A Visit To The Past
Our Viking Tour ended on March 20th and some people departed for home at various times, while other people departed for an optional extension in Thailand. As for me and Patti, we left the hotel at 9:00 am on March 20th and were transported to the domestic terminal at Saigon International Airport for our flight to Chu Lai. Our plane lifted off right on time and so began my visit with the past. Flight time from Saigon to Chu Lai is about one hour and twenty minutes, about the same amount of time it takes to fly from Oakland to Long Beach. I am glad there was a flight to Chu Lai as Chu Lai is closer to Quang Ngai than Da Nang is. There is another reason that I am glad about being able to fly to Chu Lai. In mid to late May of 1971 another enlisted man and I were at one of the motor pools on the Chu Lai base doing some maintenance on the 3/4 pickup truck that had been assigned to me. While we were working on the truck, my commanding officer entered the motor pool and told me my orders...