"Parade in the Combat Zone"
It was one of those events one remembers forever
and wonders about the wisdom of those who decided it was a good idea.
During 1966, while assigned to the 377th
APS/SPS at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Republic of Vietnam,
I worked Charlie Flight from 8:00 PM until 4:00 AM. One evening I was
informed that I had been selected to march in a parade in downtown Saigon
to commemorate a Vietnamese holiday.
At first, I thought this was a joke but later
learned that the 377th SPS was going to represent the USAF in the parade
and we would be the very last ones to march. We would also be allowed
to carry live ammo, which was prohibited to other US Forces. In other
words we were going to be the rear guard of the parade.
Almost everyone selected was trying to swap
duties with someone else. They would much rather defend the Air Base
against ground attack than be a sitting duck for a terrorist grenade,
while marching in a parade.
A couple of days before the parade, we were
bussed to downtown Saigon after curfew and made a practice run. It turned
out to be completely uneventful as there were no spectators or anyone
else, for that matter, on the streets.
On the day of the parade we were positioned
on the Saigon River front, next to what was then a famous floating restaurant
[The Mekahn was a floating restaurant tied up on the Mekong River dockside
in Saigon].
It earned its reputation
because it had been the target of a terrorist bomb a year or so earlier
which caused quite a few casualties [40] --- many of whom were American.
We had approximately a three-or-four hour
wait before we would start to march, so we all found a comfortable patch
of grass on the side of the river and lay down.
The parade stand was in the middle of the
city, about ten blocks away and held the Vietnamese President, Ambassadors
and high ranking generals from all allied countries involved in the
war. We lay there knowing that "Charlie" or "Sir Charles"
was not going to pass up such a juicy target when it was presented to
him.
After about an hour we heard loud explosions
rip through the city, coming from the direction of the parade stand.
That was followed by the sound of emergency vehicles responding to the
scene. About five minutes later the 716th Military Police and QC's came
tearing down the street in vehicles and deployed on the floating restaurant.
Covering each other, they captured the restaurant oblivious to us watching
them.
When they finally noticed us, they came over
and asked if we had seen any Viet Cong activity from the floating restaurant,
as counter-radar mortar had indicated that the mortars fired at the
parade stand had come from the floating restaurant. We assured them
that nothing had originated from the restaurant, as we had been there
for the last hour.
The MP's and OC's then left and we went back
to our previous posture. About an hour later we again heard loud explosions
coming from the direction of the parade stand. We immediately visually
checked out the floating restaurant which revealed nothing. Sure enough,
a short time later here came the MP's and QC's again. This time they
came over to us and asked if we had seen anything at the radar was still
indicating that the rounds were being fired from the floating restaurant.
We assured them that they had not and if
they had the 377th would have neutralized the situation without delay.
They all left the area with a puzzled look on their faces.
Finally our turn came to march. I was wondering
if I would see the grenade as it rolled into our ranks or just the explosion.
It was scary. I don't think anyone was concentrating on marching and
keeping the right interval. But looking back, we did a pretty good job
under the circumstances.
I remember when we passed the parade stand,
we received an ovation. I don't know if it was because we were the last
unit in the parade and it was finally over, or because we looked so
sharp. I like to think the latter. I do know that approximately 50 souls
were greatly relieved when the parade was over and we were heading back
to base.
I later learned that "Sir Charles"
had been in a sampan cruising up and down the Saigon River and when
he thought it was clear he would lob four or five mortar rounds at the
parade stand. Those rounds must have gone over our heads and we didn't
realize it. That's what you get when politicians run a war.
PS: Is there any Air Police or Security
Police member who marched in this parade, or who took photo's from which
I could get a copy? I would also like to know if there were any other
parades "downtown" in the Republic of Vietnam during the war,
or was this the only one?
Author: Pete Coxon
MSgt (RET), USAF AP/SP
Read about the Parade from
an
Excerpt
from the 1967 Yearbook of the 4th Infantry Division
