thedrifter
08-04-08, 06:45 AM
August 4, 2008
Wamack served two tours in Vietnam with Seabees
Navy veteran's memory: Warzone 'smelled of death'
By JOSIE McCORMICK
Staff Writer
CROOKSVILLE - When Walter Wamack landed in Vietnam, he was hit by the heat and unique odor of the country.
"It smelled of death," said the Crooksville resident. "Vietnam is heavy with jungles so it was hard to tell how many bodies were out there laying around."
Wamack served in the U.S. Navy with the Seabees Mobile Construction Battalion Six and did two eight-month tours of duty in Vietnam.
"My older brother was in the Navy and I wanted to go, too," Wamack said. "I thought there were better opportunities and more schools you could be sent to in the Navy."
Wamack left for the Navy shortly after graduating from New Lexington High School in 1965.
At the end of basic training, Wamack was told he would join the Seabee unit Mobile Construction Battalion Six in Davisville, R.I.
"I thought, 'What in the world are they (Seabees),' but I soon learned they are a good outfit," he said. "We were builders, carpenters, electricians and steelworkers. You name it, we built it."
Wamack was with the unit for six months to a year before the group received orders for Vietnam.
"All I knew about Vietnam was that it was a place that war had been going on for hundreds of years," he said. "The Japanese were there, then the French and then us. I was a little bit scared and apprehensive about what I was going to get into."
Da Nang, the home of a major air base during the Vietnam War, was Wamack's home for his first tour of duty.
While there Mobile Construction Battalion Six worked on a variety of projects including building mess halls, housing for Marines, a cold storage facility and Camp Tienshaw.
"The cold storage was huge," Wamack said. "It was for all the (base's) incoming food that needed refrigerated. It wasn't like the size of a room, it was big enough to accommodated food for all the troops in South Vietnam."
Camp Tienshaw was a project for the natives of the area.
"We were basically building shops that the South Vietnam people could come in and set up," Wamack said. "It was like a small city."
Unfortunately, the enemy sometimes made it rough for the Seabees to complete these projects.
"A lot of times we'd be working on a project and the North Vietnamese or the Viet Cong were keeping an eye on us and when we got done they'd blow it up," Wamack said. "We'd then have to do it all over again."
The Vietnamese possessed a vicious mentality, he said.
"When North Vietnam finally took over the south I'm sure they killed every one of them who was fighting against them in the South Vietnamese Army," Wamack said. "They were the type of people that wanted you to fight for them or else."
He saw how malicious the enemy could be during the Tet Offensive of 1968, when the Vietnamese Communists made a huge push throughout South Vietnam.
The Seabees are a support unit so they weren't at the front of the battle, but they still saw their share of action.
"There was all kinds of tracer fire coming through camp that night," Wamack said.
When Wamack's eight months in Vietnam were up, he went back to Rhode Island for six months and then returned for another tour of duty in Southeast Asia.
"I spent 16 months over there altogether," he said. "The second time was easier because I knew something about it."
Trip number two to Vietnam, was to Chu Lai, where Wamack remembers a big battalion of Marines arriving on wave-after-wave of helicopters.
"They were going way up in the mountains to try and drive a battalion of North Vietnamese out," he said. "In the evening when we were off we could see their fire fights way off in the distance."
Free time didn't come often for Wamack and his fellow Seabees.
"Our days were long," he said. "We worked 16-18 hour days and then on Sunday we worked eight or nine hours. Sunday felt like a day off and we couldn't wait for it to come."
Working seven days a week, however, actually helped Wamack deal with homesickness.
"I missed my family a lot, but you didn't have time to think about it," he said. "You were so tired when you were done working that you just wanted to try and get a little bit of rest."
In addition to long hours, Wamack also had to contend with the uncertainty of who the enemy was.
"You never knew if one of them (the peasants) were going to have a bomb or grenade strapped to them," he said.
Wamack made it home safely from his second trip to Vietnam and completed his four year enlistment in the Navy in 1969.
"I sometimes wonder what Vietnam is like today compared to back then," he said. "I know it must have come a long way because the recent Miss Universe pageant was held there. They never would have thought of anything like that back then."
Ellie
Wamack served two tours in Vietnam with Seabees
Navy veteran's memory: Warzone 'smelled of death'
By JOSIE McCORMICK
Staff Writer
CROOKSVILLE - When Walter Wamack landed in Vietnam, he was hit by the heat and unique odor of the country.
"It smelled of death," said the Crooksville resident. "Vietnam is heavy with jungles so it was hard to tell how many bodies were out there laying around."
Wamack served in the U.S. Navy with the Seabees Mobile Construction Battalion Six and did two eight-month tours of duty in Vietnam.
"My older brother was in the Navy and I wanted to go, too," Wamack said. "I thought there were better opportunities and more schools you could be sent to in the Navy."
Wamack left for the Navy shortly after graduating from New Lexington High School in 1965.
At the end of basic training, Wamack was told he would join the Seabee unit Mobile Construction Battalion Six in Davisville, R.I.
"I thought, 'What in the world are they (Seabees),' but I soon learned they are a good outfit," he said. "We were builders, carpenters, electricians and steelworkers. You name it, we built it."
Wamack was with the unit for six months to a year before the group received orders for Vietnam.
"All I knew about Vietnam was that it was a place that war had been going on for hundreds of years," he said. "The Japanese were there, then the French and then us. I was a little bit scared and apprehensive about what I was going to get into."
Da Nang, the home of a major air base during the Vietnam War, was Wamack's home for his first tour of duty.
While there Mobile Construction Battalion Six worked on a variety of projects including building mess halls, housing for Marines, a cold storage facility and Camp Tienshaw.
"The cold storage was huge," Wamack said. "It was for all the (base's) incoming food that needed refrigerated. It wasn't like the size of a room, it was big enough to accommodated food for all the troops in South Vietnam."
Camp Tienshaw was a project for the natives of the area.
"We were basically building shops that the South Vietnam people could come in and set up," Wamack said. "It was like a small city."
Unfortunately, the enemy sometimes made it rough for the Seabees to complete these projects.
"A lot of times we'd be working on a project and the North Vietnamese or the Viet Cong were keeping an eye on us and when we got done they'd blow it up," Wamack said. "We'd then have to do it all over again."
The Vietnamese possessed a vicious mentality, he said.
"When North Vietnam finally took over the south I'm sure they killed every one of them who was fighting against them in the South Vietnamese Army," Wamack said. "They were the type of people that wanted you to fight for them or else."
He saw how malicious the enemy could be during the Tet Offensive of 1968, when the Vietnamese Communists made a huge push throughout South Vietnam.
The Seabees are a support unit so they weren't at the front of the battle, but they still saw their share of action.
"There was all kinds of tracer fire coming through camp that night," Wamack said.
When Wamack's eight months in Vietnam were up, he went back to Rhode Island for six months and then returned for another tour of duty in Southeast Asia.
"I spent 16 months over there altogether," he said. "The second time was easier because I knew something about it."
Trip number two to Vietnam, was to Chu Lai, where Wamack remembers a big battalion of Marines arriving on wave-after-wave of helicopters.
"They were going way up in the mountains to try and drive a battalion of North Vietnamese out," he said. "In the evening when we were off we could see their fire fights way off in the distance."
Free time didn't come often for Wamack and his fellow Seabees.
"Our days were long," he said. "We worked 16-18 hour days and then on Sunday we worked eight or nine hours. Sunday felt like a day off and we couldn't wait for it to come."
Working seven days a week, however, actually helped Wamack deal with homesickness.
"I missed my family a lot, but you didn't have time to think about it," he said. "You were so tired when you were done working that you just wanted to try and get a little bit of rest."
In addition to long hours, Wamack also had to contend with the uncertainty of who the enemy was.
"You never knew if one of them (the peasants) were going to have a bomb or grenade strapped to them," he said.
Wamack made it home safely from his second trip to Vietnam and completed his four year enlistment in the Navy in 1969.
"I sometimes wonder what Vietnam is like today compared to back then," he said. "I know it must have come a long way because the recent Miss Universe pageant was held there. They never would have thought of anything like that back then."
Ellie