First Day in Vietnam July 20
I landed in DaNan at 5:00 am July 20, 1968. It was already hot. The first person that I talked to was a black corporal in RECON. He said that Da Nang was going to be overrun any day now, and that it was surrounded by the NVA.
A few minutes later we got the word on where to get orders that would tell each of where we would be stationed while we were in Viet Nam. The officer in charge took up our old orders and told us to change all of our American money into Military Payment certificates, and that it would be illegal to have greenbacks in our possession.
After I changed my money over, I just stood around and looked at the different faces and the ways of dress. This went on fifteen minutes or so, until we were called back into formation. We were handed back our records. Mine said I was going to Charlie 1/3, Third Marines, Quang Tri. After they handed out all the orders, they told us to catch a flight at the airport to where ever each of us were going.
I checked at the air terminal and my flight to Quang Tri wasn’t leaving until 2:00 PM. So I just wandered around the outside of the air terminal all morning just staring at the strangeness of this new place. All this time, I was wondering when we were going to be overrun by the NVA and when I was going to get my weapon.
I stood around and watched this gook engraving cigarette lighters for different servicemen. I watched for about twenty minutes. He would engrave slogans such as : “Viet Nam 67-68,” “War is Hell, I know, I was there,” “War is Hell, but actual combat is a motherfucker.” I guessed these guys were on their way home. It kept crossing my mind that I had thirteen more months to do in Viet Nam before I could go home.
Eventually it was time for me to get out to the runway to catch my flight. While I was waiting, a helicopter landed and six POW’s (NVA) got off. They were all tied to each other by ropes around their throats and their heads were covered with sand-bags so that they couldn’t see where they were going. The were being guarded by three American soldiers carrying M-16 rifles.
Right before I got on the plane, they told me that Quang Tri didn’t have an airstrip and that I would have to fly to Dong Ha where I would have to hitch a ride to Quang Tri.
The plane we flew on from Da Nang to Hong Ha was an old twin engine cargo plane. The flight took about an hour and most of it was over the ocean. I guess this was to keep the plane from being shot down by enemy gunners along the coast. I kept wondering just where Quang Tri was at. All that I could find out about it was that it was way up north near the DMZ, and that it too was in danger of being overrun by NVA. Hearing that didn’t make me feel any better about going there.
Just before the plane landed the crew chief told everyone on the plane that Dong Ha airstrip had been hit by mortars that day, and that when the plane landed everyone was to run off as soon as it stopped, so the plane could get out of there before getting hit. When the plane landed, I ran off toward the air terminal, a plywood shack with sand bags stacked around the walls on the outside. I was expecting to be hit with mortar fire, but no rounds came in. I was able to relax.
Inside the air terminal, I asked the corporal behind the desk the direction to Quang Tri. He told me to walk out to the road and catch a ride with someone going that way. He pointed toward the north. There were two other guys with me also bound for Quang Tri. We all walked out to the road, not very sure of what was going on. We stuck out our thumbs and caught a ride in the first pickup truck that came along. We sat in the back and told the driver we were going to Quang Tri. He said he would drop us off at the gate when we arrived.
I felt like a sitting duck waiting to be shot. The back of the pickup was open, we had no weapons to defend ourselves with if were ambushed. We were fortunate to make it to the base. When we finally got there, the truck stopped, we got out and thanked the driver for the ride. He told us that the Marines were on the other side of the base. We picked up all of our gear and began walking, still not knowing exactly where we were going. Once we got to the Marine side of the base, it was almost dark. The other two guys found their company headquarters. We exchanged goodbye’s and good lucks.
My company headquarters were still further on towards to the other side of the base. I finally found it. I gave my orders to the Sergeant Major and he told the office pogue to find me a place to sleep and to show me where the mess hall was. The mess hall was a huge tent, as was the company rear and the the sleeping quarters.
The office pogue, a corporal, showed me where I would be sleeping. It was a cot inside a big tent in line with fifteen other cots on a dirt floor. Then he took me over to the mess hall where I met some men in the company. I learned that Quang Tri was just the company rear, and that its main body was out in the bush somewhere near the DMZ in the mountains. There were only five or six grunts in the rear.
When I got back from chow, the office pogue gave me a joint of Vietnamese “pot” and told me to out by the “pissers” and smoke it. It was the best pot I had ever smoked. It made me feel real good about coming to Viet Nam. After I smoked it, I walked back to my tent and introduced myself to the men I had not yet met. They all wanted to know what was happening back in the “world.”
We talked for about an hour. Then we went outside and smoked a few more joints. By this time, I was so stoned I couldn’t stay awake, so I went back to the tent and crashed for the night.
