Highlights

Well, they got me. Greetings it said. Ft Dix wasn't my idea of THE place to spend the summer of '69. A lot of my friends in basic went to truck driving school there after basic was over. I didn't. I drew Chem School in Anniston AL. Chemical equiptment repair. 54D20. Gas masks, decon equiptment, flame throwers both backpack and mechanized. After two weeks off and some much needed AWOL time, I was off to Ft Lewis, Cam Rahn, Qui Nhon, and finally Phu Tai Valley. Other than the gas mask I was issued, I never laid eyes on another piece of chemical apparatus.
  I arrived at the 5th Maint. compound still with no gun, er, weapon and wondering what my Uncle had against me that he would send me this far with my ass hangin out. Finally got to supply and was issued all the appropriate gear. I was instructed to lock the M14 in the rack, and as the well trained "soldier" that I had become, I ignored it.
  Shortly after I laid claim to a bunk and got my address, the rest of the platoon came back from the shop. I still wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing here but ridding the far east of beer appeared to be part of the mission. I'd get to that later. After a letter home, I got some sleep, well up to the point when the H&I no one told me about started. What luck, hit the first night in the new Co. I "went for my gun" with my heart beating harder than it ever did before or since. My baptism of fire would have to wait. Look at the f---in' new guy. Dum' ass cherry! Maybe later that night or another within a week of my arrival, I was awakened to the sound of someone hollering "they're here, they're here". This is it I thought, where the f--- is my shit! As it turned out, the "they" refered to were the girls they had smuggled in an empty water tanker. Non Potable?? Real dumb-ass f-----'new guy!