Most viewed - Leon "Lee" Dixon
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My_GTO.jpgGot me one too!230 viewsWhen I got home, I indeed traded in my Ford XL convertible for a new GTO.
Here I am with my GTO convertible. It was loaded with everything I could put on the form! I often said that dreaming of owning that car is a lot of what made me want to survive!
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Dixon-74.jpgThe magic of AKAI227 viewsI purchased the red-hot Akai 1800-SD tape recorder that recorded 8-track tapes. The price back then was $238.
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Dixon21.jpgCommo Dudes: Ready for anything218 viewsThe Duc Pho hill was off to the far right- out of the photo. These HQ battery commo fellows were PFC Hogan (left) and Sgt. Trainor. They were purposely looking tough here. We managed to somehow acquire a large stash of unusual "unauthorized" firearms (I had a bunch of them) and the PFC is holding what we fondly referred to as a "grease gun". The sarge was out of Texas as I recall.
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Dixon29.jpg"Mumble X"218 views(Top Center) We called him "Mumble-X." He got that name because he was always talking about Malcom-X and that was about all we could understand him say. He spoke very, very fast and very, very low. It was tough to decipher what he was saying unless you got him to calm down. A cocky, brave guy, though. His name was Mosely (best recall). He was originally part of HQ Btry, but then got farmed out to other units or areas. Last time I saw him he was running convoy. He was operating a quad 50... and seemed to love the action. The words painted on the gun say "V.C. Birth Control." No idea who the other fellows were because they were from another group.
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Dixon16.jpgWork Crew217 viewsMy work crew. We completed a new perimeter bunker at Duc Pho... a WELCOME improvement and 100% safer than what we had in the early days! Taken with a Polaroid on a self-timer. Not bad, huh? The boy next to me was one of two kids (a boy and a girl) I adopted from a local orphanage. We had a program where we could adopt orphaned kids and contribute something to their care each month. There were four Vietnamese helping us build this big bunker and they are all in this photo. The guy just over my shoulder to the left side of the photo was Roman (not sure if the same Roman listed on your site). The fellow behind me and in between the two Vietnamese was from Philadelphia... and I must say I cannot remember his name because we always called him "Philly" anyway! The other two GIs on the left are UNK (names forgotten).
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Dixon48.jpgLZ English - Bong Son215 viewsLook in my photo here and you'll see the SAME red-headed officer we used to call "Carrot Top". Don't recall his real name. Any idea who he was?
Ans> Yep! That is Lt Chris Herrick.
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Dixon58.jpgThe Big Surprise!214 viewsThe big surprise was the very tall, longhaired redhead in the pink babydoll negligee and heels. She did an EXTRA SPECIAL dance as the finale'...she came OUT of the negligee and the audience went beserk! Guys were climbing, pushing, shoving, fights breaking out...I was nearly crushed.
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Dixon23.jpgPerformers & Entertainers213 views(Duc Pho, maybe) I distinctly remember the girl (on the right sitting) was quite withdrawn except when she was performing. I talked with her for a bit and she had seen a lot of bad stuff. I suspect she was a little depressed over something she had recently seen, but I didn't press the issue. But you can see here, while the fellow is performing, she seemed almost ready to cry. But when it came her turn, she smiled and went on like a trooper!
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Dixon31.jpgCharles Lovelady213 viewsCharles Lovelady at Montezuma standing next to the APC we affectionately called "Double-Deuce" on a tank retriever. It has just been hauled back from being either broken down or blown up. At one point, Double-Deuce was driven over a 500-LB. bomb that VCs buried. Driver, another friend, Derwyn Kaiser out of Baltimore, was (as I recall) saved by being blown out of the driver's hatch and had to undergo a long and painful hospital stay and operations. Oddly enough, we met not at Montezuma, but at a hospital down in Saigon as I recall when we were both patients.
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Dixon47.jpgLZ English - Bong Son213 views(cont) Next thing I know, the Chinook crashes on its side and the guys inside are scrambling to get out! Here they are with the chopper in the background crashed and the guys trying to cross the perimeter barbed with to get back IN to LZ English! Some of them were scraped up pretty badly.
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Dixon51.jpgThe Metropole209 viewsLooking out front the guard post in front of the Ky-Son billet to the intersection of Tran Hung Dau St and another street that angled off from it. The pedicabs were called "Cyclo" (sick-low) by the Vietnamese. The 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 is- OHHhhhhh yesssss... the French colonial hotel... The Metropole.
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Dixon-Hospital.jpgC-141 Starlifter209 viewsGot violently ill one night and went into a coma at Qui Nhon. This beautiful bird evacuated me to the Phillipines. On the flight, I saw a guy on a stretcher suspended on the next tier up. When his sheet fell off, I saw that he had lost both legs and left arm. I was partially paralyzed at the time and didn't know if I was going to live, but I remember thinking how lucky I was compared to him. I often wonder what happened to this brave soldier.
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