Viet Nam at 20

When I was 20 I found myself in Viet Nam with lots of time on my hands when I was not pulling guard duty on the perimeter of the airfields at Nha Trang or Can Tho, providing security for Army Security Agency (ASA) convoys in and around Nha Trang or Can Tho, and between Nha Trang and Cam Ranh Bay, briefing flight crews in Can Tho at the Black Cat Ranger compound, or guarding ASA aircraft at the Army Airfields at Nha Trang and Can Tho.

There was lots of time to go into the civilian population at Nha Trang and Can Tho and get acquainted with the locals, but of course we never knew who the enemy was so it was not easy to make friends or just go have fun or enjoy the local library or movie house or something like that-Smiles.

Worked very hard at staying out of harm’s way unless I was working; at work I carried a 45 Cal. Pistol, an M16 rifle and commanded a gun jeep with an M60 machinegun mounted on it. The mission for my gun jeep was to protect the ASA convoys, aircraft and the equipment in those aircraft. We rotated from gun jeep duty to revetment security at the air fields so we got the mobile and stationary security fun.

Most of the days I was working and most of the nights I was trying to figure out ways to meet the local population without getting myself killed or developing some weird disease, after all I was a Texas boy in a foreign country at the fun age of 20

 

Just about every day someone shot at our position or fired rockets at our quarters, it was just the way it was and we all dealt with it as part of our life in those days.

Prior to my arrival in Viet Nam I was told I would be flown into country by helicopter, dropped at my duty location for 18 months and at the end of 18 months picked up by helicopter and flown out…they lied!

More short comments on the life and times of me in Viet Nam with the ASA to follow.