Saigon and Nah Trang

Viet Nam Trip
   
Remember being shocked that the passenger jet I was on was able to land at a real airport (Saigon Airport) when I arrived in Viet Nam.

The entire trip I kept thinking something was wrong. How was a civilian jet going to land in a war zone? How were we going to get off the jet without getting shot? Flying into Viet Nam on a civilian jet just did not seem to fit, then again I was 20 so what did I know.
Walked off the plane and down the passenger stairs to a waiting truck that took me to the 509th Radio Research (R&R) barracks.

Was all eyes as we drove out of the airport and onto the streets of Saigon. There was so much to see and so little time to see it. The entire area did not look real, not like I had pictured it. The local population was going on with life even though we were all right in the middle of a war. The people did not look like they did on TV. I had watched this war on TV for the last five years and the folks I was looking at were not the folks I had seen on the TV. The area was full of military vehicles and soldiers and everyone was in a hurry every where I looked. The city looked dirty compared to American city standards but somehow cleaner than I had expected for a war torn city.

Arrived at the compound where I was to live for the next week. Checked in with the duty sergeant who told me to go to the second floor where all the SP4’s (Specialist Forth Class – Corporal’s) lived. I pointed out the fact that at the time I was a Private First Class (PFC) and not a SP4. He laughed and said I became a SP4 the minute I landed in Viet Nam! Not a bad way to get promoted or so I thought at the time.

The barracks was a two-story building with lots of bunks for us to sleep in; we also each had a wall locker and a footlocker. At one end of each floor were a shower room for 30 and an area for us to watch TV and play cards or read a book. I was impressed, TV in war zone. There were not that many folks in the area, just about ten of us. Heard later that most of the others had shipped out that day for their assignments around the country.

This was a holding area where we would learn more about the 509th and what that unit did before being assigned to field units around the country.Spent a week in Saigon mostly on various military installations getting new clothes, new papers and watching a lot of TV. The TV shows were on the Armed Forces Television Network (AFTN) Viet Nam. The shows had no commercials and were regular American TV shows.

My week was very boring since I was not assigned to do any work while in Saigon. I celebrated December 25, 1971 in Saigon. The entire week there was nothing going on that even looked like war except for the fact there were lots of military folks out and about every where you looked.
The last day I was in Saigon I had to take a drive to a little town about ten miles from Saigon in order to get more combat clothing for my assignment to a yet unknown assignment. Arrived at the little settlement in the jungle, yep we were now in the jungle and these folks looked that the folks I had been watching on TV as I was growing up.

As we were leaving the supply area with all of our clothing the war decided to pay my little part of Viet Nam a visit. The truck I rode in on blew up, flew into the air, and landed about ten feet from where I had been standing. I moved pretty quickly when I was young. Mortars hit most of the open area and the open area was a mess of debri, fire and smoke. Most of us were in the ditches while all the explosions were taking place and then we were on our feet and moving to another truck to get out of the supply area.

No one seemed to upset about what had just happened so I learned quickly that you just did your job and moved on like nothing had happened. There were several injured during the attack but the medical folks were moving into the area to take care of them and the guys assigned to the area were putting out the fires as we loaded up and headed back to Saigon. Once back in Saigon I was told I was leaving for Nah Trang and would catch a jeep to the airfield and be in Nah Trang later that day. I was relieved and yet anxious about getting to my real war duty assignment. Arrived at the airfield and got the last seat on a very large black C-140 aircraft. The ride was noisy but only lasted about 45 minutes.

Over Nah Trang we were told we would be landing fast and when told we would be running out the back of the aircraft and should head for the terminal at a run! Not what I wanted to hear. The plane touched down, we were told to run, we ran, the plane never stopped, it just kept moving as we jumped out the rear and some how kept running. As luck would have it, Nah Trang looked like the TV reports of Viet Nam or at least it did the day I landed there.

Mortars were hitting the airfield and all hell was braking loose and things were blowing up all around us. Yep, this was what I expected in Saigon but did not see till I got to Nah Trang. Once in the terminal I noticed no one seemed too worried about the explosions so I calmed down on the out side but on the inside I was not calm.

As I looked about I saw a jeep with 509th on it and headed that way and got a ride the block and a half to my new home at the 144th R&R located right there on the Nah Trang Airfield.