Memoirs Part 15

After one year at Phu Cat, I was reassigned to Mt. Home AFB in Idaho. “Ammo” troops weren’t in big demand in the States, so I was cross-trained into Security Police. At first, I hated it since Ammo troops were like family. But, I learned a lot while being a “sky-cop.” Although I made new friends and started enjoying my new job, I still longed to be back in Ammo. I volunteered several times, and after 12 months I got an assignment to Bien HoaAB, Vietnam.

On my flight to Ton Sun Nhut AB our plane was full of Army troops except me and one other guy in the Air Force. While approaching the base, a stewardess came out from the cockpit with a scared look on her face. I was sitting in the very front row near the exit and she knew we were headingfor Bien Hoa. She said that Bien Hoa was having a rocket attack as we spoke. I was totally cool with it and she wanted to know why I wasn’t nervous or scared. I told her that 1) we were pretty high in the sky and 2) we would be landing at Ton Sun Nhut Air Base which wasn’t being attacked. Bien Hoa was nicknamed “Rocket Alley”for all the rocket attacks they had. As it turned out, that was the last rocket attack at Bien Hoa for 31 days, which at that time was a record. We didn’t have too many attacks during the 18 months I was stationed there.