The Arrival

May 1968 - May 2018

Plus Fifty Years

Landing at Tan Son Nhut Air Base

Saigon, Vietnam

The blood red seashore was the set-up for the next shocker. After we touched down and rolled to a stop, the pilot taxied to the place we'd disembark. Everyone lined up and took the stairs single file, the long line of soldiers reached the tarmac and walked toward the terminal. 

The entire twenty-four hour flight to Vietnam aboard the 707, was of course air conditioned. But as soon as we stepped outside, we immediately sweltered in 100% humidity, and 100 degree plus mid day heat.

Before we got very far we all had to strop and wait for a flight line vehicle passing in front of us. The vehicle was towing several trailers, that were all neatly stacked with shiny new aluminum caskets. Each one contained the remains of a dead American soldier. That was our unofficial welcome to Vietnam.

I don't know how that effected the other soldiers, but to me it was a sobering moment. The sight of the blood red beach, and now dozens of caskets was a message. Even though I didn't expect to see any combat, there was a lot of death over here. It definitely got my attention.


Comments

  1. Velda BrothertonMay 4, 2018 at 3:46 PM

    Jim good to see you working the crowd. Nice start. Keep it up.+






































































































































































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