In a spirit truly reminiscent of M*A*S*H, those of us who lived in the
McCarthy Hotel, also known as the McCarthy BOQ off Le Loi Street in Saigon proudly
wore the silver and purple metal badge seen above. We gathered in a loud and crowded hotel
bar and sometimes up on a makeshift roof garden to drink, make lots of noise and generally
celebrate making it one more day. We were military, civilians, Red Cross workers . . . a
mixed bag. Not all made it.
Saigon was shelled on November 1, 1966, just before the
start of a National Day downtown military parade. Anyone with a dress white uniform
had been invited to sit on the reviewing stand to celebrate the third anniversary of the
so-called November 1963 revolution. A Navy Lt. Commander who lived in the McCarthy, whose
name I no longer remember, was a casual friend and said he was going and asked me to come
along with him.
That next morning a little after eight AM, we left the McCarthy
together to walk up to the parade route some10 or so blocks away. There had been loud
explosions about an hour earlier but no one seemed concerned. I ducked in the JUSPAO press
office near the Rex Hotel to pick up a news release and told him I would catch up in a
couple of minutes.
He walked on, and as he reached the front of the Catholic Basilica at
JFK Square at the head of Tu Do Street, so did the first of several VC mortar rounds. They
had been targeted at high ordinance angle at the heart of the city from not too far away
on the outskirts. He was killed instantly. A crater was blown into the ground just feet
from a statue of the Virgin Mary.
I was a couple of blocks away and heard it incoming. I dove into a tin
bicycle parking shed just as the fierce concussion shook the area. This was the first bold
direct shelling attack upon Saigon. This second attack took place at 0830 and then that
was it. The parade went on as scheduled. A group of us from UPI including Betsy Halstead
and Steve VanMeter watched the parade and shot photos. I didn't know at the time that our
friend had been killed.
The Happy Hedonists mustered that evening. It was sad. The head
count had not come out right that November evening. Slowly, however, we got louder.
The booze dulled the pain and distorted reality. As a group we became stronger. It
was a surreal passing of time that is still stuck in my mind. It would be incredible if
anyone on the list below discovered this Web site and contacted me. Memories and specifics
fade . . . I can still put faces with some of the names below, but very few.
Saigon residents inspect crater and damage from morning VC mortar attack
A friend was killed just feet from the base of the statue of the Virgin Mary.
First Day Cover marking 3rd. Anniversary of National Revolution
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