quote:

Originally posted by Joe_Carey:
Ahh man! Do you know who it was that visited us at St Albans Naval Hospital in NYC, Phyllis Diller!!!

And the only people that visited me in any other hospital in Asia or the South Pacific were Generals and Colonels, and none of them at all pretty! I would have given my left nut to have the group that visited you visit me!

quote:

Originally posted by Joe_Carey:
Actually, there was one Celeb that came to see us on the lines, The Duke! Yes Siree! John Wayne!

He was a hell of a nice guy, and he took the time to talk to each and evey one of us. Whatever they have to say about the Duke, he, at least, came to see us, and it was not us going to see him!

Although, I am sure that a Miss America would have been nice to see, I am not so sure that she would have left our area quite the same Miss as she came.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe_Carey:
Actually, there was one Celeb that came to see us on the lines, The Duke! Yes Siree! John Wayne!

He was a hell of a nice guy, and he took the time to talk to each and evey one of us. Whatever they have to say about the Duke, he, at least, came to see us, and it was not us going to see him!

Although, I am sure that a Miss America would have been nice to see, I am not so sure that she would have left our area quite the same Miss as she came.

quote:

Originally posted by 6576414:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe_Carey:
Actually, there was one Celeb that came to see us on the lines, The Duke! Yes Siree! John Wayne!

He was a hell of a nice guy, and he took the time to talk to each and evey one of us. Whatever they have to say about the Duke, he, at least, came to see us, and it was not us going to see him!

Although, I am sure that a Miss America would have been nice to see, I am not so sure that she would have left our area quite the same Miss as she came.

yeah Joe, he came to H&S 65or66 don't remember,

we were in front of the mess tent, they also had

a grass hootch there for the officers ,

anyway, he was talking to us and answering

questions, when a sniper from the hills behind

our CP, took a couple of pops toward us, we all

dove for cover, along with JW. fuggin dinks

must not have liked his movies..

quote:

Originally posted by Mario72:
My trip back home began early one morning in August after an attack on Quon Loi and being wounded. I was in a fighting position on the berm firing at muzzle flashes when all of a sudden I was picked up and thrown to the ground. How long I laid there I have no idea but the next thing that I remember is being carried to the field hospital where all my clothing and boots were cut off and my wounds being checked I was quickly put on a litter and carried out to be dusted off. It was raining and there I am all naked under an Army blanket getting soaked and it was a cold rain. I arrived at the hospital in Bien Hoa soaked and cold and under a wet blanket and put in an air-coditioned receiving section of the hospital. Then it gets worse. I have to pee. Nobody around, I got to go bad, so I let it go, i'm lying in my own piss, wait a minute, it's warm, ahhh, o no now the piss is turning cold making matters worse.

Well I wind up in surgey for arm, leg, and torso wounds, they put a mask over my face and tell me to count backward from ten to one, "ten, nine, eight, seven", then I feel a patting on my face and hear a nurse saying "wake up Mario, time to wake up". I'm groggy, dazed, and my eyes have a hard time to focus on objects. I hear a lot of talking near a door and people start to walk down the row of beds in the recovery room. They finally get to my bed and low and behold six of the most beautiful young women appear before my now quickly focusing eyes. It turns out to be 1969 Miss America, Judy Ann Ford and the five runner-ups. She introduces herself and the other five and leave a poster with me which shows her in the middle and the other five surrounding her (the poster was stolen while in Japan). Before she and the others leave she bends over and plants a kiss on my cheek. Later that night I told the nurse that they sure knew when to bring them in, right after surgey while we were still dazed and confused, for she would not have escaped with just a peck on the cheek.

I now arrive at a hospital in Cam Rahn Bay to have further surgery on some head wounds. After surgery I am put in a bay, awaiting to be transported to a hospital in Japan. The night nurse is a very comical woman in what she says and in her mannerisms. She is about five feet tall, well endowed and weighing about 200 pounds. One night there is a sapper attack near our location (they came in off the bay). Here is this nurse running around, not scared but just excited, her steel-pot sitting high on her teased hair, and the flack-jacket, not being adjusted properly can only be snapped on the lowest button. You just had to have seen it.

Well I arrive in Yokohama, Japan at the 106th General Hospital. It is here where I will go through rehabilitation. I remember some one on one of these Vietnam War Posts make mention of the difference between being wounded and rehab. Rehab, noooooooooo! I had no control of my left arm so in order to rehabilitate it they had a small box with some electrodes which they hooked on to my arm in certain areas. This box was plugged into an outlet and had a knob that the sadistic nurse would turn up and thus cause my arm to react to the electric current. The arm would rise up and look like a cobra getting ready to strike. The only thing that would counteract the displeasure of rehab was the beautiful nurse holding the arm and all the adjusting she had to do to it.

There was a good friend of mine, Billy Quick, that I grew up with back home. He joined the Army as soon as he graduated and I waited a year before I enlisted. Back home my mother and Billy's mother kept in touch, being as both he and I were in the Army. My mother made mention of the hospital that I was at in Japan. Upon hearing this, Billy's mother told my mother that Billy was an orderly at that very hospital. Billy's mother contacted him about my being where he was stationed and one day as I was lying in my bed I heard my name being called out and it sounded familiar. I looked toward the sound of the voice and saw a familiar face and walk(he had the John Wayne stroll). He visited often and soon as I was given permission, he would wheel me over to the EM Club to listen to the live music shows. As soon as the casts and bandages were taken off, he took me into the city and surrounding areas. Had a great time.

After a four month stay the hospital I was sent to Camp Zama. From here I was given orders to Ft. Hood, Texas, just a hop, skip, and jump from Austin, my home town.

After we had arrived back in the states, I and a few of the guys also returning got a taxi and proceeded toward the San Francisco Airport. At the airport, there was a certain point that the Servicemen were to be let out. At this point they had built a wooden ramp with the back side boarded up completely so as to shield us from the protestors. Nothing was thrown at us nor were we spit upon but I can still hear the verbal insults and see the posters but these were minute, I was going home.

I arrived in Austin to smiling and familiar faces. Mom, dad, my two brothers, and a cousin. It was good to be home.