Al & Lois Website - Vietnam 1967-68

Al & Lois Website - Vietnam 1967-68 - CHU LAI TODAY

Vietnam 1967-68 - Chu Lai Today

Today's Pictures

This page is primarily a picture page and contains then and now pictures where I could find them. In some cases there are only now pictures. Some of the pictures come from my own materials, some from the Internet and others from a video taken by Kurt McFadden on three trips to Vietnam in the late 90s. With the exception of the first few "people" pictures the photos on this page are thumbnailed; Click them to see a larger picture.
Anthony E. Trovato, Mr.'T', Commander of the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section, in front of our Ops Bunker on Cherry Hill in 1968 and on the International Society of Logistics web page in 2000. Tony is currently the President of the International Society of Logistics. After a 22 year Army career he went to work for Hughes (now Raytheon) in Radar development. Currently he is supporting new business Development in the Middle East. Today his exact age is unknown but I speculate that he is about 62 years of age. He is married, has 3 grown children and 1 grandchild. He lives in sunny California. An interesting tidbit is that his wife went to college in North Carolina at a college at which my grandfather taught mathematics for several years. It is a small world!
Al Simms, Radar Mechanic for the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section, at the DaNang Airport in 1968 and at home in 2000. The shirt that I am wearing is from 1968. The pants and the belt....Oh well, can't have everything! Today I am 58 years old, have a lovely wife who teaches marketing at a local high school, 5 adult children and step children and 3 grandchildren. I am the Operations Engineer for E-Tron Systems Inc, an electronics subcontract manufacturer. I live in the historic city of Fredericksburg, VA and enjoy building and maintaining websites like this one in my spare time.
Bruce Day, Senior Radar Operator of the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section, at a party in front of our Ops Bunker on Cherry Hill in 1968 and at home in 2001. Bruce is the Terminal Manager for Air Liquide America Corp in Geismar, LA. He has worked for them since the early seventies except for a several year break when he attended college and operated his own business. Bruce has one stepchild by his present wife Brenda and 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren from his first marriage. He lives in Louisiana where he enjoys and sometimes profits from his hobby of drag racing.
Jerry Abruzzino, an Operator in the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section, in front of our Ops Bunker on LZ Young in 1968 and at his retirement in 1998. Jerry was wounded on Aug.1, 1968 by shrapnel from an enemy mortar round that impacted just outside of the doorway of the ops bunker on LZ Young. Jerry retired from the Parma, Ohio Fire Departmant in 1988 as Assistant Chief. He became bored and went back to work 3 days later as the city's "computer whiz kid", running the 911 Call Center in Parma. He says that he is planning to retire again soon. Jerry has been married to the same girl for 33 years now. He says: "I got a good one and will never let her go!" He has two sons, one married and the other just out of high school.
Bill Trent, an Operator in the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section, in front of our Ops Bunker on Cherry Hill in 1968 and today in his office. Bill commutes 30 miles each day to the 5600 employee US Government Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA. where he is currently the Chief of Plant Maintenance. Bill was married before going to Vietnam and is still married to his wife of 36 years. He has one 31 year old married son and no grandchildren yet. For relaxation he enjoys lifting free weights several times a week and motorcycling with his friends.
Gary Boyd, an Operator in the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section, in front of our Ops Bunker on Cherry Hill in 1968. A picture of him today will be posted soon. Gary was wounded on Aug.1, 1968 by shrapnel from an enemy mortar round that impacted just outside of the doorway of the ops bunker on LZ Young. After Vietnam he spent another year in the Army, teaching Radar operation at Ft.Sill, OK. An interesting sidelight to this is that Gary and I have only recently discovered that we were both at Ft.Sill for most of 1969. Gary lives in Kentucky where he operates a coal mining company, a heavy equipment leasing company and a blasting service. Gary was married before entering the service and has 3 boys, two out of college and one still in high school. He has at least one grandchild. Abby met Gary for a mini-reunion in September of 2002. He found him well and working hard in his various businesses. Click Here for a picture of Abby and Gary in Gary's native Kentucky.
Richard (JB) Dickinson, an Operator in the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section, in front of our Generator Bunker on Cherry Hill in 1968. A picture of him today will be posted soon. JB and his wife Sharon live in Massachusetts where he is a luxery car mechanic. He is also a Volunteer Fireman and an Emergency Medical Technician. JB married soon after returning from Vietnam and has a 31 year old daughter who lives nearby.
William Cox, Third Platoon Leader of A company 1/52 Infantry, in 1969, and today. Cox shares some of his combat experiences with A company at Captain Cox WebPage. 52 year old Cox is a 100% disabled army Infantry Captain (wounds & PTSD) who lives on his farm on a mountain top in West Virginia. Will is married and has 3 sons. Will was present on LZ Professional when CW2 Cook, the second Commander of the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section, was killed. He provided the log page and other important information for this website.
Kurt McFadden, a member of E Company (Recon), 1/6th Infantry, 198th Infantry LIB, preparing to go on patrol in Vietnam in 1968 and today on a return visit to Vietnam in 1969. Kurt has returned to Vietnam and the Chu Lai area three times; in 1997 with his 23 year old son Aaron, 1998 with his 20 year old daughter Michelle and in 1999 with a former platoon sargeant, Jim Kelleher. During the 3 trips he took some 28 hours of video. He has condensed this video into a two hour tape that covers the following areas. To obtain a copy of the videotape please click here to contact Kurt by Email for further information. I have a copy of his videotape and while it won't win an Acadamy Award it IS about the places that some of us were at 30 years ago. The many following pictures that were taken from the video do not do it justice. Video captures are never as good as the original and my setup consisting of a digital camera on a tripod in front of a TV is especially poor. They will give you some idea of what is on the tape but the quality of the tape is far better. I recommend it for any of you who were in the Chu Lai area and want to see what it looks like today. The tape is well worth the small price he charges. Places seen on Kurt's tape are Hills 54, 69, 76, 270, 352, 410 and 707; LZs Bayonet, Bowman, Center, Fat City, Professional; An Tan, An Tan bridge, Chu Lai base, Cherry Hill, Creek below Hill 707, My Lai memorial, Rocket Pocket and Rocket Ridge. Kurt also spends some time with "Flower" an 18 year old friend he made in An Tan in 1968. The resemblance of her 18 year old daughter to her own pictures in 68 is uncanny. Kurt did not know that he was on Cherry Hill and does not mention it but yours truely was there and recognized it from the video. It is the hill behind the rock quarry. If you recognize other places not mentioned please let Kurt and me know and I will include them on this site.
A Few Words About The People and Land Kurt says that the people are as friendly to Americans as they ever were; even a former VC or two that he met were friendly and interested in him. The people he met, especially those under 40 years old were fascinated by pictures of the war years. Although they like to tell war stories as much as we do, the war is over for them and the animosities seem to be gone; let it be so for you too. The land has recovered too. There are very few scars that would indicate that there was ever a war there and most of those seem to be in remote areas. The year round growing season probably has a lot to do with this. Also trees have been planted and have grown tall on the tops of many of the hills that we cleared and used for firebases. Indeed many areas look totally diferent than they did in 1968. As for our construction. The bunkers and buildings that we built and thought to be so substantial are gone too. This is probably mostly the result of the monsoon rains and lack of maintenance. Chu Lai, that sprawling American military base that was home to 17,000 soldiers is no more. There is a Vietnamese shipyard at the north end where our seabees were and there is a secure Vietnamese military base where the airport was.....But the rest of it is gone! Much of it was burned and destroyed when the NVA swept through the area after the American troops left and 30 years of monsoon rains have taken care of the rest.

Kurt's friend Flower at 18 years old in 1968. In 1999 FLower's daughter at 18, Flower and Kurt.	Kurt's friend Flower in 1999	Kurt's friend Flower in 1999.	An Tan main street.	An Tan main street.
An Tan main street. Note TV antennas.	An Tan main street. Mau's store in 68, I think.	Approaching the An Tan bridge.	Crossing the An Tan bridge.	Viet guides, Kurt and Aaron at end of An Tan bridge.
An Tan railroad bridge in 1968.	An Tan railroad bridge in 1997.	An Tan bridge guard tower in 1968.	An Tan bridge guard tower in 1997.	Entrance road for rock quarry and Cherry Hill in background.
Road to Cherry Hill in background.	Road to Cherry Hill in background.	Road to Cherry Hill in background.	Road to Cherry Hill in background.	Road to Cherry Hill in background.
Road to Cherry Hill in background.	Road to Cherry Hill in background. 30 plus year old duece and a half US Army truck still in service as a rock quarry truck.	Cherry Hill Radar's rocky mountain orient point as seen from Highway 1.	Chu Lai Viet military base main gate in 1997. Americans and Vietnamese alike get run off at gunpoint.	Old American entrance road to Chu Lai in 1999.
Bridge on old entrance road in 1999.	Right turn from Chu Lai entrance road leads to airfield.	Site of Chu Lai US Army hospital in 1999.	Chu Lai beach from coast road in 1999.	Huge helipad - was across the road from Americal Divarty.
Chu Lai aircraft bunkers in 1999.	Chu Lai base in 1999 from the top of monument hill.	Highway 1, looking North, in front of of Chu Lai base in 1997.	Highway 1, looking South, in front of of Chu Lai base in 1997.	Monument to Viet Marines for the battle of Chu Lai in 1965.
Road up monument hill in 1999. My memory says that there were US Marines on this hill in 1968.	Hill 54 from railroad tracks in 1997.	Hill 54 from railroad tracks in 1997.	Hill 69 in 1997.	Hill 76. Note trees that have been planted on formerly bare top.
Kurt and guides resting on Hill 76 climb.	Kurt climbing original trail up Hill 76.	Viet kids, Kurt and Aaron on top of Hill 76 in 1997.	One of Kurt's guides on Hill 76. VC!! Viet Cong in 1968; Village Cheif in 1997.	Hill 270 from Hill 76.
Hill 270.	Hill 270.	Hill 270.	Hill 352.	Hill 352.
Hill 410.	Hill 707.	Hill 707.	Hill 707. Note still bald top.	LZ Bayonet.
Guides, Aaron and Kurt at LZ Bayonet in 1997.	LZ Bayonet in 1997.	LZ Bayonet in 1997.	LZ Bayonet in 1997.	198th LIB HQ at LZ Bayonet in 1968.
Commo Center at LZ Bayonet in 1968.	Mail room at LZ Bayonet in 1968.	Al on rifle range at LZ Bayonet in 1968.	LZ Bowman in background in 1998.	LZ Center in background in 1999.
Terraced rice paddies on side of LZ Center in 1999. How many centuries old are they?	Terraced rice paddies on side of LZ Center in 1999.	LZ Fat City in 1999.	LZ Professional in 1998.	LZ Professional about half way up the hill in 1998. Kurt did not make it to the top...too hot!
Road below LZ Professional in 1998.	Village below LZ Professional in 1998.	Entrance to the Dragon Valley in 1999.	Rocket Ridge in 1999.	Rocket Ridge in 1999.

Click here to contact me by Email.

This site is best viewed with a maximized 800 x 600 size and a high color display setting. Placing your cursor over any of the pictures will display a description of the page represented by the picture. Clicking the pictures on this page will take you to the page described adjacent to the picture. There are a lot of pictures so please be patient and read the text while they are loading. Use the tour buttons to take my whole tour in chronological order.

The music that is playing on this page is 'I Can See Clearly Now'.

We welcome your requests and comments and encourage you to visit
the rest of our website and Email us.

Home Page || God's Music || Genealogy || Carcinoid || Vietnam || Flight Sim
Ft.Bragg || Ft.Sill-Student || Trip to Vietnam || Chu Lai || Cherry Hill 1
LZ Clifford || Cherry Hill 2 || LZ Bowman || Cherry Hill 3 || LZ Young 1
LZ Professional || LZ Gator || LZ Young 2A || LZ Young 2B || Ft.Sill-Instructor
Maps || Awards || Tribute || Chu Lai Today || Links
1/14th Roster || Letters || Mementoes || Chronology || Reunion || Q4 Radar