ley Casey Short USA Jersey , was a relative of Elvis?[or so he said]. Anyways, the rich and famous were not present, isn聮t it always that way? It simply told you, who is and who isn聮t dispensable to the government. No disrespect intended, for I do not mind being here, I have no better place to be, no one waiting for me at home, no girl that is. So to me it is simply a trip in the jungle, along the sea coast.
My Hutch
It was the winter of I971 I lived in a hutch at an Army Base in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, looking up and across the dry white sand Carli Lloyd USA Jersey , and hard-dirt that compressed against the hills surrounding our camp, there was a radar station, right above us. Down by the shore, the coast of the South China Sea, there were a few shrines, temples hidden in the jungle, and a road that lead out to three ammo dumps, Alpha, Charlie and Delta [Alpha being the Air Force dump]. The sand was dry and white, actually perfect for a beach for swimming, and to paraphrase a rumor Becky Sauerbrunn USA Jersey , there had been talk about this area being turned into a resort type area after the war, it could very well make a good area for a resort, with some financial planning and capitol, it could be perfect, it was actually in the air, or should I say, under consideration, with some American businessmen. I couldn聮t picture it as a resort to be realistic, but who knows, dumber things have happened I told myself. War does not always allow you to see two pictures at once, the present and the potential. But it could be reconstructed to be a resort.
I belonged to the 611th Ordnance Company Alyssa Naeher USA Jersey , there were 167-troops to include myself; with two rolls of hutches in our camp site, [four men to a hut]; a mess hall across from the hutches, of which, in-between was a metal floor extending itself from the hutches to the mess hall with holes in it, which covered the courtyard. A safety measure for all the little and big creatures that wanted to visit us, like snakes, lizards and scorpions, and who knows what else.
We also had an orderly room [main office] in front of our military compound [or camp sitecomplex], a shower room way in the back of the complex, where the outside toilets were, to the left of it Allie Long USA Jersey , somewhat isolated though; --not bad for a combated zone compound. And right next to our company, was a Military Police Company [MP聮s], and their set up was similar to ours. Outside of our compound area was a dusty-dirt road made of compressed hard, very hard dirt on dirt, --well, let me add to that, with some rocks covering the surface also. ٭
Winter in Vietnam was not like winter in St. Paul, Minnesota where I was from. Here in Vietnam, it was hot, hot, muggy and hotter Ali Krieger USA Jersey , and at times the humidity was like taking a shower in your hot sweat. There were more lizards than dogs, some as long as six feet. More scorpions than rats, and more jumbo, bull-mosquito聮s than wasps, yet there were cats, I think we were equal to them in that category in Minnesota vs. Vietnam, or Cam Ranh Bay in particular. Yes, this was a cat lover聮s haven one might say. But these monster long legged bull-mosquito聮s and giant cock-roaches, always flying a foot over your head was enough to keep your mind occupied when you had nothing else to think of, and you found yourself walking about at night with a crown of them over your head; -- a giant cockroach falling on your face at night waking you up, and sometimes they would bite you. And if you think they don聮t bite Alex Morgan USA Jersey , you are wrong.
And when I got comfortable in my hutch, I had to spend twenty-minutes out of thirty, killing flies, I know I keep coming back to these fly-issues, but they were everywhere, even in my dreams, yes, instead of sheep jumping over the fence, I had flies I was swatting. But why complain I told myself, I didn聮t have to comb my hair, shine my boots Abby Smith USA Jersey , or for that matter, dress to impress the brass [officers], not like in Germany. I suppose everything has its bad and good elements to it.
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When I had first arrived in Vietnam, it was a shallow evening, the air was thin, --as if you couldn聮t breath, gently we [the two hundred plus soldiers with me from the jet] were moved onto a metal platform [something like our camp had here], again, I suppose, so the scorpions and the other creatures didn聮t get to you before Charlie [the enemy] did. We were moved as I said, from the airplane to the platform Abby Dahlkemper USA Jersey , and the plane was then pulled away quickly so the enemy could not zero in on it and destroy it. Thereafter, we took busses to this processing center on Cam Ranh Bay. And there in the middle of the night, we waited and waited and waited.
We were like a stream of soldier-ants as long and winding as a football field. And although there were 205,000 soldiers in Vietnam upon my arrival, or so I heard, that was not as many as were here a year prior, --in review, they were withdrawing them slowly, where at one point there were 500,000-plus.