A Trash Hauler in Vietnam by Bill Barry

Author:Bill Barry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Published: 2017-05-25T00:00:00+00:00

Late 1966—The author at his Mactan cot.

The day after that, we were again deep into support of the army operations around Tay Ninh. We hauled three mixed loads of pallets, vehicles and troops from Tan Son Nhut into Tay Ninh from 3:30 in the afternoon till 10:00 in the evening. On our last sortie, we left Tay Ninh and went to Binh Thuy in the delta, where some army personnel were quickly let out the back door with the engines running. We went back to Tan Son Nhut at 11:40 in the evening. Carl, the loadmaster, was in bad need of rest when the day was over. The mixed loads keep him continually busy on the ground working with pallets or chaining and unchaining vehicles for the succession of short, 20-minute flights.

We got another day off and then returned to the shuttle at three the following morning. That day we hauled cargo to Chu Lai, Da Nang and Phan Rang and were finished at one in the afternoon. Since it was early, we went to the officers’ club for a late dinner rather than go straight back to the Globe. Hal ate quickly and then caught a ride downtown. John Dunn and I stayed to have a drink or two in the bar, which was largely deserted since it was now mid-afternoon on a Monday.

Somewhere around four o’clock, there were ten or so people in the bar and another ten scattered through the slot machine section. The dining room was closed and things were quiet, with nothing other than the slots and small, dark, and serious drinking going on. Suddenly, into this quiet atmosphere came a young lady and her escort. One quick look told us that she was part of a USO troupe which was touring the theater and had probably just gotten into Saigon. This lady would stop traffic in a major U.S. city: Short, good-looking, busty, dancer’s legs and wearing a tight—I mean tight—T-top, and really short shorts. Her escort was thin and flakey, probably a fellow dancer in the same group, dragged along to keep her company in this all male atmosphere.

Within 5 minutes she had ten drinks sitting on the table in front of her and was talking to a young instant admirer lieutenant who had just proposed marriage. She laughed him off, but he was shortly followed by two more swains. The scene was getting funny and the crowd she drew was growing as the late afternoon shift began to come in for food and drinks. We’d like to have stayed and seen more of the action, but tomorrow’s duty called. Never underestimate how horny and foolish otherwise reserved young men can act when in extreme circumstances. Or, as the navy saying goes, “any port in a storm.”

10 May: We were up and out on base at noon to be the rotation crew going home. Naturally, the replacement aircraft was late and didn’t get in on time. We finally left at six in the evening and made one stop to offload cargo at Qui Nhon.

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