The DSC (Data Service Center) was where it's labeled '19' and my hooch was between 34 and 10. In fact, if you attended one of our BBQ's and tasted Herb Saito's teriyaki beef strips, you were right outside my hooch. You confirmed my faulty recall that Special Troops HQ was the barracks-style building "on the street" ... which we'd pass when going back to work after the Vietnamese barber doused our skulls with that awful stinking stuff. The 'USARV Chapel' was in a fairly open field, along with the AG pool and 'theater' (seats under a huge, green cargo parachute on a pole). I remember throwing things at the screen (along with many others) when they showed John Wayne in 'Green Berets' ... possibly the absolute worst movie EVER. I remember the EM Club, of course, and especially the night we walked out on Johnny Cash because of his abysmally foul-mouthed 'performance.' His wife, June Carter, was there and BOY! did he misjudge his audience! Literally a third of us walked out. Talk about a disappointment.
I had a similar 'blessing' at the Bien Hoa Repo Depot. I had a friend there with whom I'd served at Ft. Sam in San Antonio. I didn't know he was there but he saw my name on the orders list and corralled me as soon as I arrived to keep me from being 'requisitioned' by the field unit commanders who came 'shopping' for fodder. My orders had me going to 'Special Troops' as a 74F20 ... and John was interested in seeing that come true.
Strange... I see #16 is called the location of the 'Main PX' and I seem to remember it was over nearer to the 24th Evac. (and Chase Bank). Hell... I went there to punch my ration card for cigarettes and Seagram's Vodka each month. My brain must be pharting. They don't ID our bunkers, our section of the perimeter ... directly below (south) of #31. I think Charlie had better maps. That's where the NVA came at us the night of Feb 23rd. That was the night I watched above me and saw Puff limping off to Bien Hoa airbase ... as Levitow earned the MoH. (I didn't learn about Levitow until maybe 10 years later. But I sure remember Puff leaving.) That was olso the night the XO Speical Troops (LtC) bought it. Rumor was it was a fragging. (Just a rumor, y'know.)
You can actually see our bunkers in the background on http://www.flickr.com/photos/aodcurator/3687463382/in/set-72157620946947816/lightbox/ I recall Bob Hope's visit there, too. I didn't bother going. FAR too crowded and I was more interested in getting some zzzzz's.
Our company CO was (if I recall correctly) CPT. Marcuse. He had a souvenir AK47 on the wall behind his desk. It was (unbfuckinglievably) loaded with a full banana clip. The co. clerk was cleaning using a feather duster and accidentally hit the trigger ... and that fucker stitched rounds up the wall and across the ceiling! The ceiling was the FLOOR for the barracks above and only by the grace of god didn't kill or wound someone. Marcuse was, iirc, a ROTC joke (not a ring-knocker or mustang) ... who carried war comic books around in his back pocket. I pitied anyone who had to serve with him in the field. I think it was 'Marcuse' ... since,as I recall, we had 3 CO's while I was there ... due to the 6-and-6 rotation.
I vivdly remember the Sec. Guard ... 1,000 mile stares. They didn't mix well with POGs. I also remember the night (in January) when I saw the incoming hit the MP Co. barracks (as I was high-tailing it for cover). Another round hit about 100 yards from me as I 'floated' to the ground (gravity wasn't working very well that night). That's the night I discovered my adrenal gland. And relativity.
The war was a totally surrealistic mix of horror, boredom, insanity, and just plain dumbfuckedness.
I was working the 'night shift' at the DSC and sleeping (as much as I could when I wasn't doing vodka gimlets) during the day. One day I was awakend by a shot. Looking up at the corrugated tin roof, I saw three holes in a cluster ... daylight above. Looking down, just about 18-24" adjacent to my head, was a nice, neat hole in the plywood floor. It seems some jackass, coming back from overnight heliport guard duty, ahd a round in the chamber of his M14(!)... and failed to clear it into the barrel. The arms room doofus was going along the rack, pulling the trigger housings and checking for dirt/rust/etc. Replacing the trigger housing, he had to pull the trigger because removing it cocks the weapon. BLAM! Just a couple of rack places down and I wouldn't be typing this. Fucking insanity.
Here're my photos of our (assigned) bunker ...
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahitinut/406949772/][img]
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[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahitinut/406949772/]Long Binh Post - Southern Perimeter[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/tahitinut/]TahitiNut[/url], on Flickr
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahitinut/406949776/][img]
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[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahitinut/406949776/]Long Binh Post - Bunker[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/tahitinut/]TahitiNut[/url], on Flickr
And, speaking of our BBQ's ... here's a few of the attendees at one of them (my hooch is behind them) ...
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahitinut/406949770/][img]
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[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahitinut/406949770/]Our Co-workers[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/tahitinut/]TahitiNut[/url], on Flickr
Me ...
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahitinut/406923939/][img]
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[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahitinut/406923939/]Face of Viet Nam[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/tahitinut/]TahitiNut[/url], on Flickr
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