SEATJERKER
Thu October 6, 2005 7:55am
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National POW/MIA Flag Day
National POW/MIA Flag Day parade, Troy New York, 12th of June, 2005.
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SEATJERKER
Thu October 6, 2005 7:56am
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National POW/MIA Flag Day
National POW/MIA Flag Day parade, Troy New York, 12th of June, 2005.
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Bill Farnie
Wed November 9, 2005 11:12am
Rating: 10
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My Uncle Henry
This is another of my father?s brothers, my Uncle Henry Farnie. My uncle Henry was one of five brothers who traveled to England to join the armed forces of Great Britian before America had entered the war. Hennie, as he was called by his brothers, joined the Royal Navy. He was killed in action when his ship was attacked by planes of the Luftwaffe during a battle near Crete.
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frisco-kid
Sun December 4, 2005 9:13pm
Rating: 10
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100_0089
The only disturbing place for me on the whole trip was the War Museum in Saigon. I went there after stopping at the Buddhist temple, "U.S. PARATROOPER" hat and all. You pay less than a buck to get in. You then enter a gallery depicting the war in pictures. One of the first displays is of unit patches of all of the American units involved in the war. You then meander through a hall lined with blown-up pictures of U.S. forces in kinda chronological order. The first thing I noticed about them was that they were all taken from Life Magazine, newswire agencys, etc., many of them famous pictures. They were given usually slanted captions. Their museum; I guess they can say whatever they want. Some of them were wrong, also. They had several of the 101st dated when I was with them and the location stated wasn't accurate. They did have one cool picture of us making the jump at Kontum, taken from inside the plane as we exited the door. I don't think I was in it, though. I don't recall a photographer on my plane.
As you exit the building, you go through an outside exhibit of U.S. military equipment. These are the one's I have pictured.
When you cross the exhibit, you enter another building. This is the one I really had a problem with. The whole theme of the exhibit inside is depicting us a s barbarians and war criminals. It starts out with an exhibit explaining Agent Orange; pictures of planes spraying it; topped off with a couple deformed fetuses in jars claiming to be caused by the effects of AO. It then flows into pictures of napalm drops on villes and countryside; pictures of burnt victims; and the centerpiece,.....the little naked girl running down the road away from a napalm strike. The caption conveniently doesn't mention that this was an ARVN Air Force drop. I set the record straight with several Europeans that were near me. It then, of course, went into pictures of My Lai. As I moved through the pictures, I noticed one of the uniformed security guards was watching me. I stopped and locked eyes with him until he looked away. Phuck him. Did the same thing with a couple Europeans that I caught giving me side glances. It then went through a group of pictures of us handling prisoners and dead bodies. One of them was a picture of an APC dragging three bodies down a road. The caption said that the three was dragged to death but, upon a closer look, you could see that one had an obvious GSW to the head. There were others with prisoners being led by ropes around their necks with the caption reading that we treated prisoners worse than we would animals. On the way out of the building there was another room with a sign above it saying something like "Children Remember The War Through Drawings And Writings," or something like that. I could only imagine what half-truths and lies were being presented in there. I was too pissed to go in. I walked out and told my driver lets get the phuck out of here. It might be their museum, but I don't have to like it. I'm sure my body language told them so, too.
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frisco-kid
Sun December 4, 2005 9:28pm
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100_0048_2
Wheelin' and dealin'. Never pay the asking price for anything.
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frisco-kid
Sun December 4, 2005 9:35pm
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100_0045_2
Famous Ben Thanh Market in central Saigon. If you can't find it here, you don't need it. There are a couple other markets, but nothing on this scale, except maybe the Cholon Market. We didn't go out there this time, but we did last visit with James and Sue.
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frisco-kid
Sun December 4, 2005 9:51pm
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100_0071
When we got back to Saigon, we returned to the Duxton Hotel. We had bought enough gifts and souveniers by then, we needed to go buy a small carry-on suitcase for them. I don't know how I talked her into it, but we decided to go there on hired motorbikes. Hau was a guide that I had met the week before when we first got to Saigon and the Duxton. He was in the Arvn Navy in the early '70's. He speaks excellent English but, because he was on the wrong side, this is his life. Something that hasn't changed since James and I were here. What a waste of human resources. I hope they one day get over this attitude and move on.
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frisco-kid
Sun December 4, 2005 11:55pm
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12-3-2005-23
After we left Dalat, headed back to Saigon, we stopped 8-10mi. out of town at Prenn Falls. This is one of several falls in the area. You pay a small fee to enter, and it has a bit of a theme park atmosphere to it. As you enter, there are several psuedo thatched roof structures selling drinks, food, and souveniers.
I escorted convoys from Cam Ranh Bay, through Phan Rang, and up the climb to Dalat. There was a Special Forces camp and an aviation outfit on a small airstrip near here that we hauled fuel to. I don't remember seeing any of the falls from the road back then. Always thought this was some beautiful country. It was deceiving, though. We made contact with Charlie up here sometimes.
In FEB67 did a small operation about 30mi. from here around a place called Bao Lac with the 101st. It was also an area of some dramatic waterfalls.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 7:40pm
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10
Our guide and driver didn't know it, but we were going to run out of pavement on the new road. It ran out about 10mi. before the summit, and we didn't hit anymore until about 3mi. down the Dalat side.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 7:47pm
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8
The new road to Dalat. Before, when you went to Dalat from Mui Ne, you had to drive up Hwy. 1 all the way to Phan Rang before turning west into The Highlands. Our guide and driver had heard that there was a new turn-off to Dalat, so we took it. A nice paved road with a wide shoulder and new paint lines.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 7:52pm
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20
After leaving Mui ne to the north, you go by some of it's famous sand dunes. You can hire dune buggies to take you out exploring them, but we didn't. As far as I know, they're not found anywhere else along the coast.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 7:56pm
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19
Just to the north of the beach resorts is a penninsula that shelters the fishing boats that sails out of Mui Ne.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 8:11pm
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102_0261
James, I walked down the beach to The Palmira. That's yours and Sue's room at the top of the stairs. This, and the next picture, shows the storm erosion on their beach. It's about 6' lower than when we stayed there.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 8:31pm
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102_0256
Each morning at low tide was spent trying to prepare for the next night's high tide.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 8:36pm
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102_0244
The next resort north.
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