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Dixon46.jpgLZ English - Bong Son(cont) Kapow-kapow-kapowww-kapowwww- rat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Gunfire breaks out from off in the distance and bullets are whizzing everywhere!
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Dixon47.jpgLZ English - Bong Son(cont) Next thing I know, the Chinook crashes on its side and the guys inside are scrambling to get out! Here they are with the chopper in the background crashed and the guys trying to cross the perimeter barbed with to get back IN to LZ English! Some of them were scraped up pretty badly.
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Dixon48.jpgLZ English - Bong SonLook in my photo here and you'll see the SAME red-headed officer we used to call "Carrot Top". Don't recall his real name. Any idea who he was?
Ans> Yep! That is Lt Chris Herrick.
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Dixon49.jpgM42 Twin 40mm DusterHere I am with the Duster at LZ English that stopped all of the shooting after the Chinook crashed. This thing really got the attention of those VC that were shooting at the Chinook. Notice my beard; it got me a trip to Saigon due a skin infectionl condition that inhibited shaving.
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Dixon50.jpg17th Field Hospital, SaigonOne of our NCO's insisted that we shave close enough NOT to scratch the back of his hand or we got assigned EXTRA guard duty! He would actually rub the back of his hand across your face while in morning formation. You had hell to pay if it got scratched! My skin infection got so bad that I ended up in several hospitals, finally arriving at 17th Field Hospital in Saigon. It was a kind of poetic justice from God...
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Dixon51.jpgThe MetropoleLooking out front the guard post in front of the Ky-Son billet to the intersection of Tran Hung Dau St and another street that angled off from it. The pedicabs were called "Cyclo" (sick-low) by the Vietnamese. The tall, smooth front building to the right was a Vietnamese theater (I actually went in once and saw a show with my girlfriend- even though you weren't supposed to). The building off to the left is- OHHhhhhh yesssss... the French colonial hotel... The Metropole.
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Dixon52.jpgTraffic JamThe local street toughs that the GI's referred to as "cowboys" used to give me a motorcycle to ride around on. HERE is what is looked like out on the streets in the embassy district near the U.S. Special Services compound in the late afternoons. Traffic jam, South Vietnamese style!
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Dixon53.jpgA Military Bus in SaigonMost GIs never saw such a clear view of the city because unlike in the movies and stories I've read, we had to ride in military busses with thick screens/grates over the windows. The screens weren't for keeping out bugs... they were for keeping out bombs and grenades thrown by VC nuts! THIS was our usual view from the military busses.
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Dixon54.jpgHere is what kind of damage a communist 122mm rocket could do in the hands of a VC. This building in Saigon was hit during the Tet Offensive and so was I... but that's another story.
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Dixon55.jpgA beautiful building on the square in downtown Saigon. Originally a French opera house and also the seat of the South Vietnamese legislature (best info). Also, note in the right foreground the huge bronze sculpture that was a memorial to South Vietnamese soldiers. To the right of this shot was the beautiful French Caravelle Hotel.
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Dixon56.jpgUS Embassy - SaigonA photo of the US Embassy in Saigon before the attacks. Notice how high the front wall is over the fellow walking. One wonders how the press depicted the embassy wall as so easy to climb!
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Dixon57.jpgGI Blues go awayThis show was hosted by a Hollywood actor and three starlets. Don't remember any names. They sang, danced, told jokes and enthralled the GIs who desperately needed some cheering up and American entertainment.
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