Army Units in Vietnam
AFVN Dets 1, 2, 3 & 4
Nancy Smoyer's Memories
April 2020
From: Jim White
Date: April 29, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
Chuck,
How about just directing Roy to AFVNVETS.NET / Index / Slide Shows / Chuck Adams? There several slides with Da Nang in the background. The best one might be #7.
Jim W
From: Jim White
Date: April 29, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
Please identify yourself by name (first and last) so I can give you proper credit for your photos!!!
Thank you
Jim W
From: Roy Burnett
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
Once on a trip to the PX a kid jumped in the back of the truck at the intersection. I think T. McClain may have been driving but not certain. I do know he stepped on the gas and went flying and weaving down the highway making it impossible for the kid to do anything but hand on for dear life. When we finally slowed down a mile or so down the road the kid wasted no time to jump out of the truck... I don't think we lost anything.
Can someone send me a picture taken from the deck at Da Nang showing the South China Sea, Da Nang , and the Da Nang Bay.
Roy Burnette
AFVN Group Conversations
From: Jim White
Date: April 29, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
Steve,
About an hour before I got this, I hit on the idea of searching for WA8LMF and was able to figure out who you were. Even so, thanks for replying. While your amateur radio call sign is as familiar to you as the nose on your face, please realize that most of the AFVN group are not far "into" amateur radio. Also, again thanks for coming to the reunion last August and showing us your audio system and slides. Further, my apologies for suggesting (yelling?) that your audio was a little too loud for those of us who wanted to just sit and talk.
Traveling cross country to Colorado is quite a trip. Particularly, hearing that you have done it for 15 years or so is impressive. Keep the virus at bay.
Good luck and best wishes,
Jim W
From: Robert Wilford
Date: April 23, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 3, Pleiku and Det 4, Nha Trang
I was at Pleiku atop Dragon Mountain, then Hon Tre Island on top of a mountain which shall remain nameless. Commissary?! PX? Don’t recall any such thing!
From: Steve Pennington
Date: April 22, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam
That is one of the reasons that the Americal Division struggled with unit cohesiveness. The Cav never had that problem.
From: Jim Anderson
Date: April 22, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam
I ETSed from the 1st Armored Division August 1967. The First Cav was totally deployed to Vietnam then, still based at An Khe. Units of the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions at Ft. Hood were being cannibalized for deployment to Vietnam with the Americal Division.
From: Frank Rogers
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 2, Da Nang
The corner of the building shown was my room. (See Photo Above)
Frank R
From: Robert Wilford
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 3 Pleiku
Won a .45, and a sweet holster for it, in a poker game at Pleiku. I had never fired one either. With LT”S permission, drove down the mountain to the dump (4th division HQ dump) one bright day to practice.
It didn’t take long….a rumble at first, noise I was not familiar with. An armored vehicle and a squad of the 4ths finest came to rescue whoever was in the firefight at the dump. Epithets that followed not suitable to repeat here
From: Chuck Adams
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
How about this one, Roy?
Chuck Adams
[NB: Chuck attached a copy of his photo in Photos and Stories (#7). Webmaster]
From: Tim Lennox
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
During the first half of my one and only tour of 'Nam, I was assigned to a PIO office in Quang Tri, and once or twice was assigned to deliver the camera-ready boards of the 5th Division newspaper to Da Nang for printing. I enjoyed a wonderful steak there...and on a trip to Saigon, had dinner in a French Restaurant served by a German waiter...and I ordered Italian food. And it was delicious!
(I transferred to AFVN---Det #5--- for the second half of my tour.)
Tim Lennox
From: Jim Anderson
Date: April 20, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam
Bottom row, 3rd and 4th from the right, the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions were based at Ft. Hood, Texas, fighting many battles in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in 1967.
From: Steve Sevits
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Rex Hotel 1963
In '63 AFRS occupied the rooftop of the REX Hotel in Saigon. Rooftop cocktails was an experience of luxury in those days, overlooking the City of Saigon.
From: Dick Ellis
Date: April 19, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam
Dick sent the following without comment.
From: Billy Williams
Date: April 27, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 2, Da Nang
AFVN Da Nang motor fleet in early 1972.
Drove jeeps to downtown Danang area to take station civilian workers home, to Navy installation & mess hall at the bottom of Monkey Mountain, China Beach PX and Airbase whenever necessary. No problems although scuttlebutt was to be alert for scams when driving.
From: Chuck Adams
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 2, Da Nang
Regarding AFVN Da Nang housing, don't forget the well-stocked bar conveniently situated under the main building, with a grill and concrete patio with railings just outside the bar. What a view of the city of Da Nang in the distance, with the South China Sea to the left and the Bay of Da Nang to the right of the peninsula that led to Monkey Mountain. It's amazing that, in my half year as CO of AFVN Da Nang, I never did see a monkey. But I certainly did enjoy the view, the steaks and, of course, an occasional libation...
Chuck Adams
From: Frank Rogers
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
Another Da Nang memory. I bought a .45 but never fired it. Afraid it might blow off my hand. Sold it for same $20 when I left. Wore it when away from site. Lesson here - be sure a weapon is not loaded. I was to clean it once and discovered someone had borrowed it to go off mountain, and had jacked a round into the chamber. Had I just removed the clip and not ejected it, there would have been a hole in the newsroom desk, and McNeese would had to make a report to Saigon HQ.
FrankR
From: Billy Williams
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
Great photos LMF. The AFVN Da Nang newsroom....Took me 3 hours to assemble a TV news and sports segment there. Night photo is a gem.
Spent most of my PACEX budget buying radio & audio. Probably should have bought a better camera than a Kodak Instamatic.
From: Ken Gilder
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 1 Qui Nhon
Inside a mountain top? Hell, we, at Qui-Nhon, were right on top of the mountain. We did have one thing going for us, though: A brash, ballsy 2LT as detachment commander. He prescribed our duty uniform as fatigue pants, low quarter shoes, and white T-shirts. We were attached to the signal site for quarters, rations, and logistical support, and the site commander, a CPT Page, didn't like us coming to eat in his mess hall in fatigue pants, low quarter shows, and white t-shirts.
He put out a directive, saying that to eat in his chow hall, you had to be in a "complete military uniform, including bloused boots, or appropriate civilian attire." Since we were not in his chain of command, the LT authorized the whole detachment, civilian clothing.
CPT Page was furious. He called the network commander, LTC Arthur "The White Knight" Jones, who told him, in so many words, to "go piss up a rope."
After all these years, if LTC Jones or 2LT Jim Kleine asked me to charge the gates of hell with a bucket of water, I'd do it!
Ken G.
From: Billy Williams
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 1 Qui Nhon, Det 2 Da Nang
Inside a "mountaintop signal compound" on Vung Chua Mountain sign, as opposed to being a standalone as at AFVN Danang.
When I was there, relations with the signal folks were good. AFVN was exempt from duty. Was hilarious reading your account, Ken.
Billy Williams
From: Bob Morecook
Date: April 22, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam
I think it was the first Cav at Hood then
Bob
From: Ken Gilder
Date: April 22, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 1, Qui Nhon
I was assigned to Qui-Nhon. The schedule was such, that I got one day off a week. The only thing wrong with that, was that my duty station was on top of Vung Chua Mountain. I played hell getting off that damn hill, to make my calls at the PX and commissary. Sometimes I got lucky. The Lieutenant or the NCOIC might need something done "downhill," and I'd get the keys to the jeep., to drive them down.
Ken
From: Frank Rogers
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
Anyone remember a visiting commander to Da Nang who threw some sort of small device into a fire and it ignited, fired through the “mess hall” wall, fortunately, just missing people inside ?
FrankR
From: Billy Williams
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 2, Da Nang
I was across the "hall" from your room, Frank.
Danang AFVN housing was a tier below Ky Son & Walling in Saigon but being able to get up five minutes before airtime and a short trip to "work" more than made up for it. Also the great views of Danang just outside my room.
From: Steve Pennington
Date: April 22, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam
Thanks for sharing, Stan.
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From: Nancy Smoyer
Date: April 27, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Nancy Smoyer's Memories
Speaking of "taxis" here's a little piece I wrote which also mentions AFVN.
I don't remember trying to escape. Almost everything I did in my spare time I did with the guys, willingly. I played liar's dice in the officers' club, went to visit favorite units like the R&R unit at Cu Chi or the mechanics on the flight line, or I dispatched the NSA taxis in Danang and got a charge out of hearing the amazement when the guys heard a girl's voice, or I DJed for AFVN in Danang, or I went to a C-ration picnic with a combat photographer group at An Khe; I drank and danced at the officers' clubs; I welcomed guys in from the field or served them breakfast at 3:00 am before they went out. I don't remember ever sitting in my room by myself. Everything I did revolved around the men and I don't regret a minute of it. On the other hand, to be honest, there were times when it was fun and relaxing to hang out with the other DDs in our hooch or to be with just one guy with whom I didn't have to be "on" all the time.
And. this......
When I was at Danang, I would sometimes help out at the dispatch office for NSA taxis, where guys would call in asking for a vehicle to take them somewhere. The reactions to hearing a female voice varied greatly. Some just appeared to take it in stride, like they were Stateside. Others started stammering, sometimes after a long pause as they tried to figure out this phenomenon, forget why they called, ask who I was, etc. The best was when the guy I was dating called, heard my voice and, without missing a beat, said “Hi, Nancy” and went ahead and requested the taxi. When I asked why he wasn't surprised, he said he never knew where I'd turn up.
Nancy
From: Stan Pratt
Date: April 22, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam
I was with the 101 when it cleared Deo Mang pass for the arrival of the First Cav. We traveled from Cam Rahn to Nha Trang in a truck convoy and from Nha Trang to Qui Nhon via two LST's. Interesting trip.
Be well and safe brothers!
Stan
From: Frank Rogers
Date: April 27, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 2, Da Nang
I, too, was on a mountain for my second half of a 1970-71 tour - Monkey Mountain at Da Nang. Yes, there were monkeys. We had a jeep and got to go off mountain to the Exchange. Once I saw a Navy Chief there who was a PO 2nd Class with me on a ship in 1958. Problem: We had to go past a Vietnamese military hospital where patients in wheelchairs would block the road in a protest until they got something from varied demands. When stopped anywhere in Da Nang, kids would steal whatever they could from your vehicle - Jerry cans of gas or anything not nailed down, even a sandwich from my passenger seat They knew you were not allowed to shoot them. In 1967 I too was at Ft. Hood but not in one of the Armored Divisions. I was at 500th MI, and went from Hood to FEN Tokyo. At FEN there was an ASA Unit at the end of the top floor of the barracks, probably hiding out there from observation by regular Camp Drake folks. MI guys thought I was there as a fellow “spook.” I also had the image at AFVN Saigon that I was with MI. Any visit to me from an MI guy I served with at Hood raised some HQ eyebrows, until I cleared it up - that it was just a “social call” and I was not in trouble or looking to put someone in trouble. I’m sure the move to Da Nang was routine and in no way connected to my links to MI.
FrankR
From: Steve Smith
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 1, Qui Nhon and Det 2, Da Nang
If you were on Monkey Mountain, you should recognize these pics.
I took these in January 1970 when I was there briefly, before spending most of my tour at AFVN Det 4 Nha Trang. I remember traveling down the hill many times to the Navy base Camp Tien Sha (spelling??) for lunch. Everyone considered the Navy mess as the best military dining in the area. I don't recall any obstacles to getting there though.
Shot on Kodachrome 200 and digitized with a Nikon Coolscan LS-5000 film scanner, these are a few of the over 3000 slides I took in Vietnam during 2 years spanning 1968-1970. These shots are from the hundreds of pics of AFVN facilities have shown at the last 3 reunions. (The original TIF image scans are over 4000x3000 pixels - i.e. 4 times the height and width and 16 times the number of pixels. Down-sampled to 1024x768 JPGs to create manageable-size files for emailing.)
From: Chuck Adams
Date: April 29, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
Coulda/shoulda done that, Jim. In fact, thought about doing so. But I also thought that I needed a retraining session. Knowing that this process has never been particularly easy for me (going back, it involved transferring slides to a camera card, then putting the pics on my desktop), I thought I'd see if I could find an overview pic for Roy, then send it to him. But that said, Roy Burnette, why don't you, as Jim White has just suggested, go to AFNVETS.NET/ Index / Slide Shows /Chuck Adams and see if there's anything else you can use? Hope Sachiko continues to do better, Jim.
Chuck the Buck(eye)
From: Bob Peetz
Date: April 20, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam
The DoD Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Web site has these unit posters and map:
Winds, Bob
From: Stephen Smith
Date: April 29, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - Det 2 Da Nang
The name is Stephen H. Smith. "WA8LMF" is my amateur ("ham") radio callsign, which I have also used for decades as an email address and user ID for various computer-related things. [I'm the one that setup the AFVN revival radio station at last August's AFVN reunion.] When I hit <REPLY> to the thread on this list, I thought my proper name would go out, along with the email identity. Apparently it didn't.
Anyone that WAS at the reunion saw the pics I posted in this thread and hundreds more in the continuously-looping slide show in the conference room.
From: Billy Williams
Date: April 28, 2020
Subject: Army Units in Vietnam - AFVN Det 1, Qui Nhon and Det 2, Da Nang
Yes, the bar and patio area overlooking Da Nang was a main attraction, Chuck. Especially on Sunday.
Much was packed in to that small parcel between the main road and the mountainside. Isolated from other military units.
Different from Qui Nhon AFVN TV co-located inside a mountaintop signal compound.