Operation new Life-Guam 1975

I have photos of the boat that sent back the repatriates from vietnam..another words the bad apples. Kilo 3/3 from Kaneohe Bay Hawaii:iwo:was sent over to Guam to guard the camps while Uncle Sam decided what was to be done with these people. Well they eventually got sent back as they requested and were never heard of again. I was seventeen when I joined but by then LBJ had already made his decision to start withdrawing 250,000 soldiers from vietnam. We were put on standby incase our brothers in arms needed back up during the fall of Saigon. Nixion was in office then but later booted. FYI. my sister in law has a platoon year book from a marine:usmc: along with this are photos. The place she found them from was from the Marines widow home which was given to her. Any body know what I should do with this along with vietnam coins.:evilgrin:

You might list the yearbook here. and in Leatherneck Mag, and on various Marine websites. There are always people looking for lost year books. You might even get to know someone who was with that Marine, and could fill you in on his service.

Vietnam coins? We didn't have challenge coins back then. Are they piasters, or some kind of script?

Hey Henry, I believe we were in the same unit at Camp Horno, Hawaii and in guam.
I'd like to get copies of those pics if possible. The ship was the Thuong Tin I.
It was an eerie month on guam. I still remember hearing the rats scuttling around while stand guard in the hold of the ship. The giant cockroaches.

For years I wondered what happened to the repatriates. Recently i did a little digging and found this.

http://books.google.com/books?id=0oe....%20Vo&f=false

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Originally Posted by opernewlife75

I have photos of the boat that sent back the repatriates from vietnam..another words the bad apples. Kilo 3/3 from Kaneohe Bay Hawaii:iwo:was sent over to Guam to guard the camps while Uncle Sam decided what was to be done with these people. Well they eventually got sent back as they requested and were never heard of again. I was seventeen when I joined but by then LBJ had already made his decision to start withdrawing 250,000 soldiers from vietnam. We were put on standby incase our brothers in arms needed back up during the fall of Saigon. Nixion was in office then but later booted. FYI. my sister in law has a platoon year book from a marine:usmc: along with this are photos. The place she found them from was from the Marines widow home which was given to her. Any body know what I should do with this along with vietnam coins.:evilgrin:

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Hi. I am doing research on the Vietnam Thuong Tin I for a book I am writing and would love to have copies of the pictures of the ship or any other pictures of the 1546 repatriates, if you wouldn't mind sharing them.

Regarding your statement about those repatriates being bad apples, perhaps some were but the majority of them left family behind and just wanted to go back for them. One of those 1546 came back for me. My father was a Vietnamese Navy officer trained in San Diego and Guam. He left Vietnam on April 30, 1975 taking along 170+ Vietnamese refugees who boarded his ship (He was the Captain). Unfortunately, he was unable to reach my hometown to take my mother with him. She was in her third trimester with me, their first child. He could have stayed in the US, but there were too many uncertainties at the time. He wasn't just worried for the well-being of my mother and me but his entire family. He along with the 1546 on that ship were imprisoned upon their arrival in Vietnam. All the men were sent to the harshest "re-education" camp. Former officers were accused of being CIA spies and severely punished and continually interrogated. My father was detained for 6 years. The last ones weren't released for another 7 years.

After his release, my father became a fisherman and farmer to lay low, but he was being monitored and taken away for interrogation and forced labor in the middle of the night on numerous occasions. He basically wasn't fully released but paroled. He had to report to the provincial government twice a week. After 4 years, he couldn't take it anymore and we escaped by boat to Malaysia in 1986. By the grace of God and some very kind people, we settled in Central NY in 1987. My parents have worked really hard since the first day they got here. They put all four kids through college by their sacrifices. That's why I am writing a book so that my children and future grandchildren can know where they came from.

toreiyu

Do yourself a favor, and Email oper new life 75
and ask,,, this thread is over two years old.
click his name, and Email, and wouldn't hurt to use
a Private message too, IF he still uses the site...






opernewlife75


Click that and Email

good luck

I am Lcpl Roberto McCoy I was there with you ... I remember you.. yes operation new life. very hot .
call me 925 550 3206, yes I was in Guam,, I have a picture of the van , as military police. kilo company 3/3 from k-bay hawaii

Greetings Fellow Marines, I'm Marine Corp Sargent JPicon, well I was 46 year ago! I was station at K-Bay from 74 - 76, Echo Co. 2nd Bn. 3rd Marines. & like you our company E 2/3 was deployed to Guam in support of Operation New Life from 7/4/75 - 9/23/75 providing Police duty (Watching & Guarding) Vietnam Refugees and including Repatriates in Tent City also driving those White Police Vans. I remember one event where a Riot broke out in tent city it was really crazy we responded with our riot clubs trying to keep the peace. Anyway I would like to talk more if its ok with you?
I also have lots of pictures from those days

Semper Fi Marine
Sgt. JPicon