In-Country

Vietnam
Aug 70

Jim Garvin
www.jimgarvin.org

Tour of duty:
Aug. '70 - July '71
U.S. Army
1st Cav. 2nd/8th
Delta Co. Range 1

4 Aug 1970
I was not feeling very
confident when one of the
engines on our United
airlines 707 dropped into
the ocean between Hawaii
and Okinawa.
The good news was they
decided that another plane
would be in order to
continue the flight so I got
a 24hr layover in
Okinawa.
The Army put us up in the
Queen Hotel down town.

5 Aug 1970
Nick Harrington was from
Bennington Vermont and
had been in my AIT class at
Ft Ord California neither of
us received orders at
graduation and were held
over a week.
Nick and I enjoyed our day
on Okinawa and we both
ended up in Delta Co. 2/8th
Cav.
I sent my personal
shipment home on Nicks
orders because I did not get
my orders in time.

5 Aug 1970
Our replacement
707 arrived at the
open air, but
surprisingly well
furnished terminal,
at Long Bien.
Another short trip
by bus brought us
to the 90th
Replacement
Battalion and we
were listening to
our official
welcome to Viet
Nam.

5 Aug 1970
I expected to walk
off of the runway
directly into the
jungle.
I felt at times, on
the way over, that
I really ought to
have a rifle with
me. Imagine our
surprise to find
actual barracks
with bunks and
showers.
Notice the
sandbag security
around the
barracks.

Aug 5 1970
I was surprised
there was even a
mess hall.
This might not be
so bad after all.

5 Aug 1970
The Replacement
battalion was not
far from the base
perimeter as
shown by the
guard tower and
earth berm.
It would not be
long before we
would get a
chance to pull
guard duty.

Aug 1970
I dont remember when
we were first introduced
to the MPC (Military
Payment Certificates).
This is what a nickel
looked like.

Aug 1970
An MPC dime.
The MPC was an attempt
to avoid profiting from
the Black Market. When
we arrived we were to
exchange our dollars and
coins to MPC to keep
American currency off
the black market. The
army had exchange days
when the GI could
exchange MPCs but old
MPCs held by locals
became worthless.

Aug 1970
An MPC dollar.
The MPC was issued in denominations
up to $20 but I probably didnt have any
that big. I only received a $20 allocation
when I first arrived in country.
I had no place to spend it.
I think that increased when I went to the
rear as Mail Clerk.
After I made the first exchange I
discovered a quarter and was too lazy to
go back to the exchange.
I slipped it into the plastic sleeve of my
dog tag. It was pretty grody by the end
of my tour.

6-14 Aug 1970

1st Cav Academy
I was assigned to
the 1st Cav
Division on Aug
6th and would
receive another
week of training
which was a
condensed review
of all of our
stateside training:
rifle, radio
communications
etc.

One interesting feature of the 1st Cav Training Center was the rappelling tower.
Used to train Grunts to jump out of a perfectly good chopper and dangle on a
rope before descending to the ground.

6-14 Aug 1970

Another part of
our training was to
observe the
capabilities of the
medevac
choppers.
We were always
told that medical
help was just a
short chopper ride
away.

6-14 Aug 1970

The JP (Jungle
Penetrator) was a
simple seat with two
folding paddles
making an inverted
"T" to sit on. This
seat was connected
to a cable attached
to a wench in the
chopper. The
medevac chopper
hovered and
lowered the JP. The
GI opened the
paddles and climbed
on and up you go.
Of course this
required a conscious
patient with
reasonable use of
their arms.

6-14 Aug 1970

Just across the
berm from the 1st
Cav. training
center was a fuel
depot where all the
choppers came to
refuel.
Most of the
activity was in the
evening preparing
for the next days
mission but some
were coming most
any hour of the
day or night.

6-14 Aug 1970

Although the days
were quite busy,
the evenings were
relaxing.
Watching the
helicopters was a
favorite past time
because many of
us had not been
exposed to them
before. The
sunsets were so
very colorful.
At times it was
hard to believe
that we were really
preparing for war.

6-14 Aug 1970

As you can see I
was not the only
one who found
this Chinook Ch47 interesting.
This vehicle was
basic
transportation in
Vietnam for
freight and large
groups of troops.
The Chinooks
main limitation
was its lack of
maneuverability
at low speeds.

On Aug 15 I arrived at Quan Loi near An Loc, home of Delta Co. 2nd/8th Cav,
which was a mud hole. We were issued rucks weighing about 35 lbs.
Aug 17 Arrived FSB Powder Ridge, 3 days pushing a ton uphill in deep mud .