Dry Season
During the dry season in Vietnam, it does not rain for about six months. As bad as the rain was, the dry season was full of problems also. The lack of rain meant the Army never had enough water. We had to carry the water with us for drinking purposes only. The water was carried in a tank on wheels called a water buffalo, which was pulled behind one of the Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs).
The bad news was we could not take a shower. The worse news was we really needed to take showers. In the dry season, the roads became very dusty, and the APCs kicked up a lot of dust. When we traveled in a convoy, the only APC that would not be covered in dust would be the lead or point APC. Soldiers would wear goggles to keep the dust out of their eyes, which was great, but when they took them off, they sure looked funny, like negatives of a raccoons.
Which brings me to the time my company had to go on a short foot patrol during the dry season. We got lost! I know it is hard to believe in this day of GPS, and all, but we did not have anything to guide us except maps and compasses. That would not have been a problem, except we had a new Lieutenant, fresh from West Point, who refused to listen to any of the Sergeants, so we wondered in the jungle for about three days. We ran out of water. We where lucky to find a pond of stagnate water. I brushed the scum off the top of the water and filled my canteen and dropped in a couple of iodine pills, as everyone did, and shook it up, waited a few minutes and took a drink. It tasted just like scummy pond water, nevertheless; it was water. No one became ill from the water, so I guess the iodine worked.
Temptation showed its ugly head for all the soldiers during the dry, hot weather. There were villages and towns throughout Vietnam, where one could find cold drinks or fresh fruit, and other goodies. The reason this had to stay only a temptation was that we never knew who the enemy was, or who to trust. The people were very friendly, sometimes too friendly* Nevertheless, it was best not to trust any of the local people. Rumors were abounding about glass in cokes, poison fruit, or some kind of booby trap in anything one might buy from the locals.
I took several chances while in Vietnam by giving into the temptations. I bought a cold coke and drank it, but not before taking off the top very carefully and then putting my thumb over the top of the bottle, and turning it upside down to test for glass. Another time I bought an orange at an open-air market. It was the best orange I ever had. I took the orange and made a little hole in it and sucked on it while we were in a dusty convoy, maybe that is why it was the best. In addition, I tried a few dried meats at an open-air market, but I made the woman selling it take a bite first of each thing I ate. Looking back, I think maybe that rainy season was not so bad. Live and learn; learn and live.
*Some young ladies were very insistent about selling their bodies.
The bad news was we could not take a shower. The worse news was we really needed to take showers. In the dry season, the roads became very dusty, and the APCs kicked up a lot of dust. When we traveled in a convoy, the only APC that would not be covered in dust would be the lead or point APC. Soldiers would wear goggles to keep the dust out of their eyes, which was great, but when they took them off, they sure looked funny, like negatives of a raccoons.
Which brings me to the time my company had to go on a short foot patrol during the dry season. We got lost! I know it is hard to believe in this day of GPS, and all, but we did not have anything to guide us except maps and compasses. That would not have been a problem, except we had a new Lieutenant, fresh from West Point, who refused to listen to any of the Sergeants, so we wondered in the jungle for about three days. We ran out of water. We where lucky to find a pond of stagnate water. I brushed the scum off the top of the water and filled my canteen and dropped in a couple of iodine pills, as everyone did, and shook it up, waited a few minutes and took a drink. It tasted just like scummy pond water, nevertheless; it was water. No one became ill from the water, so I guess the iodine worked.
Temptation showed its ugly head for all the soldiers during the dry, hot weather. There were villages and towns throughout Vietnam, where one could find cold drinks or fresh fruit, and other goodies. The reason this had to stay only a temptation was that we never knew who the enemy was, or who to trust. The people were very friendly, sometimes too friendly* Nevertheless, it was best not to trust any of the local people. Rumors were abounding about glass in cokes, poison fruit, or some kind of booby trap in anything one might buy from the locals.
I took several chances while in Vietnam by giving into the temptations. I bought a cold coke and drank it, but not before taking off the top very carefully and then putting my thumb over the top of the bottle, and turning it upside down to test for glass. Another time I bought an orange at an open-air market. It was the best orange I ever had. I took the orange and made a little hole in it and sucked on it while we were in a dusty convoy, maybe that is why it was the best. In addition, I tried a few dried meats at an open-air market, but I made the woman selling it take a bite first of each thing I ate. Looking back, I think maybe that rainy season was not so bad. Live and learn; learn and live.
*Some young ladies were very insistent about selling their bodies.
posted by 7horses | Tuesday, June 21, 2005
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