This is me (age 19) standing in front of my wall locker in our modern hooch. I arrived in country in February 1967, spent a few miserable days at the 90th Replacement Battalion (where they practiced abusing the new guys), and ended up in the Headquarters Platoon, Company B, 46th Engineer Battalion (Construction). (At least I think we were part of the Headquarters Platoon.)

When I first arrived, my platoon was living in the last tent structure in the company. We moved into a tropical barracks about half way through my tour, when  a two-story barracks at the southeast end of the company area was built. Here's a quick story about the two-story barracks. It was located near the sit-down latrine, which was tended by an older Vietnamese gentleman. When a can in the latrine was full, he would pull it out from under the wooden seat, pour in some diesel fuel, and add a burning piece of toilet paper. When everything was burned to ash and the can was cool, he would slide it back under the appropriate seat. That's how waste was disposed of. The problem was that the ash and soot floated into the upper level and covered everything in the place. After a little complaining, the entire waste disposal program was moved to an undeveloped area south of the battalion.

While I was there, our squad leader was Sgt. Reed. He was there when I arrived, and he was there when I left. I remember him saying he was part of the 46th's original deployment and arrived by ship. When his first tour was over he extended and kept right on extending. I wonder if he ever went home?  Sgt. Reed was shorter than me (I'm 6' 1"), average build, and had a mustache and crew cut. He was a great guy and had a great disposition.

We had a couple of different platoon sergeants. The only name I remember (or I think I remember) is Stege (I'm not sure of the spelling). Our platoon leader was a warrant officer. I don't remember the first guy's name (see the melon eating picture), but the second guy was a huge guy named Mr. Mann.

The only company commander I remember was a big guy, taller than me and lots more meat on his bones. He was a captain, and I remember he graduated from West Point and he was awarded a medal (I think a Bronze Star). I think his name was William R. Andrews, Jr.  

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