Bao Loc Memories

Broderick’s Bath…

Jim was a multi-talented type of guy.  His previous experience in the Army Engineers had made him an expert with explosives, which he passed on to me (another story some time).  And, which is also why one perimeter light pole at Dong Ba Thin was about 6-feet shorter than the rest.  He was originally in the gun platoon and that was his preference, but they kept pulling him out for other jobs.

As things got organized at Bao Loc, each flight platoon had its own tent.  The CO ordered that a bunker be dug at the entrance to each tent so we would have someplace to go in an attack.  Unfortunately, he didn’t specify on which side of the tent opening the bunker should be placed and the lack of standardization was the cause of Jim’s problem.  The Gun Platoon and one of the lift platoons dug the hole on the left side of the tent opening as you exited.  The other lift platoon dug the hole so that it was on the right side.

When Jim came up from Dong Ba Thin he was flying with one of the lift platoons, the one with the hole on the right side.  After a week or so, things got a little crowded in the lift tent so Jim volunteered to move over to the gun tent, since we had some room.  This was during the rainy season and Bao Loc was mud city.  The bunkers hadn’t been covered so they filled completely up with water.  You can probably see where this is going.  Because of all the rain, if it was necessary to answer the call of nature in the middle of the night, no one was willing to slop around in the mud to get to a pisser.  It was just as easy to step outside the tent and relieve yourself off to the side.  That’s exactly what Jim did, unfortunately, ever since he had arrived at Bao Loc that meant stepping out of the tent and turning to the left to avoid the bunker.  Being only half awake he performed the maneuver as had become his habit and immediately stepped into six feet of water.

I woke up when I heard all the cursing.  The slippery sides made getting out of the hole a challenge, but he finally managed to drag himself out.  A drowned rat would have been proud to stand inspection with him at that point.  Typical of the man, by the time he got back to his bunk and started drying off, he was already starting to chuckle and laugh at his own misfortune.  His ability to see humor in stuff that happened, even when it happened to him, made our year over there a lot more bearable.  To this day, when I think of Vietnam, I tend to remember the funny day-to-day occurrences rather than the bad things that happened.  There were plenty of those but I choose not to dwell on them.  I’d rather remember Broderick’s bath at Bao Loc.

Fred Harms

Sidekick 3

Nov67 - Oct68