NMCB-8 camp at Hue Phu Bai
Aftermath enemy rocket attack
rocket attack aftermath
More of the same
Crane working on bridge
Lighting in need of a new shoe!
Who are these guys?
Dan Epplett with M-16 and Willie Wilson at Camp Wilkinson
Dan Epplett wire happy and in need of R&R!
Willie Wilson with grenades!
Willie Wilson with M-16
?, ? with M-79 and with M-16
Willie Wilson on broken span over Perfume River
Larry Nicks waving and the pipeline crew
Rocket Alley between Hue and Phu Bai
Richard Monks
L-R Randy Agnew (VP Spiro Agnew son), Cletus Lineberger and ?
Ken Kelton{seated} Pat Casey, Jacob Field Jr? Clarence Moschler,,?
Richard Monks
Yea some guy named Cicerone stole a couple of these from the Marines last deployment!
J.J. Markham and ?
Road built by the Dirt Sailors of 8
Willie Wilson and who are these guys?
Doc Locke
Front L-R Dave Joyner, Doug Jolley, Ted Coe, Jessie Little. Back L-R Joe Dreish and Gary Thede
Pat Lusk
Roland Barr
Dave Joyner, ?, Ted Coe and Doug Jolly
Dennis Tull
Eddie Smith
Milepost
L-R John Whitewell, LTJG Beland, Ted Coe
Jessie Little..Seabee of the month.
Most visited building on the base
Gary Thede and Joe Dreish
Who am I on mess duty
Who are we?
Army guys giving dirt sailors a ride
Who are we
JJ Markham working on bridge
Willie Wilson and friends
Willie Williams with a new job
Chief Howe and Larry Nicks
Jolley,Little,Coe,Joyner and?
Ted Coe, Jessie Little and ?
Willie Wilson
Gary Thede, Ted Coe, Jessie Little and?
Ted Coe and Gary Thede
Dave Joyner, Ted Coe, Jessie Little and ?
Edwin Miller, Willie Wilson and Dan Epplett
Jessie Little
Stage and movie screen
Jessie Little and Ted Coe
Jeep destroyed by IED
Army twin 40’s nickname Destruction!
Second row from the bottom is Edwin miller, Willie Wilson, and Dan Epplett. The photo with the Confederate flag the two men were Army, they stopped to pick me up I joked with them saying you men must be from the South, their reply was. They shot him, Shot who, Martin Luther King was their reply and the South will rise again. This was the first I knew of the assassination. The last row two men standing in front of the bunker are Larry Nicks and Chief Howe.
the reaction to his assassination was very angry by quite a few guys who , just “quit working” in reaction to it. they where not held to account as far as I know. most everyone had to pick up their slack”. Which pissed off even more people. moral was severely compromised. I had to take the place of a second class he just told everyone he wasn’t going to help whiteys war. he stayed up all night smoking pot and drinking then hid out where ever he could to get some sleep. what was really funny about the whole thing, was he got busted for trying to smuggle some pot. got busted back to seaman. There where probably more who did the same thing I didn’t know about. there was a lot of violence, you had to watch your back when you where in any camp we had outposts at. The army camp behind us. had quite a few guys who where assigned to our supply company and there was trouble with them too. the army guys had an artillery piece and assault hueys. so there where being hit and Charlie wanted a piece of them. a lot of rounds fell short in our camp , which most likely where aimed to them. But everyone’s stress levels where off the chart. at the end of that tour I put in for orders. What I found out later. After I left the Seabees. most Navy people I met , where “touchy” about guys who had “been in country’. instead of on ships off the coast . or I reminded them (just by my presence, that they too could end up , just like I did. So I ended up getting a lot of crap. I fought back and , then got left alone. So the rest of the time I was in , I just didn’t talk about it. which carried over to civilian life.
Hello! This is John Mays. I was there with all of you. I was a CM3. I worked in the shop on the hill for the first 4 months I was there. Then I was sent out on detachment to a fuel depot we were building holding tanks for the fuels being off loaded by supply ships about a half mile off in the South China Sea.
I was on the Advance Party and landed in country on 1-14-68. I turned 21 on 1-17-1968. I was manning the lines at the beginning of TET. When it got real bad the Marines took over and we spent 30 some odd days in mortar holes at night as backup for the Marines. At daylight we went back to our hooches and sleep till noon then back to the shop and worked till dusk the back in the mortar holes and it started all over again.
As it happened I came down with a heart issue related to being exposed to Agent Orange while I was there. I first went in and applied for hearing disability through the VA and was at that time I found out my heart issues came up. I received 60% disability for my heart and 10% for my hearing. I receive free hearing aids and all my medical through the VA. If you apply for hearing there is a very good chance you would qualify for 10%. If you have Ischemic heart problems you could apply and get at least 60% disability through the VA. Phu Bai was a loading and unloading supply station for Agent Orange. Our area was the 3rd heaviest sprayed with Agent Orange in Vietnam. Check the VA website for other health issues you may have related being exposed to Agent Orange. I have COPD and there are studies that show COPD is related to smoking but newer studies show that 30% could be caused by Agent Orange. I have applied for that but haven’t heard back yet.
If you have applied in the past for disability and been turned down you should apply again. In the last 10 years the VA has stopped saying no to any claim. Trump and his administration have helped us vets and the VA has become more understanding to what we were denied for a while back.
My daughter found this site yesterday while we were waiting for my colonoscopy at the VA Hospital in Roxbury MA. I needed a designated driver to be put out for the exam.
Well brothers some of us didn’t make it home alive from that deployment. I wish I could remember their names. I visited The Wall a while back and searched the names of those killed in 1968 but I didn’t recognize any of the names. I had to remember that we lost a lot of Marines during TET in the battle for Hue. So our Seabees are somewhere in that group of names. I’m still very mad about the war. I see a VA doctor to try and make some since to the whole mess our government got us into. I hope you are all well and getting by.
Hello guys. Joe Dreisch here. Just found this site yesterday quite by accident! Lord, those pictures took me way back! I hope everyone is doing as good as possible. Looking through the pictures I noticed a lot of question marks and I don’t know if anyone edits these, but while my memory is still good I thought I’d fill in some blanks so that as many guys as possible are remembered by all so here goes:
Pic. 51- ? IS Ron Schwobel
Pic.58- Gary Thede and not me( to the right of not me is Glen Utterback).
Pic. 62- Don Talley and (maybe) Dane Lane?
Pic. 67- Jolley, Hallam, Little, Coe,Joyner, Whitwell, Jeff Smith
Pic. 68.- Back row- John Collins, Mack Hallam, Doug Jolley, ?,?,?, Jeff Smith, Jack Williams,, ?, Dave Joyner, Larry Nix. Front row- ?, Bryson Moore, John Whitwell,Ted Coe, Jessie Little, Pappy Allen.
Pic. 69- Left of Ted- Bob Delayo, John (Sarge) Collins, Ken Bingham, Zimmer, Ron Schwobel.
Pic. 73- Dave Joyner, Reed Arnold,, Jack (Okie) Williams, Jessie Little, Ted Coe, Joe Dreisch, Gary (Damn) Thede, Tom Reeves.
Pic. 74- ?= Ken Bingham
Pic. 78- ?= Kevin Lynch