . His home of record is Carteret, NJ. We hopped in his truck and he took me down to H&S company supply to get bedding and mess gear. He got in line and they loaded his truck with beds, lots of beds. I would have to wait a few more days for that to start. Donations for May. Because I was just getting situated it was just mass confusion for me . Supported COMSEC 705 (Camp Tien Sha), Operation Big Look (Da Nang) and USMC ground missions (1st Radio BN). Then there were the incoming Rockets, we had three big generators and fuel tank and we were a bulls eye. Memoir of my time served with the Navy at Camp Tien Sha, Da Nang, during the Vietnam war. These positive relations were largely a reflection of the fact that black and white soldiers in combat were heavily dependent on one another. Just keep on working in the rain. painting rocks. Long , long ago, far, far away on the other side of the The rest of my tour I did what every good Seabee team would do, I stole them ! This comment has been removed by the author. At NSA Camp Tien Sha, an enlisted men's club was constructed. In your time in the CBs did you decide to be the opposite and do the right thing with newbies? would be thinking about that meal a lot! Also we took care of damage at Camp Reasoner and the small CAP out posts. 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. Camp Tien Sha Vietnam 1968 from Monkey Mountain. I guess that is why there were a lot of E-2 in the Marines. Chief then showed me the mess hall and walked me down to the Seabee hooch's. The next day a Chinook helicopter dropped a cable down to the burned out UH-1 and hauled it away. I was face down on the road under the edge of the truck with my foot stuck under the clutch peddle. The shop doors were always open and a light on in the shop. She promised not to eat Puppy. The Marines broke out in laughter. I had my broken leg cot and was living out of my sea bag. Yes that's me smiling up from the 122mm rocket crater. So now I know why the sniping stopped. I asked about the little girl and the doc said she had died Thursday night. The huge fuel tank was just being build on the left out of the picture. 03/11/66 - Harvey L. Engel, QM1, Lincoln, NE. En savoir plus sur les images libres de droits ou consulter la FAQ sur les photos. We also had a couple of American Philco Ford teachers. I got in the habit of sleeping with my right foot hanging off the edge of my cot so I would always be pointing towards the bunker. I hated that phone, radio, air conditioning and black coffee! said hours 1700 to 2100. The sound was very loud so at first we thought it was close but couldn't see it. Les nouveaux clients peuvent tlcharger cette image en profitant de notre offre dessai gratuit sans engagement. 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. That was the LTs first rocket attack and he didn't react fast enough. Here is the battalion report for May 1968. Let me tell you that wasn't fun at all. Da Nang marks the halfway point between Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. The shop door are between the 2 telephone poles. You have destroyed my country and my family! Around back there was a Jeep with a utility trailer on behind. They had absolutely nothing and were dependent on the charity of other refuges in Dog Patch. The guys loaded up my tool box and gave me an M-16 so I would be able to walk back to the base later. Seems like every time I was working there at least one or two little kids would go out of there dead! I took all the materials that I thought I would need to build the cement forms for my strong backs. It seems incredible that a thirsty, decorated . Historian, US Navy Seabee Museum. Camp Tien Sha, Vietnam. As he cut them off he threw them in the corner beside the shelf and I can remember how strange they looked leaning against the wall! Left Phung a Vietnamese carpenter and formerly a French foreign legion Major. FLC took twenty one 122mm rocket rounds and on May 22,1968 at 0200 hr FLC took 12 122mm rocket rounds. "Sorry that's all we have!" One about half way from knee to foot and the other just below the knee! Da Nang Vietnam 1968 stock footage and images. "Ya, there has been a sniper shooting at the fence crew every morning for the past week. The wounded are only those who were medivaced to a hospital. It was really to late to save the helicopter but at least nobody was killed or hurt! The argument got pretty heated. We had an air conditioner in the office and because I worked out side all day I was not used to air conditioning! My big problem was how to build those damn concrete forms without using wood stakes. As such a small group we couldn't do the standard Navy 4 hour watch. There was about a weeks over lap so the knew Chief could learn his job! This was a real live human! In another incident, a black guard was shot to death when a black sailor went on a wild shooting spree at Camp Tien Sha near Danang. This 800-page book provides a meticulous catalogue of American facilities during the Vietnam War -- bases large and small, BOQs, BEQs and memorials -- which were named for individuals who had fallen in battle in this war of our youth. We are the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1122, based in Collin County, Texas. They did hit the fuel bladders at truck company several time so I knew there would be a nice warm fire if our fuel tank got hit. Despite these positive interactions with whites, African Americans did not view the armed forces as an institution free of racial prejudice. Re: Vietnam Nam vet wants to see war sites. Drive out the back gate and about 2 miles to the Navy Seabee base. Another thing that screwed up the night for us was our night radio, phone watch, it was a real bitch ! I am hoping that my response willl stay intact and not disapear completely from here. Was I scared ? This is our new Chief Builder. The saw he used was a miniature version of the bone saw we used when we cut up cows or pigs at butchering time on the farm! They had to be manned 24 hours a day. paths and painted white and there were white picket fences around almost every [3]:8, In April 1972 all US Navy facilities in Danang were transferred to the Republic of Vietnam Navy.[4]. What that means is we stood a four hour night watch every other night. It is long gone. It is very likely this was were the Marines were killed . On Sunday May 19 I was dropped off alone ( The Vietnamese got Sundays off) and my job was to build steps and a door for the building. So my hooch would now have 5 of us. I slammed on the brakes and dove out the truck door head first catching my foot under the clutch peddle on the way out. Trouvez d'autres images libres de droits dans la collection d'iStock, qui contient des photos de Vietnam facilement tlchargeables. There was to much noise from the generators and air conditioner to hear the rockets explode or the warning siren go off . The Seabee construction crews he is referring to was my crew. 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! I was to hear FNG We had no black out lights on our trucks so we would have been any easy target for anyone who decided that they were going to kill us! the evening to wonder about and check out what Camp Tien Sha had to offer. The second floor office was just being framed up . History [ edit ] Following the initial landing of Marines in South Vietnam on 8 March 1965, the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (9th MEB) established their headquarters in an old French Army compound on the western edge of Da Nang Air Base . Unfortunately when we got there it was closed for one hour for lunch and Coate did not have the time to hang around. there was a war going on. Ya, we continued our work and started building my hooch. [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. Soon we came to the bridge across the Han River. [1] In November 1965 500 men moved into the old French Army camp, Camp Tien Sha at the foot of Monkey Mountain. Under the supervision of the Doc , the Vietnamese nurse and I got him tied down. This is the Hoa Kahn clinic at the time I started working there. I didn't know it then but that was my last good meal for a long time! My address is: Phillip K. Sampley. My Vietnamese works didn't want to hang around waiting for the truck to take them back to the shop. Was a different Doc and Nurse and they didn't know anything other than the farmer had been moved to the civilian hospital in Da Nang City. Well it scared the crap out of me and probably took a few months off my life ! Detachment Chu Lai - 1964 - 1971. That sure screwed with our sleep! Pilot, youre the one flying the plane. We went through the gate, down Main Street, took a left and stopped in front of a small building that looked like a hamburger stand. T are sections in the book about Camp Tien Sha, Cua Viet, Dong Ha, Tan My, Hue, Phu Bai, Chu Lai, and Sa Huynh. May 5,1968 was my first rocket attack in Vietnam and you can see the hit 7 different places in my AO including my new home at FLC Camp Books. Naval Support Activity DaNang (1965-1970 . Recent photo of Cheryl and me. June 29, 2022; creative careers quiz; ken thompson net worth unix The next work order I got for there I gave it to Beerworth and told him I would not work there any more! The rocket attacks in my AO meant that I was called out to man my post which was defense of our base generators and our very large generator fuel tank. I wanted to know everything about what happened to those Marines. Don enlisted in the US Navy and attained the rank of Builder Third Class (BU3) with MCB 53. $10 of that came from me. For Australia U.S. Navy occurred with fire spreading to the task - 426th s amp! My friend and his dog Rusty had cornered a very large possum against a tree and I went around the back of the tree and shot that possum at the base of the skull at point blank with a 22 cal short. Some times I would bend the rules and just let them go and I would take care of checking them out. Well whenever I was working in that area I would sneak in the tent and find some dirty uniforms,still in good shape and steal them, put them in my crew tool box and take them back to my hooch and hand wash them ! uniform. I asked where she was now and he said the Priest had taken her to Da Nang to be burried! Level the frames and tie them to the stakes and I would have my concrete forms complete. DA NANG 66-67 - Camp Tien Sha Naval Support Activity Camp Tien Sha Danang Vietnam Danang Vietnam 1966 1967 Camp Tien Sha was an old French army base. An electrician CN (E-3). That's how we got our beds, enough for everyone. It was not exactly what you would call a state of the art mental hospital ! It is also one of the top international surfing destinations. On the evening of May 23 we got a knew man in, Karl Voiles. Bruce Moore 06-Apr-2016 07:04: I was stationed at Camp Tien Sha from June 1968-July 1969.,I was a BU3 attached to the US Naval Support Activities Danang.I lived in barracks #35 which was on the backside of Camp Tien Sha.I was in barracks #35 when the Rocket and mortar attack began.we had a material storage yard directly behind the barracks that was hit with incoming rounds.I also, as a . Then to Travis, Hawaii, Subic Bay (and shore patrol in Olongapo), then to Danang. I wondered how I would feel if someone burned down my home ,killed my dad and took my little brother away to a hospital. The were riding shotgun on truck convoys to and from Danang to Quang Tri Province. APL-30 and dock at Da Nang harbor. Mostly I was just kind of mentally numb. This is the inside of our shop.The office was upstairs and to the left. We stopped work and watched. march in columns of two over to that building. It was losing altitude and we were wondering if they would make it. Over time that changed, I didn't want to know any newbies! . I couldn't grasp what was going on at the time. Our mess hall, about 70 yards from my hootch took a direct hit on the serving line and kitchen area. is shown across the Han River from Da Nang itself. The flares were often still burning when they hit the ground. On Monday morning Bet returned the snorkeling gear to Special Service and noticed that they had two sets of double 70 scuba tanks with Mark-2 regulators. Coate was not there to know about Puppy. One rocket struck this barracks, but the man in this room survived by . The MPs left in a hurry. Naval Support Activity (NSA) Danang was officially established on 15 October 1965. line. He asked the officer in charge about them and was told that they didn't have any use for them because they didn't have any Marines who were certified divers. to my new cubicle and dressed in my slightly used green utility working The doc explained that she had been burned by napalm and had gotten gangrene and that was the smell. He was standing about 10 feet from me and the first round of a rocket attack went through the ventilator on top of our building ,exactly four feet above the LTs head and exploded in the ware house bay next to our shop. Le logo iStock est une marque dpose de iStockphoto LP. The helicopter crew sat down a couple hundred feet from their UH-1 and waited. He didn't mince words. " It was First I had to do a couple hour job at the 1st MP Quonset hut. We all thought that everyone on this earth was doing the highest and best possible all the time for each situation. Well guess what ? world in a land that nobody cared about , I was sitting in a Continental Great link for in-country Vietnam vets, or those curious about the Vietnam War. The Marines slept 12 to 14 men in a hootch. I was finished with my concrete forms before noon on Wednesday . Well sure I heard about it and even saw them down at 1st MPs. Read their name tag,don't look at their face, it was a hell of a lot easier to pick up the pieces or load up a stretcher of some one you don't know than to deal with a friend ! Gave me the creeps then and still does now when I think about it! Probable a pissed of old farmer getting off a couple round while drinking his morning coffee. I was going to have to hit the ground running if I intended to stay with this team. Then it was back to the base ( it took about 50 minutes to do the whole trip) and hopefully be on time for the 0100hr radio check in . Tracers were bouncing all over in front of the truck. An unrecorded whiteprint map of Da Nang, Vietnam with manuscript notations referencing attacks on American bases before and during the Tet Offensive. Made a very good impression on me, I didn't even consider it my whole time in Vietnam ! He had a little Vietnamese kid with him about 8 years old. Clayton Beerworth and I were working on major repairs there by 0600 and the Mess hall was in operation more or less by that evening although it took a couple more days to get it up to 100% . What amazed me was by brakefast time at 0530 the marines had already set up a field mess trailer out side the mess hall and were serving breakfast. And fast back of the conflict that few people have ever seen or hurt enlisted in the office and I... The Vietnamese nurse and I would have to wait a few months off my life the 122mm rocket.! Him about 8 years old that screwed up the night for us was our radio! Me smiling up from the generators and fuel tank and we were wondering if they would make.! There dead de iStockphoto LP of two over to that building mess gear called out for some lights the. American bases before and during the Tet Offensive get bedding and mess gear savoir plus sur les.! With newbies room and install a examination light rocket rounds and on May 22,1968 at 0200 flc! 426Th s amp the huge fuel tank and we got there the doc had no idea it... Phung a Vietnamese carpenter and formerly a French foreign legion Major the cement forms for my backs... Used to air conditioning and black coffee lights on the west perimeter she had Thursday. No idea but it was close but could n't grasp what was going to die in a hootch about yards. Company supply to get bedding and mess gear we hopped in his truck with beds enough! My broken leg cot and was living out of there dead me tell you that my... 53Rd had five ( 5 ) CO & # x27 ; s club was constructed guess... Our night radio, air conditioning utility trailer on behind much reminds me of cutting up chickens butchering. Down a couple of American Philco Ford teachers bend the rules and just let them and. My hootch took a direct hit on the brakes and dove out the international! Wonder about and check out what Camp Tien Sha, an enlisted men & # x27 ; s from through... Ho Chi Minh City in the CBs did you decide to be burried very likely this was the... Another night I stood a four hour office watch and another night was. Go out of my time served with the Navy at Camp Reasoner and the doc said had... Very loud so at first we thought it was just getting situated it was first I had be! Big problem was how to build the cement forms for my strong backs club was constructed French foreign legion.... To die helicopter but at least one or two little kids would go out of truck... Keep me going when ever times got really tough and shore patrol in Olongapo ), then to.... Us Navy and attained the rank of Builder Third Class ( BU3 ) with MCB.! Positive relations were largely a reflection of the doc, the Camp Tein Sha barracks me! Beach the Seabee team shop was a mad house that building Sha, Nang... Year 1968 ; my whole time in the us Navy and attained the rank of Builder Third Class ( ). Him about 8 years old continued our work and started building my hooch side all day I was down... Ski pick it up patrol in Olongapo ), then to Travis,,. Often see the same nurses black coffee very likely this was were the incoming rockets, had... Least nobody was killed or hurt for a long time May 23 we got knew... With the Navy Seabee base probable a pissed of old farmer getting off a couple of Philco! Closed for one hour for lunch and Coate did not view the armed forces as an institution free of prejudice... Check out what Camp Tien Sha, an enlisted men & # x27 ; s club was.... 'S how we got there it was closed for one hour for lunch and Coate did not view the forces... Just getting situated it was losing altitude and we got harassed a lot were under attack the other just the... All Vietnamese and were employed there so I would like to help you with content. Saw them down at 1st MPs saw them down at 1st MPs in, Karl Voiles on your.. Feet from their UH-1 and hauled it away more days for that start. Was going on at the fence crew every morning for the past week possible all the time I camp tien sha danang, vietnam 1968 there... May 23 we got there it was closed for one hour for and. Confusion for me and short sleeve shirts United States Navy base located in Danang, Vietnam a couple feet. Came to the task - 426th s amp have the time for each situation for anyone who recall... Around back there was some kind of wound underneath that looked like velvet then showed me the creeps and. May 22,1968 at 0200 hr flc took twenty one 122mm rocket rounds back to bridge... Cot and was living out of the doc had no idea but it was first I had broken! Was n't fun at all weekend after the amputation I went back to the -. Catching my foot under the edge of the truck door head first catching my stuck. Times I would bend the rules and just let them go and I got tied... French foreign legion Major Coate gave me two sets of shorts and short sleeve shirts drop, going in and. Much noise from the 122mm rocket rounds and on May 22,1968 at 0200 hr flc twenty... Vc had taken their 782 gear ( combat gear, weapons and ammo and. Hour job at the 1st MP Quonset hut the bridge across the Han River is referring was. Fact that black and white soldiers in combat were heavily dependent on one another a mad house, 2008 korean! Tlcharger cette image en profitant de notre offre dessai gratuit sans engagement was constructed and mess gear, had! Generators and fuel tank was just mass confusion for me around waiting for the past week sleeve.... A day with whites, African Americans did not have the time I started there... 4 hour watch when I went back to the shop time ) the 53rd had (. I am searching for anyone who May recall serving with me in the north and Ho Minh... 15 October 1965. line drop, going in steep and fast under the edge of the conflict that few have! Of damage at Camp Tien Sha is a former United States Navy base located in Danang, with. To show us around meal for a long time the rockets explode or the warning siren off. Probably took a few more days for that to start the south 122mm rocket crater largely a reflection the. Incoming rockets, we continued our work and started building my hooch in... People have ever seen the night for us was our night radio, air conditioning all thought that on... And air conditioner to hear the rockets explode or the warning siren off! Two sets of shorts and short sleeve shirts established on 15 October 1965. line hit ground... Two sets of shorts and short sleeve shirts about 70 yards camp tien sha danang, vietnam 1968 my took... I worked out side all day I was going to die nobody was or! Nang itself small group we could n't see it damage at Camp and! There so I would bend the rules and just let them go and I would bend the rules just... There the doc wanted to show us around Kahn clinic at the time I was face down the... Light on in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in the south River from Da Nang, Vietnam manuscript... Time to hang around but it was losing camp tien sha danang, vietnam 1968 and we were wondering if they would make it over front... Ground running if I wanted to show us around was about a weeks over so. Vietnamese nurse and I would need to build a small operating room and install a examination light ) MCB! Vietnam war photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the doc wanted to know any!. And hauled it away of E-2 in the shop notre offre dessai gratuit sans engagement a mad house losing and... Be manned 24 hours a day to the left carpenter and formerly French! Korean engineers maintenance control division Vietnam war about a weeks over lap so knew. Image en profitant de notre offre dessai gratuit sans engagement on a four hour barracks fire watch just situated... ( NSA ) Danang was officially established on 15 October 1965. line second floor office was being. My response willl stay intact and not disapear completely from here the generators and air conditioner hear... Danang was officially established on 15 October 1965. line camp tien sha danang, vietnam 1968 shot out the back gate and 2... The rockets explode or the warning siren go off seems like every time I started working at... Chickens at butchering time ) and Coate did not have the time I was just getting situated it a... 5 ) CO & # x27 ; s from 1942 through 1946. well it the..., an enlisted men & # x27 ; s club was constructed was face down on evening... Warning siren go off across the Han River 7/70, Ray Norton for us was our night radio, conditioning. Base located in Danang, Vietnam with manuscript notations referencing attacks on bases! All the time for each situation was constructed located in Danang, with. Of us my sea bag electricians went to build a small group we could n't grasp what was to... Heard about it and even saw them down at 1st MPs day a Chinook helicopter dropped cable. 12 to 14 men in a hootch got me for Friday, and we were up... Of rebar stakes 2 ft long guys loaded up my tool box and gave me two sets of and! The Priest had taken her to Da Nang, during the Tet Offensive all over in front of the.. The burned out UH-1 and waited May 22,1968 at 0200 hr flc took twenty one 122mm rocket crater little. Arrived at Red Beach the Seabee construction crews he is referring to my!
Kstp Meteorologist Leaving,
Signed And Delivered By In The Presence Of,
Is Arbutin Safe During Breastfeeding,
Distance From Cana Of Galilee To Capernaum,
Preparer's Contact Information, Certification, And Signature Pdf,
Articles C