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Interlude

By Bill on February 24, 2007 | | Comments (6)

Since I went and got all twisted around the axle with the Serial Thriller (nice touch, John -- if I'd started it with a bit about defoliating rice paddies, you'd prob'ly have christened it the Cereal Killer...), I must confess to being woefully neglectful of my social duties -- in this case, jumping all over the Obscene Amenities do-jiggers.

Besides, you guys all need a break from the humdrum drivel I've inflicted on you so far -- Lowered knows *I* do, especially since I've been giving myself flashbacks for the past week...

Soooo, without further ado, I'd just like to share a few pix that would probably cause paroxysms of conniptions to seize Citizen Arkin if he knew just how long us insolent sojer-types had been living La Vida Loca on the Public's Dime...

Fun! Travel! Adventure!

Al fresco interaction with the locals!

One more chorus of ‘Waist-Deep In The Big Muddy’ outta you and you’ll find out what a 40mm suppository feels like…

Yes, one partygoer *is* wearing a flight helmet and flak jacket and no, it’s not me. At least, I'm pretty sure it's not me...


Doorstep service from home to work! Aka, looking for the lads who popped green smoke in the middle of a green rice paddy...

I thought *you* installed the pontoons!

Yeah, we flew with the doors off a *lot*, because we were environmentally conscious even then. We saved a bundle by running the 48-foot fan instead of the air conditioner...

What oil crisis? We got free fuel! And it was all self-service, so you never sullied yourself by inadvertent contact with the gravel crunchers.

We didn’t load enough ammo – I can still get it off the ground…

If you were baddy from the paddy and met a Charlie-model at work, this was the view you desperately wanted to live long enough to see -- but you usually didn't...

*urrk!* Wellll, kids, I feel another flashback coming to visit my combat-addled cerebral cortex. 'Scuse me while I go wrap some fish with the NYT...


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6 Comments

By Old Fat Sailorr on February 24, 2007 12:11 PM
aathat last shot kinda looked like Tra Cu??
 
By BillT on February 24, 2007 2:40 PM
Nope -- Phouc Vinh. But that's what almost *every*where looked like during the dry season -- Vinh Long, Ca Mau, Vi Thanh, Chi Lang, Moc Hoa... Not Soc Trang or Can Tho, though -- no bunkers in sight.
 
By Old Fat Sailor on February 24, 2007 4:25 PM
Ca Mau, Now there was a bad place...
 
By SangerM on February 24, 2007 5:46 PM
Bill, what weapon is the squating guy on the berm carryin in the top picture. M79? Thompson? And what are they doing? Pulling up wires or planting things? That is really an odd looking activity.... Great pics though. Can we puleeeze have the rest of the story now...?
 
By J.M. Heinrichs on February 24, 2007 7:47 PM
Sanger Birdwatching. The chap with the binos has probably just spotted a black great horned lyre bird. which some have mistaken for a water buffalo. Due to their viscious temperment and propensity for unprovoked assaults, it was recommended that birders be well armed at such times. Cheers
 
By BillT on February 25, 2007 12:18 AM
Sanger - Actually, the guy with the blooper *is* birdwatching. He's watching the shot-down Hubird settle into the mud... He's also pulling security for the two erstwhile airmobility proponents who are up to their elbows in rice paddy slogging to the paddy dike ("Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, the mug and the plaque."). Don't try mud-slogging at home, kids -- leave it to us trained professionals...