Chu Lai to An Phuoc

Sunday, March 10th- Today we have a full agenda. We check out of the Central Hotel after breakfast. We have three site visits today. The visit to my dad's site will be the last stop.

Our first stop will be a short drive to Chu Lai. Sandra's father, a Marine Corps pilot, was killed on the base at Chu Lai on the first day of the Tet Offensive in 1968. The base at Chu Lai is still an active military establishment so we will not be able to go onto the base. Instead, we will stop at a memorial built on a spot above the base. On the way, we stop at a local house where Song and the driver collect flowers. The three of us who have site visits today will have these flowers to leave in remembrance.

Our driver takes us to the memorial above Chu Lai. Ed walks up the steps to the memorial. Larry accompanies Sandra as she remembers her dad. Taking pictures is Marsha, a Vietnam veteran Army nurse.

From this spot, we can see the airstrip below with its rebutments left from the war.

The airstrip at Chu Lai where Sandra's father gave the ultimate sacrifice.

We are not allowed to stop at the gate of the Chu Lai base. Our driver slows down and we can take a quick picture from inside the bus. The gate is the same as it was when the base was an American airstrip during the war.

After our stop at Chu Lai, the Purple Team continues its drive north. Our next stop is the ville of An Phuoc, Candy's father's site. As we turn off Highway 1, it becomes apparent that the bus will not be able to drive all the way due to the muddy roads again. The driver goes as far as he can before we must start walking.

Candy walks with other members of the Purple Team towards her dad's site. Connie has wanted to photograph a Buddhist cementary. We pass one on our walk so she darts off to do her work.

The walk to Candy's father's site is very beautiful. We pass green rice fields and rural homes.

The passenger train goes by. The train line runs the entire length of the country.

Some children wave at us from a side road. We call to them to come down and get a sucker. They are too shy and will not come any closer. We take their picture and they squeal and cover their faces. As we get farther into the ville, each house has at least one dog. The dogs all resemble one another. Some look like small jackels.

Candy's dad served with the United States Army 17th Cavalry. He was a radioman and had only been in country for a few weeks when he was killed. The site where he was killed is called Hill 56. The hills in Vietnam are named for their elevations. Hill 56 is 56 kilometers tall. We arrive in the ville of An Phuoc. The people in the houses that line the road come out and follow us to see what we are doing. We come to a trail between two houses that leads out to a rice field. Beyond the field is Hill 56. Candy and Dan, one of our veteran team leaders, go out into the field to hold the remembrance ceremony. A large flock of ducks watch them from the foot of the hill.

Hill 56 where Candy's father gave the ultimate sacrifice.

While Candy and Dan are in the field, we spend time with the people of the ville. One of the families has a water buffalo. The children bring the water buffalo out in front of the house. Janice, a Vietnam veteran Army nurse, has held the lead rope of a water buffalo before duing her tour of duty. She takes the rope so that we can take a picture for her.

We give the children in the village some suckers. One little girl carries her baby sister the entire time that we are there. She is not much bigger than the baby. No adults talk to her or seem to be her parents. She looks as if she is carrying the weight of the world much as she carries the baby. I give a sucker to her and to the baby. Later on, I watch as she hides her sucker behind the baby so she can get another one from Terry.

Candy and Dan rejoin us. We spend some more time in the ville, playing with the children. One of the elder men speaks with Candy about the battle. He invites her to his home but the invitation must be refused this time. We still have one more stop to make.

From here we go to my father's site in Antenna Valley. After that we will spend the night in Hoi An.