Someone asked me about my 'college' so here it is..

greybeard

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After a certain number of strike flights (combat missions) we were entitled to 2 days "crew's rest" ..out of country. I think it was in September 1970. I choose to go to Korat Thailand, via a C-130. The back of this photo just says "US Air Base Korat Thailand. No mountans and NO rain!"

I spent those 2 days eating like a king, out on liberty in peaceful tho militarized Korat, and 'immersing' myself in the local culture. It's faded in the picture, but the bottom part of this religious statue is adorned in gold.

Other than that, I suppose I shouldn't go into any details of those 2 days, except an odd thing happened on the USAF C-130 I rode back to Danang. It had a soundproofing fabric covering the sides and overhead inside (something I wasn't used to on CH-53s), and all us passengers were just sitting on whatever cargo they were carrying. I was laid back on a big pile of sling cargo nets and noticed the overhead was getting a big bulge in it, hanging lower by the minute. I motioned a crewman over and pointed up (if you've ever been on a C-130, you know that sound proofing is soundproofing in name only..you can't hear anything but the horrendous HUMMMMM! of those tuboprops.) He looked up at it, brought an empty 5gal bucket over, took a knife and punched hole in the fabric above and that red milspec 5606H hydraulic fluid came pouring out into his bucket. We'd sprung a hydraulic leak at 15,000 ft. He just nonchalantly went over, opened a cap up on the side of the cargo bay bulkhead and with a funnel, poured it right back in 'something'. I was glad when we landed at Danang...

From the very first time that I flew up into the queson and Ashau valleys, I was struck by how beautiful and peacefull it sometimes appeared. We had sat down beside a river one day, to pick up a platoon of ROKs and I snapped this picture, thinking how much I wish I could just amble on over and see if I could catch a fish.

I knew not to even think about it...

In November 1970, our part of South Vietnam got hit with 2 typhoons and 2 tropical storms all back to back. The war got put on hold and all of Marine Air Group 16 (helicopters) went into rescue mode till almost Christmas. I don't know how many wet hungry Vietnamese civilians, their baggage and poultry we picked up, but it was in the thousands. All of our AO (I corps) was under water it seemed.
This is the major North/South highway (Route1) as we were returning from the Queson Valley sometime in mid November. It was just non-stop dangerous, can't see crap flying all day, every day. The only good thing was, the NVA were wet too. The highway is center, running top to bottom of the photo.


I'm sure most have seen Top Gun and know what it is to request permission to "Break" over the runway. Helos were no different when returning from a day's work. It's nice for the pilots I guess but for us gunners, it was apt to sling us across the cargo bay if we weren't paying attention to our headsets.
A 53 was one of the few helicopters in the world back then that could do loops and rolls.



Scarface (the Cobra squadron's call sign), shows he can do it too. Those guys were our best friends. They provided the hover cover for us when we went into hot LZs. I loved my 50 and M-60, but those rockets, miniguns and belt fed grenade launcher the cobras carried were things to behold.



More on Vietnam later.

While I'm at it..Mike, you recognize these buildings?
 
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Mike CHS

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Millington but I never had the pleasure of living in them as I went to "A" school in Glynco, Georgia before our school moved to Tennessee. But they were a carbon copy of the buildings we had at NAS Whiting when I first got there TDY. They were used as a German POW camp way back when. :)
 

greybeard

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How it began.
A business card.
joe lawson.jpg


And a forged signature of my father.
enlistmentform.jpg
 

Mike CHS

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It's pretty amazing that you have all of those memories on paper. :) Almost everything I had is pretty much gone other than a few pictures that still remain. Between a house fire, more hurricanes than I can count and just 'life' very little tangible items remain.

I've enjoyed your posts on this by the way.
 

greybeard

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A lot of the credit for that goes to my mother. She kept everything associated with my time in the service.
I had lots more, but as I said earlier, when all my kids came to visit at one time in 2011, I opened the boxes and told them they needed to take whatever they wanted now instead of waiting till I'm gone.
Sometime in the later part of 1970 or early 1971, I was awarded Sikorsky Aircraft's "Maintenance Man of the month" award. (they build the 53s) Got a nice wooden plaque and a certificate, with my pic and a short blurb in Pacific Stars and Stripes. I mailed all that home..one of the kids has the plaque but the certificate is here..I can't make out what the date is on the certificate any more.


Of all the things I left Vietnam with, the understanding of just what an enormity combat operations are, still stands out. That part, I can't even begin to describe.
 

greybeard

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One of the things I framed and kept, for several reasons but the dates on it play a part.
If you look back up at the consent form picture, you will see my date of birth.

My PCS orders, effective 31 May 1971.
Pcs.jpg


I turned 21 years old, waiting to get on the plane out of Vietnam at Danang Air Base.
Months before, I had 'put away my childish things' and ways.
 
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