VIETNAM CHAPLAIN

Jack Day's

Worlds

Vietnam Chaplain
Central Highlands Diary
June 1969 and DEROS

Letter to home, 5 June (3/12 Pleiku West)

36 days to go here. Getting shorter all the time. Am starting to definitely get a short timer's attitude.

Did I tell you I went back to An Khe Thursday and brought my frig down, since they have Central Power where we are right now? Lot of fun, the MP's said it was probably faster and safer without a convoy, so we ran the road alone, through the Mangyang pass going and coming, where the Viet Minh wiped out 10,000 Frenchmen in ‘54. No trouble. My chances for getting a purple heart are getting slim.

Sky's black. Looks like rain. We may go back to dry An Khe in a week.

0022 Western Approach to Mang Yang Pass
Road to Mang Yang Pass

0035 Eastern Approach to Mang Yang Pass

Being at An Khe meant the excitement of driving through the Mang Yang pass on trips back to Division at Pleiku.

Burnt out vehicle

0034 You could see combat debris, like a burnt out vehicle as you drove past.

Maps -- Large files/long loading. Mang Yang Pass Map compliments of Ray Smith, Web Master, 69th Armor Association

0038 If you were friendly, LZ Scheuller offered you Food, Lodging, and Fire Support.

Maps -- Large files/long loading. LZ Schueller Area compliments of Ray Smith, Web Master, 69th Armor Association

Letter to home, 6 June (3/12 Pleiku West). Just got back from the club, saw Clint Eastwood in "Hang ‘em High", good movie, although was horribly ashamed when in the hanging scene by the courthouse this huge mob of bystanders is led by the preacher in a stirring rendition of "we'll gather at the river" followed by a harmonic rendition of ‘rock of ages.' God, they probably did it that way, too. Letter to home, 22 June, 1969 (3/12 Kontum).

Wow, have I been moving. Friday, left my tent at Pleiku, went to an Khe for a short timers party at Brigade. Turned out to include an awards ceremony. Bronze star for meritorious service. Very pretty. It's fairly normal to get one if you don't screw up. Apparently I didn't. Have about a week and a half left to screw up in.

0027 Receiving Bronze Star at Hail and Farewell, end of June, 1969

Left An Khe yesterday after lunch, went to road junction and put my thumb out. A convoy stopped. As I had hoped, knowing the general routes of convoys, this one would go stgraight past my tent in Pleiku. Three hours later, it stopped at the desired spot and I got off. Looked around, My bunker was there. My floor was there – bare. Tent was gone. All the tents were gone. All the people were gone.

The Army having taught me long ago that you've either got to keep your cool or go stark raving out of your mind, I laughed. What could be funnier than coming home and finding it gone, lock, stock and barrel?

We walked over to the chapel, talked Chaplain Philipps out of his jeep and driver for 15 minutes. Drove out to the convoy marshalling post. "Hey, did you see an infantry battalion go by here today? Why, as a matter of fact, there was one, about an hour ago. Think it was 3/12 or 1/12 or something.

So there happened to be two track vehicles going north and we hoped on. Arrived Kontum about 5. Sure enough, here were the people, just starting to erect a tent with a chaplain's flag in front of it. So goes the war.

Second-last Sunday here. Next Sunday at this time I'll have two days left with the Battalion, then back to Enari and An Khe to clear out.

Got my uniform fixed up with ribbons the other day. I look like a lifer. National Defense and 2 Vietnam ribbons on bottom row, Bronze Star and Air Medal above. (Bronze Star for meritorious serivce and an air medal in recognition of the amount of helicopter flight time put in over hostile territory. )

"What's the difference between the Army and the Boy Scouts?" Answer: The Boy Scouts have adult leaders.

Well, bird leaves soon for TOC and C Company. Can't wait to get back.

By the end of June, it had become time to wrap things up. The 365 days were just about over. Found among my records was a notation that on a day in June I visited A company, 3/12 and preached Sermon #2, written the previous July. There just wasn't as much energy as a year before. 15 were present at Kontum Bridge and 20 at the Polei Krong Bridge.

Letter to home, 24 June (3/12 Kontum)

Call came up from Division yesterday.

" You have a port call for 5 July." Great. That means I've got a 4 day drop.
"Your plane is G4C8H2 from Can Ranh to Tacoma."
"Negative."
"What?"
"Negative." Don't want it."
"Why the hell not?"
"Taking a side trip. Tell them to give it to someone else.

In the annals of the Vietnam war that's probably one of the most improbable conversations around. Who in their right mind after a year over here would actually turn down a plane ticket home? I think I blew some minds. I will still get the same 4 day drop however, get to Cam Ranh the 4th now and maybe Singapore as early as the 5th.

Now I have 6 days left in the field. Hard to believe it's winding up here. 3/12 has been very good to me. Got a real good relationship.

Did I tell you I wrote Senator Tydings protesting the gassing at Berkeley? Suggested they disband the Calif NG if they can find nothing better to do than launch full scale combat operations against coeds in sunsuits. Also suggested that the UCMJ contained perfectly adequate charges to court martial the general in charge of that helicopter dropping CS. I find myself becoming more radical as far as police and NG are concerned.

It was time to return to the 4th Division Base Camp, Camp Enari. The approaching departure from Vietnam was not the only cause for excitement, however. Rolls of black smoke attracted attention and it became apparent that the cause was an outhouse -- elegantly called a "crapper". Disposal of waste generally meant pouring diesel oil over it and then attempting the burn the unburnable. In this case, more than the waste caught fire.

0130 Crapper Burning

0131 Help is on the way!

Letter to home, 3 July (Camp Enari)

My last letter from Vietnam.

Hitchhiked to Pleiku with Marty Brooks yesterday and we wandered all around.

Went over to the Cav where their club had a floor show, Korean girls. Marty got pissed and left when one of the girls stripped. The young warrant officers are a rowdy group. By the time it was over they were pouring beer over each other.

The most popular song of any shows I've been to here is one where the lyrics are "I've got to get out of this place...". At this every voice in the room joins in.

Can't believe the harassment of Victor Charles. Two nights to go last night, I'm up at the Division O Club watching an Italian movie and he lobs in some mortar rounds. A couple of people hurt down on the bunker line, and wiped out a new bar someone had opened up about an hour before, but by that time there was no one there.

Hate to leave the people here, it has been a tremendous experience living and working with everyone for a year through some pretty groovy times and a bunch of bad ones as well.

Looks like I'll not have a chance to get a purple heart. Local nickname for the purple heart is a "combat inefficiency badge."

Last Day

0028 The final evening, helmet and flak jacket were posed for a last picture.

Indonesia and Home

The Army did not want people who had finished their tour to hang around southeast Asia, and most soldiers were equally happy not to stay around. However, I had parents working in Indonesia, and the Army makes special allowances for family reasons, so I was able to obtain a special two week leave after my 365 days, and before flying home across the Pacific.

It was a bit surrealistic. I hopped military transport from Pleiku to Saigon, changed to civilian clothes, went to the civilian terminal at Tan Son Nhut, and used my Diners Club card to buy a ticket to Singapore, arriving on a Friday. Spent the weekend in Singapore waiting for a visa to Indonesia, received it on Monday, flew to Medan on Tuesday.

Preaching in Medan

Preaching a sermon in Medan, Indonesia

With mother after service

With mother and Indonesian pastor after service

On the Sunday I was in Medan, I borrowed a clerical collar from my father and preached Sermon 2 to the Indonesian Methodist Church in Medan, this time with 175 in attendance.

With Chaplain Sitorus

Chaplain Sitorus was a chaplain in the Indonesian Army.

I posed with an Indonesian chaplain in uniform, although it was quite improper to have my uniform on in Indonesia at that time.

After a little over a week in Medan, flew back to Singapore, and back to Saigon/Ton Son Nhut. Changed back into uniform, hitched a ride to Bien Hoa, and took my place in line waiting for military transport back to California. Where was my place in line? Well, your place was determined by your DEROS date--and mine was 2 weeks past. They got me out of there fast!

0151 Sunset. Well, this wasn't taking leaving Vietnam, but it seemed like a decent shot to end on!

In Memoriam, June 1969

10 June, 1969

PFC Gerald Lee Brandt, Salina, KS; B Co, 3/8
PFC Gerald Wayne Shakley, East Brady, PA; B Co, 3/8

12 June, 1969

SP5 Kenneth Leonard Bartley, Mitchelville, MD; HHC, 3/8
SP4 Terry Randall Johnson, Peoria IL, A Co, 3/8
PVT Richard Blaine Proveaux, Milwaukee; WI, HHC, 3/8
PFC Donald Michael Wayman, Danbury, CT; HHC, 3/8

20 June, 1969

SP4 Joe Alton Wadly, Swainsboro, GA; B Co, 3/8

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©1999-2005 Jackson H. Day. All photos taken by Jackson Day or Chaplain Assistant Bruce Chaffee unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved. "Letter to Home" contains actual excerpts from letters written at the time. Updated January 25, 2005