[Vhfcn-l] Vhfcn-l Digest, Vol 104, Issue 24: Tet!
Arnold B Christensen
abc15 at mindspring.com
Sun Jan 26 23:02:25 EST 2020
I missed out on Tet as I did not get back to
Vietnam for my second tour until New Years Eve
1970. Stayed there for a month at the
RepoDepot. Finally drove us down to Saigon. I
ended up as NCOIC of the small group of Army Tech
Inspectors as apparently I was the only Chief TI
in country at that moment and spent most of '71
in that job. We were attached to the Air Force
bunch working on Air Vietnams property at TSN. I
ended up living at a BEQ up the road to Cholon
from the TSN front gate. The Navy BOQ was around
the corner from us as was another BEQ that had a
large mess hall. PA&E had a villa that looked at
the backside of the Navy BOQ and one of my TI's
rented a room for him and his "girlfriend". Do a
Google search for "PA&E in Vietnam during the
Vietnam War". I shared a room with an AF Sgt
something or other. He was part of the people
that went out and implaced listening devices in
all sorts of places. I rarely ever saw him! But
at our initial meeting he mentioned that he had
been there for Tet. I had noticed across the
street a white building as tall as our BEQ and
asked him if the pock marks on the white wall
facing us were where the VC or North Vietnamese
forces had fired rounds. He said no those were
M16 round impacts fired by him at people firing
down at our BEQ. Took me out to the balcony and
pointed out blasted surfaces from the bad guys
rounds impacting. He was the only guy in the
building who had an M16 and only a couple of
clips for it. The only other weapon in the
building was a shot gun which we used for
whatever you could when you pulled a single man
guard post outside at the gate to the street at
night until daybreak when the Vietnamese Guard
came on duty and got the shotgun and its ammo from the GI on duty.
All that got me to thinking what the maid told me
when some kind of election was to be held in
71. The word on the street was there was going
to be trouble. She told me I should be very
careful out on the street. I mentioned that to my
old friend SP/6 Jerry Wnek who I had known since
about 61 and when I was OJTing to become a CH21C
Crew Chief helped me out with a lot of tips. That
was my first real assignment with the 52nd Arty
Bde (Air Defense) on Staten Island,NY Aviation
Section. BTW I did get my 67S20 CE MOS. Found
Jerry in the same company as I, B Co,228th ASHBn
1st Cav in 65 as we were preparing to leave for
Vietnam and our Chinooks were already loaded
onboard the USS Boxer, which btw is still in
service. Our Battalion took the first
Chinooks(48 of them) into Vietnam in Sept 65. He
got out of the Army as a sp/5 and hid away an M16
retrieved when found with a member of dead GI's a
bunch of us picked up with one of our Hooks after
the first real battle in November 65 of the new
and modern 1st Cav. (Read or see the movie. ((We
were Soldiers once and Young) BTW the scene near
the end of the movie with a bunch of media types
getting off a Hook was BS. The only Hook after
the battle was over that I know of was one of
ours and we landed next to a small creek and
bodies were lined up and bagged and tagged. We
helped carry the many GI's into the Hook we were
on. I happened to have stopped behind or CO on
the ramp when Col Hal Moore walked up to it and
said "thank you for coming and picking up my
boys" Never forget the look on his face.
Jerry was able to get that M16 back to his home
town of Detroit and sat on his parents front step
when a bunch of local punks showed up and were
looking to cause some damage and maybe worse. He
told them that he grew up in this neighborhood
and if any of you guys want to try anything I am
warning you I will fire this weapon to kill and I
am good with it. He pulled the handle back and
clicked the safety off and pointed it at the
nearest guy and he had 3 clips taped together for
fast re-arming if needed. They decided to not
take the chance and backed off the walkway up to
his parent house and departed the area. Shortly
after the Detroit Riots were all quieted down
Jerry came back in the Army and asked for
assignment to Vietnam. Jerry knew all the guys
at the Boeing Villa and when he got to Saigon
rented a room from guys he had known as Tech Reps
from back in his H-21 days. Next thing I know he
is working for me as one of my Inspectors. Back
in 65-66 we were both Hook CE's and I was a part
time FE . When I came stateside he was still
there, and did one more tour there. He
eventually retired and went to work for the PX
system in Europe got married and several years
ago he passed away. I will remember him after
our talk about the election in Saigon he invited
me to the Villa he owned in Saigon...Yep even had
a paid guard and that guys family living in it,
along with to AF Civil Service guys who worked at
Air Vietnam for the US Gov't paying him rent.
Yep! We got to his villa and he takes me
upstairs to his bedroom and opens up a big
cabinet. Tells me to grab one of the M16's. I
break it open and hold it up to the ceiling light
and there is no wear in the barrel like I
expected. He tells me that they have all been
test fired. I ask him where he got them and he
told me to shut up and not ask any questions, and
while you are at it grab one of those .50 cal
ammo boxes. I shut the xxxx up and grab a box.
He tells me to open it up. Oh boy it is filled
to capacity with loaded M16 clips. I was able to
find some electrical tape at the Avionics Section
there at Air Vietnam and the guy running it gave
me 2 rolls of it.I worked at taping three clips
together that night. Gave what was left to
Jerry. I had also gotten a heavy duty hasp for
the large cabinet in my room and installed it and
told Mamasan that when she finished washing and
ironing my clothes to just lay them out on the
bed. Next day was laundry day and when I got back
to the BEQ I unlocked the cabinet and she was
going to help hang the clothes up when she saw
the M-16 with the 3 clips installed and it is
hanging on the back wall. She pitched a
fit! She spoke and understood English very
well. I told her not to tell any of the other
maids. First time I showed up for my turn at
playing guard at the front gate with my M16 plus
50 Cal. ammo box full of clips taped in threes
and all filled to the max the regular daylight
Vietnamese Guard was very surprised. He handed me
his shotgun and hurried home or wherever. Never
had to use the 16 but I felt prepared to go out
while returning any fire that might come our way.
It was in the cabinet when I was not in the room
and every night along with box along side my bed on the floor.
I also had a .38 S&W pistol along with two small
fabric containers that hooked onto a combat belt
that the pistol and holster was attached to. All
we did other than certain mandatory inspections
after the Air Vietnam Inspectors had done their
thing was do the inijtial ground run up including
the blade tracking but when she was ready for
test flight we went from TanSanNhut to Vung tao
none of us were armed with a personal weapon. I
put an end to that but the rest of the guys did
not think it was needed for them. My thought was
you needed to be prepared for anything that could
happen. I did wear the .38 to and from work and
the BEQ. I did not wear it to the mess hall for
breakfast or dinner. When I pulled Guard Duty at
the BEQ all three weapons were loaded to max capacity but the safeties were on.
Well got long winder as is usual for me. The
hope is that all of you guyz and our sisters have a good year.
Chris the Bigfoot
At 10:30 AM 1/25/2020, you wrote:
>Tet back at you
>
>Bill Wells
>
>“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary
>safety deserve neither liberty nor safetyâ€.
>
>Benjamin Franklin
>
>
>From: <mailto:vhfcn-l at lists.vhfcn.org>Nguyen Nguyen via Vhfcn-l
>Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2020 10:16 AM
>To: <mailto:wwells62 at gmail.com>wwells62 at gmail.com
>Subject: Re: [Vhfcn-l] Vhfcn-l Digest, Vol 104, Issue 24
>
>There is only ONE Vietnamese American on this
>net and today happens to be the Tet.
>Cheers.
>
>* A mere acknowledgement upon receipt solicited.
>
>Regards,
>Nguyên ND
>
> > On Jan 25, 2020, at 7:08 AM, vhfcn-l-request at lists.vhfcn.org wrote:
> >
> > Send Vhfcn-l mailing list submissions to
> >Â Â Â vhfcn-l at lists.vhfcn.org
> >
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> > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> > than "Re: Contents of Vhfcn-l digest..."
> >
> >
> > Today's Topics:
> >
> >Â Â 1. Re: Texas City Trivia (Ralph Stilwell)
> >Â Â 2. Re: Texas City Trivia (Bill Wells)
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2020 23:17:42 -0500
> > From: Ralph Stilwell <rpstilwell at gmail.com>
> > To: Darrell Elmore <moeelmore at aol.com>, VHFCN1 Pilots and Crew
> >Â Â Â <vhfcn-l at lists.vhfcn.org>
> > Subject: Re: [Vhfcn-l] Texas City Trivia
> > Message-ID:
> >Â Â Â <CAMjHj4SMrQgrnrgivA5qyoV33jojR2adK-wjJfEx99_MWLoahQ at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> >
> > Well, my grandfather was born in Rose Bud Texas in 1862. I've never been
> > there, but it sounds like a great place, and a visit is on my bucket list!
> > Ralph
> >
> >> On Thu, Jan 23, 2020 at 9:13 PM Darrell Elmore via Vhfcn-l <
> >> vhfcn-l at lists.vhfcn.org> wrote:
> >>
> >> Well my sister used to live in Duplex, when she had kids it doubled the
> >> population. Not far from Telephone and just down the road from Honey Grove
> >> and Bug Tussle. The coldest town is often Dalhart, the hottest is often
> >> Brownsville. We have German speakers in Seminole, Fredricksburg and
> >> Meunster. Czech speakers in East! A bit of Cajun is spoken in deep
> >> southeast Texas just to even it out.
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: John Grow via Vhfcn-l <vhfcn-l at lists.vhfcn.org>
> >> To: MoeElmore <MoeElmore at aol.com>
> >> Sent: Thu, Jan 23, 2020 8:00 pm
> >> Subject: [Vhfcn-l] Texas City Trivia
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Subject: Texas City Trivia
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>Â This is a must read for all Texans, used-to-be Texans, adopted Texans or
> >> wanna-be Texans,
> >>
> >>Â JUST TEXAS
> >>
> >>Â Pep , Texas 79353
> >>Â Smiley , Texas 78159
> >>Â Paradise , Texas 76073
> >>Â Rainbow , Texas 76077
> >>Â Sweet Home , Texas 77987
> >>Â Comfort , Texas 78013
> >>Â Friendship, Texas 76530
> >>
> >>Â Love the Sun?
> >>
> >>Â Sun City , Texas 78628
> >>Â Sunrise , Texas 76661
> >>Â Sunset, Texas 76270
> >>Â Sundown, Texas 79372
> >>Â Sunray , Texas 79086
> >>Â Sunny Side , Texas 77423
> >>
> >>Â Want something to eat?
> >>
> >>Â Bacon , Texas 76301
> >>Â Noodle , Texas 79536
> >>Â Oatmeal , Texas 78605
> >>Â Turkey , Texas 79261
> >>Â Trout , Texas 75789
> >>Â Sugar Land , Texas 77479
> >>Â Salty, Texas 76567
> >>Â Rice , Texas 75155
> >>Â Pearland , Texas 77581
> >>Â Orange , Texas 77630
> >>Â And top it off with:
> >>Â Sweetwater , Texas 79556
> >>
> >>Â Why travel to other states? Texas has them all!
> >>
> >>Â Detroit , Texas 75436
> >>Â Cleveland , Texas 75436
> >>Â Colorado City , Texas 79512
> >>Â Denver City , Texas 79323
> >>Â Klondike , Texas 75448
> >>Â Nevada , Texas 75173
> >>Â Memphis , Texas 79245
> >>Â Miami , Texas 79059
> >>Â Boston , Texas 75570
> >>Â Santa Fe , Texas 77517
> >>Â Tennessee Colony , Texas 75861
> >>Â Reno , Texas 75462
> >>Â Pasadena , Texas 77506
> >>Â Columbus , Texas 78934
> >>
> >>Â Feel like traveling outside the country?
> >>
> >>Â Athens , Texas 75751
> >>Â Canadian, Texas 79014
> >>Â China , Texas 77613
> >>Â Egypt , Texas 77436
> >>Â Ireland , Texas 76538
> >>Â Italy , Texas 76538
> >>Â Turkey , Texas 79261
> >>Â London , Texas 76854
> >>Â New London , Texas 75682
> >>Â Paris , Texas 75460
> >>Â Palestine , Texas 75801
> >>
> >>Â No need to travel to Washington D.C.
> >>
> >>Â Whitehouse , Texas 75791
> >>
> >>Â We even have a city named after our planet!
> >>
> >>Â Earth , Texas 79031
> >>
> >>Â We have a city named after our state
> >>
> >> Texas City , Texas 77590
> >>
> >>Â Exhausted?
> >>
> >>Â Energy , Texas 76452
> >>
> >>Â Cold?
> >>Â Blanket , Texas 76432
> >>Â Winters, Texas
> >>
> >>Â Like to read about History?
> >>
> >>Â Santa Anna , Texas
> >>Â Goliad , Texas
> >>Â Alamo , Texas
> >>Â Gun Barrel City , Texas
> >>Â Robert Lee , Texas
> >>
> >>Â Need Office Supplies?
> >>
> >>Â Staples, Texas 78670
> >>
> >>Â Want to go into outer space?
> >>
> >>Â Venus , Texas 76084
> >>Â Mars , Texas 79062
> >>
> >>Â You guessed it.. It's on the state line.
> >>
> >>Â Texline , Texas 79087
> >>
> >>Â For the kids..
> >>Â Kermit , Texas 79745
> >>Â Elmo , Texas 75118
> >>Â Nemo , Texas 76070
> >>Â Tarzan , Texas 79783
> >>Â Winnie , Texas 77665
> >>Â Sylvester , Texas 79560
> >>
> >>Â Other city names in Texas , to make you smile........
> >>
> >> .
> >>Â Frognot , Texas 75424
> >>Â Bigfoot , Texas 78005
> >>Â Hogeye , Texas 75423
> >>Â Cactus , Texas 79013
> >>Â Notrees , Texas 79759
> >>Â Best, Texas 76932
> >>Â Veribest , Texas 76886
> >>Â Kickapoo , Texas 75763
> >>Â Dime Box , Texas 77853
> >>Â Old Dime Box , Texas 77853
> >>Â Telephone , Texas 75488
> >>Â Telegraph , Texas 76883
> >>Â Whiteface , Texas 79379
> >>Â Twitty, Texas 79079
> >>
> >>
> >>Â And our favorites...
> >>
> >>Â Cut n Shoot, Texas
> >>Â Gun Barrell City , Texas
> >>Â Hoop And Holler, Texas
> >>Â Ding Dong, Texas and, of course,
> >>Â Muleshoe , Texas
> >>
> >>Â Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from Texas ...
> >>
> >>Â If someone in a Lowe's store offers you assistance and they don't work
> >> there, you may live in Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in
> >> Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a
> >> wrong number, you may live in Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you
> >> may live in Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may
> >> live in Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both
> >> unlocked, you may live in Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use
> >> them, you may live in Texas
> >>
> >>Â If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph --you're going 80 and
> >> everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas ;
> >>
> >>Â If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with all your
> >> Texas friends, you definitely live in Texas ..
> >>
> >>Â Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas .
> >>
> >> Â 1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles
> >>Â 2... Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles
> >>Â 3... El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas
> >>Â 4... World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.
> >>Â 5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America
> >> built over water. Destroyed by Hurricane Ike -2008!
> >> 6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the
> >> first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston .
> >>Â 7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in
> >> North America
> >>Â 8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only
> >> remaining flock of whooping cranes.
> >>Â 9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
> >>Â 10. The worst natural disaster in U.S.... history was in 1900, caused by
> >> a hurricane, in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island .
> >>Â 11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969, was " Houston ,"
> >> but the space center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.
> >>Â 12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island ..
> >>Â 13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43' in 24
> >> hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979...
> >>Â 14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the
> >> Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union ) instead
> >> of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as
> >> the U.S. Flag, and may divide into 5 states.
> >>Â 15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.
> >>Â 16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
> >>Â 17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr
> >> Pepper..
> >>Â 18. Texas has had six capital cities:
> >>Â Washington -on- the Brazos, Harrisburg , Galveston ,Velasco, West
> >> Columbia and Austin ...
> >>Â 19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is
> >> taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).
> >>Â 20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in
> >> the world and it is taller than the Washington monument.
> >>Â 21. The name ' Texas ' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning
> >> friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas ..
> >>Â 22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit of trivia
> >> about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg,
> >> which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.).
> >>Â 23. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston .
> >>
> >>Â Cowboy's Ten Commandments
> >>
> >>Â (Posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie , Texas)
> >>
> >>Â 1) Just one God.
> >>Â (2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.
> >>Â (3) No telling tales or gossipin'.
> >>Â (4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
> >>Â (5) Put nothin' before God.
> >>Â (6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
> >>Â (7) No killin'.
> >>Â (8) Watch yer mouth.
> >>Â (9) Don't take what ain't yers.
> >>Â (10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.
> >>
> >>Â Y'all git all that?
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> Vhfcn-l at lists.vhfcn.org
> >> This message was delivered to MoeElmore at aol.com
> >> http://lists.vhfcn.org/mailman/listinfo/vhfcn-l
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> This message was delivered to rpstilwell at gmail.com
> >> http://lists.vhfcn.org/mailman/listinfo/vhfcn-l
> >>
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2020 09:06:37 -0600
> > From: Bill Wells <wwells62 at gmail.com>
> > To: Ralph Stilwell <rpstilwell at gmail.com>, VHFCN1 Pilots and Crew
> >Â Â Â <vhfcn-l at lists.vhfcn.org>
> > Subject: Re: [Vhfcn-l] Texas City Trivia
> > Message-ID: <5e2c597f.1c69fb81.61586.2715 at mx.google.com>
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> > Subject: Digest Footer
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> > End of Vhfcn-l Digest, Vol 104, Issue 24
> > ****************************************
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