Nha Trang to Qui Nhon

Saturday, March 8th- Today we start the big adventure. The Purple Team is leaving Saigon and travelling north to Nha Trang. This will be the start of our visits to each of our dad's sites. The other teams are also leaving Saigon to go to their sites. We will meet up with all the teams again by the time we reach DaNang.

We are up very early to go to the airport. This morning there is no breakfast in the lovely dining room. Instead, we have a box breakfast consisting of a ham sandwich with Laughing Cow cheese, bananas and a hard boiled egg. We are taking a Vietnam Airlines flight, that is just over an hour long. The plane is small but comfortable and the time passes quickly. Soon we are flying into Nha Trang, coming in over the South China Sea. The bay is dotted with islands. The islands are more like small mountains covered with vegetation. The airfield is small. We collect our luggage from the single building. Song, who has flown with us, directs us to our new transportation. For the next week, the 13 members of Purple Team will travel on a bus that is just big enough for us, our luggage and an ice chest for bottled water.

We leave the airport before 9:00 AM and head north on Highway 1. Despite the early hour, the local population is already out and about on their scooters. Local stores are already open. Many of the businesses are located in the ground floor or front room of homes. Here, a family enjoys breakfast in their shop. The family sits in low plastic chairs that are popular throughout the country. Later, the mother will serve her customers at the same table where her family now eats.

To our left, we see the ruins of an ancient temple. Song tells us that this is a Cham temple. The Chams were an Islamic sect who populated the Vietnam region before the Vietnamese moved into the area. We will see a number of Cham temples as we travel.

The South China Sea.

We stop at Vung Ro Bay. It is around 11:00 AM on Saturday morning and there is no one on the beach. We ask why this is and are told that the local population go to the beach in the early morning and early evening hours. It is considered too hot in the middle of the day. To us, the temperature seems comfortable, much cooler than it was in Saigon. We take the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful, vacant beach and to get our feet wet in the South China Sea.

We find some beach chairs under thatched roofed shelters. We sit down and enjoy the view. We feel like we are in a credit card commercial!

A little farther up the road, we stop again. The fishing boats have already been out for the morning's fishing. They have returned to the harbor and make a colorful view.

Some kids see us and come out to greet the bus. We take some time to speak with them. We have brought along some SDIT pins which Terry and Gina give to the kids.

We continue on Highway 1 into the area where one of our veteran team leaders, Larry, served with the 9th Cav. As we move through the area, Larry becomes very excited. Many things have changed over the past 3 1/2 decades but the landmarks remain. Larry spots locations that he knows and shares his memories with us.

After a lunch break, we head towards our first site visit. We are visiting two sights for Ron and Gina, brother and niece of a soldier who served with the 101st Airborne in 1965. Our first stop is Tuy Hoa North, where Ron's brother had his office. As we approach the site, Song tells us that, on our site visits, we will have the chance to interact with the local citizens. Unlike the people that we have met so far, these people are not used to "tourists". We are going to areas that are not of interest to the average tourist. We are destined to be the first Westerners that most of the local people will have ever seen. Only those who are old enough to remember the war will have had contact with Americans before. Our bus pulls off the road in the small town of Tuy Hoa. We walk down a gravel road, past houses and small businesses, to the office site. As we walk, people come out of their homes. Soon young men on scooters are driving back and forth past us.

The young men on scooters join us when we stop at the ruins of the office.

Through our Vietnamese guide, Song, the local people learn why we are visiting their town. They are quite interested and also eager to try their English on us. We enjoy communicating, both in English and our few Vietnamese words. Ron shares some of his memories of his brother with us.

Next, we drive to the hamlet of Xuan Phu. This is the site of the battle in which Ron's brother was killed. The day has turned cloudy and windy. As we arrive at a small cafe in Xuan Phu, there is some threat of rain in the air. Ron and Gina have decided to visit the rice field where the battle took place by themselves. We will stay in a small, open air cafe while they remember their loved one.

Ron, with Song, walks out to his brother's site.

Down the block from the cafe, Ed sees a weld shop and goes to check it out. The welder does not wear a protective hood or glasses for his eyes. He lines up his work, then uses his fingers to guide himself while he welds without looking. Ed and the welder communicate in the universal language of welders.

Shortly after we arrive in Xuan Phu, it starts to rain. Ron and Gina walk to the battle site in the rain. We sit in the cafe and just as the rain starts, a group of teenagers ride their bicycles up to the cafe. Shyly, they take seats in the cafe but soon, the two groups, Americans and Vietnamese teenagers, come together. Song, again, becomes translator to explain what we are doing in Xuan Phu. We learn about them as well. Song asks if they will sing for us. They sing a traditional Vietnamese song. Then, we sing a traditional American song for them- the theme song from the Beverly Hillbillies. One of the teens says she knows an American song, too. After a couple of false starts, she renders a great version of One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians in English. She has a wonderful singing voice. One of the boys asks if he, too, can sing for us. He sings a song in Vietnamese that is called "Father's Love". Song translates the first few lines for us. Again, he sings beautifully and the song is very touching.

Ron and Gina rejoin the group. We spend about an hour with the teens before it is time for us to go. We still have many miles to drive to our hotel in Qui Nhon. We give SDIT pins to each of the teens and make our good-byes. These Vietnamese teenagers have touched our hearts. We hope that we have made an equal impression on them.

The rice field where Ron's brother gave the ultimate sacrifice.

After a long day, we arrive in Qui Nhon and the comfort of the Seagull Hotel. Again, we are on the South China Sea and have a wonderful view from our room. We shower and change clothes, then go to the bar for a cocktail before dinner. The bar is outside under a large tree. The drinks are relaxing and the conversation on the day's activities. In the morning, we will have time to walk on the beach before leaving for our next site visit.