Visit Saigon

The following is an excerpt from the book Compass and a Camera.

We heard some bad news on Thursday, April 10. Things were going smoothly on the patrol until I heard a report over the battalion radio that the NDP where we were stationed from September to November had just been mortared, and twenty-five rounds landed inside the wire. They returned fire and managed to hold the base. Several men were dusted off. This event raised my anxiety level, and once again I wished I was out of the field. I continued counting the days.

Saturday was a better day; I broke sixty days. Fifty-nine left. The lieutenant injured his foot and had not gone out for two days. As the acting platoon sergeant, I had to take the platoon out both days. I was fortunate and brought everyone back alive. The following day we were supposed to have a stand-down and I was hoping to get into Saigon to take some pictures.

On Sunday, April 13, I did get the opportunity to visit Saigon. At 07:30 another sergeant and I hitched a ride in a jeep with a soldier who was on his way to Tan Son Nhut airbase. We arrived at the airbase, had breakfast, then went to a movie while waiting for the PX to open at noon. After picking up several rolls of film, we took a cab to downtown Saigon and spent the next few hours seeing the sights and taking pictures.

Saigon was a big beautiful city. Life seemed so normal; you would never suspect there was a war going on. We stopped at the Saigon USO, had some hot dogs and milk shakes, and relaxed for a while. There was a seamstress there who made the ao dai, the Vietnamese national costume. I wanted to order one for Christina. It had to be specifically fitted, so the woman provided a list of measurements that I later mailed to Christina along with recommendations on color choices, dark pants and a light dress or light pants and a dark dress. At the end of the day we took a cab back to our NDP.

A couple of weeks after my trip to Saigon, Christina mailed back the measurements. She also asked why I was carrying a rifle in some of the Saigon pictures I had sent her. I explained that there were frequent bombings of GI’s in Saigon, especially at bus stops and other places where they congregated. We were not allowed outside our NDP without a weapon and a helmet.