I suppose that I needed that time alone to recover from the amputation! I think he may have had scrambled brains to go with his stitched up head . If they were caught they were punished by court marshal and were busted one pay grade. the correctly identified enlisted to pull a copy and edit in the Suddenly the helicopter went nose high and stopped going forward. The nurse laid across the farmers upper thighs to hold him in place. The Chief did manage to get bedding (Ha,Ha) I got one bed sheet and one pillow case. The Marines slept 12 to 14 men in a hootch. My head carpenter ,Pham Ba told me about her during the week. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! If there was any heavy weather and to many buffer pads were jumping out I would have to go back to the hooch and roust out a work crew. Older Vietnam veteran who served in the US Navy at Camp Tien Sha, Da Nang, 1968-1969. Here is the letter I wrote my parents on May 15, 1968. The Doc started by cutting the legs off. I asked where she was now and he said the Priest had taken her to Da Nang to be burried! I think that maybe it was a way to help get my thoughts together, write the event down and then move on. the "enlisted head" identified in When the Doc was finished he told me I could remove the stick. Book cover type. The fire was caused by a Air or artillery white phosphorus flare ( WP). Only 364 more days to go! The doctors at the Hoa Kahn Clinic were all Navy I think mostly off the hospital ships, they would volunteer for the clinic and rotate out every week. There was outgoing mortar rounds and incoming. Camp Tien Sha is a former United States Navy base located in Danang, Vietnam. Donations for May. The Gunny Sargent assured me that the cost of the 782 gear would come out of their final pay check! The bunker in back was the Korean bunker that I slept in while I was building my hooch. I cried to myself on the way back to the base. Here is the battalion report for May 1968. The events highlighted in yellow directly affected me. What amazed me was by brakefast time at 0530 the marines had already set up a field mess trailer out side the mess hall and were serving breakfast. The two crew members jumped out just under the flames .They carried their M-60 machine guns. I was face down on the road under the edge of the truck with my foot stuck under the clutch peddle. really care. Download this Camp Tien Sha photo now. I was at Camp Tien Sha from June '69 until Feb '70. The guys loaded up my tool box and gave me an M-16 so I would be able to walk back to the base later. painting rocks. Shortly after 1000 hr the team expediter showed up and I was introduced to him . the upper left hand part of the pic. The engine suddenly stop and flames shot out the top of both side back door openings. So there I would be for over a week trying to keep the mosquitoes off of me by covering with the sheet and putting my head in the pillow case. So over time it was easier to just not know anyone. After showing him my NAUI Scuba certification card I was able to make arrangement to keep all the Scuba gear at our shop so I could use it any time that I wanted. Soon, the fleet dispatched Naval Beach Group One Cargo Handling Battalions 1 and 2, nucleus port crew, Mine Force, Service Force, Underwater Demolition Team, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units to Danang. I think it was on May 22,Wednesday when I was on the night radio,phone watch that I wrote my poem about this event. Ya, we continued our work and started building my hooch. After he was medivaced one young labor worker(Baby son) would ask me every morning If I had heard how Barbee was and if I got a letter from him. the two boat docks at DaNang. Amphibious fuel lines were laid along the sea floor to storage tanks ashore at Red Beach Base Area, north of the city and the Marines' Marble Mountain Air Facility to the south. who manned the PTF base at night used for transportation to and from I am sure had I not done that , the Chief, when he came down to the hootch, would have solved the problem by sending me back to China Beach. it, there were about a dozen shower It was no problem during the day because either the XO or Chief were there or the secretary,interpreter (miss Nguyen). Well damn right I was scared. I dropped the log book on the microphone button and yelled AWC#5 -INCOMING ROCKETS! Then I started paying more attention. The doc had no idea but it was a sure thing she was going to die. (a hooch is a 16 by 32 ft wood framed plywood building with 5 foot high walls and a tin roof.) I yelled "incoming" and took off running to the nearest watch post which was 150 yards away. Soon there were Marines all over the place. Then there were the incoming Rockets, we had three big generators and fuel tank and we were a bulls eye. There were at least 500 RVN Sailors, 6 American Sailors, and two Koreans who worked for Philco Ford. Camp Tien Sha Stock Photo - Download Image Now - Vietnam, Military Base, 1968. ever getting my hair cut at Camp Relations outside of combat were typified by racial tension and violence. Vietnam Vet? The next work order I got for there I gave it to Beerworth and told him I would not work there any more! I had my broken leg cot and was living out of my sea bag. 5440 x 3520 px (18.13 x 11.73 in.) Modern. Local Page TIMES-MIRROR and OBSERVER Section B WARREN, PA., WEDNESDAY. Da Nang, Vietnam, Camp Tien Sha, 351 Days in Da Nang Ray Norton Me, age 23, sitting on my bunk drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette. We looked a lot more hard corps than we were. Over 130 rough terrain and warehouse forklifts and 20 cranes eased cargo handling. The beach is more than twenty miles long, and in the last two decades, numerous China Beach hotels as well as dining and shopping venues have sprung up along it. Relive & share the memories of your service time with your brothers & sisters in arms today. Well it scared the crap out of me and probably took a few months off my life ! He was driving a 1 1/2 ton flat bed stake truck and was making the rounds to pick up supplies. She is always with me ! Ch Linh Camp. Actually there wasn't a shop or office there yet, They had just divided off a corner of a large warehouse and were building a shop and office. TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. In other words, if you could drive a Corvair fast and survive you I spent the last 5 months of my tour as a NSA Investigator for the Naval Support Activity, Da Nang. Browse millions of high-quality stock photos, illustrations, and videos. Both of his legs had been pretty much blown off. With chow finished I had the rest of Well I don't know how much of an impression that left on me but these guys getting killed in the Skivvy house got my attention ! T are sections in the book about Camp Tien Sha, Cua Viet, Dong Ha, Tan My, Hue, Phu Bai, Chu Lai, and Sa Huynh. All in the name of saving them from Communism. If I wanted something I had to have Bet or Ski pick it up. In another incident, a black guard was shot to death when a black sailor went on a wild shooting spree at Camp Tien Sha near Danang. This is our new Chief Builder. Maybe 6 on a side. Our group that was sent to MST1 landed in I remember one time showering in I forgotten how much it sucked being there? I pretty much walked the whole base then back to the EM club for a cold beer What the F is wrong with her? Military personnel learn some of the basics in other training, but this is the course for the big boys. Another thing that screwed up the night for us was our night radio, phone watch, it was a real bitch ! Do you have CAMP TIENSHA, DANANG,VIETNAM Reunion information you'd like to share. and their 155 and 175 guns. Surprise, I think that was normal precaution . When I asked the Priest what happened to the kid he said he didn't know, the kid was at the orphanage when he took over. In my first week at Camp Books after we were finished building the office, shop we installed a short wave radio which was used for communication with the Navy. on the National Geographic Magazine It was where the French first landed in the 19th Century in their quest to control the area and. The fleet also managed logistic operations at these locations. I have never found any but I still have hope. Camp Tien Sha is a former United States Navy base located in Danang, Vietnam. The iStock design is a trademark of iStockphoto LP. U.S. It was what those Charles R. Smith . It was losing altitude and we were wondering if they would make it. It sure seemed longer then a month, to me it was more like a few months! Very close now and it was clear that they weren't going to make it over the hurricane fence at the perimeter. That sure screwed with our sleep! Da Nang is known as the tourist capital of South-Central Vietnam, with a west coast location that makes for beautiful sunsets against an impressive backdrop of lush mountains. . Vietnam went on and I was done at the Clinic and never heard about it anymore until I went back to Vietnam in 1996 and tried to visit and the guard at the gate chased me away but I did find out that after the war in became a mental hospital for young people. There weren't even any stairs going up there yet. The course is a model in how to survive, and how to come home with honor. But I don't consider myself as one. Da Nang Air Base (1957-1975) was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) facility. Catecka Base Camp. Was I scared ? I can still hear the snip of the scissors as the Doc cut away the flesh. It started raining Saturday June1st and rained continuously until Wednesday morning but that didn't slow down work any. In a while the nurse and doc came out to get the little girl and I volunteered to hold the little girl if they had other things to do. He did some stitching ,packed gauze into the stumps, put in shunts and temporarily closed the stumps. The kids were always hanging around and the best way to keep them from stealing was to befriend them by giving them candy. risking my life in a really inadequate vehicle! 44 Declassified Vietnam War Photos Taken By U.S. Army Photographers View Gallery History is not a fixed set of facts. Detachment Cua Viet - 1967 - 1970. Stephen was a veteran of the United States Navy, serving state side and in Vietnam at Camp Tien Sha, Danang. I guess that is why there were a lot of E-2 in the Marines. It had 4 windows so I went to the window for H. I handed the clerk my records pack. In mid-October 1968 the Deep Water Pier complex ( 16.12N 108.214E) on the Tien Sha peninsula was completed, beginning operations in September 1968. In the future I They were waiting for electricity and to get more beds from Catholic Charity . ( the rules for Camp Books were that to be off base you had to have a weapon). The crew truck got there about 1745 hr or so and the doc was still busy. My friend and his dog Rusty had cornered a very large possum against a tree and I went around the back of the tree and shot that possum at the base of the skull at point blank with a 22 cal short. The Marines in that ambush had fired on me to scare me because they thought I was the duty officer making the rounds. I surveyed Published October 25, 2017 Updated April 22, 2021 These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. Then I was out the door, I passed LT Branch halfway down the stairs and was waiting for him in the bunker! Nights in Vietnam were uncomfortable at best. I dreaded standing that watch but ever 5 and then 7 days I was going to get it! Also we took care of damage at Camp Reasoner and the small CAP out posts. When I came off my Saturday night watch I was told I would be standing six hours duty at the PWC trouble desk on Sunday morning. The station hospital begun in 1965 had treated over 21,000 casualties, 44,000 nonbattle patients and one million outpatients flowing in from the hostile and disease-ridden I Corps environment. Just kind of shut it off excepting that I had very little control over my situation and excepting that if shit happened ,shit happened !! I'm at camp Tien Sha at Da Nang now. of the DaNang Military Complex, One of [2] It's a win-win, and it's why everything on iStock is only available royalty-free including all, Royalty-free licenses are the best option for anyone who needs to use stock images commercially, which is why every file on iStock whether its a, From social media ads to billboards, PowerPoint presentations to feature films, you're free to modify, resize and customize every asset on iStock including all. They were trying to fly that chopper to the safety of Camp Books. what it is like now. that's one of our generators upper left. I had plenty of time to take it all in and it was very UN-nerving. quarters. I am very grateful to Annette for the support she gave me while I was in Vietnam. Naval Communication Facility. just out of the picture on the right. The flares were often still burning when they hit the ground. What that means is we stood a four hour night watch every other night. from two times. Target audience. The doc asked if I could baby sit the little girl while he and the nurse did a surgery. good times in the "duty jeep". Camp Horn is a former United States Marine Corps and United States Army base located in Danang, Vietnam. Cat Lo Naval Base. Naval Support Activity DaNang (1965-1970), the U.S. Maybe it's just me. Craig Tailor is on the left and on the right is Carl Rice who came on board about the same time as the new Chief. Camp Fay in the evening and morning. mind. very first day of war. It took until 2000 hours to finish that first slab. snakes and other items of entertainment. I was not prepared and he totally over powered me! Cn Th Base Camp. the duty jeep normally delivered the crew to the base in the The truck dropped us at the work sight. It was a real learning experience for the three of us. I would have to find some time to build a foot locker. It Detachment Phu Bai - 1965 -1970. Most of the time if you were The field had been filled with red dirt and rocks and had been compacted with heavy equipment. Danang was handling more tonnage than the port of Baltimore at the time. When he was all loaded he told them one of the other drivers had the paper work and while they were trying to hunt down the papers he just drove away. I served until 1970. My big problem was how to build those damn concrete forms without using wood stakes. Welcome! I slowly walked around the trailer checking them out. Guess earlier generations of residents at Camp Fay had their Remember the talk we got about staying away from the prostitutes that I got my first day in Vietnam? The nurses were all Vietnamese and were employed there so I would often see the same nurses. of any of that. But the better The lumber and wood crates in upper right was the start of our lumber yard. seating along the sides of the rear area. On the night of February 23, 1969, we held off an attack on the Da Nang Air Base by a large VC force. The helicopter crew sat down a couple hundred feet from their UH-1 and waited. morning. perceived attacks. 4. February 1969. was the building directly adjoining Here is the satellite view of Administration Armed assigned Assistant August Back base boats Camp Tien Sha CAPT Captain cargo Center CHARLES Chief of Staff combat Commander Control Corps craft Cua Viet DaNang DAVID. As tired as I was I never got much sleep. Tracers were bouncing all over in front of the truck. We needed to replace the awning over the entry door that was about to fall off. Retro. Smile like you mean it! I was given our 2 new carpenters to help with the concrete pour, 3rd class builder Calabresy and builder CN Craig Taylor. It was kind of like the work orders I got. Seabees, initially using materials pre-stocked before the war in Advanced Base Functional Component packages, constructed three deep-draft piers for oceangoing ships, two 300 feet (91m) wooden piers an LST causeway and the Bridge Cargo Complex that consisted of a 1,600 feet (490m) long wharf, 300,000 cubic feet of refrigerated storage space and 500,000 square feet of covered storage space. It was the Spring 1967 and I had a choice to make, get drafted into the Army and go to Viet Nam or join the Navy Reserve. Report an offensive or inappropriate entry. Download this Camp Tien Sha photo now. I held that little girl until it started to get dark and I had no choice but to give her to the nurse and walk back to the base. Khoi Tran and Hong Th Hin faved this 3,723 views 2 faves 0 comments Taken on March 17, 2017 Some rights reserved Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 9000 ED and went on Color home movie footage filmed by a serviceman at Camp Tien Sha and Da Nang during 1969, including footage of Freedom Hill, Dogpatch, the April 27th Da Nang ammo dump explosion & aftermath, and more. The first half of my year in Vietnam (1967) I was stationed at the large U. S. base in Danang. I did a phone call to the Marine Duty officer and he calmly told me the incoming fire had already been reported by the outposts. Marine guns up to the DMZ, we looked like shoe boxes eith long gun We all thought that everyone on this earth was doing the highest and best possible all the time for each situation. My barracks was an old French barracks at Camp Tien Sha near Da Nang. I did spend plenty of time on Marine firebases around the Da Nang-Phu Bai area and spent time at a camp located at Phu Loc. The causeway was a floating pier that extended about a 100 yards into Da Nang bay and was used to off load ammunition and bombs.