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OLD JDP COMPOUND SAIGON

Submitted by Ken Yeager (ACS)

Ken YeagerA little help please. Can anyone pinpoint exactly where the old JDP compound used to be (in Google Earth – coordinates would be nice).

I’ve looked and cannot find it but am pretty sure the old buildings have all been torn down and replaced with newer structures.

Plus the old memory isn’t as sharp as it once was. HELP !!!!!

Thanks and have a great week, everyone.

6 comments to OLD JDP COMPOUND SAIGON

  • Ken,

    I have this memory of being with my parents as we drove thru the JDP compound, but I don’t think we stopped to visit anyone … Just out for a weekend drive, as it were. My father’s work place was adjacent to the airport property, so that may be why we were driving around the periphery of the airport that day. Anyway, I have this memory of a golf course nearby the JDP compound. I’m hopeful you (who lived there in the compound) have a sense of where the golf course was in relation to the housing area.

    Using Google Earth I see a golf course just to the north of the airport runways. What appears to be a modern clubhouse is at 10 degrees 49.792 minutes N, 106 degrees 39 minutes E. It’s got 18 holes around it, and to its north there looks like a smaller 9 hole course, possibly under construction.

    I think it’s possible this golf complex occupies the old golf course and the (adjacent?) JDP housing area. I hope this will stir memories for you.

    Bruce

    • The JDP Compound was near the Golf Course. The compound was composed of 35 frame houses built by JDP with ground level car port, maids’ quarters, and wash room; and, living quarters above.

      The compound was bordered by the Airport, a graveyard, a fruit orchard and a golf course. It was located behind the baseball field.

      When the war escalated the compound was used primarily by the military. One house in particular was turned into a Quartermasters hooch by the Marines.

      It appears to have been absorbed into the military facilities around the airport.

  • Kenneth R. Yeager

    Bruce, you may be correct. I saw the golf course on Google Earth and frankly, do not remember there being a course close to the compound but then again, the head cells are shrinking. Further, my memories tell me that the compound would be too small for a even a 9 hole course, but, well, I just don’t know. Also, when I used to ride my motorcycle home from downtown, my (little used) brain says the airport was to my left but once again, I just don’t know. I (think) remember being able to ride my motorcycle from home (JDP) to the airport (terminal side), cross the runways to my job at the PX on the airbase side and again, I think the access to the airbase was the road that ran directly in front of the school (right????). Not really important, I’m just trying to prove how good/bad my old memories are….on the other hand, some are as vivid as yesterday (which at times isn’t so accurate either). Ciao.

  • Mike McNally

    The golf course north of the TSN runways is new and was not there before 1975. The Golf Club de Saigon was located south of the runways and east of the TSN civilian air terminal. It was east of the MACV Annex, which was itself east of the MACV headquarters building, the new one east of the civiliam air terminal. The MACV building became the DAO building and was partially imploded by departing American forces on 30 April 1975. After 1975, the Golf Club de Saigon was turned into a park.

    The cemetery near the ball field may have been the “North Vietnamese” cemetery which was north of the new sports stadium which is across from the former American Community School, (which became 3rd Field Hospital, and then Adventist Hospital and is currently a war museum). The cemetery north of the stadium is no longer there.

    If the JDP houses were still there in 1967, when I arrived, then they were probably still there in 1975, when I departed. Based on the descriptions I’ve read, it sounds like they were part of the individual houses which existed between Pershing Field and the MACV HQs and between MACV HQs and the MACV Annex, which shared a fence with the Golf Club de Saigon.

  • Al Misker

    The housing compound was adjacent to the golf course, between it and the airport. The road coming through the golf course into the compound had a guard gate with a lift arm! I got to know the guards pretty well, due to my nocturnal activities, and because of the loud pipes on my bike! When I passed the clubhouse on the way in, I could look ahead and see the arm raising as I approached! They would wave with big grins and start lowering it as soon as I passed! There were several interesting establishments, just across the road from the course! I spent many afternoons and evenings there!
    We lived there from shortly after the compound started letting JDP families move in until our departure in ’59! We lived in house #20.
    If you followed the road from the wye by the school and continued on past the turn into the terminal, it would turn and we would come in just south of the east end of the runway! There was a hangar out there (east end) where the CIA kept some of their aircraft (H19’s and a B24 among them)! My brother and I found them be sneaking through a hole in the fence!
    Another nice thing about our house was that I commandeered the maid’s quarters which further enhanced my evening sojourns! YES, those were the days!!

  • Mike McNally

    Here is a link to a page showing portions of a Golf Club de Saigon topographic map from 1968. The map apparently sold online in 2010. On the page you should see five small photos. Each photo can be enlarged by clicking on the Zoom at the bottom of the photo. After you enlarge it, just right click and save it to your desktop for viewing. Then advance to the next photo and do the same.

    The map shows the cemetery on the south side of the golf course.

    This map might help clarify the location of the nearby JDP housing compound.

    https://www.etsy.com/listing/41440251/golf-club-de-saigon-vintage-1968-map

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