Vietnam war

[happy daze john in oz]

Des, they are not illegal they are' recreational drugs.'
Who ever gave them such a stupid name?

Recreation, like playing tennis or going for a long walk.

It beggars belief that any one could use such a term to describe what are some of the deadliest drugs around.

[Peter Thouless]

Re the Shells ships going to Vietnam I was on Shells ships in the early seventies going from Pulau Bukom Singapore to Vietnam I done a number of trips to .Some of the time we spent a number of days in Vietnam one of trip was about 14 days.

[john evanson]

John, I checked my discharge book and I signed on the Hemisinus 27/1/74 in Singapore, Captain was Eric Charles (gentleman of the first order) and it most definitely had LPG tanks on the foredeck.
I never ever sailed on Hyria. I paid off in drydock in Sasebo 23/4/74 Captain Doug Renton had joined at beginning of drydock, I paid off halfway through. The Chief Stewards cabin still had shrapnel damage visible. I knew the Chief steward who was on there when it was hit and he reckons he was very lucky as he had just walked out of his cabin when it hit.

Hi Tony - seems we must have been shipmates, Eric Charles was the skipper when I signed off 18 March 1974 - in Singapore just as the ship was prepping for the DD. and sorry buddy your wires are crossed no fore-deck gas tanks on HEMISINUS at that time - I was one of the deck cadets... plenty of cargo work

[Tony Taylor]

Hi Tony - seems we must have been shipmates, Eric Charles was the skipper when I signed off 18 March 1974 - in Singapore just as the ship was prepping for the DD. and sorry buddy your wires are crossed no fore-deck gas tanks on HEMISINUS at that time - I was one of the deck cadets... plenty of cargo work

Thanks John, must be age related ha ha! I have a picture somewhere of Eric Charles dressed as a vicar during a fancy dress party. I will have a look around for it.

[Jimmy Hillman]

Interesting that you worked on a drill rig, the yanks spent quite a lot finding out where the offshore oil was. They'd jettison their bombs on a return run to take soundings which were picked up by their warships. Vietnam is flourishing now thanks to the oil but it wasn't in 69 when I paid a few visits courtesy of Joe Shell.

[David Betts Esq]

I was in Saigon three times, 73, 74 and April 75. The VC were about 20 miles up river from Saigon. Were on Parcel Tanker and delivering Esso products from the USA.

[Dennis Billaney]

Re the Shells ships going to Vietnam I was on Shells ships in the early seventies going from Pulau Bukom Singapore to Vietnam I done a number of trips to .Some of the time we spent a number of days in Vietnam one of trip was about 14 days.

Dear Peter and all of you who posted above…

I mentioned this is post #54, I was wondering what your (anyone’s) opinion might be about the possibility, that those runs by Shell up north to Hai Phong were actually designed to serve as espionage and intelligence gathering missions?

I mean it would make perfect sense, considering that spy planes or satellite reconnaissance capabilities were far behind from what is around now. Plus, from various sources it is now known that the majority of infiltration attempts, inserting agents by parachute drop into the north to conduct clandestine operations were unsuccessful, with nearly all being captured or killed on the spot, or even worse, turned into counter intelligence assets, radioing false information back to HQ. That went on for several years before someone in Saigon realized the mission was 100% compromised from the beginning and eventually got scrapped entirely (poor souls, abandoned and forgotten by everyone, even their own mothers and fathers, yet another topic…)

Anyway, having a tanker delivering fuel to “primary air strike target sites” in Hai Phong seems like a no brainer to me! Taking notes along the way of anything else, especially the locations of vessels, which were crucial to avoiding a nasty friendly fire incident with the 2 nuclear powers (Soviet Union & China)…


As I wrote above, just wondering what your thoughts about this might be, ANYONE?



And on a side note, I honestly need to say, it would be so amazing and also historically important, if you all might find the time to write and share a bit more about those times and the trips you did.


Heck, for example as in #74 from Peter Thouless “I was on Shells ships in the early seventies going from Pulau Bukom Singapore to Vietnam I done a number of trips to .Some of the time we spent a number of days in Vietnam one of trip was about 14 days.” Mate, still wondering, anything specific to share about those 14 days?


@ John Evanson, you wrote: “I was one of the deck cadets... plenty of cargo work”, mate, forgive me for asking, but are you saying while others went out and about town, you scrubbed decks for up to 2 weeks? (just wondering…)


Ah and @ David Betts, forgive me, but whenever I come across some gentleman who’s able to say: “I was in Saigon three times, 73, 74 and April 75”, I firstly feel utmost humbled and would I be granted a single question, while that would be quite difficult, in your case, based on what you wrote, I’d ask: “how would you describe your feelings or explain the difference of what you saw and experienced on your last trip compared to the previous 2 trips….” (considering that April 75, as I understand, by around the 28th you would have had to have been downstream of the New Port bridge, or you wouldn’t be here to tell about it…)


FOLKS!
I can only say this, you all should really think about it and take the time to share as much as possible about all those memories (and any others you may have)! Maybe you have kids, grandchildren and so on. I can only tell you from myself and also from endless other people I know. While I wish you all many more years to come and endless more happy days and a long life ahead, the day might come when it’s too late and it’s (memories & history) lost forever!

That said, while I’d love to hear your stories, at the same time I fully understand that not everyone may think or feel the same as I do, or have personal reasons to do or let things be the way they are. I don’t intend to insult or blame anyone for anything, in fact, I’m already grateful and would like to thank you all for all you’ve shared here so far!

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU! IT’S TRULY A PLEASURE TO READ YOUR POSTS!

[Dennis Billaney]

APRIL 1975


not much left these days to see, at the same time, only 30km from Saigon, there's still one "forgotten" landmark left, showing the remnants of another bridge, blown away by the ARVN forces a few days before the end of April '75.


I had the pleasure to join a small crew of veteran AP war photographers covering that war. I think it's now about 5 yrs ago.


If anyone of you should happen to be visiting VN, don't hesitate to contact me if you'd be interested in visiting this historical site. Only about an hrs drive from down town Saigon.


Anyway, to underline what I wrote above, I've been there several times. But what was special about the day we took these shots, was to hear the memories from people like Peter Arnett, and the girl in red, she's my daughter. That shot was taken without me even knowing by my dear mate Nick Ut. He posted it on his FB page and the comment was "Nick Ut again", referring to his famous Napalm girl photo, sort of "once again, image of an innocent child in a war zone".


I'm not a big friend of media or reporters, but people like Peter Arnett and Nick Ut, they are living history legends. But I can tell you, these guys would love nothing more than to hear your stories and learn about those historic gaps they never knew about!


The Song Be Bridge
Song Be Phu Giao Bridge.jpg

Peter Arnett "on the Bridge": photo6091661440470591446 (1).jpg my daughter photographed by Nick UtIMG_5552.jpg

2 blokes on a bridge too far IMG_20191221_172553_436.jpg


cheers!

[john walker]

Dennis there is a site run by a Dutchman called 'Helderline' Just google it. there is no better site or an authority on all things Shell.lt might be worth posting on that site for info about the Dutch flag vessels running upto Haiphong. As far as I know they were the only Shell Tankers running to Haiphong when I was with Shell tankers U.K. running out of Pulau Bukom in the 70/71 era. As far as taking notes or anything else for that matter on runs up to Haiphong the ships were battened down with deadlights closed and the bridge sandbagged nobody would have been allowed out on deck except the necessary crewmembers and like all good communist countries they were paranoid about anybody taking notes or photos etc. which would have got you in deep s**t. I have vague memories of the Haiphong harbour being closed at one time due to being heavily mined by the Americans so I guess that the only way to get fuel would have been across the P.R.C. border
I might take you up on your offer as I will be in Ho Chi Minh city at the begining of March for a few days. J.W.

[j.sabourn]

#78 our friend I discussed his predicament some time ago with you is still here in the village . Saw him last Thursday at the Happy hour but not to talk to, don’t even know his name probably told me and have forgotten . I think if he is here much longer will be getting too addicted to the beer for going back. Just joking.My first conversation with him many months ago I remember him saying that the Vietnamese people were a very easy and happy people to live among.As regards any Vietnamese relatives he may have I have no Idea. I just assume he was a member of the Australian forces who decided to live there after the hostility’s ended. Cheers JS