From: Hutterer, John (MPAU) (john.hutterer@smiths-medical.com)
Date: Mon Jan 30 2006 - 08:18:08 PST
Ed,
Yes, I was at Long Bien, but only for about a week. That was in October
of 68. I was then assigned to the 299th Engineer Battalion at Dak To in
the Central Highlands. Stayed there for about 6 months and them moved to
Phu Tai for about two months, then four months in a place called Bong
Son. An interesting time. Glad to be back.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Ed [mailto:mojoedd@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 8:48 AM
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List; Hutterer, John (MPAU)
Subject: Re: [MV] BAR
Hey John,
Where were you, the 90th at Long Bien/Bien Hua? That's where I went in
and as you say the weapons were stored for us. That was changed during
the 68 Tet offensive of course! :-) Glad that you made it back!!
Best Regards,
Ed
"Sirs, you have no reason to be ashamed of your Confederate dead; see to
it they have no reason to be ashamed of you"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hutterer, John (MPAU)" <john.hutterer@smiths-medical.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 09:07
Subject: Re: [MV] BAR
Randy,
I spent my first week in Vietnam at the replacement depot, waiting for
assignment to my unit. Of course the Army doesn't believe in idle hands.
I was assigned to work in the Supply Room at the Transit Barracks. My
job was to issue a clean set of bedding to each person who came through,
in exchange for his weapon. This was on a major base, and troops were
not allowed to carry weapons. I know that sounds strange, but it is the
truth. The same thing happened at another large base that I was
stationed at, later on. The Command structure at the bases felt that
their security was so good that average troops didn't need a weapon.
Anyway, I had to take the weapon of each person who wanted to stay in
the Transit Barracks. I remember handling BAR's, Thompson's, M3 Grease
Guns, French bolt actions, M14's, M16's, shotguns, and just about any
individual, man-portable weapon you can think of. I put them in a wooden
closet next to the shelves of bedding. That was the "Arms Room". The
troops that came through there seemed to be allowed to carry just about
any weapon that they felt like carrying. Many, but not all, were Special
Forces. I would have to say that, if a person was restoring a vehicle to
"Vietnam Standards", the vehicle could contain just about anything that
the person wanted to put there, as long as it was something that was
available during that time period. As you may have guessed, I am not a
purist. I spent too many years in the military, and saw too many
personal modifications of vehicles and equipment to believe that there
is only one "right" way to display a vehicle.
John
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