We were young once...
By 1967 I was becoming more and more restless. College was going badly and my thoughts were filled with Vietnam and the Draft. Then to get my attention, my Draft Board sent me for my PRE-induction physical. A three hour bus ride so I could walk around for several hours in my underwear, then a three hour bus ride home.
Six months later I would get my first draft notice. During this time in my life, I was worrying more about the draft than my grades, and my GPA had dropped to 2.8. My only hope to avoid the draft was to be able to get into Summer School where I was attending college. Since I was not planning on attending school this Summer, I had not registered. My request for admittance to Summer School was turned down. As I was leaving, I met my English Teacher, Mrs. Brumbaum. After explained to her what had happened, she went to see her friend the Dean of Men. By afternoon I was admitted to Summer School without pre-registering. Though I was able to bring up my GPA, the draft was still hanging over my life like a dark cloud. After Summer School, I attended one more semester.
New Year's Day 1968 found me in New Orleans. Soon after that I had found a place to stay and a job. I had said goodbye to family and friends and just moved away. In April I received my second draft notice. This one I was expecting. The day it came, I headed for the Army Recruiter on Canal Street and  enlisted in the Army. Two weeks later I was on a bus to Ft. Polk, Louisiana for a two month stay. After that, it was off to Ft. Lee, Virginia for advanced training at the Quartermaster School. Those out there who are wondering, a Quartermaster is a fancy name for Supply Clerk. And Vietnam was, of course, in short supply of Supply Clerks. I think the Black Market in Vietnam had a constant sale going on for any VC or NVA looking for maps and/or coordinates of all the Supply Depots there. My stay in Vietnam confirmed this. 
After 10 weeks at Quartermaster School, I received my orders for Vietnam. I was giving three weeks to say my goodbyes to family and friends before boarding a plane for San Francisco and the Oakland Army Depot. Less then twenty-four hours later I was at Travis Air Force Base boarding a United Jetliner heading for Vietnam. I was holding up well until the pilot came on and said they were making their final approach to Ton Son Knut and for everyone to stay seating because if the plane came under heavy fire, they would have to pull up suddenly. It's not that I didn't know already, but it seemed that reality suddenly struck. I was actually in a War Zone. Welcome to Vietnam!


Friends from Ft. Lee 
at the Oakland Army
Depot
We had an uneventful landing at Ton Son Knut. The plane was met by buses to take us to the In-Country Processing Center. Everyone was issued Jungle Fatigues and Jungle Boots and 60 pounds of equipment to carry around. The one thing  we weren't issued was a weapon. The first night there, as I lay in bed trying to sleep, a siren went off nearby. I could hear explosions and gunfire all around the barracks. Morning found me huddled in a corner wondering how I was going to make it a year here.


Me in 1969

 I was assigned to II Corps, stationed at the 62nd Maintenance Battalion in Pleiku. The fear I felt that first night in Vietnam stayed with me for the year I was there. I did make some wonderful friends there and for the year we were there, we were never separated from each other. We slept together in the same hooch, showered at the same time, ate together, worked together and partied together. Though we promised we would keep in touch, after Vietnam we slowly drifted apart and got on with our lives. 
And now...I can barely remember their names. 

 


Jay Johnston


Frank Martinez


George Smith


Jerry Tollison


Ken Ziv


Gary Hausch


Vernon


Steve Baksis


Bob Sulfstede


George Brown


Robert Marshburn


Fred Ricketts


Ben Penella


Mike Cole


Ben Nutt


Chavez


Shipp


Bill, Frank, Gary and Jay


Gary Stevens


Bill Irish


McCrea