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moron
Posting Freak
Posts: 2393
Registered: 5-28-2003
Location: CT
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back from Vietnam
I got back last night after about 26 hours of traveling. It took 29 hours (including layovers) to get there. The worst part was the 15 hour plane
ride from LA to Hong Kong on the way there and Hong Kong to Chicago on the way back. Fucking brutal.
I took a over 200 pictures, and my Dad got another 200 or so. Once I get my body back to normal I'll try to post a few if anyone's interested.
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clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
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Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
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cool.
Each aspect of the soul has it's own part to play, but the ideal is harmonious agreement with reason and control.
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BDx13
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welcome back.
post those pics!
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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XHonusWagnerX
Moderator
Posts: 12509
Registered: 7-14-2005
Location: pawtucket
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Mood: hadDCore
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DEFINITLY post the pics and any good stories!
Welcome Back!
| Quote: | Originally posted by REV.PAULIE
HONUS-as much as i can't stand a great deal of what you really like (for my own reasons that i would never hold,nor impose,against you),YOU FUCKING
RULE!
YOU,HONUS,IS WHAT MAKES THE "EDGE" COOL.
YOUR FRIEND,
PAULIE |
check out my post contributions at www.VinylNoize.com
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DAK
Posting Freak
Posts: 3507
Registered: 5-13-2004
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There is no way I could sit on a plane that long.
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BDx13
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seriously.
the 8 hour flight from LA to Tahiti was enough for me.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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XHonusWagnerX
Moderator
Posts: 12509
Registered: 7-14-2005
Location: pawtucket
Member Is Offline
Mood: hadDCore
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yeah... 7.5 from Boston to Amsterdam is long to me!
| Quote: | Originally posted by REV.PAULIE
HONUS-as much as i can't stand a great deal of what you really like (for my own reasons that i would never hold,nor impose,against you),YOU FUCKING
RULE!
YOU,HONUS,IS WHAT MAKES THE "EDGE" COOL.
YOUR FRIEND,
PAULIE |
check out my post contributions at www.VinylNoize.com
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joemaconmovies
Posting Freak
Posts: 1827
Registered: 6-22-2005
Location: Western Mass
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Mood: pissed off
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a 2 hour car ride makes me go nuts now. i can't stay still for too long much anymore
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newbreedbrian
Posting Freak
Posts: 2616
Registered: 9-2-2004
Location: Hell
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Mood: doc watson
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sweet. can't wait to see 'em.
The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, ?You know, I want to set those people over there on
fire, but I?m just not close enough to get the job done.? George Carlin
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Furly
Posting Freak
Posts: 1324
Registered: 1-7-2008
Location: right next door to hell
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Mood: Not your band.
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DAK
There is no way I could sit on a plane that long. |
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Voodoobillyman
The Artist Formerly Known As...
Posts: 4247
Registered: 8-12-2005
Location: Eastern Seaboard of the United States
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Mood: my daughters beautiful curiousity
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Yup, it's about 14 hours from Kuwait to any of the major East Coast Hubs. Rough trip every time.
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godabandonedme
Senior Member
Posts: 758
Registered: 2-1-2005
Location: Philadelphia
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Mood: Darkbuster
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Only time I've ever flown was to and from Jamaica. 3hrs each way and I hated it. Post those pics. I don't know the story of why you went there with
your pops etc. but I would like too.
My dad served 2 and a half tours over there 67-68,68-69, 69-late 69. 1st and 3rd Marines, 2 Purple Hearts. My hero for real.
\"Leave the gun....take the canolis.\"
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mattybar
Senior Member
Posts: 805
Registered: 1-3-2008
Location: South London, UK
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did you see much of Hong Kong?
Incredible city.
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Dave
Posting Freak
Posts: 3281
Registered: 4-6-2003
Location: Halifax
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Mood: .......
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sweet
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moron
Posting Freak
Posts: 2393
Registered: 5-28-2003
Location: CT
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My Dad was there in 1967. He left January 1968, a week before the Tet Offensive. He was with the 25th Infantry Division in Cu Chi in a mechanized
unit that rode M113 armored personnel carriers. For the past few years he had been talking about wanting to go back to visit Vietnam, see how the
place has changed since he was there and just say hello. I had asked him if I could tag along, and so off we went.
The old American Cu Chi base is now used by the Vietnamese army for basic training, but we had a guide take us up to the gate and near a stream where
they had bunkers that guarded one of the entrances. Our guide turned out to be an old Viet Cong fighter who lived in the Cu Chi area. He didn't tell
us that, but when he said he was a year older than my Dad and was born in Cu Chi I had a hunch. We asked the lady who organized the tour and she told
us he was VC. He was an amazing guy. At 61 years old he's got a 4 month-old son with his second wife who's half his age. We asked him if the
Vietnamese people are angry with Americans, and he said that they let bygones be bygones and want to be friends.
I put a few photos on photobucket so far. Here's a few from our trip to the Cu Chi base and the Cu Chi tunnels.
My Dad and our tour guide standing on the bridge over the stream that my Dad used to guard. One side was the American base and the other side was
Commie country.
Me trying to fit down a spider hole. It was widened for Western tourists so I can't imagine how anyone fit down those things.
A guide leading me down one of the tunnels. This was had lights in it. Another one I went down didn't, and it was claustrophobic. I don't know how
anyone could have spent any length of time there.
My Dad and I planning for battle in the tunnels. This room was supposedly where the Tet Offensive was coordinated.
Exiting the tunnels hot and sweaty.
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moron
Posting Freak
Posts: 2393
Registered: 5-28-2003
Location: CT
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This is the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City. It was the Presidential Palace when the South Vietnamese government was in control, but renamed
after 1975 when the Communists came into power. We took a tour of it one morning, and the place is huge. It's 3 floors tall, and has a helicopter
pad and a dance floor on the roof. The basement has a huge bunker system where the war was run.
The place was bombed by a Communist who infiltrated the South Vietnamese army. I guess they have a shrine for that pilot in Hanoi along with his
airplane, and on the roof of the Reunification Palace they have two red circles marking where the two bombs landed.
Another semi-interesting thing of note. At the entrance of the Palace where the tours organize there are photos of the wars with the American and
French, and some of the captions revise history a tiny bit. One photo was of a bunch of Viet Cong celebrating, and it said they were celebrating
their victory after Tet when in reality they got their asses beat. Another had a photo of a Marine at Khe Sanh running down a road. The caption read
something like "The frightened Marine made a hasty retreat from Khe Sanh". Again... never happened.
Thorp might appreciate this photo.
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BDx13
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that must have been an amazing experience, moron.
what was dad's reaction to being back? emotional? unfased? strictly tourist mode?
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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moron
Posting Freak
Posts: 2393
Registered: 5-28-2003
Location: CT
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He didn't seem to be phased by the trip in an emotional sense. He said that other Vets will get weepy or cry when they re-visit places they were
stationed or where there was a battle, but that he wasn't that type. He was right. He told some heartbreaking stories over the course of the trip,
but I guess he's come to terms with it all. Our guide for one of our day trips asked him why he wanted to come back to Vietnam, and he said he just
wanted to say "Xin Chao" (Hello) and see how everyone was doing. My Dad even said that he'd like to go back again to see more of the country. We
really only saw parts of the country near Ho Chi Minh City.
Speaking of which, here's a few more random photos from around the city.
Everyone drives a motorbike to get around, and the traffic is legendary. There are traffic lights and I assume traffic laws, but I don't think anyone
follows them. It's almost a free-for-all. I think something like an average of 9 people get killed each day on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City
alone. I took a ride on a motorbike taxi towards the end of our trip just to say I'd done it.
People have street stalls everywhere selling food and snacks and anything else you can imagine. I didn't eat at one of these places. Too afraid of
catching a bug.
The city has KFC and Pizza Hut, but no McDonald's.... yet. Im sure it's coming.
HIV/AIDS awareness posters around the city. I took this photo for the people at work. Figures aren't really known for how many people have the
virus, and apparently this is all the government really cares to do about it and I read that they only started putting these posters up because of
outside pressure.
The latest in wiring technology.
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BDx13
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this is amazing stuff.
if you haven't already, you should type up your dad's stories.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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Furly
Posting Freak
Posts: 1324
Registered: 1-7-2008
Location: right next door to hell
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Mood: Not your band.
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wow, those are some amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing!
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JawnDiablo
Posting Freak
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Registered: 4-21-2005
Location: 1902666
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damn that's crazy!
I think I saw those tunnels on that cities of the underworld show on the History channel..or something similar to them.
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newbreedbrian
Posting Freak
Posts: 2616
Registered: 9-2-2004
Location: Hell
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Mood: doc watson
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nice pics. thanks for putting those up
The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, ?You know, I want to set those people over there on
fire, but I?m just not close enough to get the job done.? George Carlin
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DAK
Posting Freak
Posts: 3507
Registered: 5-13-2004
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by newbreedbrian
nice pics. thanks for putting those up |
My old man was there too. I am pretty sure he has no desire to return.
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BDx13
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my dad was in the navy, stationed in the mediterranean back then.
lucky bastard.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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upyerbum
Posting Freak
Posts: 3226
Registered: 10-14-2005
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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Mood: Condemned 84
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Very cool. There's probably a good possibility that your Dad and your guide traded shots at some point.
Well, its this place where nobody works, and the pigs don\'t give you any shit. Everyone smokes weed and gets drunk all day. Its a place where
cunts like me and you can truly take it easy and relax. Know what I mean?
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