R&R, Singapore was great

Like most of the fellows I waited until I had nine months in the field
till I took R&R. The main reason for waiting so long was to get a base
camp job, number two was to get the best R&R site. Pretty much Hawaii
and Australia were tough to get. I think if you were married strings
were pulled to get a ticket to Hawaii. Lots of guys thought Bangkok
was great. I choose Singapore and found it fantastic. I took my leave
in Tokyo, and was the last group to do so as the students were rioting
against the US military.
http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html

I was never allowed to take even an in Country one.
It was always later, ' We need you now.'
Can I sue them ?

"Tom Lacombe" wrote in message news:3f89cbbd.35747379@news.shentel.net...
> Like most of the fellows I waited until I had nine months in the field
> till I took R&R. The main reason for waiting so long was to get a base
> camp job, number two was to get the best R&R site. Pretty much Hawaii
> and Australia were tough to get. I think if you were married strings
> were pulled to get a ticket to Hawaii. Lots of guys thought Bangkok
> was great. I choose Singapore and found it fantastic. I took my leave
> in Tokyo, and was the last group to do so as the students were rioting
> against the US military.
> http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html

In article <3f89cbbd.35747379@news.shentel.net>, Tom Lacombe says...
>
"Since I had gotten in-country, guys had claimed to have the ability to smell
gooks out in the jungle. I never put much faith in their superior noses."

There were times when others and I could smell them...

On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 22:57:19 GMT, "fob" wrote:
Of course you can sue, but I don't think it will do much good. A
friend of mine is in Iraq, and when they announced R&R, it looked like
his would be coming this month. They changed the rules. Now the
leaves will be awarded by rank. It looks like he will see his family
in about a year. Back to Vietnam, I almost got a second R&R, as the
clerk had one going to waste. By that time I had a civic action job
and my CA Lt. was happy for me. It ended up something else came up
and I didn't get to Kuala Lumpor wherever that is.
>I was never allowed to take even an in Country one.
>It was always later, ' We need you now.'
>Can I sue them ?
>
>"Tom Lacombe" wrote in message =
>news:3f89cbbd.35747379@news.shentel.net...
>> Like most of the fellows I waited until I had nine months in the field
>> till I took R&R. The main reason for waiting so long was to get a base
>> camp job, number two was to get the best R&R site. Pretty much Hawaii
>> and Australia were tough to get. I think if you were married strings
>> were pulled to get a ticket to Hawaii. Lots of guys thought Bangkok
>> was great. I choose Singapore and found it fantastic. I took my leave
>> in Tokyo, and was the last group to do so as the students were rioting
>> against the US military.
>> http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html
>

http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html

On 12 Oct 2003 1759 -0700, dino wrote:

>In article <3f89cbbd.35747379@news.shentel.net>, Tom Lacombe says...
>>
>"Since I had gotten in-country, guys had claimed to have the ability to smell
>gooks out in the jungle. I never put much faith in their superior noses."
>
>There were times when others and I could smell them...
>
I think what I actually said was "that there were times when even I
could smell them." Meaning I could smell the dead bodies when we got
near them. One fellow in my platoon claimed to be able to smell the
Gooks from afar. I never saw this work to our advantage. But,
evidently before I got to the company, he had alerted his patrol to
his smelling Gooks. Upon crossing a knoll they found a Gook campsite.
The Gooks were not to be found.
http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 01:46:20 GMT, tlacombe@shentel.net (Tom Lacombe)
wrote:


>I think what I actually said was "that there were times when even I
>could smell them." Meaning I could smell the dead bodies when we got
>near them. One fellow in my platoon claimed to be able to smell the
>Gooks from afar. I never saw this work to our advantage. But,
>evidently before I got to the company, he had alerted his patrol to
>his smelling Gooks. Upon crossing a knoll they found a Gook campsite.
>The Gooks were not to be found.
>http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html


Three things you could almost always smell and know they were in the
area. (Qualifying that with boonies as opposed to proximity to
villes.)
Tobacco, death, cooking smoke. There is some truth to the old addage,
tobacco kills.
Life is too important to
be taken seriously- Oscar Wilde

On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 21:52:49 GMT, tlacombe@shentel.net (Tom Lacombe)
wrote:
>was great. I choose Singapore and found it fantastic. I took my leave
>in Tokyo, and was the last group to do so as the students were rioting
>against the US military.
>http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html


I took my R&R in Tokyo in Fall of 1970. Had a terrific time, and go to
see the World's Fair in Osaka (where we had a little Cold War
adventure).
Remember Noel in the addy

In article <3f8a02a0.49800869@news.shentel.net>, Tom Lacombe says...
>
>On 12 Oct 2003 1759 -0700, dino wrote:
>
>>In article <3f89cbbd.35747379@news.shentel.net>, Tom Lacombe says...
>>>
>>"Since I had gotten in-country, guys had claimed to have the ability to smell
>>gooks out in the jungle. I never put much faith in their superior noses."
>>
>>There were times when others and I could smell them...
>>
>I think what I actually said was "that there were times when even I
>could smell them." Meaning I could smell the dead bodies when we got
>near them. One fellow in my platoon claimed to be able to smell the
>Gooks from afar. I never saw this work to our advantage. But,
>evidently before I got to the company, he had alerted his patrol to
>his smelling Gooks. Upon crossing a knoll they found a Gook campsite.
>The Gooks were not to be found.
>http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html

What I'm saying is that we could smell them before we saw them (alive). I
couldn't always do that but there were times when I could. Several times. I
smelled them and alerted our platoon. I walked point for the most part of six
months and never walked into an ambush. I learned to recognize an upturned leaf
- anything that wasn't just quite normal. I spotted trip wires (usually
monofilament fishing line), punji pits, etc.

"Tom Lacombe" wrote in message
news:3f89cbbd.35747379@news.shentel.net...
> Like most of the fellows I waited until I had nine months in the field
> till I took R&R. The main reason for waiting so long was to get a base
> camp job, number two was to get the best R&R site. Pretty much Hawaii
> and Australia were tough to get. I think if you were married strings
> were pulled to get a ticket to Hawaii. Lots of guys thought Bangkok
> was great. I choose Singapore and found it fantastic. I took my leave
> in Tokyo, and was the last group to do so as the students were rioting
> against the US military.
> http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html

I went to Bangkok, in March of 1967. It was a complete blast. A lot of
guys in my battalion had heard that I knew something about jewelry, and gave
me money to bring back something nice for their sweeties.
I had so damned much money, in fact, that I was interviewed by the CID to
account for it.

I spent the best part of four days camped in an upscale jewelry store on
Sukumvith Road, licking my chops over some nice stuff. Somebody prod me for
that story; I think I may have told it arready.

And there is where I spent my time. It's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Well I may have eaten a little curry.

ted

I was able to fulfill all the orders from my buds, except one: a really
good blue star sapphire. Those suckers are really rare.

On 12 Oct 2003 2055 -0700, dino wrote:

>In article <3f8a02a0.49800869@news.shentel.net>, Tom Lacombe says...
>>
>>On 12 Oct 2003 1759 -0700, dino wrote:
>>
>>>In article <3f89cbbd.35747379@news.shentel.net>, Tom Lacombe says...
>>>>
>>>"Since I had gotten in-country, guys had claimed to have the ability to smell
>>>gooks out in the jungle. I never put much faith in their superior noses."
>>>
>>>There were times when others and I could smell them...
>>>
>>I think what I actually said was "that there were times when even I
>>could smell them." Meaning I could smell the dead bodies when we got
>>near them. One fellow in my platoon claimed to be able to smell the
>>Gooks from afar. I never saw this work to our advantage. But,
>>evidently before I got to the company, he had alerted his patrol to
>>his smelling Gooks. Upon crossing a knoll they found a Gook campsite.
>>The Gooks were not to be found.
>>http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html
>
>What I'm saying is that we could smell them before we saw them (alive). I
>couldn't always do that but there were times when I could. Several times. I
>smelled them and alerted our platoon. I walked point for the most part of six
>months and never walked into an ambush. I learned to recognize an upturned leaf
>- anything that wasn't just quite normal. I spotted trip wires (usually
>monofilament fishing line), punji pits, etc.
>
I walked point for about six months myself. I never walked us into
any trouble, but I believe that is more due to dumb luck, than skill.
I did work with a Kit Carson Scout who taught me alot. In particular
never touch anything that looks out of place, like a branch on a trail
or a c-rat can near a bunker complex. One other thing was keep those
trip wires tight to the ground. He said anything above the ground
they would feel for and find. Wires right on the ground would be
tripped as they moved their feet .
http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/tom.html