Officially arrived

I deplaned in Vietnam, along with all the other Marines on the flight from Okinawa, at Danang Airport. It was late, maybe midnight. We tried not to look like we were affected by the fact that we were now in a war zone. A normal reaction might be to stand for minute and just look around, try to get one's bearings. We didn't. We focused on getting our gear and trying to act like this was just another military assignment.

After collecting our bags, we were directed to a tin roofed hootch where we were identified and our orders checked. Our arrival in South Vietnam was now official.

It was humid but cool. Having grown up in Florida, I was familiar with the humidity but others were obviously uncomfortable.

I was beginning to feel a little anxious about not having seen anyone I really knew for several weeks. I had left Jacksonville - New River, North Carolina, weeks before on annual leave and had reported 30 days later to Norton Air Force Base in San Barnardino, California. Now, finally back in the military environment, I was anxious to see some of my old buddies, guys I had been flying with in South Carolina (HMM 264) or knew from the Training Command. I knew none of the pilots I had met on the flight over and I could tell they were also getting a little nervous about which squadron they would be assigned and who they might find there when they reported in.

Eventually our group was separated from the enlisted Marines. I watched as they were lead off into a maze of partially lighted wooden buildings, each carrying the duffel bags that contained what they had brought from Conus. I wondered what would happen to them and what they were thinking. Did they have any idea what was ahead of them over the next 13 months?

We were directed to an area where we were told to wait for transportation to a place where we'd find some bunks and get some sleep. We were to report back at 0700 hours.

In the morning, we were herded to a chow hall for breakfast where full bird colonels and generals were sitting everywhere. I don't remember ever seeing so many majors in one place at one time before. They barely acknowledged us. We moved through the chow line quickly and found an area away from all the rank where we ate silently, each of us trying to find some rational link between what was our previous world and what was now before us. There was none.

That was my arrival to Vietnam. So far so good.

Most of that day was spent going here and there getting papers signed and stamped, I think. I don't reallyremember much about those first days. I do remember being asked which squadron I might want to be assigned. I said I'd like to be assigned to HMM 164 because Pat Connelly, a close friend, was assigned there.