VIETNAM -- 1967 - PART 1 --
Editorsnote: This story takes place in 1967 when there was NO HIV . The mostdangerous STD were Syphilis and Gonorrhea, which could be cured bypenicillin or the new antibiotics.
Thisstory takes place in 1967, before the "Shit Hit the Fan" in theform of the "Tet" Offensive (February 1968). All things weredifferent in Vietnam after that.
InViet Nam, there is a spine of mountains, going from the northern cityof Hue (pronounced Way), south to Saigon, that disappeared, thenthe Mekong Delta. The Vietnamese referred to them as mountains, butthey weren't mountains by American standards, they were hills. To betechnical, they were buttes like we have in the American Southwest inthe area of Monument Valley, and the Devil's Tower, featured in thefilm "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", but that film wouldcome much later than this story takes place. The Vietnamese Buttes,for want a better word, were sheer sided, flat on top, and coveredwith jungle growth. There was no way to get to the top except by air.The sides were totally unclimbable.
Americanplanes would pour Agent Orange on the tops, and after a period oftime for the vegetation to die off, helicopters would come back,land, and unload men and equipment. "Bull Dozers" would be usedto clear the dead vegetation, and a base camp would be established.Army Signal men would come in and build microwave relay stations.With a line of these relays from north to south, there was instantcommunication through out the entire country. (This was beforesatellites) The Microwave machinery had to be adjusted andmaintained, therefore, an aluminum Quonset hut was put up, and men ofthe Signal Corps moved in.
Onceyou had men in place, you had to have a kitchen, Mess Hall,Generator, a laundry, bathrooms and a shower. So more aluminumQuonset huts were put up. The presence of the men requires aschedule of re-supply, and necessitated a Supply Shack. So anotherQuonset was set up. And soon a functioning camp resulted. Theindividual solders would bring in TV sets, radios, refrigerators,and even air conditioners. The man in charge of the electrical gridwould look at what each man had brought in, and decide which could beused, and which could not. His word was law. Usually, there was noproblem, as the Army generators provided more power than themicrowave relays required.
Theshowers and toilets were ingenious! Bombs came into the country inmetal cases. Once the bomb was removed, the metal case was garbage,to be thrown away. But they were not thrown away. A Mechanic wouldtake these cases and weld them shut. They would then interconnectthem together (with copper pipe and standard plumbing fixtures) in abattery of 16 to 48, depending on the number of men there were. Themetal cases were painted black, and put up in towers, and connectedto standard American shower heads in the room below. The black paintabsorbed the heat of the sun, and the water in the filled tanks, wassoon almost boiling (After all this was in a Tropic country). Thetowers were refilled with cold water, so the "early bird" (after5 o'clock) got boiling water, that they had to dilute with coldwater, and the "late bird" got cold water. The majority of mentried to arrive somewhere in the middle of the temperature range!
Thetoilets were just as ingenious. When you went in the front door , itwas just like using a multi hole outhouse. There were large holes inwooden ledges covered with regular American toilet seats, with moderntoilet paper! It looked like rural America. On the outside, when youwent to the rear of the toilet, the similarity ended. Across theback, the rear wall (under seat height) was hinged in sections. Thepoor unfortunate solder who had "Latrine Duty", that day, wouldpull out the containers that were under each seat. The wastecontainers were 55 gallon metal drums , cut in half. At that time,the Army was very conscious of "Waste not, Want not." When thesemetal containers came in country, they were full of things likelubricating oil, and diesel fuel. Once the barrel was empty, it wascleaned, cut in half, and reused. The person who had the duty wouldremove these barrels several feet, and pour in a measured amount ofdiesel fuel. He would light it up, and run up wind. It did not smellvery nice, and the diesel fuel burned with a thick black smoke.
Itwas one of those things that in-country solders though was veryfunny! Back in the states, photos of camps were shown with thickblack plumes of smoke rising. Most Americans though they sawphotographic proof that "Charlie" was attacking our camps, asshown by the plumes of black smoke caused by the damage of incomingshells. The truth (and the funny part) was that we were burning shit!
"Charlie"kept the men on the buttes on their toes. Although North Vietnameseforces could not get to the top, a mortar could. So every once in awhile, "Charlie" would bring a mortar to the base of the hill,and fire a few rounds at the top. "Charlie" could not see wherethe shells landed and exploded, so they randomly attempted to coverthe entire top. Most of the rounds did little damage, butoccasionally the shells hit a building, which had to be repairedimmediately. There were very few casualties and not much damage tothe installation!
Hill501 was one of these "Micro-Wave Relays". It was at the extremerange of that area of Vietnam covered by the American II FieldForces. II Field Forces Headquarters was in Long Binh, and stretchedfor several miles along Vietnam's Route One. It was approximately 30miles Northeast of Saigon. It was a small city, unto itself, and inback of it was the largest Ammo Dump in Vietnam. All night long,flares were sent up to light the area, so "Charlie" would thinktwice about attacking the Ammo Dump.
IfAmerican forces in Vietnam had a heart, this was it. GeneralWestmorland and General Abrams (the one the Tank is named for) livedhere.
Everymodern convenience you can think of, was here, including a swimmingpool for the troops. At the headquarters was a Public InformationOffice (PIO). Photos of our fighting forces, were distributed toAmerican Newspapers, the three television networks, magazines, andeven stateside radio stations. The PIO had intimate knowledge ofAmerican operations. The PIO office would contact the Signal Corpsto send photographers out with the troops.
Theofficer in charge of the PIO office, collected gory photos, thegorier the better. When asked "Why" he said that some day, in thefuture, someone would ask him "What was Vietnam REALLY like". Hesaid he would sit that person down with a barf bucket, and bring outall the gory shots he had collected! The viewer of those photos wouldthen get an education on the horrors of war.
Whenthe photographers went out into the field, they would have their Armyissued Cannon cameras loaded with 35mm. black and white film, on onehip. On the other hip would be their personal Nikon FTN, 35 mm.Cameras, loaded with high speed Ektachrome color slide film. Whenthe photographers returned from assignment, a proof sheet of theirBlack and White film would be printed, and sent over to the PIOoffice. They would send back orders for so many prints of whichframe. These would be sent back to the states, or given to the newsmedia. The photographers were instructed to get the names and hometown of the solders in the shots, and the PIO office would send theprints to local newspapers, along with official descriptions of theoperations.
Oneof the development technicians, who developed the Official U.S. Armyphotographs, also had a Home Ektachrome Kit. On his own, not usingany army supplies, he developed the Ektachrome film for thephotographers. under what must be considered "PrimitiveConditions", he developed the films perfectly! Since he did notuse Army supplies in this side endeavor, and he worked at night, whenhe was "off duty" there was no question of ownership of thephotos. The color slides produced, belonged to the photographers.
TheArmy Photographers were a mixed bag. Some had been professionalphotographers before being drafted; some joined news services andnewspapers after getting out of the army; some did not know one endof a camera from the other, until the Army taught them the secretesof getting good shots. One photographer was a Dutch citizen who livedin the United States. Needless to say, he was very upset when he wasdrafted. He contacted the Dutch Ambassador. In the investigation, itwas found out that the U.S. did have the legal right to draft thatperson, but, in order to avoid an international incident with anAllie of ours, he was assigned to a position where he would not beexpected to fight. They made him a photographer.
Theofficial weapon of a photographer, was the 45 Pistol. Photographerswere not in-country very long, when they traded the 45 for an AR-15or better yet, a Kalashnikov rifle (AK-47). One of the best picturesthat never made it out of Vietnam, was taken by a regular Armysolder. An American unit was doing a sweep in the delta, and our PIOoffice instructed us to send a photographer on this operation. Thetroops, including our photographer, were walking through a ricepatty, when the Photographer fell into an unseen deep hole. The onlything visible, was an arm coming out of the mud with an AR15 and twocameras. The solder walking behind our photographer took out hiscamera, and got the shot.
OurPhotographer tried desperately to get the film containing the shot,but the solder said no. The promise of free film for as long as hewas in-country and free development of any film, and "credit",could not sway the solder. Our Photographer failed to get the film.So, somewhere back here in the USA is a great photo. The dejectedphotographer came back and told his sad story. He did get some goodshots of the American solders being hosed down before being allowedto return to base. Most Americans thought pictures of rice pattieswere very bucolic. They never realized that in Vietnam, humanexcrement is used as a fertilizer in rice patties. You should havesmelt it! Our guys had to be hosed down, because they were coveredwith shit.
Oneof the other things Americans had to adjust to, was living with theMonsoon rainy season, and its resultant mud. Most of Vietnam is notpaved. Streets and roads are dirt. When the Monsoon arrives, the dirtturns to mud, even in the cities. Americans don't deal with mud on aregular basis, and newcomers have to learn to deal with it. Theyquickly learned that you could tell the depth of the mud, by itscolor. A light brown indicated a shallow deposit, while a dark browncolor indicated a deep filled hole. If you didn't learn this, youstood a good chance of stepping into mud filled hole, and beingcovered in mud up to your hips or even higher. This acquiredknowledge was very handy when out in the "Boondocks", in thejungle, and even in the ubiquitous rice paddies.
Outsidethe cities, after the "Tent" stage of Base development, housingfor men consisted of three types: the Quonset Hut, primarily used in"Advance Camps", the aluminum Hutch, and the Wooden Hutch. Thealuminum hutch was just what you think, a long room, whose walls(with windows) and roof were made of metal panels, (Aluminum). TheWooden Hutch was more interesting. A series of 45 degree anglechocks were nailed to the up rights. Wooden planks were then nailedto the chocks. Thus all siding was as a 45 Degree angle, leaving anopen space between each siding plank. On the inside, "mosquitonetting" was nailed or stapled to the uprights. Thus a breeze couldgo through, but sand, bugs, and rain could not. The passage of air,was a necessity, because most Americans were not used to theexcessive heat of a "Tropical" country, and it was totallyimpractical to "Air Condition" every building.
Outside of cities, some buildings were air conditioned. Buildings thatcontained electronic equipment or chemicals were, as were the officesand meeting rooms of Higher Ranking Officers. Really high rankingOfficers had air conditioned bedrooms, and men of lower ranks couldbuy air conditioners in the PX, but had to get permission to plugthem in, so generators would not be overloaded.
Whenour Photographer Specialist 5th Class (E-5) Tom Rydel,first arrived in Vietnam, he lived in one of these metal Hutches. Hehad been in country less than a week, when, (in the middle of thenight) a parachute flair, from the nearby Ammo Dump, failed to open,and the flair fell straight down into the metal Hutch next to the onehe was living in. The Flair came straight down, and into the aluminumHutch that men were sleeping in, and set it and the contents on fire.(The temperature of magnesium flairs was measured in thousands ofdegrees.) The young solder in charge of the water truck, woke up,and in his underwear, ran to the motor pool, thankful that he hadfilled his water truck that night, for an early start of his roundsthe next day. He drove the truck to the Hutch, and turned on thewater (in his full Water Truck tank) full blast, putting out thefire, and saving the lives of the men in the hutch. He received amedal for his actions. One of the men in the hutch, was so badlyburned, that he was shipped to Japan for extensive medical treatment.When Spec 5 Rydel was rotated home, (a year later) he went to the"Repo-Depot" at Tongsonut Air Field, outside of Saigon, and hemet the the burnt solder returning to Vietnam to complete his tour.The medical Magicians in the American Army Hospitals in Japan, hadworked their medical magic, on him, and he was recognizable. Afterwhat he had gone through, sending him back to Vietnam wasunconscionable, but it was the Army Way (then).
Spec5 Tom Rydel had gotten his first camera when he was 12. It was aKodak Brownie, and you couldn't do much with it, except takepictures. He was 14 when he got his first 35mm. Camera. It was aLeica, from Germany, one of the first European companies to recoverafter World War II. He could now play with the camera, adjustingfocus, camera speed and "F Stop", and varying the focus. Heconverted a closet in his house into a darkroom, and he began toplay. He began to develop a reputation as a photographer, and becamethe Official Photographer for the High School Newspaper and Yearbook.He also started to work with the local newspapers, and began to sellhis photos to magazines. By the time he graduated High School, hislife was planned out. He would save his money and open his ownstudio. To accumulate the necessary money, he took a low paying,bottom of the heap job with a national magazine company, while goingto a "Photo School" at night. He was developing a reputationwithin the business, as someone with a good eye. His company begansending him out as an official photographer on events of nationalimportance. Everything was going according to plan, when he got oneof those letters from the government: "Congratulations, Yourdrafted". (This was back in the days of the "Draft" Army!)
Tomtried everything he could think of, to avoid the draft, he didn'twant to be Vietnam cannon fodder. The government did not recognizehis "Photo School" as a college, so a college deferment was notavailable. Phone calls to his Congressman and Senator resulted innothing. No matter what he did, he could not avoid the draft and soonfound himself in the Army. The psychological tests failed to findTom's innermost secret -- He was gay. Although he had had fewliaisons, he had a complete education in what it means to be gay, andhe knew the importance of appearing straight. It was difficult forhim living in a barracks with 50 other late adolescent males duringbasic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, but he survived and no onediscovered his secret. The Army did discover his expertise with thecamera, assigned him to the Signal Corps, and sent him to the schoolfor photography at Fort Monmouth.
Whenthe teachers at the school discovered his extensive background, theysat back and he wound up teaching the classes to draftees withabsolutely no knowledge of photography. He had his own camera, andtook many photos of his fellow students and life at Fort Monmouth. Heused his own 35mm film to teach the other students "Development",and how to make prints, both matte and glossy. He, nonchalantlyshowed prints to his teachers, and his photos, with a credit, foundthere way into Official Army Brochures.
Aftergraduating from the Army photo school, the teachers tried to keep himat Fort Monmouth as a teacher, but they failed to do so. His firstduty assignment was with a ceremonial unit in Washington D.C. He tookmany photos of President Johnson at ceremonies around WashingtonD.C., and of other personnel high in the Government. He advanced inrank, was granted a "Top Secret" Clearance, and was frequentlysent to the Pentagon. His most exciting assignment was when theymoved the body of JFK from its temporary location to its permanentlocation with the eternal flame. The FBI called him to come in themiddle of the night. He was using a 3 x 5 Box Camera, with a Polaroid back pack. The FBI assigned an agent to be with him at every second.The FBI man took the instant photos, and the background papers, sincea print could be made from the Polaroid negatives. Tom's mouthdrooled at how much he could get for those photos, but the FBI wasone step ahead of him. He could not profit from the assignment, buthe was there, and had a memory he would carry with him for the restof his life, particularly, when they opened the coffin to verify thatit was the body of JFK. He was sworn to secrecy, that he would nevertell anyone what he had seen that night, and he didn't. He did tellhis fellow photographers, but nobody else!
Theynext sent him to Vietnam as a photographer. At first they kept him atthe Headquarters, taking pictures of General Westmorland and GeneralAbrams. His "Security Clearances" (Gotten in Washington D.C.)came in handily. After several months of this, they let him go intothe field.
Luckily,Tom was an attractive young man, he looked great in his tight Armytailored "Fatigues", and he was able to meet similarly inclinedmembers of the draft Armed forces. His "Gaydar" was welldeveloped, and he never made the mistake of making a pass at astraight solder, although he did introduce several solders, who didnot know they were gay, to the joys of gay sex. If he was extremelyhorny, he would wrangle a trip to the cities, and pick up aVietnamese male for a night of uninhibited sex. The Vietnameseattitude towards homosexuality was different from American's. It wasan accepted part of life, and homosexuals were not ostracized ordemeaned. Homosexuals served in all aspects of life, including theArmy and Government.
Thiscreated several humorous situations during the "VietnamizationProgram" when members of the Vietnamese Army were billeted withAmerican units. One of the members of the Vietnamese Army Unit gotthe hots for an American farm boy from Nebraska, who knew nothingabout homosexuals. The funniest part, was that the boys form New Yorkand New Jersey, who knew what it was about, did not clue in the farmboy from Nebraska. It was very amusing when the Vietnamese boy creptinto the bed of the Nebraska farm boy. The Nebraska Farm boy'sreactions upon waking up to find another male holding his genitalswas laugh provoking! The rest of the guys in the hutch prevented theNebraska farm boy from killing the Vietnamese boy, and no permanentharm was done to anyone. A few tense days followed, and one of theboys from New Jersey filled in the Vietnamese boy about Americanattitudes towards homosexuality. The Vietnamese boy was confused byAmerican attitudes, as it was not logical. The boy from New Jerseysaid he did not understand it either, but said that that was the wayit was. When the Vietnamese boy finally realized that AmericanSolders were "off limits", he stopped pursuing the Nebraska farmboy, apologized to him, and things returned to normal. It was funnywhile it lasted!
Spec5 Tom Rydel enjoyed his stay in Vietnam. He was of sufficient rankthat he did not have to do the dirty work, and qualified to attendthe "NCO" Club (Non Commissioned Officer's). He had all thebenefits of home at the base camp, and only put his life in danger onrare occasions. He dealt with the heat and the mud, knowing that itwas only a temporary situation, and that soon he would be back in thegood old "ZI" (Zone of the Interior- Mainland USA), and then outof the Army. There were enough members of the draft Army with hissame proclivity, that he was not sexually frustrated like many otherstraight American troops were; however, Vietnamese prostitutes werecheap and readily available. All this changed after the "Tet"offensive. The almost tranquility of "Advisors" was replaced withreal warfare, although the many American and Vietnamese dead in thisperiod, might not agree with the word "Tranquility."
Thingswere proceeding swimmingly until the arrival of Spec 4 John M.Johnson.