<VV> My letter from Vietnam 1969

[Tom Berg]

Seth,
 
Black Virgin Mountain! I was up there in spring of 1967, when the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) had its headquarters at the base of the mountain. It had draped a huge yellow-and-black division patch, made of some kind of fabric, on the slope facing the HQ. It was a badge of defiance, aimed at the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese, who were active in the area. 
 
The division's support command was also there, and I needed to take some photos of the logistical installation (warehouses, fuel storage tanks, etc.) from above. I couldn't get a helicopter ride, so the photographer and I hoofed it up the back slope, following the commo cables that stretched to the top and the radio antennas up there. The climb took about 45 minutes, or maybe an hour. 
 
The photog shot the pics and I yakked a bit with the duty officer in the building up top. He was amused that we had climbed up, and arranged a ride off the mountain in a resupply Huey helicopter that showed up a while later. As we lifted off and moved off the mountain top, the ground suddenly fell away and I had the sensation of falling, as though I had jumped off. The ride down took only minutes. 
 
Corvair content: Before shipping out for Vietnam in August of '66, I had sold my '62 Monza coupe to a sergeant in our outfit, at Fort Sam Houston (in San Antonio), Texas. He needed a car for his family to use while he was gone. 
 
"Now, Lieutenant," he said during our negotiations, "we both know that there's been some bad publicity about these cars, and I think that should affect the price." He of course was talking about Unsafe at Any Speed and General Motors' controversial handling of Ralph Nader. 
 
"Yeah, I know, Sarge," I said glumly. The car was in nice shape because, among other things, I had washed it or had it washed once a week since it was new, and it had no rust in spite of several road-salted winters in Milwaukee. I figured it was worth about $1,000 but we agreed on $800. So, 'Ralph Nader cost me 200 bucks,' I said to myself afterwards.  
 
I went home on pre-deployment leave for a week, then returned to Fort Sam. I was talking with the sergeant when up roared the 'Vair, driven by his teenage son. It was filthy and its right side was caved in from a side-swipe accident. My face must've dropped. The sarge, a little embarrassed, said, "Well, the boy had a little mishap...."  
'Oh, my car!' I thought. But then I got real: 'It's not my car anymore.' And I put it out of my mind, and hardly thought of it until 1987, when my wife & I acquired our current 'Vair, a '64 convertible, from her father. Over the years that has brought back a bunch of memories, including this one. 
 
--Tom in Ohio
'64 Monza convert, '61 Rampside
 
 

________________________________
 From: "Sethracer at aol.com" <Sethracer at aol.com>
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org; fastvair at yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 5:36 PM
Subject: <VV> My letter from Vietnam 1969
  

As part of my retirement efforts, I had to compile all the  documents of my 
married life, my working life and a few pre-working life  documents. Among 
them was my DD214, that is the military separation form, used  to document 
your military service, with dates and other pertinent details. In  the throes 
of going through my files to find a copy, I unearthed some letters I  had 
written home to my parents in 1969 from Vietnam, probably a dozen in all.  
Since one of them concerned Corvairs, I thought I would post this one letter I 
wrote to my father in late May, 1969. I had previously owned a 1965 Corsa  
Convertible that I sold to my brother when I was drafted in 1968. There is 
one  paragraph about my brother that I have removed, but the rest is there, 
warts and  all.  Enjoy! (Feel free to laugh at  my 21-year-old self if you 
wish, I did!) 

Dear Dad 
It was nice to hear from you and I got the lemonade all right. It  is very 
good. I am glad to hear you passed your Real Estate exam. I guess you  will 
have to get a 1 or 2 year old Buick or Oldsmobile to drive customers around  
in. (What a horrible thought.) I guess you heard that they stopped building 
Corvairs. That is too bad, but my experience with them leads me to admire 
them,  rather than to scorn them. I may even regress when I return and buy a 
1966 Corsa  hardtop....

Back to the present.... You asked me  about the 
mountain. As of now I am going up there June 7 for a month. It is  called 
Nui Ba den. It means Black Virgin Mountain. It is East of Tay Ninh, about  3 
miles from the Cambodian border. It rises some 3000 feet from the valley 
floor  out of nothing. On top there is a special forces camp and about 15 radio 
stations. This is what I will be doing up there. I will be in charge of 
one of  the stations for the Artillery in this area. It is fairly primitive up 
there, no  showers or electricity.

Well, I have to go now. I am going to Long Binh and Saigon today. I  will 
try to see Frank if I can. I will write again soon.  

-        Love,  Seth 

I  hope you have enjoyed my blast from the past. I did spend that month on 
top  of the Nui Ba Den. They did have showers, but no alcohol was allowed on 
the  mountain. (bummer). And the VC joined us at least one time, the only 
time I have  fired a rifle in anger. When I got home in 1970, I did buy a 
Corvair again,  about 5 months later. I have owned at least one ever since. 

– Seth  Emerson
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