Al & Lois Website - Vietnam 1967-68

Al & Lois Website - Vietnam 1967-68 - CHU LAI

Vietnam 1967-68 - Chu Lai

Americal Divarty HSB - My first assignment.

Americal Divarty - My first assignment- When I arrived at my unit I dropped my duffel bag at the orderly room and went to chow. We ate at a consolidated mess hall across the road from our unit. Two chopper outfits and our unit pooled their resources, supposedly to have better chow. They had a great location - right on the beach -but the chow was lousy. The pork chops they were serving that night were about as tender and juicy as old boots..."Oh well," I thought, "I can put up with it if it means that I will be able to stay on the base."

After dinner I returned to the orderly room where I met the First Sergeant. He asked me if I knew anything about electrical wiring and I told him that I did. He then told me that since we didn't have a radar that I would work as an electrician starting first thing in the morning. Actually I was to start that night. When I got to our "hootch," a 16 x 40 foot structure that I was to live in with 9 other guys, I found it dark. After replacing a blown fuse I found that everybody had a coffee pot and a couple of guys had hot plates and it was simply too much of a load for the antiquated circuits in that building. After meeting my housemates I collapsed onto my cot and slept soundly until dawn.

The next several days were full but basically uneventful. I was issued a rifle - an M14 - but no ammunition - some war zone! The weather was absolutely beautiful - bright sunshine and cool sea breezes with temperatures in the 70s during the day and 60s at night. Little did I know that this was very unusual for this normally rainy time of year. I found that my electrical skills were much in demand as these buildings were hastily erected and even more hastily wired and seemed to experience constant electrical system failures. We built closets in our hootch, an arms room in the battery hq and began construction of a house for the battalion commander.

After about a week of great weather the rains came. The entire area turned into a sea of slick red mud. And it was cold! It became impossible to stay dry or keep clean. I tried a poncho and a rain suit and found that even they didn't work; you get wet anyway. Still. . .I wasn't being shot at. The first laundry that I had done by a Viet service was quite an experience. My clothes looked clean when I got them back, but smelled awful. It was a musty sour almost nauseating smell. I don't know what river they were washed in but I wished they would find another one. Oh well, at least they were clean??? I was already beginning to dislike this place and to learn what many GIs in this war and prior ones have learned. It was next to impossible to keep clean. Simple things that we americans take for granted - hot water, paved streets and sidewalks, sweet smelling air and clothes simply were not available here.

Operation Holly - Bob Hope Show- Mid-December was a bit more eventful than the early part. Operation Holly, the Bob Hope Christmas show arrived at Chu Lai and I had a front row seat. I managed to get myself assigned to a Cue Card handling detail and met Bob Hope and Raquel Welch at the airport. For carrying the cards from the airplane to a waiting truck I got a front row seat. It also stopped raining for a day or two.

The second event was not quite so pleasant. Two nights after the Bob Hope show, I awoke to the choking, blinding aroma of CS gas. Some idiot had discharged several CS gas grenades in the company area. Gas masks? No, we didn't have those either. My first thought was that the building was on fire. Once I got outside I realized what was going on. I also remembered from my training that CS gas was heavier than air so I climbed a telephone pole to get away from the stinking, choking gas that I was in. The gas soon dissipated and I was able to come down.

Tower Guard Duty- The third event was perimeter guard tower duty - ON CHRISTMAS DAY!!! As luck would have it the weather was really rotten, especially in that tower. It rained and rained and rained and combined with 50 MPH winds I just about froze. The high sides and roof did no good at all against the horizontal rain. Even the small enclosed sleeping quarters in which I spent every other hour were wet. The wind drove the rain in through every crack - and there were a lot of them. This was the most miserable night I had ever spent. In the morning however the weather broke for awhile and I was able to see some of the countryside. About a quarter of a mile in front of me was a Vietnamese village. To the north was a swampy area that eventually gave way to the bay that circled to the north of Chu Lai. To the South and East was the Chu Lai Base. At six that night my duty in the tower ended. I hoped that I wouldn't have to do that again soon.




	This unit was becoming a real drag. I had found that we were not due to get a radar for several months and that when we did it was to be a TPS-25 ground surveillance radar, which I did not like, and that it would probably be used at Khe San, where I did not want to go.

Besides being an electrician I also found myself in charge of Vietnamese painters and carpenters. The carpenters were excellent; the painters...Oh well, one cannot have everything. During the next couple of weeks I also visited the local village of Ahn Tan as well as several units close to but outside the main base.

Good News!! - Jan. 22, 1968 - I am finally going to get to work in my MOS. The 1/14th Artillery Radar Section lost their mechanic to the 101st Airborne - Lucky him?. The Warrant Officer in charge of the section, CW2 A.E.Trovato (Mr. "T"). called Major Beemer at Divarty to see if any radar mechanics were available. Maj.Beemer asked me if I would be interested and of course the answer was a resounding "YES!!". The orders were cut immediately and by the next day I was on Cherry Hill as their Radar Mechanic. Cherry Hill is located a short drive up Highway 1 near the main gate of Chu Lai.

Al Simms Jr. - Fatigues - Click
here to contact me by Email.

No. I am not still in the army; I was discharged in November of 1969 after completing my 3 year enlistment. I don't have a set of Jungle Fatigues so these Stateside Fatigues from 1969 will have to do here. The shirt fits; the pants....Oh well.... Click here to contact me by Email.

This site is best viewed with a maximized 800 x 600 size and a high color display setting. Placing your cursor over any of the pictures will display a description for that picture.

The music that is playing on this page is 'Monday, Monday', a popular song of the 60s.

We welcome your requests and comments and encourage you to visit
the rest of our website and Email us.

Home Page || God's Music || Genealogy || Carcinoid || Vietnam || Flight Sim
Ft.Bragg || Ft.Sill-Student || Trip to Vietnam || Chu Lai || Cherry Hill 1
LZ Clifford || Cherry Hill 2 || LZ Bowman || Cherry Hill 3 || LZ Young 1
LZ Professional || LZ Gator || LZ Young 2A || LZ Young 2B || Ft.Sill-Instructor
Maps || Awards || Tribute || Chu Lai Today || Links
1/14th Roster || Letters || Mementoes || Chronology || Reunion || Q4 Radar