Most of my tour in Viet Nam was spent working on helicopters on the night shift. One night, some of us in the hangar
were approached by a couple of GIs who asked us if we wanted a jeep.
We walked with them over to a covered structure and looked at the jeep, it was painted red. Of course, we had no use for it and walked back to the hangar.
Shortly after returning to the hangar, the MPs rolled up. The red jeep belonged to the base’s fire chief and the guys must have used their midnight requisition to acquire it.
Our motor pool guys were pretty good at making sure that our company had the full allotment of vehicles. One time, when a GI inspection was scheduled, I and another guy drove an extra vehicle around Viet Nam for the day. It seems that we had too many vehicles parked in the motor pool.
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FREE Boot Shine!
I spent my entire year in Viet Nam stationed at Phu Loi. I may have been off the base only about a half dozen times.
This story is about one of those times that I went to Saigon.
Me and at least one other fellow (can not remember who) were in Saigon for the day and were walking down a busy street. A young Vietnamese boy, with his shoe shine kit, made an offer to shine my boots for free. I didn’t need my boots shined and I knew this free offer would come with some strings attached, so I decided to play the game. So, I said okay, he shined one boot and then said I would have to pay to get the other boot shined. Like I said, I didn’t really need a shine, so I started to walk away.
The shoe shine boy spoke loudly in his local tongue and you got the feeling that he was telling all the locals around him that I was leaving without paying for what was owed to him. All the locals stopped whatever they were doing and looked at me. The game was over and I handed over the money. I can’t remember, but I don’t think I did get my other boot shined.