Bravo Company 1st Battalion 3rd Marines 3rd Mar Div
ajdoc's Vietnam experience

 

I remember leaving O'Hare field in Chicago in 1968. My dad took me to the airport. It was just him and me on that drive that day. There weren't many words.... and when I boarded that plane to fly to Travis AFB in California, that was the first time I had remembered ever seeing my dad cry. It was very hard (on both of us).

I remember getting off the plane in Travis to a world I didn't know. What a hassle to get to the right spot at the right time in order to board the Military Airlift Command flight overseas. You know, I don't remember whether I spent a night at Travis or if I left that same day? It must have been the same day because our first stop was Hawaii...and it was night (I still remember the strong aroma of flowers).

Honolulu, Hawaii 1968

 

Postcard home from Travis AFB 1968

 

Postcard home from Hawaii, 1968

 

Postcard home from Wake Island, 1968

 

The excitement soon ended as we settled in to what seemed like nearly a
sixteen hour flight. One stop at Wake Island in the Pacific for re-fueling and
we were off to Okinawa. I can still remember the first impression as I stepped off the plane in Oki. Hot! Humid!

But since it was again night (I don't remember if it was the next night or the night before), I was so tired that the shower and rack felt pretty welcome. At least I was still in a safe zone.

I slept like a rock!

Okinawa

 

Camp Hansen

So now the stage was set. I was inspected, injected, and indoctrinated and put back on the plane a few days later...

Destination: SOUTH VIETNAM, Republic of

Who ever heard of Vietnam anyway?

 

Here's a poem I have always liked:

Vietnam.

Hot. Wet. Muddy. Perilous.

To prove yourself here is to prove yourself to the world.

No test is harder. No trial more demanding.

But when a man serves here, he proves himself a man.

To his country. To himself. ---author unknown