I’ve added some pictures and reposting this earlier article to engage readers. Feel free to share your thoughts and post a personal picture of your adventure for possible inclusion in this article. Open the article and leave comments/pics in the comment section at the end. [Pics left on Facebook will not be considered.]
During the Vietnam War, each soldier qualified for one week of R&R (rest and relaxation) at an approved destination outside of Vietnam. Those places available during 1971 were Bangkok, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Taiwan, and Singapore. If I remember correctly, military personnel had to be in Vietnam for at least six months before they could even add their name to the list. The timing for this “vacation” depended upon how many names were on the list for that destination when you considered adding yours – there were only so many allocations available every week. A long list could mean waiting a few months. The longest wait during my year in country was for Australia, as it was the most popular and desirable; some soldiers had to extend their time in Vietnam in order to go there. Places like Bangkok usually had a wait of two months at the most
1966 left Chu Lai for Tokyo. Japan for 7 days 1967 in country R&R to DaNang, RED Beach as soon as I got there I DD-ed over to Marine Air Wing motor pool to spend time with my Brother in Law. The 2nd. night of the 3 we got hit bad with rockets. Then rocket hit 3 big fuel bladders AV gas went everywhere. Myself and others got burned bad. Then VC started coming through the wire. We took care of them. I left ChuLai with only my .45 1911, thought I was going on R&R Man was I wrong, Some R&R spent 3rd night in Sick Bay.Next day I jumped a C-130 out of there back to Chu Lai. Hell a Marine could get killed on that kind of R&R.
A memorable time in my 1967-68 Vietnam tour was my R & R (rest and recuperation) to Sydney, Australia in February, 1968 while the TET offensive was just a couple of weeks after kickoff. I had waited 8 months into my tour to get Sydney, one of the 7 day R & R’s and recommended by the Company XO. Somehow I can’t remember the exact date but it started around the 20th of February. I got a ride to Camp Alpha at Tan Son Nhut airport Saigon where departure begins. My flight was on a civilian Pan Am DC-whatever for about 8-10 hours, I think. I do not remember other than they served us two full meals aboard the flight: filet mignon for dinner and scrambled eggs and ham for breakfast. The stewardesses (not yet flight attendants) were American and had the G.I.’s ogling. I had $600 in my pocket. I was not about to run out of money while in Australia.
We landed in Sydney and were ushered to an indoctrination center, where we were briefed about local social nuances (e.g., girls were referred to as Sheila’s….don’t ask me). Change out of your uniform ASAP. Don’t even think about driving a vehicle, i.e., opposite side of the road. There were 4 or 5 different burrough like sections of the city. Two I remember were King’s Cross and Bronte….anyone remember the rest ? I don’t recall how we got assigned our hotel but mine was the Charles Hotel in Bronte. My room for six nights was $54 or $9 a night. The U.S. dollar was worth $.89 in Australian currency so round it off and say I paid $10 a night for my hotel room.
On the cab ride to the hotel, I asked the cab driver if he knew of a dry cleaner because my civvies that I had shipped from home were a bit musty after sitting in a metal container in Di An for a month. He said he would take them to the dry cleaner and deliver the clothes to the hotel after they were cleaned…..incredibly friendly and accommodating !
Naturally, after checking in, the first thing we did was walk into the hotel pub to have a beer in the early afternoon. They had different sizes of draft beer, two of which were called a “middy”, and a “schooner”, the only two I recall. If it was in a container, it was almost invariably a can, not a bottle. Don’t bother asking for a Bud or Miller either. Ain’t gonna happen.There were 4 or 5 of us G.I.’s sitting at the table when the waiter came over with a bottle of champagne. He said a gentleman customer bought it. We asked that the fellow join us. Not knowing who he was, he remained unknown. Shortly thereafter came another bottle of champagne from the same guy. It came from the same Australian who remained anonymous and commented through the waiter that he “appreciated the job we were doing” and to “have a good time”.
At a table in the bar sat a guy and his girlfriend. The guy got up to use the restroom or make a phone call…I don’t recall. Anyway, I looked over to his girlfriend and she returned my glance with a big wink. I thought “Wow, these people are really friendly”.
Room service, a real bed, running water hot or cold, flush toilet, sleeping in til noon…how much better could it get ? I walked down to the beach which was just a few blocks away and marveled at how clean everything looked. Being in the southern hemisphere, it was the tail end of summer in Australia and the temperatures were perfect.
While in a nightclub called a discotheque (not really caught on in the U.S. until years later) with numbered large light bulbs, there were phones on the table that enabled you to dial another table number anonymously and talk. Seemed kind of childish but the place was jammed. The waitress with a thick Russian accent came over to take our order. There were four of us, two G.I.’s and two Australians, sitting at the table. When the waitress asked us for our order, I asked for a bottle of beer….remember my remark about containered beer ?…just to start a give and take conversation. Surprisingly she asked “what brand” ? I replied “surprise me”. She returned to the table with what looked like a wine sized bottle of a beer I had never heard of. She poured my glass full and she said the price was 75 cents. I gave her a dollar and when she started reaching for the change, I said “keep the change”. Every few minutes she was back at the table refilling my glass. One of the Australian guys remarked “You might do that back home; don’t get that shit started here”. Last time I checked, to this day, I believe that everyday tipping is optional in Australia.
I remember entering a multiple floored complex that had a night club on one floor, restaurant on another, casino on another, bar on another.
An Aussie girl I met accidentally spilled some beer on her outfit and remarked “I got some bloody grog on me frock”. Entertaining it was.
I Rested & Recuperated my brains out and after 6 nights in Sydney, when all was said and done, I still had $350 of the $600 left and it was time to return to Vietnam. I would be lying if I said the thought of not getting on that plane didn’t enter my mind. Where would I go ? Sweden came to mind but how to get there ? I dismissed the thought and got on that damn plane back to the shithole. I had 120+ days until DEROS and back to the World.
I made it !
CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website 
1966 left Chu Lai for Tokyo. Japan for 7 days 1967 in country R&R to DaNang, RED Beach as soon as I got there I DD-ed over to Marine Air Wing motor pool to spend time with my Brother in Law. The 2nd. night of the 3 we got hit bad with rockets. Then rocket hit 3 big fuel bladders AV gas went everywhere. Myself and others got burned bad. Then VC started coming through the wire. We took care of them. I left ChuLai with only my .45 1911, thought I was going on R&R Man was I wrong, Some R&R spent 3rd night in Sick Bay.Next day I jumped a C-130 out of there back to Chu Lai. Hell a Marine could get killed on that kind of R&R.
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A memorable time in my 1967-68 Vietnam tour was my R & R (rest and recuperation) to Sydney, Australia in February, 1968 while the TET offensive was just a couple of weeks after kickoff. I had waited 8 months into my tour to get Sydney, one of the 7 day R & R’s and recommended by the Company XO. Somehow I can’t remember the exact date but it started around the 20th of February. I got a ride to Camp Alpha at Tan Son Nhut airport Saigon where departure begins. My flight was on a civilian Pan Am DC-whatever for about 8-10 hours, I think. I do not remember other than they served us two full meals aboard the flight: filet mignon for dinner and scrambled eggs and ham for breakfast. The stewardesses (not yet flight attendants) were American and had the G.I.’s ogling. I had $600 in my pocket. I was not about to run out of money while in Australia.
We landed in Sydney and were ushered to an indoctrination center, where we were briefed about local social nuances (e.g., girls were referred to as Sheila’s….don’t ask me). Change out of your uniform ASAP. Don’t even think about driving a vehicle, i.e., opposite side of the road. There were 4 or 5 different burrough like sections of the city. Two I remember were King’s Cross and Bronte….anyone remember the rest ? I don’t recall how we got assigned our hotel but mine was the Charles Hotel in Bronte. My room for six nights was $54 or $9 a night. The U.S. dollar was worth $.89 in Australian currency so round it off and say I paid $10 a night for my hotel room.
On the cab ride to the hotel, I asked the cab driver if he knew of a dry cleaner because my civvies that I had shipped from home were a bit musty after sitting in a metal container in Di An for a month. He said he would take them to the dry cleaner and deliver the clothes to the hotel after they were cleaned…..incredibly friendly and accommodating !
Naturally, after checking in, the first thing we did was walk into the hotel pub to have a beer in the early afternoon. They had different sizes of draft beer, two of which were called a “middy”, and a “schooner”, the only two I recall. If it was in a container, it was almost invariably a can, not a bottle. Don’t bother asking for a Bud or Miller either. Ain’t gonna happen.There were 4 or 5 of us G.I.’s sitting at the table when the waiter came over with a bottle of champagne. He said a gentleman customer bought it. We asked that the fellow join us. Not knowing who he was, he remained unknown. Shortly thereafter came another bottle of champagne from the same guy. It came from the same Australian who remained anonymous and commented through the waiter that he “appreciated the job we were doing” and to “have a good time”.
At a table in the bar sat a guy and his girlfriend. The guy got up to use the restroom or make a phone call…I don’t recall. Anyway, I looked over to his girlfriend and she returned my glance with a big wink. I thought “Wow, these people are really friendly”.
Room service, a real bed, running water hot or cold, flush toilet, sleeping in til noon…how much better could it get ? I walked down to the beach which was just a few blocks away and marveled at how clean everything looked. Being in the southern hemisphere, it was the tail end of summer in Australia and the temperatures were perfect.
While in a nightclub called a discotheque (not really caught on in the U.S. until years later) with numbered large light bulbs, there were phones on the table that enabled you to dial another table number anonymously and talk. Seemed kind of childish but the place was jammed. The waitress with a thick Russian accent came over to take our order. There were four of us, two G.I.’s and two Australians, sitting at the table. When the waitress asked us for our order, I asked for a bottle of beer….remember my remark about containered beer ?…just to start a give and take conversation. Surprisingly she asked “what brand” ? I replied “surprise me”. She returned to the table with what looked like a wine sized bottle of a beer I had never heard of. She poured my glass full and she said the price was 75 cents. I gave her a dollar and when she started reaching for the change, I said “keep the change”. Every few minutes she was back at the table refilling my glass. One of the Australian guys remarked “You might do that back home; don’t get that shit started here”. Last time I checked, to this day, I believe that everyday tipping is optional in Australia.
I remember entering a multiple floored complex that had a night club on one floor, restaurant on another, casino on another, bar on another.
An Aussie girl I met accidentally spilled some beer on her outfit and remarked “I got some bloody grog on me frock”. Entertaining it was.
I Rested & Recuperated my brains out and after 6 nights in Sydney, when all was said and done, I still had $350 of the $600 left and it was time to return to Vietnam. I would be lying if I said the thought of not getting on that plane didn’t enter my mind. Where would I go ? Sweden came to mind but how to get there ? I dismissed the thought and got on that damn plane back to the shithole. I had 120+ days until DEROS and back to the World.
I made it !
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Great story, Mate!
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I really enjoy your newsletters!
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R&R in Bangkok. March 1973. I was becoming invisible (double digit midget).
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I did not get r r
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Same here, Dan.
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In 1966 I had two R&R’s–Tapei and Hong Kong
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