This is a video my dad made when he was in Vietnam with the USAF in 1969. It shows the billets he lived and various other buildings on the Air Base where he was stationed as a mechanic on F-100 fighter-bombers
I was a hydraulic specialist , mostly on the F 100, with the 35th Field Maint. Squadron April 69 to April 70. Was sitting at the outdoor theater, that I saw in your video, one night watching the C47 gunship circling outside the base raining a curtain of bullets down on something. When it came back to the base it circled the theater area with the spotlight shining directly down on us! What an uneasy feeling, knowing that they could have covered every square inch of that place with bullet in a matter of second.
Was assigned to Phan Rang, 1882 Comm Sq, 8 Jan - 11 Mar 1967. We slept in hooches with wooden sidewalks. We had outhouses and cold-water showers. I did make E4 (Buck Sgt) while I was there.
Thanks for sharing. Vivid memories of Phan Rang and the guys I was stationed with from July 70 to July 71. Still have some slides I took during my time there. 35th SPS, Canine Section, Bravo Flight.
Yep. A lot of stuff we had made some of my co-workers in the late 90's and early 2000's who were Army and Marine vets of the war shake their heads in disbelief. Dining facilities, Snack bars. Squadron pits (beers, burgers, and card games), EM and NCO clubs (Officers had theirs on Gun Smoke Hill), Base Exchange, barber shops, tailors, and an air-conditioned movie theatre, The theatre in the film was an open-air facility often used for USO shows and free movies at night. Behind the seats were actual parking slots for vehicles and it wasn't unusual to see Security Police jeeps, M706 Commando Cars (one was in Patrick Shriers' movie), and 113 Armored Personnel Carriers catching a movie. Those units were generally mobile reserves and could get just about anywhere from there in five minutes or so except for the Juliet Sector on the other side of the flight line which normally had its own tasked reserve. In addition, there was a base beach people could go to, and the Australian Airfields Defense Force ran a little club there and also did shark patrol to keep them beyond the barrier. The base was closed to casual travel and had a 360-degree free fire zone. The red (clay) dirt wasn't normal for the area, I later learned that the base was routinely sprayed with malathion to keep the insects down, The C-130 that did the spraying also sprayed Agent Orange on Ranch Hand missions and they never flushed the tanks so the base got its fair share of defoliants. I've seen recent photos and videos of Phan Rang and the vegetation is back lush and vibrant. Little is left of the base and that is as it should be.
35th Supply Squadron USAF 1968 and 1969... My dad Henry Stuehmeyer was stationed out at Phan Rang for three tours over two year 1969 and 1969 with the, USAF 35th Supply Squadron.... Do you or anyone 'looking in' remember my father, also do you possibly have any photographs from this time too.... it would be great to hear back from you. Dad served throughout Europe during WW2 with the USArmy so I expect he was older than most of you. And after he retired from the USAF he spent a further 20 years working for the USNavy... 50 years service in total. I'm very proud of my father and you all. Jed Stuehmeyer
This video was made by my Dad. I know a couple of the names of other guys he served with in Vietnam but that of your father unfortunately does not ring a bell. I cannot ask my father if he knew your dad because he passed away last year.
