Anyone Burn Privies In Nam?

[jinelson]

Anyone who was below the rank of Corporal had the devine pleasure of cleaning the public toilets in the land of the Nam. They were somewhat different than we were accustomed to here in the world. 55 gallon drums cut in half and placed below a wooden bench with a hole in it, in a wood out house type structure. Hygiene being a necessity required them to be burned daily. So that required a detail of snuffies to pull the drum away from the structure and douse with 5 gallons of No. 2 diesel and toss in a activated flare or thermite grenade. Oh lord I can smell the aromatic stench to this day. They would burn for hours all over the country side lifting jet black plumes of smoke skyward.

Who amoung us has had this distinct honor to claim? Dang it was good to make Corporal no more burning shi1ters.

Aint memories great?

[ivalis]

rather burn sh!tters than be a corporal.

[greensideout]

You keep us guessing Ivalis, you may have been an officer for all I know.

Don't like corporals? Come on, someone has to run the everyday business of the Corps!


Never burned a barrel of sh*t, there was just our unit in Nam at the time and I have already told my out house story and the time on the three holer with the female war photografter.

Oh yes, memories----.

[ivalis]

e-nothings ran the crotch, NCOs just thought they did.

[Sgted]

In my area in 'Nam we had a 4 holer.
I had the distinct honor of pulling privie burning a couple of times before being promoted to Cpl. We used #2 fuel and a balled up wad of TP. Hot sh*t was the result.
It did take a long time to burn the contents depending on the menu at chow the day before. Ashes left over were dumped and the head was declared clean.

greensideout seems to be saying he shared his 3 holer with a female war photographer once.
My experience was different in that I was sittin on # 1 hole one morning and in walks an old beetle nut chewing mamasan (who worked on base) who sits on # 3. I turned red, got mad and shut down when this happened as I had never shared such an intimate function with a female before.
In our area (as in many others I imagine) if you only needed to pee there were p*ss tubes here and there. Old rocket lauching pods that were placed in a hole lined with stones & sand.

And the memories continue....

[greensideout]

Sgted, that's the way it was---out in the open, could see for miles---had to take a dump---here she came and sat beside me---lol---she rubbed her shoulder againest mine and said, "How ya doing Marine?" (She was older, much combat time---I think she was just having fun with a 19 year old kid.)

[Patdaly]

We had 4 holers and two sets of half barrels. You just pulled out the used one and replaced it with the clean one and the set it on fire with diesel. No lost ****ter time

[quakerboy74]

I cant say I was there......H#ll, i was still a gleam in my Daddy's eye, but oh how do I love to hear (read) all you "Salty Dogs" out there tell yer story.

Ooh-Rah and Semper Fi Marines.

[jinelson]

I got that trick message bro was that the new messaging deal that Jerrry the webmaster added today? And yeah I hate to admit it but these days I am a salty dog, but not so salty that I have forgotten my roots in the Corps.

Sempers Jim

[greybeard]

Had some 4 holers at Marble mtn too. More than once I was sittin there doin my business and open goes the sheet iro flap in the back and the mamasans go to pulling the cut off crap drums out.
Nothin like having your asx sandblasted from the wind blown beach sand.

[Sgted]

Another thing about those 2,3 or more holers.
I don't know if this is true but I remember being told to watch out for bamboo vipers and rats hiding out just below those sensitive parts when you were tending to business. Not to mention centipedes, spiders and other dragons.
I remember my having just the slightest discomfort at this thought always thinking that lil' Eddie and his friends were in danger.

Big Eddie.

[roady17]

Burning the sh*ter was one of my first duties in Nam. I remember having to stir them once in a while to make sure they burned all the way down. What memories!

[Riven37]

Originally posted by jinelson
Anyone who was below the rank of Corporal had the devine pleasure of cleaning the public toilets in the land of the Nam. They were somewhat different than we were accustomed to here in the world. 55 gallon drums cut in half and placed below a wooden bench with a hole in it, in a wood out house type structure. Hygiene being a necessity required them to be burned daily. So that required a detail of snuffies to pull the drum away from the structure and douse with 5 gallons of No. 2 diesel and toss in a activated flare or thermite grenade. Oh lord I can smell the aromatic stench to this day. They would burn for hours all over the country side lifting jet black plumes of smoke skyward.

Who amoung us has had this distinct honor to claim? Dang it was good to make Corporal no more burning shi1ters.

Aint memories great?

I was with Lima 3/1 1st Mar Div. When we were given this task you new you were getting short....had nothing to do with your rank..my buddy was Corporal as we both burn the pots...On the other hand nothing mattered did it....days later I was transfered to another unit to begin all over again.....so much for short time...****y job.

[thundercat]

Yea I remember that wonderful smelling job. I was awarded the destinction 1 week before I left the nam on my first tour. Actually it was that or still pull ambush and patrol duty on the dmz. I really only had the job 2 days as we burnt one of the heads to the ground. Accident of course. I found out you can return the barrels to the head too quick. Guess they needed to cool down. Oh well!!!!

[carlwd]

You really had to be in an artillery battery to properly accomplish the mission. Our Battery Gunny in G 3/12 in 1968(when I was a PFC and L/CPL) made us 'young Christains' understand that the only residue remaining in the bottom of each drum was to be a fine, powdery ash- preferably light grey in color. In order to do this, the designated Marine first removed the half- drums from the sh*tter (a key point) and then started the burning process by tossing in burning paper. (Often, it was necessary to add some diesel fuel to the drum; a few adventureous souls would substitute MO- GAS,until they learned better.) Then, throughout the process, you stirred the flaming mixture by inserting an eight- foot long engineer stake and applying a steady, up and down, round and round motion. The key to success, however, was to gather up unused propellant bags from the guns and use them to accelerate the burning process. After the residue was about two- thirds burned, you carefully added the bags of propellant and stood back as hot flames leaped five feet into the air. (My own personal favorite was the 105mm Charge 5 bag.) You continued to stir the mixture, adding bags as necessary until the desired consistency was achieved. The propellant had to be added slowly,one bag at a time; tossing in numerous bags caused the residue to burn too quickly and harden.Then, to finish the job, you allowed the drum to cool, and then added fresh diesel fuel (about halfway to the top) and replaced them in their assigned spots.
Years later, a fellow LtCol (who had also served as an enlisted Marine in Viet Nam) and I treated our fellow- field grade officers to an in- depth discussion of this topic. However, since his experience was in the Air wing, it was clear that he would have had a lot to learn had he been transferred to Golf. I challenged him to a 'sh*tter cook- off' but was never able to get it organized.
Memories- I can still remember the aroma of burning diesel fuel, roasting turds, and flaming powder!