Article 3 From the 90th Replacement Battalion seven or eight of us were taken to the 40th Signal Battalion Headquarters which was also on Long Binh. Our in-processing took several days. A Master Sergeant Ladd was in charge of our group. As long as we kept our hair cut and made police call he left us alone. This was greatly appreciated by all. You do not meet a good NCO such as this very often. Nothing of any consequence happened during in-processing. Mike Massey from Dodge City Kansas and myself were made to leave the EM club for drinking a rum and coke. We were not yet 21 and this was the age limit for booze. Hard to believe you were in Vietnam and could only drink beer if you were under 21. Later I found out that most EM clubs did not have such a rule. Near completion of in-processing I found out I was going to Qui Nhon on the central S. Vietnam coast. I did not know what to expect or how I was going to get there at the time. I later learned that I was to fly to Qui Nhon with Massey, Carpenter, and Baker. I have forgotten if anyone else went along for the ride. We were driven to Tan Son Nhut AFB in Saigon where we caught a C-130 to Qui Nhon. This was my first experience with troop seats and would not be my last by a long shot. We arrived in Qui Nhon in the evening, I'd say around 2030 hours. None of us had eaten since breakfast. |
