Trip of a Lifetime – Chapter 3

Introduction – Chapter 1 – Chapter 2 – Chapter 3 – Chapter 4 – Summary

Khe Sanh, the Rockpile and the Razorback, Hi Van Pass and Da Nang

April 11th

We head out for the Rockpile/Razorback, and, then, on to Khe Sanh Fire base. Khe Sanh has tank, aircraft and sand bagged bunker displays and a small museum. Our guide, Thach points out Hill 881 North and South to me, I’ve read about Marine firefights and battles there. We spend most of the day traveling and sight seeing. During the drive, Paul and I break out 2 bottles of spirits, we bought the night before at a Vietnamese version of Kroger’s, but different – ha-ha-ha. Needless to say no one is feeling any pain by the time we get to Da Nang with both bottles being pretty much empty. The night before, on the 10th, Paul and I get our driver, Stay, to take us to “Kroger’s.” to get these bottles of spirits. When we get there, I get an idea. It takes a while, due to the language barrier, but after several phone calls from Stay to Phong, we figured out where to get ingredients we need to make Bloody Marys. Later that night of the 10th, I invite the guys to the room, and we enjoy the fruits of our labors. For the next hour or so we discussed everything from our careers to how the military has changed to religion and politics. And you know, one shouldn’t mix religion and politics while partaking in the adult beverage. However, I think we solved all of the world problems in that little hotel room at Dong HA.

Back to the 11th, our driver skillfully navigates through the countryside, with a stop atop Hi Van pass. What extraordinary sights we see: The South China Sea to our left and mountains with fishing villages to the right. Behind us the sun is dropping behind a mountain range, driving thru a fishing village the suns is reflecting off the lake, man what a sight.

As we near the top, a visible fog is coming through, pushed by a fairly strong salty sea breeze. This was eerie looking, and by the time we actually stop, a heavy thicker fog is settling.

On top of the Pass are strategically placed French built bunkers from the previous French Indochina war. I don’t know much about this area, but I plan to spend a little time and research it.

Over the whole trip only once, did I have a little bit of trouble with the Vietnamese, and it was here atop Hi van Pass. A small altercation with a local knucklehead about my money and his safety. To make a long story short, he spoke broken English. Now, he understood good English when I wanted to possibly buy something. However, he couldn’t understand any English when I wanted my money that he had taken out of my hand, as I was looking at his merchandise but decided not to purchase. It’s funny, because, he and his partners understood “Real Good English”, when I grabbed him by the collar and told him if he didn’t give my money back, I was going to pitch his skinny ass over this cliff!! Paul had some of this action as well, but he being smarter, told them to call the police, and immediately his money was returned. Just a Vietnamese sales tactic, every thing turned out OK, so we saddled up and moved on.

On the other side of the pass, we see the lights of Da Nang. Reaching our destination, we settle down for the night. Later, we meet out on China beach later for a cool one (cool one is literal, because there ain’t nothing cold in Vietnam), and we reminisce about the hill.

NOTE: The Rockpile and the Razorback are even bigger than I had imagined. They are icons for any Marine documentaries and/or books of the former DMZ. The next time I come here, I really would like to climb the Rockpile.

NOTE: Pretty much wherever you go, someone is trying to sell you something. They can get pushy at times. The best defense is to walk away, but if it gets out of hand, tell them, you want to speak to the authorities ( công an ) . Threatening to beat them up and to throw them off a cliff is not and I repeat NOT a wise option. However, that will work!

April 12th

This is a free day, to do as one wishes. You can stay at this beautiful 5 star resort by the pool, on China beach, or go to Marble Mountain. I elect to go to the Mountain. What a wise decision. After buying some exquisite local handmade jewelry for my wife and daughter, I get a guide, Mr. Hung, and tour Marble Mountain.

I could write 10 more pages and still not cover everything I experienced on this excursion. After about 4 hours Ski and I meet up, and walk back to our beautiful Sandy Beach Resort.

 

Paul was not feeling chipper earlier, decided to stay at the resort. When I returned and displayed the things I had bought, and told him of the sights, he said, “Brother I feel a lot better, I’m going” and asked “you want to go back?” I said, “Hell yeah, I’m in.” I’m glad I went back with him. I thought I had been everywhere on Marble Mountain. Wrong!

On the second trip we found the highest point, came down, stopped, and had tea with a Buddhist monk. A very interesting visit. We returned to the resort, and had dinner with the guys, calling it a night.

April 13th

Today, our team gets bigger, Mike’s wife Chris and daughter Kaitlyn, along with Phong’s wife, Ngoc, and their daughter, Kim, join us for the next leg of the trip to Chu Lai. We actually met them the first night here.

But now, we are traveling companions and what a great time traveling with the two little girls, I think both girls are 3 years old. Paul and I both have daughters and had a blast playing with these little ones as we are sight seeing.

Our travel accommodations has gotten bigger as well, full of big windows.

 
 

Our first stop is the Chu Lai airport, where remnants of the war stand out with the aging and battle scared aircraft bunkers still there. We checked into our hotel on the beach, had lunch, and then right out to a school the Marines had worked with back in the day.

Then, an interesting ride through the rice paddies to Red Hill, an outpost that I 3/5 lived on and patrolled from; and, then on to Hill 69, where the battalion headquarters was bivouacked. This was very cool for me because, I had the chance to hang with Mike, one-on-one, and hear some of his experiences and funny stories atop of Hill 69. After a long day of sight seeing, we return to the hotel for dinner, another very unique eating experience.

The restaurant is outside in an open-air Quonset hut style structure covered with bamboo leaves. Ordering is easy and simple. Kind of like in Dong Ha, you just go up to the cooking area, pick out dinner as it swims around in small wash pans and they cook it. The Shrimp (prawns) were the biggest I have ever seen. This night we have squid, crabs, seaweed, shrimp and what appeared to be “Arkansas shad”, a little silver fish cooked whole. Learning how to eat it was a trick but enjoyable.

There was a bit of surprise tonight. Dave (a professional photographer) had been taking pictures of the locals all night, and indulging in their spirits with them. So when it was time to leave, one of the guys got up to embrace Dave, of course Dave followed through, but the little guy grabbed hold and gave ole Dave a nice wet one right on the lips. Only the Americans went into shock, but it was temporary. We all started laughing, as Dave, now dumbfounded, didn’t have a clue of what to do. You could see it in his expressions.

He had to be thinking should I bitch slap this dude, kiss him back, or just back off and smile. Dave chooses the latter. What a very funny moment. The locals come over, drinking beer and smoking all of Mike’s cigars. A really great time was had by all.

As the night winds down, Mike, Jerry, Ski, Paul and I have a nightcap. It’s dark and quiet now. There’s a nice breeze blowing in from the sea, and not one of us is feeling any pain. This setting made for a great way to end this evening. This is probably one of my favorite times of the entire trip. Does it get any better?

I have my buddy Paul with me sitting in Chu Lai, Vietnam, with my dad’s skipper and fellow Marines from ‘66, conversing about the old days. Mike makes a toast to my dad: “To Billy J. Brickey — one helluva a Marine!” We all crash our bottles together, consummating the toast.

I guess we stayed out there till about midnight, and finally it was time to retire. The last toast of the night, ended with unisons of “Semper Fi.” What a night to remember.

Continue to Chapter 4