Most everyone in the military who served in Vietnam took an R&R (rest & relaxation) outside the country. Those places available during 1971 were Bangkok, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Taiwan, and Singapore. Each had its own mystification and allure to the battle-weary troops. Everyone had a reason for going to a certain destination, however, when it was time to return, most brought back souvenirs or specific purchases: electronics, jewelry, tailored clothes, ivory, booze, etc.
So today, I’m asking each of you to cite where you went and what you brought back with you or sent home.
I’ll start.
I went to Bangkok and brought back a tailormade suit and a set of jade earrings.
Please include your response on this website as readers do not have access to FB groups and will otherwise not see your responses. Thanks in advance!
If you still have a photo and description of when you were on R&R and want to share it, send me a copy via email as an attachment to: john.podlaski@gmail.com and I’ll add it to this article with your name.
<><><>
Looking forward to your responses:
My former neighbor, Dan Lewandowski, went to Singapore and shipped home a reel-to-reel tape player and speakers for a fraction of what it cost back in the states.
My Sidney R&R was all about fashion. I got as far away from “Green” as possible. Will never forget being scorched by the Sun at Bondi Beach. I loved the Disco Music Scene, with “Go-Go Girls” in the Disco-cages. Australia was wonderful to visit. Gregory Doering.
CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website 
Went to Tokyo. Bought an Akai reel to reel recorder and a set of speakers . Had a great time. Took one picture of a parking lot. Have no idea why. Brought back two liters of CC and stopped by Camp Carter on my way back and got my best friend Bub and his whole outfit drunk.
LikeLike
Never got to go !
LikeLike
Went to Hong Kong and brought back custom made leather boots and coat. Also got 3 Belgian lace tablecloths for family members.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I came home to Texas to see my wife and baby girl! I did send my wife a set of China from Japan with is now worth a small fortune now! 71-72, 36 Engineers
LikeLiked by 1 person
1966 Hong Kong. Tailored shark skin suit for $50.It was mailed to my HOR.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I took my R & Rs in Kawaii & my folks had a prepaid standby ticket waiting at Pan Am counter.. I spent my time in LA..
so I reckon I brought myself home..
I did get a Petri 35mm SLR but a captain on OP Checkmate borrowed it to get pix of chopper coming to take him home.. he then opened it right next to chopper and prop-wash blew so much sand/dirt into it it was ruined..
but officers are gentlemen.. he did say “sorry” as he trotted to his bird to Phu Bai..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Went to Taiwan, bought tailored suit. 69-70
Sent from my iPhone
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not much to tell. Went to Yokosuka Japan in ’67. I do remember when I arrived switching to the YEN and thought I had become a millionaire; the exchange rate was crazy and I didn’t think I was going to be able to carry it all. As I was living with my older sister when I enlisted, I sent her a set of Noritaki China. Right before I was leaving, went to the Tiger Club on base and got totally s___faced. As I recall, I was probably carried up the stairs to the aircraft and don’t remember a thing until we landed and was still “a bit unsteady” !!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Was with the 1st Cav. Jan thru Oct 1966 111B.
Almost didn’t go or R & R to Hong Kong. Got out of the field and back to base camp in An Khe to find some rear eshlion M F broke into my foot locker and stole the money orders I had stashed in there or my R & R.
Got some guys from the company to front me some money so I could make the trip.
Came back with a suit and a tattoo. No idea what happened to the suit, but still have the tattoo.
Second tour with the 1st Avn Brigade flying front seat observed in a Loach.got shot down a month before my planed R & R
LikeLiked by 1 person
You didn’t mention Manila, where I took my R&R during Easter week, 1966. There were parades, Passion Plays and festivals. Fantastic. I attended a polo match (my first ever) with the ex-pat family that took me in. The only thing I brought back was an exquisitely hand carved chess set. Semper Fi! 🌴
LikeLiked by 1 person
Went to Hong Kong in 1967, great time, bought some clothes and had a good time :). 2nd tour got wounded before going to Bangkok Thailand in 1968, Went to Australia in 1970 on third tour. Bought two great looking suits and met a wonderful girl, brought back a broken heart to VN. Thought about extending and taking my 2 week leave back in Australia but probably wouldn’t have returned on my own. Big blue eyes will get you every time………….
LikeLiked by 1 person
I went to Hong Kong November ’68 and had a Taylor Made suit and two Taylor Made shirts and mailed them home. I was pleased to see them again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Went on R&R from Nam to meet up with my wife of 11/2 years who I had not seen in ten month’s. It was an amazing five day’s but at the end I had to say goodby at the airport and head back to Nam. I brought home the memories and photo’s of that trip and 50 years later my wife and I still share those memories!
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I was eligible for R&R they had just added going home for two weeks. So, I went to Baltimore (Dundalk), Maryland. It was a huge mistake. I wanted to go to either Australia or Thailand. I still regret my decision. It meant I had to leave my wife and son, again. If I remember correctly I took beef jerky and candy back to VN with me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If I remember right you had to be in-country at least 6-months to be eligible for R&R. There were a limited number of spots available for each destination. It was an unwritten rule in our company that single guys never picked Hawaii so the married guys could meet their wives there. I chose Bangkok probably because somebody recommended it? On the bus that took us to our hotels, I can still remember the sergeant saying something like this “Guys, there are 50,000 bar girls in Bangkok, don’t pick the first one you see.” I sent a bronzeware kitchen utensil set to my mother and a pearl ring to my 1st cousin. C-4/12, 199th Infantry 1967.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bangkok, just memories/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Went to Sydney in spring of ‘71. Saw the uncomplicated opera house, rode fast ferries, ate well, went to a zoo, visited private clubs, saw a live production of Hair. Took some photos.
Visited several local pubs, not to drink but to get feel for the place; was told to stop sitting with my back to the bar with my elbows on it because down there that was a challenge that you would fight anyone in the place. I was a big guy in pretty good shape, but getting in a fight was the last thing I wanted.
Brought back a hat similar to Dundee and, of course, a real boomerang.
LikeLiked by 1 person
UNCOMPLETED opera house.
LikeLike
Went to Bangkok, bought a bronze ware dinner set and a star sapphire for my mother, gold dog tags and a tailored suit for me. Met a French Thai school teacher who introduced to the finer things on Bangkok. Museums, A play and fine dining and a few other really good things.
A
French Late 1968 returned and stayed until May 1970.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like it think for putting it on
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dads first R&R, 67-68, Mom brought back a bunch of Hawai’i souvenirs.
Second R&R, 70-71, Mom & Dad went on a shopping spree in Thailand and shipped bamboo furniture, glass top end tables, ceramic elephants and a very elaborate wooden room screen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I went shopping, here and there and jewelry was it but thinking back the most beautiful thing I brought home was the memories of people I met in the two years I was there in USAID, MACVHQ and the 3rd Field Hospital.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was med-e-vac to 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon July 2, 1967. Had surgery there. Then sent to Camp Drake in Tokyo for another surgery and therapy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I went to Sydney and sent home a kangaroo skin comforter and two stuffed koala bears
LikeLiked by 1 person
PETA must still be looking for you! 🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
Came off of bunker line one day and first shirt says ” we just got an R&R to Sydney, you have to go in the morning”. Met a young lady that lived in Bondi Beach, extended 90 days to get a second trip to OZ and an early out. Carole took a weeks vacation for my 2nd trip. Great people, the Aussies. Went back two times after Nam.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sydney Australia in February 1968. Only thing I brought back was the memories. Great time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My Husband Army was attached to Marines Field Artillery wireman I received 1 letter to meet him in Honolulu Hawaii on certain date and contact Base for flight we spent aweek I brought home jewelry which I still wear that have the green “Hawaiian” diamonds, I returned to Atlanta on my 21st birthday with a pineapple in my luggage I gathered from a field! He passed from AO 6 yrs ago.
Sent from my iPhone Kathy Holtzclaw
LikeLiked by 3 people
Sorry for your loss Kathy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Be well Kathy, and just know that we all care for everyone who did not come home, and to those who brought home unwelcome memories and infected with unknown futures… I too am infected with AO and never know what that will do as time goes on. You are in out thoughts
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry for your loss, Kathy. Way too many of us are leaving via AO.
LikeLike
I have an array of pics that I took in Bangkok, Thailand. Everything from their building to their King & Queens Boats. when I was on a week of R & R. One thing that I will never forget was on my last night there, I ate my fill of Raw Oysters on the half shell w/ Tomato Sauce. I paid for my indulgence on my flight back to Cam Rahn Bay, RVN. I had to regurgitate it all back up on my flight!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Never went anywhere. Had to send most of my money home,to my widowed mom and 2 younger brothers.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hawaii, where a fraternity brother lived the hippie life between semesters during the Summer of’71. So, after tripping on Oahu for a week, I brought a baggie of purple powder back to Vietnam. We called it psylocybin. Lord only knows what that psychotropic dust really was!
LikeLiked by 2 people
My leave between the first tour and second went to the SF Bay Area, bought a 59 Corvette partied hard and returned to the war
LikeLiked by 1 person
I went to Hawaii, jumped jet to San Francisco and retrieved my Mustang from my wife who was cheating and returned with a divorce
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bangkok ..I Bought a nice suit, Seiko watch and a Buddha. I sent it to my brother and I never told him 😜 I weighed 15 lbs 2’ tall
LikeLiked by 1 person
I went to Sidney Australia in Sept of 71 brought home a Taylor made double brested suit, and a lot of beautiful memories. Took that suit home with me in Nov of 71. Wish I still had it as it would still fit me but it was stolen when someone broke into my house.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I forgot to add in my comments about my R&R in Penang – I also bought a hand made suit. Measured and made right in the hotel shop. It was top notch material & looked great. I got to bring it home but, unfortunately, it’s long gone now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good stuff. I went to Penang and it was beautiful. Ate at excellent restaurants. Saw the movie “Tony Rome” with Frank Sinatra & Jill St. John in a brand new air conditioned theater. Bought some black onyx earrings, a couple of reel to reel tapes of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band & one by Lulu. Beaches were gorgeous & island was exceptionally clean. Didn’t want to leave.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Went to Bangkok Aug ‘69 bought tailor Made suit, seiko watch, ceremonial swords…got back from R&R shipped swords back home-they never made it…bummer…they’d be worth a lot today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Went to Hong Kong in ’68. Bought a suit that no longer fit a month after I got home
LikeLiked by 1 person
54 years ago today stepped on those yellow footprints at Parris Island.
Brought home star sapphire I bought in Bangkok on R&R in December 67 along with a case of the clap 🤣🤣
LikeLiked by 2 people
Boomerangs ,sheep skins , jewelry boxes .Met a girl from Durbin south Africa
LikeLiked by 1 person
Out of the Bush and to the land of Round Eyes, Sidney November 71. Mind boggling to humping the mountains of1 core one day and looking the wrong way to cross a street the next. Good food, good booze, a bed, clean sheets, air conditioning, the beach, the Opera House, and pretty round eye girls. I shipped a couple of sheep and kangaroo skins home along with a boomerang. How could a week pass so quick?
LikeLiked by 1 person
3 of My 5 day R&R in Hawaii were spent sitting on the john with a bucket between My legs. The last time I got the flu. I wanted to see “round eye’d women” and put in for Australia and was sent to Hawaii. Met My parents there. They saw more of Hawaii then I did. 100th Eng. FB
Sent from Mail for Windows
________________________________
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Bravo Zulu, John; Welcome Home…I WENT TO GREAT U.S.A., in 1979-1980-*1981-*1983/*Holidays, 1985, 1986, 1998 T0 2002; and Brought Back I’ve Been Everywhere, Man!!!”
LikeLiked by 2 people
I went to Sydney Australia September 1969 celebrated my 20th birthday and brought back 2 boomerangs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Went first in mid 65 and got the tailored suit (which no longer would fit) but back again in late 68 and brought back a teak Buddha and Monk, each of which weighs 50 pounds and are sitting side by side in front of me now.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I never asked to take R&R.
LikeLiked by 1 person