20th PMU TROOPS

In the foreground, Frank and Marquardt playing cards during down time. Photo by Bruce Hoff

Phil Maida

LOOKING FOR AN OLD BUDDY?

FROM William Edsel West

Assigned to the 20th PMU at Long Binh in ’71 and ’72. Worked in the lab and flew spray missions; along with being a bartender in the NCO Club. Left the “Nam in late April ’72 and discharged from service May 8. 1972 upon returning home. Shared a room with David Lay…from Enid, Oklahoma…along with his dog “Blacky”. Dave left country shortly before me and was able to ship his friend home with him…I have tried on several occasion to locate Dave without success. Often wonder what happened to him and his buddy!!

FROM Richard F Watson

hello a pm gut here drafted in 1968 and ended up in Special Forces in Okinawa and tdy to Saigon hospital. Was in 714 ft bragg and 485 at Ft Sam. Knew Viet Nam guys, Johnny Wilder, Sabert Hott , Conrad Welch , John Burgess, Suitcase Simmons, Ned Wilson, Santo Deangelo. My email Snowhill1966@aol.com. Would like to get names places to write some history. I have no photos all were lost when I got divorced. I live in Fl. Guys at Bragg Paul Milborn , Steve Mundy, Ed Ellington ,Leroy Tillman.Trying to get records for VA.

FROM Ronald Henderson (joehen@msn.com)

I WAS IN 20TH PMU- BIEN HOA JULY ’67 TO DEC ’67 … WENT TO 105TH DETACHMENT, CAM RANH BAY- DEC ’67 TO JULY ’68.  ANY BUDDIES STILL AROUND ?

FROM Karen Snape (snapeke6@hotmail.com)

Hello, and welcome home.
My name is Karen Snape, and I’m interested in hearing from anyone who served with my dad, Tom. He was deployed July 67- July 68. He was stationed in Dong Tam with occasional trips to Bien Hoa, Saigon, and Camron Bay. In one of his letters, he mentioned a Lt. Hagen, who I think may be the entomologist David Hagen who posted above. My mom also remembers him speaking highly of someone named “Deter”, who may have been his boss there. Dad’s never spoken much about his time in the service, other than a handful of funny stories.
Thanks,
Karen

FROM Terry McCarl (terryamccarl@gmail.com):

I am still hoping to find the two 20th PMU Preventive Medicine Specialists that were of such help to me: SP5 (don’t know his first name) Gordish and SP4 Ernie Johnston. They were stationed at Phu Loi. I am thinking Gordish’s tour must have been about 05/68-05/69 and Johnston’s 10/68-10/69. If I had their full names with middle initial, I would have a fighting chance of finding them. Can anyone help me out?

FROM Robert Cox:

I was in country with the 20th PMU in 1972. I’m looking for others that were there at that time.

FROM David Hagen (hagendl@yahoo.com):

Does anyone have a copy of MACV General Orders 1456 dated 23 May 1970 awarding the Meritorious Unit Commendation to the 172nd and its attached units? I was with the 3rd at Pleiku during the period covered by the award. Many thanks!

Also looking for fellow Entomologist Frank Nichols.

Specialist Dan Cate – photo by Bruce Hoff

Officers of the 20th: Please leave a comment if you know more of the names.  Third from front on the right is C.O. Colonel Smith.  To his right is Lt. Matuza. I’m unsure, but think the name of the first on the left was Lt. Kawahara.  The 20th was top-heavy with officers due to their specialties and many were drafted.  Having so many officers in the tiny unit gave the 20th many advantages in perks in spite of its size.  Our C.O. was always an M.D., and there were at least two more in the unit.  Photo by David Hagen

Promotion party for the CO at HQ when it was in Saigon. Does anyone remember any of these men? Photo by Phil Elkins

Mike Morgan and Eugene Brady (left to right) at An Khe, January 1966. This would have been just a few months after the famous battle at Ia Drang which marked the U.S. officially entering into combat operations in Viet Nam. That’s a perch for the parrot on the tree. Thanks to Eugene for the shot. [I know it was hot, but skivvies? Grin.]

Dewey Carson, one of the 20th’s cooks, posing with one of the mess hall helpers: The 20th was blessed with a good mess hall and cooks.

Dennis Kelly, 376th Med. Det., 20th PMU, with ARVN soldiers on a “spray” mission somewhere in the central highlands. The two black and white pictures [376th] were taken out at Vinh Than [Happy Valley] valley east of An Khe. It was a week long operation because of a plague outbreak there. We flew back and forth every day from base camp once to the special forces camp the rest of the to various paddies on both side of the river. The contraption on the ground, lower left that looks a bit like a weed blower, is a back-pack sprayer. You’d fire it up, strap it on and put out a Malathion insecticide fog from the large tube. Photo by Eugene Brady

Left to right: Gerry Webb, Dennis Kelly, Gene Brady, and Jackie Weaver 376 Med. Det., 20th PMU, 1966, An Khe region with the 1st Cavalry Division.

Spc4 Danny Conn, horse trader extraordinaire. That’s an old M2 carbine that he’s holding. Photo by Bruce Hoff

Specialist Barnard. Photo by Bruce Hoff

Jim Bergeson – must have just won big in the poker game. Photo by Bruce Hoff

Gary Ashby and friend. “They’re going to give me a mattress, right?” Photo by Bruce Hoff

C.O. Colonel Smith and papasan. Papasan always seemed to know when the probability of a mortar and rocket attack was high and would get out of Dodge. Photo by Bruce Hoff

Bruce Hoff. Bruce has set up a 20th PMU vet FaceBook page for veterans and their families.  We were allowed to wear civies when off duty, assuming the alert level was low.  It was never ‘green’ again after Tet.

Charles Langham. The shot shows a typical hootch on the compound. The doors were usually left wide open, even at night. The sandbags provided protection from mortars and rockets when sleeping, being just above bunk height. Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Specialist John Young. John was one of my instructors in preventive medicine school at Ft. Sam. Imagine my surprise when he showed up at the unit. Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Steve Stitt, company clerk. Praying for payday? Photo by Bruce Hoff

CAPTION AND PHOTO FROM 1LT Terry McCarl (left) and 1LT Gary Anderson, MSC taken sometime in 1969 at the 20th PMU Compound in Bien Hoa. “I believe that we were there at that time for a preventive medicine training workshop. Gary and I were classmates at South Dakota State University (Class of 67) and served together at Ft. Bragg with the 714th PMU. Gary was a BN Surgeon’s Assistant in the 9th Infantry Division. I fondly remember visiting the 20th PMU several times during my year with the 1st Cav. Everyone there was so friendly and helpful in providing field sanitation training materials and helping out with other information. I always felt welcome to stay overnight there when I was in Bien Hoa. Their compound was very nice.”

Specialist Fries. Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Specialist Loren Tisland. Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Soldier McAlvey. Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Paul Anderson with wife. His wife worked for USARV at Long Binh, allowing some visits. She was eventually sent home due to the policy of not having spouses in country. Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Specialist Paul Anderson, a Specialist 5/E5 by this time, reading mail from home. Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Len Mathe and Sergeant Sutton, who was in charge of motor pool, Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Specialist Vanderhorst, who got tagged with the handle “Wonderhorse.” Ours was a two-man lab and he was my understudy who would go on to train the next replacement. Short of Thailand (which had species variations) and the Smithsonian, there wasn’t much of any other place to learn about southeast Asian mosquitoes. Anyone who passed through our lab (and paid attention) ended up being one of the world’s authorities on the mosquito larvae of Vietnam.

Unknown Troop: Anybody recognize this soldier? Note the poles in the picture. We were blessed with our own infrastructure – generator (which made blackouts easy by shutting it down) and water processing plant. Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Another unknown Specialist 5. I recall that he worked in the motor pool. Anybody recognize this soldier? I think his name may have been Mathau. He was a macho, southern boy who would proclaim that people with college degrees were just educated fools. I once watched him suck on a tube from a Malathion barrel to start a siphon, saying we were wusses and the stuff wouldn’t hurt you (it can cause permanent brain damage, among other things). Thanks to Len Mathe for this photo.

Len Mathe. Len arrived in May, ’68 and worked in the motor pool. We shared the same hootch. He recalls from a diary he kept that we were hit with rockets and mortars 33 out of his first 36 nights in the unit. Lt Col Hawryluk was the commander at the time, having replaced Smith. He had his hands full with M*A*S*H-like troop attitudes – irreverent enlisted men AND officers. Thanks to Len himself for the photo.

This is the only group shot I have. That’s yours truly in the back with the moustache. Special thanks to Sharon Frank, wife of Charlie Frank, for the photo. The 20th was a small unit, numbering only around 120 countrywide including the several detachments. This picture probably represents about 1/3 of the enlisted men in the headquarters unit during early 1968.

Lt. Saugsted had tamed his pythons so well that anyone could handle them. However, there was an incident in which Martha decided his neck would be nice to squeeze. It took three soldiers to unwind her from his neck. Fortunately, it was a photo op and others were present to save him. This is yours truly with one of the smaller pythons.

John “Igor” Petric and Ron Tascione expressing their feelings about being in Viet Nam and the Army. John was an R.N. in civilian life but declined a commission as it would have extended his service to three years. Ron went on to become a pastor and obtain a doctorate degree. Igor passed away in April of 2014.

Mamasan thinks it’s pretty funny watching me try to get low enough to iron clothing. She was such a charming lady.

Specialist Young: Young was one of my instructors in preventive medicine school. It was a trip when he showed up late in my deployment. He was a hippy at heart.

The vector lab identified disease-carrying critters collected from animals.. As I recall, this troop was identifying some fleas collected from trapped rats. So-called “dog fleas” could be found on cats and so-called “cat fleas” could be found on dogs. The black plague was endemic in Vietnam. Troops were vaccinated against that disease.

I’m unsure of the spelling, but Piedelato was rich (dig the silk shirt), gay, and had a father that was an officer. He was a bit of a maverick because he could get away with it. The giant Chiquita banana poster was mine and most troops came by my hootch to autograph it. I lost it during a move around 2000.

Murray was one of the most laid-back dudes in the unit. If you could chuck a grenade near him and he’d just look, nod, and say “Interesting.” He was from Ohio and we’d tease him about being from “Sweet Apple, Ohio.”

Specialist Lindsey was one cool dude. The picture of the car to his right my Olds F-85 at home. One of my brothers put it into a freeway guardrail while I was gone. My mom had written to ask if he could please use the car. I was sorry I said “Sure.”

This was the “Radar” of the 20th. The masking tape on the windows was to help control any mess from blasts during mortar and rocket attacks.

Cheesecake: Troops were not above trying to keep their ladies at home hooked during their long absences. My old friend, Charlie Frank, might drive all the way from Georgia to California to kill me for posting this … but, hey, his wife sent it to me (Thanks Sharon!).

That’s Charlie Frank on the right (this time with clothes on … civies no less … with Specialist Jim Marquardt (on far left) and another 20th troop.

Red Cross “Doughnut Dollies”, so-called because they brought doughnuts or other treats, visited the unit now and then.  Along with the treats they had group games to play.  The visits stopped after the Tet offensive. Things got too hot on the base and our compound.

More Doughnut Dollies, here shown playing games with 20th PMU troops. We didn’t get to see many American women … and would have been happy without doughnuts OR games just to have the visits.  Note the soldier with the cut-off “scrubs” near the center of the picture. Our compound had a small dispensary that was not part of the 20th.

The AK 47 was Charlie’s weapon of choice and necessity.  Most were the cheap knockoffs made by the Chinese who supported the north during the war.  The VC were saddled with the junk. REAL AK47s shipped to China from Russia were kept, and the cheap knock-offs passed along to the VC.  The tolerances were poor and the stocks often rough.  I didn’t get to fire one until decades later.  It IS an amazing weapon, in use since 1947.  Possibly the only comparison for longevity is the model 1911 .45 pistol, still sold today.  Are those ugly glasses or what?   I hated the flimsy, military issue specs and, before shipping out, bought the most robust frames I could find in hopes they’d never break. They never did.

Specialist Schneider and friends: The vector  lab, in addition to its actual identification and control activities, did a fair amount of research.  One experiment sought to find the optimum mix of bait and poison.  The conclusion: Rats defecate in direct proportion to the amount they eat. The troop pictured here is clowning around with some white mice.

Lt. Saugsted, head of the Entomology Lab, ended up having three pet pythons. He tamed them by using a welder’s glove and letting them strike at his hand until they finally allowed him to pick them up and handle them.  He often had uncombed hair and a disheveled appearance, being far more enthusiastic about the fauna of Vietnam than he was about the Army.  “Martha” was his biggest, … approaching 10 feet.  It took three of us to rescue him from her once after she decided his neck, after all, was just too tempting.

Old friend Ron Tascione. He went on to become a minister and, in later years, to obtain a PhD.  Ron’s wife, Kathy, suffered a massive cerebral aneurism while still very young.  Doctors said she would die.  Ron had a vision in which he handed her over to the Lord.  In that vision, the Lord blew on her and handed her back, saying it was not yet her time.  She was still alive as of 2016.

Stereo gear was cheap in the PX. That’s an Akai tape player/recorder at which he’s gesturing, one of the best available.  The open door on the side uncovered a slot for 8-track cassettes which it could also play. The “cross-field” head arrangement (it had three heads) allowed sound over sound, sound with sound and sound on sound – possibly one of the very best tape decks available.

It has been 45 years as I type and I don’t recall this troop’s name but remember he was assigned to the vector lab.

Yours truly when he first got in country … notice the lack of stripes You couldn’t be in country without being at least a PFC, so I was promptly promoted to PFC, eventually making SPC5/E5. Because I was an ‘old’ 25 and had a bachelor’s degree when I was drafted, I got stuck with the handle “Professor” by the mostly 18 to 19-year olds in basic combat training.  A decade after serving I used my G.I. Bill to obtain a master’s degree in social work from U.S.C.

We had one of the nicest enlisted men’s clubs that was visited by troops and civilian employees from all over the base.  Everything in the club, including the bar, was hand-built by 20th troops.  Enlisted men ran the club and some picked up extra cash by working as bartenders. This is a shot of Christmastime in 1967. Pray for all our troops around the world who don’t get to be home for Christmas.

One way to make a few extra dollars, aside from playing poker or (ahem) taking guard duty for someone else, was working in the enlisted men’s club. Here, Paul Anderson does what bartenders do, offering up conversation along with the beer. Photographer unknown

Captain Gerald Miller, M.D., head of the epidemiology lab. He went on to obtain a master’s degree in public health and to work for the National Health Service. Miller was a walking encyclopedia. He’d say things like “Did you know scissors don’t cut? They shear.”  He was also a huge jazz buff.  You could play any record for him and he could tell who was blowing what and what year the recording was probably made.