Mémoire

Just discovered an old backup disk and I'm able to recover  photo's I had considered lost for ever.  There's plenty of pictures I'll be able to recover.  

With U.S. Independence Day approaching...

 ...Here's what I did 38 years ago, July 1972..

The U.S. was in disengagement phase from Vietnam.

Units were deactivated, troops sent home, equipment destroyed.  With my unit deactivated, I was resigned to the Qui Nhon (Quy Nhon) motor-pool.

My duty was parts clerk, Special Purpose Equipment Repairman, was the official title . Of course the supply depots were long gone, my job was meaningless. Just inventory and organize what was left.

I became a bus driver.  
On Weekends I had the 'Beach Run.'  No schedule, just whenever I had passengers, or when I felt like leaving for the beach. 

The Beach entrance was controlled by two American soldiers, a woman (who did all the work), and obviously mostly child soldier security.

        

On July Fourth, 1972, we replaced the beach bus with the BEACH TRAIN.


The Shake and Bake run.

Passengers were bounced down the road.  It was the shake before the beach bake. 

The Vietnamese motor-pool crew were magicians.  With replacement parts no longer available, they had to cannibalize, or make their own.

They assembled a Dodge bus, a Ford engine, and a GM transmission. Or was it the other way around. They had to manufacture a few gears to make it work.

One of the mechanics found an abandoned puppy in the middle of a street. I nursed it till it opened it's eyes.  Then it followed me everywhere for the next few months.

During my time in Qui Nhon I was almost killed by friendly fire.  By a guy cleaning his loaded M16 in the barracks.
The bullet ricocheted off the walls... zing... zing... zing... I felt the heat and the breeze of the bullet pass in front of my nose.