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Bastille Day 1959 – Saigon

Here’s an old picture taken as we departed for the 1959 Bastille Day dance in Saigon  …

Bastille Day Pix

Left to Right: Bob, Penny, Vicki and Frank

Frank, does the song “A White Sport Coat and A Pink Carnation … all dressed up for the dance …” come to mind?  🙂

Does anyone else have pictures or memories of Bastille Day celebrations, dances or festivities while in Saigon? If so please post and share them.

Bob

7 comments to Bastille Day 1959 – Saigon

  • Ken

    Bob, I can see that I will have to send you a couple of CDs with all of the photos that I have of various events during my far too short time in Saigon. Can’t do it right away as I am currently working in Frankfurt trying to earn sufficient money to make the Saigon2009 reunion. But keep an eye on the mail box. I’ll get to it as soon as I can.

    We were all cute when were young, right?

    Ciao – Ken

  • Admin

    That would be great Ken! Then I can put them in the Photo Gallery once it is up and running. My address is at the bottom of all the newsletters and also on the Directory section of Saigon Kids Web Site.

    Yep, we were cute when we were young, but now that we’ve ‘matured’ … we are ‘hot studs’ … hahahahaha LOL 🙂

    Have fun and enjoy life …

    I’m off to a Bastille Day jazz festival to scope out the French gals … LOL

    Bob

  • Sondra Shankey-Ewell

    Hi all,
    Bob, Penny, in this photo, sure looks like Delia Taylor’s twin! If Frank wants to, he could share the story about Vicki’s (and my) father on this occassion. Remember that Vicki was all of 13 yrs.
    old and Dad did not believe boys were good enough for his daughter…

  • Admin

    Hmmm? *thinking* … hmmm? … Delia Taylor … hmmm? … OMG! … I must’ve come down with a case of “Ken’s – I Can’t Remember Them All – Lovely Ladies Disorder” … Geezzzz Ken you didn’t tell us it was a virus!!! … ha ha ha 🙂

    Hmmm? … still trying to place Delia in my mind … guess I better go look her up in the year books … Oh, heck .. I’ll just take your word for it Sondra … LOL

    Sooooooooooooooooo FRANK!!! … ‘Fess UP!! … we are ALL EARS!! … do tell us about Vicki’s dad on this occasion … we’re waitinggggggggg … lol

    This should be good! 🙂

    Bob

  • frank stoddard

    Bob, Let us see if we can reshape your memory. Delia was probably one of the nicest kids in Saigon. I believe she lived somewhere between the PX (Remember it was a Port Exchange then? Navy ran it!) and the Cercle. She was very much into Horse riding. I actually talked to her on the phone in 1973. She was living in Georgetown at the time and her husband was either a doctor or becoming one. I quit my job in D.C. and moved out West shortly after that, and I forgot her married name. I have tried for years to locate her, but to no avail.
    Now onto your other memory failure! lol Do you remember that after we asked Penny and Vicki to go to the Bastille Banquet, and they had accepted, we went to the Cercle Sportif to buy the tickets. Well, the Cercle turned us down. They said they were all sold out or something to that effect. We were a little bit embarrassed to go tell the girls that we could not go. (A little tuff on our teenage manhood). Well, the next day, Mr. Shankey came up with the four tickets for us. Every time I think or hear of a Bastille Celebration, I think of what a neat thing Mr. Shankey did for us. Mr. Shankey was always so pleasant to me and in fact would invite me over to the Shankey’s house (whether Sondra or Vicki wanted me there. HA! Lol Just kidding!) In fact I was thinking about his act of kindness when I went on the Blog and saw Sondra’s comments. That has always been a strong memory for me.
    This issue brought me to thinking about other parents of SaigonKids that I knew and who had a positive influence on me. Does anybody remember some? Frank

  • Admin

    Frank… I looked Delia up in the old year books … now I recall who she was,etc.

    LOL … I’d forgotten about not being able to get tickets for the Bastille Celebration … but, now that you mentioned it … my memory has returned … Yes, it was a bit embarasssing to have to tell the girls … sorry … no tickets … cancel our date … lol … (almost as bad as just outright standing a girl up … isn’t it?! …lol) 🙂

    Lesson learned: Buy the tickets before you ask a girl on a date! … ha ha ha 🙂

    Actually, I can’t think of any of the parents who were not supportive of us kids, and all had a positive influence on us in one way or another … we lived a ‘charmed and blessed’ life in Saigon 🙂

    Bob

  • Roger Mills

    I was back in the US by ’59, but on Bastille day ’58 I was out and about in the bars. In one place, with a lot of French men and women, I sang out the first line, “Allons enfants de la patrie…” (all that I knew) and OMG the whole bar started singing their national anthem

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