My God watches over me when I wake and when I sleep - ("Safest Place in Vietnam" Part 2)

“CAM RANH BAY, Vietnam- The cluster of buildings that is the 6th Convalescent Center here sits atop a sun-splashed slope on the Cam Ranh Bay peninsula overlooking the South China Sea. At the foot of the slope transparently clear blue waves wash against a sugar white beach that stretches away until it becomes lost in the blue-green haze of the jungled mountains to the north.

It is a place where soldiers come to forget the war, to relax, and to recuperate. Clad in light blue pajamas, they congregate on the beach in small groups. They swim in the warm water, or stroll in the damp sand, or they spread blankets and bask in the heat of the sun in a sky that is almost always cloudless blue. It is a peaceful place. Or, rather, it was.

An hour after midnight, Thursday morning, that peace was abruptly and savagely shattered. A barrage of 107mm rockets streaked upward on the mainland, arced across the bay, and slammed into the air base. At the same time, a small group of Communist sappers cut through the perimeter fence at the north end of the convalescent center and raced through the compound, flinging satchel charges into buildings as they went.” – Pacific Stars and Stripes 11 August 1969 by S. Sgt. Jim White, S&S Staff Correspondent

I remember that night well. I had earned my first Purple Heart from a wound received in an attack on our base camp in Quan Loi on July 20, 1969 (the same day that our astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon) and was in Cam Ranh Bay Convalescent Center recovering. (Recovering can sometimes have its pluses - like when the USO brings beautiful ladies to visit us). Cam Ranh Bay was considered the safest place in Vietnam (I think that may have been a quote from Nixon).

It was around one o’clock in the morning and I was sound asleep. Suddenly, I was wide awake.  It was almost as if someone had shaken me or called my name.
I raised up in my bunk and looked around. It was quiet and dark, no one moving down the two rows of sleeping patients in the ward. Suddenly at the far end of the ward, the door opened and I saw a Viet Cong (VC) throw something into the ward and on the bunk of a patient. The charge exploded as I rolled out of my bunk onto floor. I could hear machine gun fire outside and began to crawl toward the door at my end of the ward. As I crawled out the door, a foot landed near the side of my head and then on the other side. As I looked I saw a VC running toward the next ward and throwing a charge. The charge went off about ten feet from me and rang my bells (loud sound attacking your ears, for those not familiar with the term) real good. Have hearing loss and continuous ringing in my ears as a result of that explosion. The VC machine gun fire was coming from the center of the compound where we normally formed up for roll call each morning. I continued to crawl around the side of the ward, where I joined other soldiers as we crawled into a culvert pipe. We managed to form up on the other side and ran to the arms room to get some weapons. Initially, we were told we could have weapons because we were patients, but with a little convincing, we were issued weapons. By this time the attack was over and the VC had fled back into the night. Myself and some of the other patients pulled guard duty that night. I guess I had not learned to duck properly with my first Purple Heart, I received my second Purple Heart that night. The center was attacked again not long after that, but that’s a story for another time.

When I was young I had gone to the altar at the Fulton Ave. Baptist Church and asked God to come into my heart. As the years had passed, I had drifted away from the church, but God had not drifted away from me. I believe that it was God who called my name and shook me awake that night. He still had plans for me and people’s lives that He wanted me to influence or be influenced by. I came back to Him during a revival at another Baptist church after Brenda & I were married.

Bien Hoa Hospital to Cam Ranh Bay "Safest Place in Vietnam" Part 1

This is one of those stories that I have shared with my girls and just a few others. Sometimes it seems more like a dream. Last year I shared the story of how I was wounded on the same day our astronauts walked on the moon. As I said, after the field medic worked on the wound, I was carried first by stretcher to an ambulance, I think, could have been just a truck, to the local field hospital. There they determined that the wound was too bad to work on there, and ordered a copter to fly me to a landing strip, I remember the copter ride, I was on a stretcher just inside the door and could see the jungle flying past me. Did not seem like too long a ride, but could not say for sure as it all kept fading in and out.  At the landing strip they put me on a C-130 cargo plane to Bien Hoa Hospital. I remember walking off the plane at Bien Hoa with blood soaking the bandage around my leg and the doctor chewing out the crew because I was walking and not on a stretcher. Apparently someone messed up and listed me as ambulatory, which meant I could walk. They put me in a bed and a nurse came in to clean the wound. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but when she started to work, all I could do was just grit my teeth and hold the bed rails. In Vietnam they have many strange creatures, one of which was a lizard that when it screams seems to say a four letter word followed by "you". There was one of those lizards in the window above my head screaming its head off, and as I laid there below while the nurse worked, I thought, "You tell her buddy!"

They said I could shower which I really wanted to do, but it was an interesting prospect because they said I could not get the leg wet. I finally figured out a solution and taped a trash bag around the wound and stood in the shower with that leg outside propped on a bench that was outside the shower.

Not sure how long I was there before they operated and got the shrapnel out. Don't think it was too long. I remember they gave me a shot that numbed me from the waist down, but did not put me to sleep. Part of the way through the operation the numbness wore off just as they cut something, I said, "Hey, I felt that!", so they numbed me again. They said I was lucky and only lost three inches of muscle,  the shrapnel missed the bone, otherwise they said I would probably have lost the leg. The shrapnel going in made a hole the size of a quarter, but stopped just before coming out the other side. Again in this I was lucky, had it come out the back side of my leg the damage would have been greater as it would have blown out that side of my leg. Because of this, most of the damage was limited to the muscle and nerves. The nerves still are not right, if you touch the front of my leg, I feel it in the back. Funny what you can get used to.

From Bien Hoa they flew me to Cam Ranh Bay Hospital to recover, before I was to return to my unit. Tomorrow I will share about how Cam Ranh Bay, "The Safest Place in Vietnam" stopped me from returning to my unit.

The Birthday Gift No One Forgot

It was May 31st 1952, Mom was having her 12th and final child. Another boy, who they named Ernie. He was one ugly baby.......just kidding. Not only was this a special day because Ernie was born, but it was also Mom's 39th birthday. Mom was born May 31, 1913.

Many years later, we had a surprize birthday party for Mom. Not sure but I think all the her children were there and many of the grandchildren. We had cake, lots of food (always lots of food when the Henson family gathered), presents were given and opened. We were all having a good time.

Then Mom's final present was carried in. It was a very large box that required several of the boys to carry in. The present was put in front of her. We all gathered around to watch her open it. No one could guess what it was and Mom had no idea.

She opened the present and just burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. Everyone was laughing with her. The present took her back to the day Ernie was born.

Ernie was really an ugly baby this time and I am not kidding. He was wearing a diaper, and had a baby bottle.

Prairie Dogs, Buffalos and A Honda Civic

I remember when we were stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, we liked to go visit the Wichita Wildlife Refuge.  Once we stopped at the Prairie Dog Town which the girls really liked. The prairie dogs would run in and out of their homes (holes). They would chase each other chattering and barking. If I remember correctly, we could feed them dried apple pieces, which they would eat sitting up. We took the girls to the town whenever we could.

One time, I came home from work and suggested that we go the Wildlife Refuge. Brenda had already prepared our dinner (meatloaf and lima beans) so she just left them in the pot, packed up paper plates, & drinks and we headed out. Now you have to understand that it was probably already 4 or 5 when I got home so it was getting late by the time we got to the Refuge. Even though we got a late start, we saw a lot of buffalo and longhorn steer, and we all were really enjoying the trip. After a while Brenda suggested, that we probably should find a place to stop. I said I would find a place, but came upon a herd of buffalo and watched them for a while. Now I realized that it was getting late and that I had better find a place to park. Of course now there was no place in sight to have a picnic, it was getting dark, so we decided to just pop the hatch and eat in the back of the car. It was now dark and when you are out in a wildlife refuge there are no lights so it was really really dark. We had just started eating and began to hear a snorting sound. The sound begin to get louder and louder and closer and closer.

We all scrambled over the seats toward the front of the Honda. We looked and a buffalo put its head into the car through the open hatch. The girls were screaming, Brenda was strongly encouraging me to go, I dropped the keys and was having trouble finding them. Finally, found the keys and raced away with the hatch open. We only slowed down to close the hatch when we were sure we could not even hear anything that remotely sounded like a snort. Oklahoma has a lot of good memories for us.

A Room To Remember

After Vietnam, I went through an interesting time - I was, some might say cool ...... others would say weird ..... and still others were just worried about me. My hair was below my shoulders, my mustache was on a good start to a fu manchu, buckskin boots, dated an exotic dancer (not Brenda), also dated a lady who owned a monkey (again not Brenda) ..... you get the picture. I was living with Mom in the apartment above Erman's on Elkton Ave. I decided to paint the room, to make it feel more like me ....... but what color would really say something ........ special. I got my inspiration while at the market, do not ask what I was doing there, I don't really remember, I noticed an eggplant fruit. The more I thought about it, the more I liked its color, and then an idea began to form ...... I wonder ..... I decided eggplant would be the perfect color ...... If ...... what I was thinking would work. I painted the walls ..... turned out the regular light ..... oh did I say I had also purchased a large black light? ...... turned on the black light and just as I hoped my wall almost disappeared .... to add to the effect I cut some images out of some black light posters and put them on the walls .... stars, planets, moon, sun, characters ..... they all seemed to be floating in the air ..... very cool. Yellow lines in the wall corners, some fishnet hanging above the bed were just the right finishing touches. One cool room. For some of my nieces and nephews thought it was a bit scary, although some did like it. I understand after I moved out, when Erman tried to repaint the walls, the eggplant was very hard to cover and kept bleeding through. I would not be surprised that there still might be some evidence in that room.

Deer Hunting Part 3: Swamp Buggy and Snakes

My first car was a 1962 VW Bug that ran on 3 1/2 cylinders. I purchased it from Herman for, I think $250, and made a few modifications. The modification that got most of the attention, was the carpet. You ask, "what was so unique about changing carpeting?".....well this carpet was not on the inside, it was on the outside....tan as I remember it. I glued it on the hood and trunk. You have to remember back in those days I was a little bit on ...... well let's just say I enjoyed myself. It was not unusual, when I stopped at a red light, for people crossing the street to stop and rub my car and either shake their heads or give me a thumbs up. In those days a VW bug was built  such that it would go just about anywhere ..... on any road ........ off-road ...... even no road. So you will understand when I say I decide to take it hunting with me ..... I don't mean just drive it to the camp site .... but TAKE IT hunting WITH me in the woods. It was not unusual for a club member to be in his tree stand and to his amazement (and I am sure frustration), the white swamp buggy would come zipping by. The nice thing was that the swamp buggy could get to places that were a little more remote. Which is what I had done this day. Having parked the buggy near where I planned to hunt, I was walking down a path, minding my own business, when noticed a very large snake on the path.

It was a copperhead and was right in the middle of the road blocking the path. I was in a swampy area where they can usually be found, but normally in October copperheads retreat to their dens until February or March. The only thing I could think to explain why it was in front of me, was that the night before there was a particularly violent storm, so my guess was that it had gotten disturbed. I was alone and decided I really did not want anything to do with it. I moved to the right side of the road to move around it, but that stubborn thing moved over to the right. Ok....you can have the right I will take the left .... I moved left ..... you got it...the snake moved left.....I moved right.....snake moved right and moved closer to me ..... I guess the snake planned to take it's anger at being disturbed on me ..... I was wet .... I was cold ..... I was not in the best mood either .... I was carrying a 308 rifle that I bought from Earl for $100 (yes it was a good deal, but it was with the understanding that if I got rid of it, I was to sell back to Earl for $100, which I did years later - not sure who in the family ended up with it), stubborn snake, 308 rifle, bad mood ........ BOOM ..... dead snake ...... snake into pouch ..... a dead snake at camp could be a lot of fun.

Deer Hunting Part 2: A Lunch Box, A Car & A Box of Bullets

He left camp early and drove down the road to the field road near where he planned to hunt that day. It was just a short walk to the tree stand and he wanted to be in the stand well before the dawn fog lifted. Jessie made sure he had everything he needed, rifle, ammunition (20 rounds - I think), hot drink, and lunch box. He was settled in, as the fog slowly began to lift. He scanned the almost invisible field in front of him. At first, Jessie was not sure what he was seeing ....... there in the middle of the field was something ...... something big ...... rubbing his eyes ...... he could not believe it ...... there in the middle of the field was the biggest buck he had ever seen ...... the fog continued to lift ...... then next to the buck was another deer .... and another ..... and another ...... a herd of deer were just standing out there eating quietly ....... Jessie's heart began to pound ..... he was sure that the deer could hear it ...... slowly he shakily raised his rifle and fired .... and fired .... and fired, until he ran out of ammunition ..... the deer had scattered ...... all except one ...... apparently with all the shooting he had hit one of them in the leg ...... Jessie grabbed his lunch box and threw it at the deer ...... the deer just looked at him ....... down out of the tree Jessie flew........down the road, jumping in his car, he headed for the store that was just down the road where he could get more ammunition ...... flying down the road, when suddenly that large buck and several of the other deer began crossing the road ...... Jessie accelerated, aiming his car for the buck ...... luck was just not with him ..... the car bounced a little off the road ....... but the deer got away ..... he continued on down the road to the store ..... bought some ammunition and headed back up the road .... as he slid back to a stop ...... he observed the farmer's son walk up to the deer and shoot it ...... when we asked why he didn't take time with that first shot ...... He laughed and said there were so many deer that he thought that there was just no way he could miss them. If I remember correctly, the farmer's son was good natured about it and gave the deer to Jessie, since he made it possible for him to just walk up and shoot it. 

Deer Hunting Stories Part 1: Sneaking Quietly

Deer hunting with the brothers always produced some interesting stories. Several of my favorites involved my brothers Jessie and Ernie.  I remember one year, about thirty some years ago, it was hunting season, and as usual, we all were in Southern Maryland, I think we were on Mr. Beechum's land (not sure if I spelled his name right), I had found a nice spot in the woods that looked good and sat down, leaning against a tree. Everything around had settled down, it was quiet, the squirrels had gotten use to me sitting there and were playing in the trees. I was sitting very still enjoying the surroundings and just thinking. Then I heard it ........ crash ..... Crash .... CRASH ...... the sound was coming closer and closer........I eased up a little.......sliding  my rifle butt to my shoulder......this had to be the biggest deer ever......my eyes scanned the area where the sound seemed to be coming from.....I spotted movement......could not quite make it out......wasn't as big as I was expecting......colors were wrong.......deer do not wear red......then I saw it.......my brother Ernie sneaking (well his version of sneaking) through the woods......I was waiting patiently.....thinking he would notice me since he was walking right toward me........I finally, I called, "Ernie!"......he jumped....thought he was going to wet himself.....now that I think about it.....I am sure there was a very nasty smell in the air.......Ernie said he thought he saw a couple deer.....I thought to myself, "well sneaking the way he was sneaking, the deer were probably in the next county".  Ernie went on his way and I settled back down......I still liked this spot......things got quiet again and not much later I heard another sound that got my attention.....this was a quieter sound...almost a part of the surroundings....I eased up to a stand and leaned against the tree. I spotted the deer coming through the woods (not in the next county after all). I lined up my shot and then realized there were two of them.....I took my shot and the deer dropped....the other deer froze for a second.........then other deer started to run.....realizing that the rest of the brothers would laugh at me if I let the other deer go, I quickly took the second shot....the army had taught me well......and the second deer dropped. I gutted both and then came the realization that here I was in the middle of the woods.....by myself.....with two deer to bring out....the brothers laughing at me now did not seem like such a bad thing......using a rope (always carry a rope) I tied one to each end of the rope, got in the middle and began to drag them toward the edge of the woods. Seemed like forever but I was finally almost there.......I saw Jessie standing on the other side of the field.....I yelled to Jessie but he did not hear me....Jessie had received a head injury when he was younger and he did not hear well out of one ear....he finally noticed me and ran across the field and asked, "Did you get one?"....Catching my breath, I said "No....... I got two." He didn't say, "What were you thinking shooting two", he just laughed and got in the middle of the rope with me and together we pulled the two deer back to the camp. Jessie never complained that I had cut his hunting day short. That was just the way Jessie was, you could always count on him to lend a hand where needed. But I guess I could say that about all my brothers and cousins too. Tomorrow I will share Deer Hunting Part 2: A Lunch Box, A Car & A Box of Bullets.

Big Chocolate Donuts or Cigarettes

Over the years I have shared with the girls why I don't smoke cigarettes. I am sure at times I talked about health reasons, financial reasons, smell reasons, etc., but the primary reason is "Big Chocolate Frosted Donuts." As I remember it, when I was in Junior High School, my mother gave me a little money for milk each day. If I choose not to drink milk, I could, if I wanted (without Mom's knowledge) buy something else with the money. I had tried smoking a cigarette once or twice to look cool. I always thought I would be pretty cool if I used the money to buy cigarettes, but before I could to buy the cigarettes I had to walk right by a wonderfully smelling bakery. They had to know what they were doing......what young growing boy could just walk right on by......... with all those smells pulling, pulling us ........ annnd this bakery sold the biggest chocolate frosted donuts......I just could not walk on by that bakery without giving in to those donuts. Those donuts would reach out to me.......calling, calling my name and they won each and every time..... I still love chocolate frosted donuts and I still don't smoke....In a head-to-head match......Big Chocolate Frosted Donuts will triumph over cigarettes, each and every time.

The Final Test For A Jumpmaster

The Jumpmaster Course trains paratroopers to be Jumpmasters. Basically, a Jumpmaster is responsible to make sure the parachutes have no safety issues and are properly worn by each jumper before they jump out of the aircraft. They are also the ones who, when the aircraft is in flight and the door has been opened, check the door for safety, then, with feet solidly placed at the edge of the door & holding firmly to each side of the door, lean out the door, and watch for landmarks to identify the dropzone (place where we jump out and hope to land). Once the dropzone has been identified, they give the various prepare to jump warnings, they direct the first jumper to the door, and when the airplane crew gives the "Green Light" (a red/green light next to the door), commands "Go!" to the first jumper. At the command "Go!" all jumpers exit the aircraft about a second apart. The last jumper out being the Jumpmaster.

The final of the course is a pass/fail test in flight on the aircraft. The test is for jumpmaster candidate to be able to check the jumper's static lines, the safety of the door, then properly hang out the door, and then direct the jump at the proper time. I was 13th in line on the plane to take the test. The first in line, a young sergeant decided he would show the Jumpmaster Instructors that he was as good as they were, so he checked the door, placed his hand on the side of the door, and popped his body vigorously out the door, planning to hang as far out as he could but............he was so vigorous........he actually kept right on going out the door........

The next up was a female LT, having watched the sergeant, was much less vigorous and gingerly held onto the door frame, and proceeded to hang outside.........then we heard a faint "help me ......... help me"......then we watched as first one finger, then another, then another popped loose from the leading door edge......until she also followed the sergeant out the door.......the Jumpmaster Instructor, looked out the door shook his head and in each case wrote "failed" on their grading slips and threw the slips out the door after jumpers........now you have to understand that a Jumpmaster never ever "falls out the door" and to fall out during the test was automatic failure of the course. The pass rate for the Jumpmaster Course was less than 50% of those who start the Course. So you know when it was my turn to be at the door for the test.....I had a "Death Grip" on the door....I would not be surprised that the airplane might still have my finger impressions in the door frame.....needless to say I had a good hang and passed the test and became a Jumpmaster. I had a number of interesting jumps over the years, some of which involved running off other jumpers parachutes, trees, thorn bushes, vehicles on the dropzone but these are for another telling

Young, Fearless, Carefree, annnnnd Stupid

I remember the night like it was just yesterday. I was maybe 15 or 16, we (Roger, Gene, and me) were hanging around under the Frederick Ave bridge over Gwynns Falls; that was a cool bridge that we would sometimes climb over the wall on the water side of the bridge to see who could cross .........but that's a story for another time........well back to the current story...somehow we had acquired a couple six packs of beer. We saw a railroad cop coming walking toward us along the railroad tracks and so we hurried up the side of the hill. We had just climbed back up when we were grabbed by two cops who were waiting at the top of the hill. They herded us into the back seat of the patrol car and proceeded to ask us for our names, Roger and I gave names and addresses that sounded like they could be real people & places; Gene on the other had gave them his real name, address, date of birth, mother's maiden name, etc.........well maybe just his real name and address. About this time, the officers noticed another group of teenages who were apparently enjoying a couple six packs also; they jumped out of the car, telling us to stay where we were and don't move! Well.......I looked at Roger .......he looked at me (Roger's stepfather was a cop).............. and we jumped out of the car and took off running and laughing for several blocks; I really don't remember if Gene followed us..........probably did........surely we would not have left him..........well Gene was always a slow runner and Roger & I could almost fly; Turns out Gene was the only one that got in trouble. Roger and I were thankful for fast feet and slow police.