War Stories 42

[ikar]

What would you do when not on duty?

On most air bases there were several things you could do.

M.W.R. provided a building with a audio section equipped with any type of music that you could listen to and record, a photo lab where you could learn how to take pictures, develop and print them, and best of all a hobby section with a small but adequate collection of models and other things to work on. They had a small library, a few handball/racket ball courts scattered around the living areas. A lot of squadrons hat a basketball area near their hooches and once in a while near their barracks, which I discovered the hard way one night. Of course thee were always the Airman's, N.C.O., and Officer's clubs with it's live sometimes topless bands. They had a certain appeal.

One thing that started to get popular was remote control aircraft. As was typical of G.I.s they could get a little carried away. One day a notice was handed down that these little R.C. things were becoming a problem near the flight line and would need to be restricted to the inner areas of the base or action would be taken by the control tower.

It didn't take long before action was taken as R.C planes started to fall to the ground. Somehow the controls were being ruined and the little planes would crash or wander off and never be seen again.

We had a handball court very near our hooch at Korat. There were four courts in the building and since it was right there we decided to try it. The only thing we could find for a ball was a tennis ball found along side the road near the officer's club.

According to the sign you needed sneakers to use the courts. Who the heck had something like that. We considered our jungle boots but the sign posted on each door forbid this and threatened punishment to anyone caught wearing them while playing. Everyone had a pair of civilian shoes but most of these had the wrong type of soles. We tried socks but they were too slippery. We finally had to settle for bare feet which raised a few eyebrows on some people who were waiting with sneakers. A few people in other squadrons had their s picked up by a transport crewman they got to know as they made their way around the asia area.

At first we had to play short games because of the wear and tear on our feet but soon we were playing multiple full rounds. once in a while someone would actually want to join in a match with the cammoflaged bare footers. In most times we did play in our fatigues.

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Another place to hang out was the mail room and a small snack bar next to it where you could get a cold drink while reading mail.

The mailroom was located across the street from the flight line and a number of short corridors lined with the typical square boxes. One day I became stuck in the corridor because a couple black guys were at the end greeting each other. At that time some people would greet each other by using a series of hand movements called dapping. Normally it would only last for a few seconds but these two guys just kept going. It was almost like a contest to see who would screw up first. When I saw this might take some time, and I didn't want to interrupt I just slid down the wall, sat on the floor, and read my mail. Somewhere along the way, they finished and left.

One day in the little snack bar I was talking to a friend from K-9 and listening to a new song playing over the speakers called "Indian Reservation". He was telling me tat one of their guys would be receiving a bronze star for his part in our recent attack and that someone else was saying they got the kill that night. A couple of their guys were going to talk to him and have him stop.

The K-9 guys were good people and stuck together. Sometimes they would let an outsider join them unofficially and would allow you to visit the kennels, catch the digs during training and so on. I had told a friend of mine from combat school that I had applied for K-9 but not selected and I think this helped.

One day while on patrol I came across K-9 in a small grass lot having a training day. I watched one handler catching a dog and saw the dog pull his arm piece right off. The strap broke and he also lost his watch with the protective sleeve. I think they were using a sentry dog on that one.

By now the sentry doge were being phased out in favor of patrol dogs. These dogs were easier to control, wouldn't turn on the handler, a big plus, and if released, could be stopped or called back by verbal command.