Author Topic: Memoirs from DaNang  (Read 1364 times)

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Offline FourBee

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Memoirs from DaNang
« on: April 18, 2008, 12:58:25 PM »
Well; today 40 years ago I was standing on the sands near DaNang Harbor, Viet Nam.    Sent to a small field unit that was the hub between ground troops and air support for I-Corps, called (IDASC), I-Corps Direct Air Support Center.
   
I was introduced to one of the handful of men there, a Tech Sgt Schultz.   He was counting his days to retire and go full time into a business he'd been toying with for awhile.   

A talented artist, he drew up this design for our Unit Shoulder Patch, and one of our Pilots  going on temporary leave to Thailand had them made up for us.   The artist's name was 'Charles Schultz'.


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Offline GRIMJIM

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2008, 01:21:32 PM »
Glad you made it back. My uncle did two tours. He was in charge of the support crew for "puff the magic dragon". He did the artwork on that plane. Some of us have a gift, me, I can't draw for squat. Did you ever find out what happened to Sgt. Schultz?
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Offline FourBee

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2008, 01:35:11 PM »
Hey GRIMJIM;  I saw those guys from time to time, and of course their planes were always nearby.   As for Charles Schultz, he said he was a cartoonist.  I suppose he was the same guy that created 'Peanuts', but I can't verify that.   He painted the same LOGO of Snoopy on the front of our building located on a Vietnamese Army Post.
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Offline GRIMJIM

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2008, 01:39:53 PM »
I'm gonna e-mail him a copy of that patch and see if it rings a bell with him, if it's okay with you.
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Offline FourBee

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2008, 03:40:01 PM »
Sure GRIMJIM ;  check it out.    I'm thinking our Sgt Schultz was in Reconnaissance, but Intelligence personnel worked at the same Console.   Most of our officers were Forward Air Control pilots.  Others flew RECON missions.
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Offline quickdtoo

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2008, 04:47:48 PM »
Small world, I spent a year in DaNang complements of the Army, was with the 1st Aviation Bde, 212th Av Btn, '68-'69.

The Charles Schultz couldn't have been in DaNang, he left the Army in 1945 according to his bio on Wiki which is confirmed by the Schultz Museum time line link.  ;)

Tim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Schulz

http://www.schulzmuseum.org/timeline.html
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Offline FourBee

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2008, 06:11:31 PM »
Tim;
How about that.  We ended up at 3rd Marine Division, just across the river from DaNang City.   I was all over the place, but can't recall where you would have been located.
From the info from those web sites I don't know how it could be the same man.   The age would have been about right, and the picture of him resembled the older Sgt Schultz, but I was more interested in keeping my hinder parts as low as my head back then.    

One thing for sure, I saw the design he drew up, and our Commander was excited about getting the patches made, but still that only proves the guy was good at what he did.
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Offline GRIMJIM

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2008, 12:53:35 PM »
Jim,

This unit patch does not look familiar.  I was in Bien Hoa from Sept 1966 until Sept 1967.  That's when I was the Flight Chief on Puff the Magic Dragon.  I was in the 4th Air Commando Squadron.   During that time our call sign was "Spooky". Our aircraft symbol was a ghost holding a lantern and three lightning bolts.

Find out when this guy was in Vietnam.

This was the response I got from him.
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Offline quickdtoo

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #8 on: April 21, 2008, 01:10:33 PM »
Tim;
How about that.  We ended up at 3rd Marine Division, just across the river from DaNang City.   I was all over the place, but can't recall where you would have been located.

I was at Marble Mountain from Sep '68- Sep '69, our flight line shared a landing strip with a Marine unit which was on the other side of the strip right on the beach.

Tim

http://www.1stavnbde.com/212th/212th_Combat_Aviation_Battalion.htm
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Offline FourBee

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2008, 03:44:47 PM »
Jim; I was there from 4-68 thru 4-69.    Those patches were given out in May of 68.   Only about 30 were made.     We were a small outfit 'IDASC'.    During the time your Uncle was there, we were stationed at a Vietnamese Army Post trying unsuccessfully to help them direct their own war.......   Although we were a specialized group, we were like a bunch of Misfits.    We slept with the Army, ate where we could get a meal, and went everywhere.  Met Admirals and Generals.   Got a glimpse of Gen. Westmorland landing on this Post with all his entourage.



 Spooky's  Pilots were visiting us often.   I'm thinking they may have been working with our RECON boys, or maybe just close acquaintances.   Here's their van at Camp Horn, 3rd MarDiv. out front of our new shop as me and Woody were heading into DaNang City.   




Tim;   We were pretty close to one another.    From October till I went home, I was with 3rd Marine Division, between Monkey Mountain and Marble Mountain.    I picked up an O-2 Pilot at that airstrip one day.    That's as close to Marble Mountain as I could get.    Some boys had hit a land mine on the road up ahead, and they asked us to not to try get through until they could get an all clear.  So we just went back to IDASC.   

PS   you probably remember when that Naval Ammo Dump got hit.     I was on a navy boat landing just up the mouth of DaNang Harbor early that morning.   Liked to have gotten blown away that time.   Couple of our boys got their Purple Hearts from it.
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Offline FourBee

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2008, 05:57:58 PM »

Hope this is declassified by now...
I snuck a pic of these guys doing all the work.    This is 2 stations of 6 on the Air Strike Op's Console.   

That Marine with the mustashe is one of our Posters.   The guy with the phone hits the red button and fighter pilots are scrambled to their craft.  Once they're in the air, they make Radio contact with us, our poster posts the grid and type of attack as its relayed to the pilots.

 Our radios crack with ground troop and air traffic activity.  The Pilots  requests for green flares from the ground.    They get two sets.    They request Red flares, again two sets go off.   They request white flares.    "I see one flare"......the radio cracks "" shoot that - - - - - !, because we didn't set one off........"" comes the reply......   Rodger; Rodger;  I've got' em.......
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Offline DalesCarpentry

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2008, 02:32:04 PM »
I have to say this is very interesting to me and would like to learn more how things worked. Thanks for your service . Dale
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Offline FourBee

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2008, 06:07:17 PM »
Tell you what Dale;   War is dirty, ugly, and demoralizing.    I'd rather not have had to gone to war, but I gave it my best.     The role my bunch had to do in it, you'd of loved  it.   Most exciting time of my life.   

Our little outfit was right dab in the middle of all goings on.   We became so popular that the Pentagon sent a team to film our every operation.   We had some of the most intelligent men I've ever seen developing a system of military coordination that became the pioneer of modern combat strategy for todays military.   

I've looked over the shoulders of high ranking officers of all branches of service working together preparing top secret ground assaults.   Man, they'd argue, because some were overly gung-ho and wouldn't consider lose of life of our boys, while others were overly conservative.   I've been in weekly war briefings with a packed house of top brass from all ends of Vietnam.   It'd make the hair on your neck stand straight up.   

My buddies knew I was in the big middle of it all, and was always harping at me to tell them what was going on.   I gave them a sample one time, and they told me not to ever tell them anymore.  They couldn't sleep for days.   It was a tough war, and although we had 120,000 troops protecting DaNang alone, we were continually plagued by a determined enemy.
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Offline GRIMJIM

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Re: Memoirs from DaNang
« Reply #13 on: April 23, 2008, 12:12:54 PM »
My uncle loved the picture with the van in the background. I was mistaken on him doing the artwork on puff the magic dragon, but he did design spooky and was happy to see it outlived his tours.
GBO SENIOR MEMBER "IF THAT BALL COMES IN MY YARD I'M KEEPING IT!"

NRA LIFE MEMBER

UNION STEWARD CARPENTERS LOCAL 1027

IF GOD DIDN'T WANT US TO EAT ANIMALS, WHY DID HE MAKE THEM OUT OF MEAT?