[admin note: Bruce made this interesting Comment. I’ve moved it here for all to see and to keep it from getting lost in the Archives. You can view the original here.]
I was in Troop 1 also. The camping trips to Dalat and Nha Trang were both quite memorable. Dalat was one of the few places where we could actually go hiking without fear.
Nha Trang was memorable because of the “attack.” I remember we were all forced to go into a bunker. When it became quite apparent we would not all fit, we sprinted to the mess hall and got under the tables.
This was on a Special Forces base, and the soldiers were all scrambling around in semi-chaos. A LTC came into the mess hall to reassure us there was nothing to worry about. To make his point, he said his M-14 (or whatever they used) wasn’t even loaded. That failed to reassure me. I wanted a guy with a loaded gun guarding me.
I was also one of the geeky kids in band, playing clarinet. Those really were the good old days.
Bruce … sounds like the Nha Trang camping trip would have been a good time for everyone to earn their ‘marksmanship’ Merit Badge … LOL 🙂
Bob
Hi Bruce,
Since you were right down there on the bottom rung of the high school ladder – a freshman! – I had to look you up in the Gecko….where you are right next to my brother. Thank heavens for Harrison’s mom, Mrs. Shaffer. She brought us the gift of music…chorus, band. My sister Lynn played the flute and YES I played the clarinet so we are soul mates. Remember the musicals? South Pacfic…The King and I. Thank you Mrs. Shaffer!!!What fun it all was. Alice