I had just arrived in Nam Phong sometime in June 1972. The Seabees

were building hootches for the office personnel to process all the

incoming Marines.

I am taken to our shop sight out to the end of the northern end of the

runway, out by the bomb dump. The first thing we are told to do was

start laying aircraft matting. It got impossible to position the lox

plants and storage trailers when it rained and turned the ground to red

mud.

So here are about ten of us laying the most heavy and cumbersome stuff

I had ever lifted. Pinched fingers, mashed toes and cuts, etc. 100%

humidity and 100 degrees. Man, it was miserable.

All of a sudden we see this deuce and a half come up and out get a

couple of Seabee's. They ask us if we're cryogenics and we say," yeah."

So they ask us if they lay our aircraft matting would we cool down

their beer? Well, we sure as he!! weren't going to say no.

They leave and come back in about an hour with three six by's, a

forklift and about eight Seabees. We ask what can we do to help and

they say just stay out of their way.

They proceeded to lay almost all the matting we had in about five hours

where it would have taken us twenty.

So while they were doing that we got a jump on setting the plants up

to get running the next day. After the day was done we cooled down,

I don't remember how much beer.

That night we all sat around the tent getting drunk and trading

stories. Made some really good friends that day. Wish I could remember

their names but time erases such.