CampAlpha.jpgWelcome to Camp Alpha359 viewsNovember, 1966. The Beginning. This was the Reception Station that greeted the incoming unit "replacements" as they awaited orders assigning them to fill unit vacancies. The "Speedy Four" in charge took great pleasure in barking orders to NCOs and Officers alike knowing full well they could not do a thing about it. Every order we had was dumped into a trash barrel. You would wait for further instructions.
I was given a handful of dusty, dirty letters that had piled up. One was my promotion to 1st Lt.
TSN-Laundry.JPGTan Son Nhut / Camp Alpha357 viewsA peek inside the laundry. We soon learned that "laundry" in Vietnamese means "less dirty".
TSN9.JPGTan Son Nhut / Camp Alpha351 viewsSlot machines inside the Officers Club.
FFE.jpgFiring for Effect351 viewsAll six guns of the battery firing together. Likely done at the end of a daily registration to verify the pattern of the impact area and single out any short or long shooters.
Le_Van_Cho.jpgStreets of Saigon347 viewsPort Policeman Le Van Cho on the left; Sp4 Jerry West on the right. Sp4 West was my "tour guide" in Saigon. Col Robert Sabolyk, the Provost Marshal of Saigon, arranged my one-day tour of Saigon before going out into the "field" with the 2/9th. I had a one week reprieve. Never saw Saigon again!
The_Gate.JPGCamp Alpha / Tan Son Nhut AB345 viewsThis gate separated the incomining personnel at Camp Alpha from the Tan Son Nhut airbase just outside the city of Saigon.
TSN12.JPGBubble Park338 viewsThese Bell helicopters were mostly used for commanders to visit their units in the "safer" areas. These birds were no match for any hostile ground fire.
OnTheBeach2.JPGNavy Ship330 viewsA Navy supply ship unloads at the South China Sea.
Note the CONEX container in the center of the photo. Two of these units welded together formed the highly mobile FDCs for the artillery units.
Montezuma-Aerial.JPGAirstrip329 viewsAerial view of LZ Montezuma - FSB Bronco at Duc Pho. Was 3rd Brigade, 25th Inf Div HQ until August, 1967.
Crane-water.JPGSkycrane Delivers320 viewsA chore usually performed by a CH-47 Chinook, here you see a Sikorsky SkyCrane delivering a water trailer to an LZ.
OnTheBeach.JPGShip320 viewsA ship just offshore the beach of the South China Sea.
OnTheBeach4.JPGNavy Ship 2319 viewsSame shot taken behind the concertina wire.
