Le Taylor Swift in Paris at La Defense Arena

[Scruffydog777]

Originally Posted by Marshal Davout

They have the new PACT act I think it is which is supposed to qualify Viet Vets for a lot of things; as you are presumed to have come in contact with the agent orange at some time; if you were "boots on the ground" there; but I don't know whether that would apply to hearing ? I may put in for it for something else; but haven't got started on anything yet !

My brother was in the Marine Corps and served in the Danang area around 67 or 68. He did come down with cancer and passed away last year. They've determined it was from his exposure to agent orange. He did get some compensation but that can't compensate for the fact he'd probably still be here if he hadn't been exposed

[Marshal Davout]

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

My brother was in the Marine Corps and served in the Danang area around 67 or 68. He did come down with cancer and passed away last year. They've determined it was from his exposure to agent orange. He did get some compensation but that can't compensate for the fact he'd probably still be here if he hadn't been exposed

I'm sorry I did not know ! Marines are Tough troops ! If I had a Job in the government I needed done; I would always give it to a Marine ; as I know they get the Job Done !!

[Marshal Davout]

I was in Tech School for Aircraft Maintenance having graduated Basic. I was only a one-striper or Airman 3rd class. I got extra duty; so one Sergeant said I had to deliver the Base Newspaper to all the houses ! At the time I never knew that Officers and NCOs had Base housing with their Dependents in regular houses ! So it was easy duty as I just had to walk up to each house and put a newspaper into their paper holders at the front door ! All went well for the first five houses; but at the rest of the houses; the Dependent Girls started opening the door to me and asked me in to get some Iced Tea or Lemonade ! They were pretty young in shorts and halter tops as this was early September and still warm ! They all looked like "Playboy Bunnys" to me, Ha ! Then it became a game to them as they would call every other girl they knew that I was coming to their door and so every door was opened to me by a nubile young girl who invited me in ! I was able to escape most of them; but at one house; a "Colonel Stormer's" residence; he had twin 16 year old girls who grabbed me by both arms and Yanked me into the house ! You're going to drink some of our lemonade, they said. So I agreed to drink one drink , then I got to go ! I looked pretty good in those days; sorta like a Paul Newman or a Robert Redford type ! They asked how old I was; so I told them 21, as I was in the service late and already had an AA Degree, half of a BA ! so they thought I was "Marriagable Material" ; as I was in the service like their father ! Ha ! They said we are in the cheerleaders at school so they said they would change into their outfits for me ! They were kinda Crazy as only 16 year old girls can be ! I said I got to go; as your father won't like me in the house ! They said Oh, He won't mind ! But I had visions of my Court-Martial coming up ! Ha ! I finally escaped from them; after promising to take them to the base theaters for a movie. we do Everything together; so you can take both of us ! Everything ? I said; so they said Yes ! But every house I went to the door was opened by another nubile young girl who invited me in ! I should have got the medal for "Courage Under Fire"; but when my papers ran out I finally escaped back to my barracks on the Base ! Ha !

[Scruffydog777]

Originally Posted by Marshal Davout

I was in Tech School for Aircraft Maintenance having graduated Basic. I was only a one-striper or Airman 3rd class. I got extra duty; so one Sergeant said I had to deliver the Base Newspaper to all the houses ! At the time I never knew that Officers and NCOs had Base housing with their Dependents in regular houses ! So it was easy duty as I just had to walk up to each house and put a newspaper into their paper holders at the front door ! All went well for the first five houses; but at the rest of the houses; the Dependent Girls started opening the door to me and asked me in to get some Iced Tea or Lemonade ! They were pretty young in shorts and halter tops as this was early September and still warm ! They all looked like "Playboy Bunnys" to me, Ha ! Then it became a game to them as they would call every other girl they knew that I was coming to their door and so every door was opened to me by a nubile young girl who invited me in ! I was able to escape most of them; but at one house; a "Colonel Stormer's" residence; he had twin 16 year old girls who grabbed me by both arms and Yanked me into the house ! You're going to drink some of our lemonade, they said. So I agreed to drink one drink , then I got to go ! I looked pretty good in those days; sorta like a Paul Newman or a Robert Redford type ! They asked how old I was; so I told them 21, as I was in the service late and already had an AA Degree, half of a BA ! so they thought I was "Marriagable Material" ; as I was in the service like their father ! Ha ! They said we are in the cheerleaders at school so they said they would change into their outfits for me ! They were kinda Crazy as only 16 year old girls can be ! I said I got to go; as your father won't like me in the house ! They said Oh, He won't mind ! But I had visions of my Court-Martial coming up ! Ha ! I finally escaped from them; after promising to take them to the base theaters for a movie. we do Everything together; so you can take both of us ! Everything ? I said; so they said Yes ! But every house I went to the door was opened by another nubile young girl who invited me in ! I should have got the medal for "Courage Under Fire"; but when my papers ran out I finally escaped back to my barracks on the Base ! Ha !

I think my monitor would start melting if you went into any more detail. It was quite an experience over there. Our unit stayed in some huts a couple of miles away from the helipad where we launched. Our unit maintianed and flew in the choppers. There was a town near by that was relatively safe for us to go to. We'd fly during the day and party at night. One night, we went into town and had way too much to drink. We called back to the base to have someboy pick us up. A guy by the nickname of Blacky came. He was a medic who flew with us and used to be in the first Cav, but he had night blindness. He pickes us up in one of those top heavy ambulances and on the way back to base, he drove into a huge ditch next to the road. Nobody was hurt and we laughed all night over that one. It was such an experience, such an education for a teenager over there.

[Marshal Davout]

Nothing Really happened there; as I was concerned about being court-martialed or Colonel Stormer finding me in his house in fatigues with 1 stripe and his two 16 year old nubile daughters so I got the heck out of there as soon as I could ! Ha ! All of these girls looked really great; much better than I remember the girls in my high school ! Of course there were no girls in our squadrons or flights then !
Being over seas and stuck on a base for a year; even I as a mostly sober guy; went through a drinking phase; but I always knew what I was doing, I think.
I fire-guarded the plane when it was starting up with a fire extinguisher. The plane had an APU ( Auxiliary Power Unit) plugged into it for electricity. However the engines didn't want to start ! Whereas the planes in my Squadron at my Andrews AFB always started right up ! They were in tip-top shape, I knew because I worked on the engines ! At Andrews I worked on the C-131D "Samaritan" and the C-47 "Skytrain". However the C-7A's at my base in Vietnam were hard to start ! So I told the Staff sergeant and Tech sergeant above me on the plane; there is something wrong with these engines ! after many bad starts; I told them in my honest opinion this plane needs a double engine change ! But they said the engines hadn't reached their hours of usage for a change ! I was really concerned about the engines; so much that I didn't want to fly in my own plane ! That's Bad ! Later the plane went down on the Cambodian border with an Engine fire ! They had to send a team over to change the engine out ( luckily it was my day off so I didn't have to go ! ) I don't think I had it as bad as the army or marines in Vietnam; because at least we had a chow hall to eat in and our "barracks" was an old Cement Cow Barn. We had Cold Showers and you always lost your breath in getting into a cold shower and had to shave with cold water! One time at McGuire AFB; we had a Squadron party and everybody was drunk more or less. The two nicest guys in the Squadron got into a fight for some reason and the locals called the police to the Park. Everybody scattered; but the two guys in the fight got detained. Back in the Barracks I had the Brilliant idea to go back down to the police station in Wrightstown and bail the guys out ! However;I didn't realize that being drunk and driving down ; we would be arrested for DUI ! Luckily the police brought the two back to the base and turned them over to the Air Police to send back to the barracks; so I saved myself from a DUI ! Ha !

[Scruffydog777]

Originally Posted by Marshal Davout

Nothing Really happened there; as I was concerned about being court-martialed or Colonel Stormer finding me in his house in fatigues with 1 stripe and his two 16 year old nubile daughters so I got the heck out of there as soon as I could ! Ha ! All of these girls looked really great; much better than I remember the girls in my high school ! Of course there were no girls in our squadrons or flights then !
Being over seas and stuck on a base for a year; even I as a mostly sober guy; went through a drinking phase; but I always knew what I was doing, I think.
I fire-guarded the plane when it was starting up with a fire extinguisher. The plane had an APU ( Auxiliary Power Unit) plugged into it for electricity. However the engines didn't want to start ! Whereas the planes in my Squadron at my Andrews AFB always started right up ! They were in tip-top shape, I knew because I worked on the engines ! At Andrews I worked on the C-131D "Samaritan" and the C-47 "Skytrain". However the C-7A's at my base in Vietnam were hard to start ! So I told the Staff sergeant and Tech sergeant above me on the plane; there is something wrong with these engines ! after many bad starts; I told them in my honest opinion this plane needs a double engine change ! But they said the engines hadn't reached their hours of usage for a change ! I was really concerned about the engines; so much that I didn't want to fly in my own plane ! That's Bad ! Later the plane went down on the Cambodian border with an Engine fire ! They had to send a team over to change the engine out ( luckily it was my day off so I didn't have to go ! ) I don't think I had it as bad as the army or marines in Vietnam; because at least we had a chow hall to eat in and our "barracks" was an old Cement Cow Barn. We had Cold Showers and you always lost your breath in getting into a cold shower and had to shave with cold water! One time at McGuire AFB; we had a Squadron party and everybody was drunk more or less. The two nicest guys in the Squadron got into a fight for some reason and the locals called the police to the Park. Everybody scattered; but the two guys in the fight got detained. Back in the Barracks I had the Brilliant idea to go back down to the police station in Wrightstown and bail the guys out ! However;I didn't realize that being drunk and driving down ; we would be arrested for DUI ! Luckily the police brought the two back to the base and turned them over to the Air Police to send back to the barracks; so I saved myself from a DUI ! Ha !

We flew some missions down to the Phan Rang area. A couple of times we stopped at the big Air Force base there and had lunch at their mess hall. Boy did those guys eat well!

[Marshal Davout]

At Andrews we had two chow halls; one on each side of the Base. The "A" chow hall was for most of the troops on the south side of the base. However; we found the "B" chow hall was on the north side of the Base and more for Flight crew, visiting dignitaries, etc.; so my Maintenance team used to drive over to the north chow hall; because all of the food was a little bit better ! I would place my thumb over the "A" on my chow card to show the entrance sergeant; so he wouldn't know I was actually eating in the wrong chow hall !
Ha ! we got away with it ; because there were only about 6 or 7 guys in our crew including a Tech and a Staff and a couple Sergeants as well as about two airman including myself !
Incidentally; I was actually promoted to a Rank that doesn't exist at least not anymore, as I was promoted from two stripes to three stripes which was supposed to be from Airman 2nd Class to Airman 1st Class; However on my orders I was actually Promoted to a Sergeant with 3 stripes ! This was because they needed more sergeants to control all of the airmen; as they thought it would give us more "status" ! I asked if I could get into the NCO club; then, but they told me I was a Sergeant in Name only ! If you check the Official ranks for the Air Force ; you will not find the rank of Sergeant , as I guess it was just during the war !

I never made it to Phan Rang or most of the other bases as I was Ground Crew ! The most I made it to was Cam Ranh Bay; which had a Nice White Sand Beach, as I remember ! I went to the beach there a couple times; when we were up there on temporary duty ! Except for Saigon; I never made it to most places; as I was stuck on my base at Vung Tau ! I was overseas for most of 1969 ! In my Duffle bag; I went through customs in Saigon with the Air police and had a copy of the January, 1969 Playboy ! I also had my boy Scout Knife. The Air police wanted to seize both of them; but I told them; that's ridiculous ! I might die tomorrow; and you're taking my Playboy ? so they let me keep them ! Ha !