GEEIA

I just recently got in contact with an old friend that was stationed with me in the 2866 at Kelly. John Hilton. I hadn't heard from him for these last 40 years then all of a sudden I found him on a search on the Internet, living in Nevada. He spent quite a few years as a Deputy Sheriff in Orange County, CA. He got out a number of months before I did but came back to San Antonio to marry his Texas Sweetheart. I was best man at the wedding.
John and I volunteered to go to Vietnam in 1967 as part of a 12 man team spending 6 months TDY. We spent a good deal of the time together on different jobs around the country. We traveled mostly by helicopter to Ankhee, Pleiku, Da Nang, and other spots. We were at Tuy Hoa a good deal of the time and then at Phan Rang. We drove from Phan Rang to Saigon at one point for supplies. It was quite a great experience and a real eye opener.
After we got back to Kelly, that winter, we went hunting out at the Latham Ranch in West Texas. We took John's 57 Chevy and checked out rifles and a tent and other camping gear. All this stuff was available to anyone on the base. I believe we had a three day leave and enjoyed our trip. It was pretty cold and even snowed while we were there but we were well equipped with plenty of rum. When we got ready to leave we found the battery dead. Talk about out in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, we had parked on a very slight incline and with a little push we got started. No deer, though.