Memories of Garrett R.D. Merrick

26 Life History --- Serving in Vietnam --Landing in Viet Nam - Cam Ranh Bay Headquarters

I first landed at Cam Ranh Bay.

32 Life History --- Serving in Vietnam - Building a Road

We built roads and bridges. We were not in the combat area.

31 Life History --- Serving in Viet Nam -- Dalat

I occasionally traveled to Dalat, another of the very nicest Vietnamese cities, which was a little higher in the mountains northwest of Don Duong. The temperature in our area was hot, but it was still a lot cooler than down in the coastal areas. After an excursion to Cam Ranh Bay we always enjoyed returning to the mountains. I spent my last couple months with another engineering battalion at Phu Bai in the north, near the old imperial capital of Hue.

30 Life History --- Serving in Viet Nam - Travel

I was next assigned to be the battalion’s civilian personnel officer (CPO). We hired a lot of native Vietnamese to help in our road building. I was in charge of hiring them and paying them monthly. I had to travel to Nha Trang, north of Cam Ranh Bay and one of the nicest Vietnamese cities, each month to pick up the payroll.

29 Life History --- Serving in Vietnam- Villages

Vietnam Villages I Visited

Central area

28 Life History --- Serving in Viet Nam - Building a Bridge

The highlight of my supply career was riding in the big Sikorski ‘sky crane’ helicopters to transport large I-beams for a bridge we were building at the battalion’s other camp about twenty miles south of Don Duong. I also got to fly in some smaller helicopters and a small plane.

On the way to Vietnam I visited the folks, then went to Salt Lake City to do research at the Genealogical Library. I also got my Patriarchal Blessing from the Patriarch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. I stayed with the Kalunkis whom I knew from Fort Benning.

Then I boarded the plane at Fairfield CA, stopped at Honolulu during the night, and arrived at Saigon the next day. I was anxious but excited. After a couple days at Saigon, I flew to my first assignment at Tuy Hoa, north of Cam Ranh Bay. My engineering battalion, the 577th, was building a road which we called I577. A couple months later the battalion was transferred to Don Duong in the mountains just west of Cam Ranh Bay. We built a base camp right below the Don Duong dam. I was the supply officer for several months and frequently traveled down the winding mountain road to transact supply business at Cam Ranh Bay.

I arrived as a 2nd Lieutenant and made Captain right before I left.