Sp4 Leon "Lee" Dixon
My pictures bring back memories....
TWIN 40S DUSTER = EFFECTIVE WEAPON
At LZ English, a CH-47 helicopter crashed and a firefight broke out. The
M42 Twin 40s Duster opened fire and really got the attention of the VC who where
shooting at the Chinook. (Photo Dixon 49)
MY MEDICAL PROFILE
I had a beard due to a medical profile that restricting me from shaving.
It was the result of a facial
skin infection from shaving. One of our NCOIC's insisted that we shave
close enough NOT to scratch the back of his hand or we got assigned EXTRA guard
duty! He would actually rub the back of his hand across your face while in
morning formation. You had hell to pay if it got scratched! Anyway, the skin
infection got so bad that I ended up in several hospitals, finally arriving at
17th Field Hospital in Saigon. It was a kind of poetic justice from God.
(Photo Dixon 49) I discovered that there was only one real dermatologist
in Viet Nam and he was in Saigon. And his orders to me? DON'T SHAVE everyday...
take some special meds...and... Come back at least once a month for check-ups on
my skin...for the rest of my stay in Nam. Ohhhhhhhh noooooo! Realllly? REALLLY.
Now, coming from a place out in the boondocks like Duc Pho - Montezuma all the way
to Saigon was like going from hell to heaven on an airplane!
17TH FIELD HOSPITAL - SAIGON
The 17th Field Hospital in Saigon had a huge chainlink fence, barbed wire, floodlights, and cool 1964
Pontiac ambulance out front. That's what brought me in from Ton Son Nhut air
base. This hospital was located right on Tran Hung Dao Street... a kind of
main drag through town. It seemed to be either a converted apartment house or
hotel. Hard to say. Almost directly across the street was The Metropole
hotel. To the far left and about a half a
block away was a Shell gasoline station and next to that, the Ky-Son Billet... a
large hotel converted over to military housing for GIs in Saigon. It was one of
many such places. The had a great mess there where the guys ate like kings-
especially compared to the locals out on the sidewalk begging for money.
MY SAIGON EXPERIENCE
Looking out of the guard post in front of the Ky-Son
billet was the intersection of Tran Hung Dau Street and another street that
angled off from it. The pedicabs were called "Cyclo"
(sick-low) by the Vietnamese. There was a tall, smooth front building to the right was a
Vietnamese theater (I actually went in once and saw a show with my
girlfriend- even though you weren't supposed to). The building off to the left
was- OHHhhhhh yesssss... the French colonial hotel... The Metropole.
This was where THE most popular hooker in Saigon worked out of a small suite. This
may seem like science fiction (and it was to a teen male in the 1960s) but sex
in Saigon was little different from buying a tomato at the grocery store! So
help me! Most of the afternoons and evenings, GI's were actually lined up in the
hallway with fistfuls of money to pay her for what everyone said was an
experience you'd never forget! (By the way- it wasn't.) I heard later that she
bought a big villa on the outskirts of the diplomat/embassy district and
graduated to hawking her wares to even better-paying clients!
SAIGON MOTORCYCLE
I got to know one of the local street toughs that the GI's referred to as
"cowboys"... and we became friends. Unlike in the USA, Vietnamese
were fascinated with me for some reason, probably because of my mixed ancestry.
They could never figure out what to call me - even when I would insist. They
would attempt to correct me and say "Noooo- no- no! You NO bookoo
donny! You NOT soe budda! "(soul brother- euphemism at that time for
black). There used to be billboard ads all over town for a toothpaste company
with a very dark fellow with huge white teeth. They would always point to one of
those signs and say "HIM soe budda!" They would have arguments about
it- much to my amusement. Anyway, this cowboy used to give me a motorcycle to
ride around on.
PROTECTED BUSSES
Most GIs never saw a clear view of Saigon because, unlike in the
movies and stories I've read, we had to ride in military busses with thick
screens/grates over the windows. The screens weren't for keeping out
bugs... they were for keeping out bombs and grenades thrown by VC nuts!
SAIGON SQUARE
There was a beautiful building on the square in downtown Saigon. I
have been told it was originally a French opera house and also told it was the
seat of the South Vietnamese legislature. In movies they show it with barricades
and sand bags all over the front but there were none in place
when I took a Polaroid photo in 1967 (Dixon55). There was also
a huge bronze sculpture that was a memorial to South
Vietnamese soldiers. I am told it was destroyed when the communists took over
Saigon. To the right was the beautiful French
Caravelle Hotel. It was probably the most modern in Saigon at that time. To the
left out was the grand old Continental Hotel where all of the famous
people and journalists hung out and ate on the verandah and argued and
intellectualized about the merits of the war. Watching them it was hard to
believe there were brave young men out there in jungles dying the very minute
that they were dining in comfort, enjoying their crepe suzettes! There was
also Tu-Do (too-doo) Street... perhaps the most interesting
place in all of Saigon. THERE you could have anything... buy
anything...experience anything you could imagine- as long as you had the funds.
And I DO mean ANYTHING.
MPC
One of the guys posted pics of MPC and I am so glad to see that somebody saved
photos of this stuff. The movies and magazines and books are so fake when they
depict GIs with pockets full of American greenback dollars in Viet Nam. That
just didn't happen. Aside from very rare instances with black market dealers in
Saigon, I never saw a greenback the whole time I was in Nam. It was either MPCs
or "P" (South Vietnamese Piasters which the Vietnamese actually
pronounced "fee").
SPECIAL SERVICES DIVISION {See Photo Gallery}
Because of my background in the music business as a teen, I had a lot of contact
with what was known as Special Services Division. Before the Army, I had played
on the road with numerous famous stars. I had opened for people like
Stevie Wonder and others. I was Frankie Lymon's guitar player for a while.
We were even stationed together at Fort Gordon, GA while I was in Signal School
(they made a movie about Frankie including the time at Gordon, but no one ever
even talked to me about it). By the time I got to Viet Nam, I got repeated
requests from Special Services to appear in shows (Martha Rae had asked for me
to play on her show twice). But whatever C.O. was in charge always held me back
claiming my MOS was too critical and I could not be spared. Instead I
ended up often not doing any of those "critical" things I was trained
for. Way too many times I found myself in convoys getting shot at... or out on
guard duty... or out burning the ubiquitous poop! (you guys know what this was-
one of those times when "shit duty" REALLY meant SHIT DUTY!)
Long story short, I got word that there was going to be a special USO show (if I
recall) at Camp Enari. I managed to get in (I didn't perform) but it
seemed that every GI in the country was also there! I got a special spot right
at the front of the stage. Pics don't show it, but behind me all you could see
was a sea of green fatigues. Anyway the show was hosted by this fellow who was a
Hollywood actor and host (darned if I can remember his name, but he'll look
familiar to you). I also forgot the names of the three starlets he brought
along with him. They sang, danced, told jokes and enthralled all of the GIs who
desperately needed some cheering up and some American entertainment. But
the big surprise was the very tall longhaired redhead (in the pink
babydoll negligee and heels) who did an EXTRA special dance toward the
end of the show! In fact- it ended up being the finale. The big beautiful
redhead came out of the negligee... and the audience went BERSERK! Guys were
climbing on top of one another. Fist-fights broke out! There was pushing and
shoving. I ended up with a mob of bodies on top of me and my camera and I were
nearly crushed! And then... it was all over! During all of this melee, I
tried to take photos with my Polaroid, but you can perhaps imagine how
impossible that was! The somebody onstage ran over and covered the redhead
with a camouflage fatigue top... she was hustled off stage...and that was that!
I know there was always some debate about women entertaining troops
dressed up sexy, but I will say this one was positive. Despite the near riot it
caused, that redhead gave us troops a great morale boost and guys (even ones who
weren't there) were talking about it and grinning and dreaming long after!
To this day, I have fond memories. Whomever she was, in my never-to-be-humble
opinion, she did a great thing. We all walked out of there taller and wanting to
survive to make it back home! Thanks, beautiful woman!
"DA MOUSE"
- One weird cat
Here is another character
from Duc Pho -
LZ Montezuma
{# Dixon61 in the Photo Gallery}.
This was the first of the "new generation" guys who arrived at our
unit and I guess those who stereotype Viet Nam vets would have a field day with
this chap. But... that's the way the chips fell. I
never understood how "Da Mouse" was allowed to even be with us.
Most of our guys were a little scared of him. One day, he goes off
someplace and gets his forearms all tattooed. Where he got this done, I
have no idea. This was back when doing something like that was BEYOND
bizarre. Anyway, this lasted for three months or so. Then one day, he
tells me he's changed his mind and wants the durned stuff removed.
Somehow, he actually go the medics to send him someplace where they surgically
removed the tattoos. RESULT? He had these horrible scars up and down
his arms! That's just the way he was. Always had a bag of dope in
one of his pockets. Where he got it...I don't know...and I made it my
business NOT to know. One time I got forced into Guard Duty with Da
Mouse. I was upset, but the sarge forced me to go out with Da Mouse for
perimeter guard. I told Mouse that there was NO WAY he was gonna be
smoking any of that stuff...and if he did, I would shoot him before Charlie
would! Just the same, I stayed awake all night long that night! When
it came to my personal safety, I rarely trusted anyone else. I sometimes
think that's the main reason I got back when some of my buds didn't.
Darned if I can remember his real name ... but I DO remember that he was from the Chicago area... and he always INSISTED upon only being addressed as "Mouse" or "Da Mouse"! Tore his real names off of his fatigues. He was deep into a lotta stuff ... and sometimes would get...er... "lost" for a night or day. Burned a LOT of... incense. As time went on, he got deeper into some kind of esoteric "Bhuddist" thing (according to HIM) and then insisted upon only being addressed as "BhuddaMouse"! (And he was SERIOUS!) Most of our guys were wary of him and avoided much contact, but once he found out I had been a musician playing in shows back in the world, we kinda, sorta got along. He was always trying to tell me about his latest ...uh..."mind trips". Most of it never made sense to me, but what the hell. We were gonna be there for a year or until we died - right? Always wore sunglasses- even at night...used to say "...it's psychedelic!" a lot. I now remember what happened to "Da Mouse". He volunteered to become a door gunner on a chopper! Now I REALLY wonder whatever became of him!
MOVIE NIGHT
When they didn't have "movie night" at LZ Montezuma (usually due
to shooting going on, or a broken projector, or jus plain NOT having any films)
we would wind up staring at a hissing TV screen trying to get a picture.
If anyone remembers the "movie theater" at Montezuma, it was down in
kind of a flattened depression in the ground by the Graves Registration.
Heaven only knows why because if the wind was blowing in the wrong direction at
times, it could be sickening. But...that's where it was. The bench
"seats" were actually old helicopter blades from Hueys and Chinooks
piled on top of the 105mm ammo boxes.