Walter Stewart, Det C Company Clerk, 1/69 – 10/69

I volunteered for Viet Nam from Baumholder Germany, 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment (Brave Rifles), and was placed on orders the latter part of '65 for the 1st Infantry Division in Nam, went home for Thanksgiving and then later, on to Viet Nam.

When I arrived at the Saigon processing center, I was unexpectedly transferred to C Det. 1st MIBARS in Can Tho. This I think this was mid to late December 1965; I think I’d just missed the Bob Hope USO show.

Upon reaching Can Tho the very first thing I was assigned to was guard duty around several trailers. I was handed an M16 and off went the cadre for lunch…only thing was I was trained on an M14 and had never even held an M16, and they had not even issued me ammo. I did my 'rounds' dutifully, and whenever I heard brush noise I made 'cocking' noises with the weapon. Don't know if anything was out there, more than likely the wind, but I was scared anyway. Maybe the cadre were teasing me and having their laughs at the expense of this 'greeny'...never found out.

My position in Det. C was company clerk from arrival late Dec. ‘65 until Oct. '66. The Det.C, CO at that time was a Capt. Gordon Stuart.

I was an introvert and pretty much a loner so I didn't try to make friends, and I don't recall many of the men in the unit.

I did have one friend in Det. C who's name was Tom Shinhearl. I don't know what his position was. He visited me in Southern Oregon where I was attending college when he got out of the service in 1967. I’ve had no contact with him until I searched him out on the internet a few months ago; located his phone number, and only spoke to him briefly at that time. I have not spoken to him since then. He is hard to get hold of.

I purchased a motorcycle on the local economy, which I had for several weeks, it turned out to be a piece of junk; learned a bit from that transaction. I explained this thoroughly to the other Det C member who purchased it from me, but he was a mechanic of sorts so he said not to worry.

I went for a jeep ride to see the sights out of town, with a younger, adventurous, Det C individual; unarmed, and foolish. After going for what seemed some distance, I tired to talk him into heading back as I was getting scared the further away from the town we drove. Seems I remember hearing that some weeks before a jeep had been found stripped and abandoned and the military occupants were never found. Finally he decided to turn around to return to Can Tho. As he maneuvered the jeep in the turn, he swung too wide and the jeep went down the edge of one of those big ditches that lined the roads, and always, beyond these ditches were the fields of elephant-grasses. I jumped out to help push the jeep up onto the road as the grass and slope of the ditch kept it from regaining the road, but my puny 150 lbs. did nothing to help. I rocked the jeep from the inside and the outside in more attempts. He kept accelerating, the wheels spun, but did not gain the roadway. We did not speak. We both had heard the story of the 'abandoned' jeep and missing crew. We kept trying and trying. Though past rains had made the grass slopes of the ditch slippery, I was glad they were not muddy. As we paused for a few minutes to think, I noticed the elephant grass a distance from our stopped jeep, moving. Was it really moving, was it a breeze, or maybe my over active imagination. My gut tightened and I said, let's try again and get out of here! We gave it an extended effort and to our great relief the jeep jerked up onto the road. I jumped in and away we went.

I found out in short order he did not have permission to take the jeep from the motor pool in the first place. This was made plain to me when we were pulled over by the MP's, as we hurriedly dashed back through town for the motor-pool area to avoid curfew violation. I didn’t realize either that my young driver had been drinking. He was charged with violating curfew, operating a government vehicle while DUI, as well as ‘misappropriating a government vehicle'. Had he gone back earlier as I had encouraged, he would have avoided the MP’s and the Article 15.

I recall typing up the Article 15 on him, as instructed by Capt. Stuart, since I was the company clerk, but I also typed one with my information on it and submitted it to the Capt., I was after all in the jeep too. Capt. Stuart tore up the one with my information on it and processed the other one. The young adventurous soldier was reduced from E4 to E2 and given a several weeks extra duty assignments.

The Det. was barracked in tents in Eakin Compound for a period of time before procuring the 'hotel-barracks' in town. I recall taking pedicabs from the 'hotel-barracks' to and from the Eakin Compound and the Air Force Mess.

One evening in Eakin Compound, I was going to get a snack in the club, and who came out of the shadows but the DUKE himself, John Wayne! I was so excited and shocked at the same time, I froze! I didn’t even shake his hand....ARRRGGGG! I did follow him and his military escort, and they went into the club. I stood at the door and watched. He told the men in the club how much he and ALL Real Americans Very Much Appreciated All We Were Doing For America and Her Freedoms! He said he couldn’t sing or dance but wanted to show us there were those who did care, and even though he had a $1,000,000 dollar price on his head (by the Viet Cong), he came to thank us personally anyway. He apologized for having to sneak in unannounced, undercover of darkness but that is the only way they would let him come. He ask what he could do for us right then. One of the GI’s spoke up and ask if he would pour a pitcher of beer over his buddies head so he could get a picture of the DUKE doing it as proof to family back home the DUKE WAS THERE, and so the Duke did pour a pitcher of beer over the GI’s head while camera’s clicked. Then the military escort whisked John Wayne away. I still kick myself today for not at least shaking his hand when I had the opportunity!

While at Eakin Compound the USO brought in Ann Margaret to entertain us. She sang and danced. She danced in such ‘gyros’ that her tiara, necklace and a bracelet came flying off into the audience of about 30 men. She got them all back from the GI’s who grabbed them up, except I think the bracelet, and the other items were only given back to her with ‘encouragement’ from her accompanying officer escorts. She signed and dated photos before she departed. Don’t know who got the bracelet, but I suspect it will show up on Pawn Stars or Antique Road Show at some point, along with the signed photo.

I did not serve a whole year in Viet Nam. I surprisingly received orders for an early out. I recall that early in October day when Capt. Stuart opened the daily mail from HQ and saw the orders, we were both surprised. I had just a few days to pack, hurriedly link together transportation from several sources, and get to the runway to catch the plane. I was literally running after the small plane as it begin to taxi and lift it's tail door to close it, I even lost my cap from the prop winds but kept running, tossed in my duffel bag and was helped on board…whew...made it barely. Once settled in the small aircraft, I 're-covered' with my spare cap in the top of my duffel bag.

Walter Stewart

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