This is quite a holiday in Vietnam. It’s Liberation Day. In our Country, most people can tell you where they were when President Kennedy was assasinated and when the jets crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. I’m guessing that most Vietnam vets remember where they watched the day that the tanks came into Saigon forever more to be called Ho Chi Minh City. April 30, 1975. It’s a safe bet that many, like myself, watched the preceeding weeks as “it” all went down. I remember feeling so angry with no answers to my cry’s of “why.”
This morning I left Hue at about 0800. Huong had taken me across the river last night to another lovely restaurant named, Hoa Vien. I felt very sad saying goodbye to this man who introduced me to his family and gave me new memories.
It was almost 38 years exactly since my platoon provided security for one of the first convoys from Da Nang to Phu Bai. I remembered winding roads up and down large mountains. I remembered it right. Maybe it’s just the holiday, but instead of feeling excited, I found myself starting to feel anxious. So, I stayed in my room for a couple of hours after I arrived in DaNang.
For me, Quang Tri was snoopville. Quang Nam was gruntville. I never really got back into Da Nang much after I landed at the airbase. Two or three gear runs from Hill 55, a couple of R&R’s and a “1 day r&r” to the giant PX, A/C theater (I watched Elsa twice) and a day of beer and burgers at China Beach. Unlike the TV show, I can only remember one gray concrete building that could’ve been transplanted right out of Pendleton.
Right across from the hotel is the old Cathedral which was the Diocesan See of the 51st ARVN Regiment that I worked with as part of a Marine Liaison Team. Except for the transcripts, the majority were Catholics from Hanoi who came South after the ‘54 partition. There was comfort walking into the Cathedral again. Like Hue, the traffic here is much calmer than Hanoi and it seems, “laid back.” I’ve been riding around with a cyclo driver. I asked him to take me to this cybercafe, then I’ll walk the market by the hotel and try to make arrangements to get out to Hill 55 tomorrow. I used up my second camera, so I’ll get some pics developed for tomorrow’s sitrep.
You know, I’m feeling homesick. The trip to Thien Mu Pagoda yesterday has my inners still emoting like the vibrations of the dongs. My past was laid out upon the altar in that temple. These next 8 days are for the Marines and Corpsmen of 1/9, 2/9, and 3/9 and 1/7, especially my best friend, Fred. I think it will be better when I get back out into the bush. I always did feel out of place in DaNang.
S’lan,
Tom