A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check
made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount "up to and
including my life."
However much combat troops dominated the news during the Vietnam War, the
grunts knew they owed much to the vast armada of support troops who backed
them up. The battlefield heroism performed in the rainforests and the
highlands would have been impossible without the weapons and ammunition to
fight, or the food to sustain those who fought. All of those supplies had to
be shipped or flown over thousands of miles to the main bases, then
distributed by truck or aircraft to the scattered posts where they were most
needed. Before that work could be done, the main base facilities had to be
established, built up by Army engineers or the legendary Navy construction
battalions, abbreviated CBs, or more colloquially, the Seabees. Those
facilities had to be periodically maintained and repaired. Trucks were
universally fair game in Vietnam, whether they were communist-run vehicles
dodging a variety of U.S. air-dropped ordnance on the Ho Chi Minh Trail or
American haulers who were subjected to frequent ambush and often defended
their own vehicles with makeshift armor and gun positions.
This is more than a just a scenic photo of the entrance
to Danang Harbor 1967. I took it through a airliner window on the way to
R&R. Forty years later; I shared this photo via email with some fellow
Seabees and found out that Monkey Mt. in the background was a
multi-battalion project in 1967. Seabee Rick John, EO-3, MCB-6/ Island X-2,
Fl with his D-8 and Jimmy Picotti, EO-3, MCB-7 with his dump truck helped
build the road to the top of this mountain 2,200’ above the South China Sea.
This mountain was critical in the war. On top was a USAF anti-aircraft Hawk
missile battery plus radar and communications facilities. At the base of the
mountain in the background of the photo is the deep water pier under
construction. At the moment this photo was taken, Paul Curry, EO-3, MCB-128
told me he was operating a pile driver on the right pier.
Was at the "Hawk Facility" towards the end of MCB 53's
deployment. There was a typhoon that caused a lot of damage there and in the
rest of the area. Had been to Monkey Mt. many times, but did not know what
was at the top. Hauled a D8 up there to repair the roads and remove
debris..... These guys lived a privledged life. Their two to four man "Huts"
were more like hunting cabins with tongue and groove pine boards....Joe
Bilak EO1. ----
THE PICTURES OF THE SHIP (THE KINGS POINT) AT SEA IS
THE SHIP THAT WAS HAULING ALL OF MCB'S TOOLS TO RVN. THERE WERE THREE
SECURITY GUARDS ON BOARD LARRY L. BECKETT (WHO WAS IN CHARGE), DONALD J.
STRANDELL AND ME JOHN M. DIENST WHO TOOK THESE PICTURES. THAT SHIP WAS ALSO
HAULING 200 TONS AND I REPEAT 200 TONS OF PREMIUM BEER. WHAT A TRIP THAT
WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Red Beach of Da Nang is now known as Xuan Thieu Beach. The following
three pictures are of the present day resort located at the former Enlisted
Mans Club of Camp Haskins.
https://traveldanang.org/place/red-beach-da-nang/
Deyoung photo album
Fred Pais photo album
Richard Cheers album '69 tour
Rich Femminella album '69 tour
Rick Liebendorfer, who served with the Army in I Corps writes – “Yesterday I
met a member of US Navy Seabee MCB 53. His unit had the mission to pave Hwy
9 in I Corps. They were based at the "Vinh Dai Rock Crusher" west of Dong
Ha. Our Duster Battery (C-1/44) was based just above them at the top of the
small hill. We gave them security support and based our operations from
there throughout the Hwy 9 AO. Nasty work under harsh conditions... Photos
courtesy of Ed Brown, USN Seabee MCB 53.”
Our own Pete Turner 2015 interview
The following video is a contribution by CEW3 Pete Turner. Pete used an 8 mm
camera in 1968 and this film would have been lost to us. Fortunately Pete
remembered he had it in storage. Pete resurrected the film, had it converted
to digital format, and then edited it to be shared. All our memories fog
over time, which is one of the reasons we work together and help one
another. One section of the video (around 7:35) is labeled “building
barracks at Tien Sha.” The actual location of that video segment is III MAF
Headquarters area. Pete did a terrific job dusting off his film,
reformatting it, and sharing it with all.
Following are two albums donated by Ted Glover Teds' comments - One of the albums are photos taken
around DaNang.
The other album involves Route 1 and 9 to Cam Lo rockcrusher. I may have
mixed pictures but I don't think so. FYI on this trip to Cam Lo, the base
at Dong Ha was shelled the day we arrived. and a lot of our trucks were
damaged. On the return trip, after we crossed the Perfume River, some of
our semi trucks quit running and we had to tow them to Hue. Excitement
abounded in Vietnam!
The
linked photographs were taken from 1967 through 1969 and are in no
particular order. There are misspellings and I would suppose a few
descriptions that are not correct. Please overlook those little
inconsistencies. I was on the advanced party on both deployments for the
BEEP. My travels were from Da Nang to the rock pile at Vin Dai on Route 9. I
saw some beautiful country. I ran the tire shop during both deployments and
ended up the Battalion Tailor, inheriting my own sewing room adjacent to the
tire shop. Most folks probably noticed the shined magnesium wheels with some
fancy "General" tires on the CO’s jeep? I was given the wheels off a jeep
that had broken loose from a helicopter. They were of course painted green.
Using sandpaper and steel wool, I brought out a shine. The tires as I
remember were trailer tires that were a 10 or 12 ply, being quite difficult
to mount. The CO’s used them on their jeep for both deployments. I also gave
illegal haircuts for those who did not like the barber. During the second
deployment I had two local “helpers” who could do some amazing feats of
physics moving tires around using sticks and bars, where I would need a
forklift and chains. I experienced rocket attacks, a few flew into our base
trying to get to MAG-16 across the road. The 1968 TET Offensive Lunar New
Year Attack was an eye opener, but after about three days with no sleep, I
crashed 10 straight hours. The ammo dump blowing up, for half a week, during
the second tour, was also memorable. We could see the crushing shock waves
rolling towards us. Entire Camps were leveled, but the speed in which all
the bases were put back together was totally amazing. My enlistment ended
before the end of the second deployment, so I was not able to fulfill the
whole stint there. Arriving back at the states in San Diego was quite
disgusting. Leaving the base as a civilian, walking past the anti-war folks
chanting slogans, attacking all of us as being baby killers and the like. It
was nasty, to say the least. I enrolled into a junior college, earned a
degree in forestry, and have never been employed in forestry. Instead, after
shuffling through several different jobs, I ended up in the cable television
trade, starting off with tube amplifiers. I saw transitions from tubes to
transistors and solid state to fiber optics. I designed two systems and
helped maintain four of them, finally exiting the business after wrecking my
knee falling off a pole during a snow storm. 23 years down the tubes? No. I
went back to school again and after two semesters, have become a desk jockey
and love it. I am currently a manager/assistant in one real estate office
and an assistant in another while on the side do minor property management
for apartments. I have been married 38 years and have two outstanding
daughters and sons-in-law with four grandchildren. I worship at the
Evangelical Free Church where I am the webmaster and am on the local parks
and recreation district serving over 20 years on the board of directors as
well as other organizations. The "Can Do" slogan followed me into civilian
life. This linked photo album originally were slides that I converted to jpg
format. If you would like to learn this technique, please contact me
directly or through the caretaker of our web site. Stephen Cutting CMA-3
The
Computer Center was supposed to have custom electrical switching equipment –
which never showed up. So we made and put in a custom tray with custom
boxes, featuring home made circuitry – worked great.
Conrad,1969, waiting in his Sunday best to go to the USO show
Sunday, 27 April, 1969. The day the ammo dump went up.
I have included some pictures that I took from tower 5 when I was on
security during the 69 tour. It took me a while to get the slides
converted to a digital format and more time to actually copy them. Tower 5
was in the NW corner of the camp and these are a 360 degree panoramic from
the tower. The last two are of a US Navy destroyer in the bay and viewing
it through the lens of a binocular using my Kodak Instamatic.
Jim Donohue
Donald F. Hovanec was born on December 10, 1949.
His home of record is Carteret, NJ. Don enlisted in the US Navy and attained
the rank of Builder Third Class (BU3) with MCB 53. BU3 Hovanec expired July
7, 1969 in Thua Thien, South Vietnam. Donald is buried at Holy Trinity
Church Cemetery, Hopelawn, NJ.
When visitors first enter the museum, they will hear a sound like wind
chimes coming from above them and their attention will be drawn upward 24
feet to the ceiling of the two-story high atrium. Dog tags of the more
than 58,000 service men and women who died in the Vietnam War hang from the
ceiling of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago. The
10-by-40-foot sculpture, entitled Above & Beyond, was designed by Ned
Broderick and Richard Steinbock. The tens of thousands of metal dog tags are
suspended 24 feet in the air, 1 inch apart, from fine lines that allow them
to move and chime with shifting air currents. Museum employees using a kiosk
and laser pointer help visitors locate the exact dog tag with the imprinted
name of their lost friend or relative.
George Kern
https://www.ksnt.com/veteransalute/veteran-salute-building-bridges-throughout-vietnam/
Topeka (KSNT) – Serving over two decades
with the Navy, Seabee George Kern built bridges, schools and more here at
home and overseas in Vietnam. With the draft in full swing, Kern had a
unique opportunity to showoff skills he’d already developed, now with the
Navy. “If I could verify two or more years experience in a construction
field, they would bring me in as an E4 versus coming in as an E1,” Kern
said. “I had the experience as an operator, my dad said you’re crazy if you
don’t do it. So I went up, went through the process and everything, and
recruiter told me before I signed ‘if you do this you’re going to Vietnam.’
I said well I figured I was going anyways, I’d just pick who I’m going
with.” With his background in operating loaders, backhoes, dump trucks and
more, joining the Seabees was a no-brainer. “We resurfaced highroads, built
roads, worked on a couple of bridges, finished those up,” Kern said. “We
were helping their infrastructure basically. We were putting up buildings,
which a lot were for the military but we had the Seabee team that went out.
They built clinics or schools for the locals, and I just thought okay, we’re
doing a good thing here.” Working wherever need be sent the Seabee all over
Vietnam. “Liberty Bridge, it was pretty much done when we got there,” Kern
said. “We took over from another battalion, our battalion sent a crew out,
they finished it. We went out with the trucks, we asphalted the bridge, that
felt good we got that job done. Lang Co bridge I had started on that project
building a ramp for the temporary pontoon bridge, got pulled off of that and
sent up north. Rebuilding up around the exchange, cleaning all the mess up,
not one that actually sticks out there was just like I say, okay this is
where we need you today, there you go.” One of the moments that did stick
out to Kern happened while he was apart of a security platoon. “We got hit
with rockets one night, we figured this bunker could take anything but a
direct hit from the rocket,” He said. “Well, when the sun came up the next
morning and I looked over my shoulder, the back corner of the bunker is
laying out on the ground. I kinda growled you know I know what I’ve got to
do, I got to build this back today. I almost got killed that night, and the
only thing that bothered me was ‘I gotta build this back up again’.” About a
decade after his active time with the military came to an end, Kern rejoined
the service in the Navy Reserves. He’d take on more of a leadership position
as a Crew Leader, working on projects at a California Naval Air Station and
in Arizona.
Night
time East DaNang
The
linked photographs were taken from 1967 through 1969 and are in no
particular order. There are misspellings and I would suppose a few
descriptions that are not correct. Please overlook those little
inconsistencies. I was on the advanced party on both deployments for the
BEEP. My travels were from Da Nang to the rock pile at Vin Dai on Route 9. I
saw some beautiful country. I ran the tire shop during both deployments and
ended up the Battalion Tailor, inheriting my own sewing room adjacent to the
tire shop. Most folks probably noticed the shined magnesium wheels with some
fancy "General" tires on the CO’s jeep? I was given the wheels off a jeep
that had broken loose from a helicopter. They were of course painted green.
Using sandpaper and steel wool, I brought out a shine. The tires as I
remember were trailer tires that were a 10 or 12 ply, being quite difficult
to mount. The CO’s used them on their jeep for both deployments. I also gave
illegal haircuts for those who did not like the barber. During the second
deployment I had two local “helpers” who could do some amazing feats of
physics moving tires around using sticks and bars, where I would need a
forklift and chains. I experienced rocket attacks, a few flew into our base
trying to get to MAG-16 across the road. The 1968 TET Offensive Lunar New
Year Attack was an eye opener, but after about three days with no sleep, I
crashed 10 straight hours. The ammo dump blowing up, for half a week, during
the second tour, was also memorable. We could see the crushing shock waves
rolling towards us. Entire Camps were leveled, but the speed in which all
the bases were put back together was totally amazing. My enlistment ended
before the end of the second deployment, so I was not able to fulfill the
whole stint there. Arriving back at the states in San Diego was quite
disgusting. Leaving the base as a civilian, walking past the anti-war folks
chanting slogans, attacking all of us as being baby killers and the like. It
was nasty, to say the least. I enrolled into a junior college, earned a
degree in forestry, and have never been employed in forestry. Instead, after
shuffling through several different jobs, I ended up in the cable television
trade, starting off with tube amplifiers. I saw transitions from tubes to
transistors and solid state to fiber optics. I designed two systems and
helped maintain four of them, finally exiting the business after wrecking my
knee falling off a pole during a snow storm. 23 years down the tubes? No. I
went back to school again and after two semesters, have become a desk jockey
and love it. I am currently a manager/assistant in one real estate office
and an assistant in another while on the side do minor property management
for apartments. I have been married 38 years and have two outstanding
daughters and sons-in-law with four grandchildren. I worship at the
Evangelical Free Church where I am the webmaster and am on the local parks
and recreation district serving over 20 years on the board of directors as
well as other organizations. The "Can Do" slogan followed me into civilian
life. This linked photo album originally were slides that I converted to jpg
format. If you would like to learn this technique, please contact me
directly or through the caretaker of our web site. Stephen Cutting CMA-3
