Post by Anonymous Vet on Dec 13, 2002 7:27:22 GMT -5
February 22, 1968, Da Nang, Vietnam]
Dear Mom + Dad
Well, here I am in Viet Nam.
After I called the last time I had only
a few hours before we took off.
It wasn't too bad because we flew
in a C-141 starlifter. We were told
that our flight would be non-stop
to Da Nang. Actually it wasn't because
we landed at Hickam Field in Hawaii.
We got off the plane and right then
and there I felt like staying there.
I only saw a little bit but it sure
was nice. We took off again and
went to Wake Island. You wouldn't
believe that place. There isn't any-
thing there. All it is, is an airport
and a few homes for the people
who run the airport. The population
is supposed to be about 2000 people,
but I don't know where they
would all fit. On top of that it
was hot and I mean like 95 degrees
reflecting off of the sand (which
there is a lot of). We took off
again and went to the Philippines
and landed at Clark Field. We landed
here and again I didn't want to
leave. It's real nice there and because
our lay over was 5 hours I wandered
around some. One of the nice things
is that beer is only 60 cents for a six
pack. After there we went to Da Nang
and fumbled around in the dark.
I was surprized because there were
lights all over there and nobody
seemed concerned about all of the
brightness. We were trucked to a
place to sleep and was issued 100
rounds of ammo. Next morning
we got into a convoy and headed
for our base camp. On every
other truck we had a ring mounted
.50 caliber and every truck had
two M-60 machine guns. Of course
we had our rifles and pistols so
all in all we had quite a bit of
fire power. We drove through the
village of Da Nang along roads
that you actually shouldn't call
roads. We saw gooks living or
maybe I should say existing in
what are supposed to be a houses.
The were a lot of building that
had bullet holes in them and
craters from mortars and rockets.
After a while we came to
this pontoon bridge with pillboxes
and tanks guarding both ends.
There was another bridge next
to it but it had been blown
just recently. As we were crossing
this bridge we heard rifle fire
comming our way. Naturally we
all looked around and waited for
mortar rounds to come next. We kept
on going and finally we saw what
was really happening. Two guys
were sitting on the bridge shooting
at tin cans in the water.
We finally arrived at our base
camp and unloaded our gear. You
should see this place because all
there is is dirt. Not good old
black dirt like at home but red,
yellow, blue, brown and anything
else you can think of. And its
dry and by dry I mean that
there is almost a continous dust
cloud around. Except for yesterday
when it rained but that wasn't to
bad. Lucky for us the ground
soaked most of it up and it
stayed cool for most of the day. In
the afternoon it got hot I mean like
85 and it's February. You can imagine
what it will be like this summer.
Aside from all that I've already men-
tioned it hasn't been real bad
except for the chow. It's bad, real
bad. I don't know when I've eaten
worse food coupled with the fact
that our mess year doesn't have
much room in it. Can you im-
agine potato's, applesauce and some
kind of meat all together. Then you
put bread, peaches, ice cream and
beans altogether. It's really a mess
but it's all I have to eat. Then
there's the sleep. All night long
there's artillery and mortar fire
going on so it's kind of hard to
stay asleep for a very long time.
Well that about it for now except
that get in contact with everyone
who sends me mail and give
them my new address.
Love,
Clyde
www.authentichistory.com/letters/1960s/flack/
Dear Mom + Dad
Well, here I am in Viet Nam.
After I called the last time I had only
a few hours before we took off.
It wasn't too bad because we flew
in a C-141 starlifter. We were told
that our flight would be non-stop
to Da Nang. Actually it wasn't because
we landed at Hickam Field in Hawaii.
We got off the plane and right then
and there I felt like staying there.
I only saw a little bit but it sure
was nice. We took off again and
went to Wake Island. You wouldn't
believe that place. There isn't any-
thing there. All it is, is an airport
and a few homes for the people
who run the airport. The population
is supposed to be about 2000 people,
but I don't know where they
would all fit. On top of that it
was hot and I mean like 95 degrees
reflecting off of the sand (which
there is a lot of). We took off
again and went to the Philippines
and landed at Clark Field. We landed
here and again I didn't want to
leave. It's real nice there and because
our lay over was 5 hours I wandered
around some. One of the nice things
is that beer is only 60 cents for a six
pack. After there we went to Da Nang
and fumbled around in the dark.
I was surprized because there were
lights all over there and nobody
seemed concerned about all of the
brightness. We were trucked to a
place to sleep and was issued 100
rounds of ammo. Next morning
we got into a convoy and headed
for our base camp. On every
other truck we had a ring mounted
.50 caliber and every truck had
two M-60 machine guns. Of course
we had our rifles and pistols so
all in all we had quite a bit of
fire power. We drove through the
village of Da Nang along roads
that you actually shouldn't call
roads. We saw gooks living or
maybe I should say existing in
what are supposed to be a houses.
The were a lot of building that
had bullet holes in them and
craters from mortars and rockets.
After a while we came to
this pontoon bridge with pillboxes
and tanks guarding both ends.
There was another bridge next
to it but it had been blown
just recently. As we were crossing
this bridge we heard rifle fire
comming our way. Naturally we
all looked around and waited for
mortar rounds to come next. We kept
on going and finally we saw what
was really happening. Two guys
were sitting on the bridge shooting
at tin cans in the water.
We finally arrived at our base
camp and unloaded our gear. You
should see this place because all
there is is dirt. Not good old
black dirt like at home but red,
yellow, blue, brown and anything
else you can think of. And its
dry and by dry I mean that
there is almost a continous dust
cloud around. Except for yesterday
when it rained but that wasn't to
bad. Lucky for us the ground
soaked most of it up and it
stayed cool for most of the day. In
the afternoon it got hot I mean like
85 and it's February. You can imagine
what it will be like this summer.
Aside from all that I've already men-
tioned it hasn't been real bad
except for the chow. It's bad, real
bad. I don't know when I've eaten
worse food coupled with the fact
that our mess year doesn't have
much room in it. Can you im-
agine potato's, applesauce and some
kind of meat all together. Then you
put bread, peaches, ice cream and
beans altogether. It's really a mess
but it's all I have to eat. Then
there's the sleep. All night long
there's artillery and mortar fire
going on so it's kind of hard to
stay asleep for a very long time.
Well that about it for now except
that get in contact with everyone
who sends me mail and give
them my new address.
Love,
Clyde
www.authentichistory.com/letters/1960s/flack/