The South China Sea arch 10, 1965: Cruising for Okinawa. Very rough seas. [mckee] 3/11/65: Now we are told we are enroute to Cubi Point, Philippines. [mckee] 3/13/65: Now we are told we are enroute to Hong Kong. Stood by for launch all day. Smoker (boxing tournament) in the afternoon. Fleming against a squid (sailor). [mckee] 3/14/65: Slept late today (0700 hours). Flight quarters in the afternoon. Had an eight-plane launch. We can see sailing junks around us. [mckee] 3/15/65: Arrived in Hong Kong at 0900 hours. Had a flight deck parade as we steamed into the harbor. [mckee] 3/22/65: Left Hong Kong at 0800 hours. Word is that we are enroute to the Philippines. [mckee] 3/24/65: Predawn strike on one of the small islands here. Unloaded the grunts and their equipment. Docked at Subic Bay. [mckee] 3/25/65: Have to be fast to get a shower on board the USS Princeton. The water goes on and off. Even the scuttlebutt fluctuates. Lousy chow and no milk. [mckee] 3/26/65: Held formation for Colonel Koler who was awarded the Legion of Merit. General Krulak pinned it on him. Better chow today but still no milk. [mckee] PRIL 13, 1965: Jungle survival course. [mckee]
4/14/65:
From now on I'm going to write when there is something worth writing about. Today we are getting ready to pull out of port. No one seems to know where we will be going. Hong Kong? Okinawa? Vietnam? [winkel]
4/20/65: Nothing new today. We saw a lot of Vietnamese fishing boats around this morning. We are about 25 miles off the coast of Vietnam and it seems funny for these little boats to be out here. [winkel]
Our lives fell into a routine of shipboard monotony. The bells announcing the time of tedious day......the announcements calling for "All sweepers, man your brooms. Make a clean sweep, fore and aft......"The fantail is now open.......The fantail is now closed". The days were spent checking the aircraft, cleaning our weapons, watching dolphins and gulls chase our ship, writing letters, thinking of "Mary Jane" and the carnal festival we would have on return to the Land of the Big PX, playing cards, listening to the North Vietnamese propagandist Hanoi Hannah, listening to the Shirelles, thinking of home, thinking of home, thinking of home. [delrosario]
by Enrique B. del Rosario 1965
there is no war here. only a gentle breeze
unseen, beyond the horizon, it waits.
4/22/65: We flew two planes into Danang Air Base to pick up gear and mail. No mail - it was sent to Subic Bay. [winkel]
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MARINE MEDIUM HELICOPTER SQUADRON in Vietnam: History
Pre-Vietnam 1964
OCT 64
NOV 64
DEC 64
JAN 65
FEB 65
MAR 65
APR 65
MAY 65
JUN 65
JUL 65
AUG 65 and After
Copyright © 2001
Enrique B. del Rosario, author and webmaster
marinehelcopters@lycos.com