After 46 Years...a Trip Back in Time, Part 10

by Glenn N. Holliman

In this post, I record the sites and my feelings of returning to my 1969 base camp in Lai Khe, Vietnam.  As a young man, I served for a year as a chaplain's assistant with the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, U.S. Army.  My duties involved pulling guard, time in the field at the Division's fire support artillery bases (FSBs) and night defensive positions (NDPs) and clerk of the office. I feared returning in 2015 would be emotional.  It was.

Below left in 1969, simple dirt roads en route to Lai Khe from Saigon.  Below right in 2015, a four lane highway with attractive middle division of flowers flanked by modern construction. 


                

 Left, 1969, the body of a North Vietnamese soldier killed in night action, left along the highway a few miles south of Ben Cat, which by 2015 was a four lane highway with flanking shops and residences.   As if a war had never passed that way.

Below right, the former Michelin rubber plantation of Lai Khe from the air in 1969.  Top of the photo shows the defoliated open country side.  Highway 13, then a dirt two lane road runs through the camp.  The open space top right is the air field.

Below left, the HQ of the 3rd Brigade, 
former French rubber plantation offices, in
1969 our office and barracks. In 2015 all had
been razed and replaced by a business park.

Above left, the perimeter of Lai Khe in 1969.  From time to time enemy rocket fire would descend on the base, several times while I was on guard in the night.  Above right in red, an old man of 68 years stand in the rubber of Lai Khe and remembers being 22.      

More in the next post on the return to youth and conflict.

After 46 Years...a Trip Back in Time, Part 9

by Glenn N. Holliman

This memoir of a return to Vietnam after forty-six years had passed since a young soldier served with the 1st Infantry Division, US Army, continues with photos and thoughts of southern Viet Nam then and today....

  March 13, 2015, Friday, Saigon

Up early for a 6 am shuttle, three and half hours to Ha Noi airport.  Stop half way at a gift shop/café and have coffee strong enough to walk.  To modern airport and a snack.  Then emails and at 1:15 pm board Vietnamese Air to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City.  Again a modern Viet Nam Airlines Airbus 320.  Two hours later we arrive, met by our Northfolk Hotel driver.  The Norfolk, a la 1991, an Australian owned hotel, only three blocks from the ornate Belle Epoch period, the Cathedral, 1880, dedicated to Mary, Mother of Jesus by the French colonialists.

I saw Saigon from the air before landing at Than San Nhah.  Incredible…it was Manhattan, Singapore, whatever –high rises, skyscrapers and apartment complexes.  Even a golf course.  This city is a combination of Paris and Miami.  Capitalism is every where – garish flashing neon signs, bank building, communication hubs, etc. and a nod or two to the liberation of 1975.  I am feeling very old.

Only when we checked in and looked at a map, and I asked the location of the former American embassy did the desk clerk ask me if I had been there in the war.  Yes, I said, a long time ago. 

Check in and cousins Karen, Jim and I walk around the Cathedral Square, taking our aim at an Asian open air restaurant.  I have again rice and prawns and half a bottle of French wine.  Back to my large, air conditioned room.  Caution in the bathroom – do not drink the tap water.  Ho Chi Minh City, not yet there.

Saigon Cathedral in 1969 and in 2015 with my daughter Grace and high rise buildings.

It was called Saigon in 1969, the mid point in America's ill-fated over reach to stem 'the tide of international communism'.  During my 365 day tour of what was then the Republic of South Viet Nam, over 500,000 troops from a USA population of perhaps 225,000,000 poured resources into what was a civil war among an ancient culture and nation.

Although stationed 40 miles or so north of Saigon in a rubber plantation called Lai Khe (just north of Ben Cat), as part of my duties, I visited the capitol city three or four times.  Below are some views of Saigon then and today.

Right, Saigon street scene in 1969; left crowded  streets and motor bikes in 2015.

  

The National Assembly building in 2015 and 1969.  Below, South Vietnam soldier guarding Saigon bridge in 1969, a city one year removed from the devastating Tet Offensive that soured America on the conflict. 

                    

With cousin Karen and daughter Grace, 2015 and a warm March evening in Ho Chi Minh City.  Below right, passing a movie theatre in 1969.

     
Below, street scenes from 1969 including a young lady in blue in her ao dai, the Vietnamese formal and office wear for women.

 



 

En Route from Saigon to Long Binh, through Ben Cat and back to Lai Khe, one passed this haunting South Vietnamese military cemetery and statue in 1969.  The tragic war ended in 1975 with the collapse of the government once supported by the United States.  Over 55,000 Americans and an estimated one million Vietnamese died between 1962-1975.

                                         

Next post on this Viet Nam memory tour is the return to my Army base, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry, US Army, Lai Khe, SVN.

                         

After 46 Years...a Trip Back in Time, Part 8

by Glenn N. Holliman

This memoir of a return to Vietnam after forty-six years had passed since a young soldier served with the 1st Infantry Division, US Army, continues with photos of time as a typical tourist is some beautiful parts of northern Vietnam.... 

Ha Long, March 10, 2015

Below, a map of beautiful Ha Long Bay, a World Heritage site, in northern Vietnam and an overnight cabin cruiser.  

       

Tuesday, left late morning for the maritime port where the cruise boats take overnight tourists into the Ha Long Bay.  The sea bed has collapsed leaving a bay of gum-drop shaped islands, magnificent in height and shape marching into the Gulf of Tonkin.  Ocean going vessels with cargoes, do not dock but unload into smaller vessels, coastal trawlers. Fascinating to observe the larger ships as our boat weaves and dodges among the islands and many others. 

Our cruise manager is 38 years old, a French teacher.  Her grandparents served in the French War and her parents from 1973-75 helped maintain the Ho Chi Minh Trail crawling through Laos into the South Vietnam.  Phuc was born in 1977 and remembers the austerity of the pure communist years, when food and clothing were rationed.  Had a discussion with her at length.  Her generation has no memory of the American war, only that in 1986, economic policies changed, and people could again own their own land.  Agricultural production increased quickly, and now no one is hungry.

Below Grace captures a picture of an ocean going vessel unloading and a view from the Ha Long caves of the island formations.
             
       

There are only 13 on this cruise, and a crew of fifteen.  The company, Bhyay, owns 17 boats, and the food and service are excellent.  Clean, bottled water available….My wife would enjoy the ambiance. On board are Australians, as well as two American ladies from Long Island, a German couple and a couple from Guildford, England.  Remarkable how Vietnam has become a major tourist mecca.

Below my daughter, Grace Holliman, and cousin Karen Holliman at a meal on board.  Also Grace in one of the spacious rooms.

Our first stop was a floating village where we tendered in, climbed a floating dock and then boarded boats hand paddled for 45 minutes through spectacular scenery and by floating homes, cabins without running water resting on the water!  Nets protect the children from falling from their homes into the 18 ft deep sheltered bay.  The economy is driven by fishing and tourism.  Our cameras are snapping pictures left and right.

Back on board we have a cooking demonstration, how to make spring rolls, and then we eat them!  Delightful.  Happy Hour starts at 5 pm, and I chat with two Australian couples, all born in the 1960s with no memory of the American War.  More and more, I am aware as an old man only I carry within me the ghosts of the past.

Below, Karen closest to the camera prepares spring rolls and a squid she caught during night fishing.

Another grand meal, fish and shrimp of course, and then we go squid fishing!  We stand on the bow, are given poles with plastic lures, bright lights are turned on and like children, we drop our lines and pull them up and down.  Karen catches an 8 inch squid which will be on the boat's breakfast table.

That night our boat anchored in the floating village bay with another 30 or so similar craft, three story villas on the water the highest being an open air deck.  Dining is forward with seating only for about 16.  Marvelous way to travel.

To bed early, but an observation from earlier this morning at the Saigon Ha Long Hotel.  The women are largely in western style clothes – skirts, heels and arranged stylishly.  The only heavy Vietnamese tend to be middle aged men, all dressed in western clothes of coat and tie.  English is taught in all schools, not Russian as in the 1970s and 80s.  The USA may have lost the 1965-1973 war but capitalism is winning the present. 

Economic development is proceeding with the blend of moderating socialism and capitalism.  These are a strong people who have defeated the French, Americans, the Chinese and each other in 20^th Century wars.  If they can have a century of peace, they will become more prosperous.  Education and economic investment are now needed and time to work its magic.

 

March 11, Wednesday Ha Long

Body clocks still unsteady, and Grace goes to the top deck for Asian stretching exercises – Thi Chi – with the Australians.  I do journaling and watch this lovely part of the world sail by as we move to our next event this morning.  We ‘sail’ to the Surprise Cave and climb steps to walk through a massive cave complex with a lovely view of the bay.  Bushed, I shower and they feed us again – a brunch before we dock at 10:30 am back at our harbor.  This cruise well worth the money.

A driver takes us back to the Saigon Ha Long Hotel, about a ten minute drive, and I answer emails and nap.  Karen purchases us tickets for a tour tomorrow.  Time for a nap.  Later a drink in the hotel with Grace and then dinner with Jim and Karen on the 14^th floor.  We note the Celebrity cruise ship, the Millennium, in the harbor.

March 12, Thursday, Ha Long

Up early for a tour north of Ha Long City, through the coal country, to a Buddhist Temple, one of the oldest in the nation.  We have a driver, tour guide and a guide in training.  Tweet, the 23 year old guide, a bubbly girl.  This is pilgrimage time for the Vietnamese.  They were dressed in their finest, all western garb, at the temple.  We ate lunch there – all vegetarian.  Many people took pictures of us and with us as Westerners are rare for most Vietnamese.  We felt like ‘stars’.

Below the temple and right, I chat with our tour guides, delightful young persons.

Stopped at a market, more how does one say, traditional…some of Vietnam is very modern – a suspension bridge, a museum, but in other places, modernization has not taken place.  But no doubt the country is growing prosperous, and no one is hungry.

 

Next post, we go to Ho Chi Mien City (Saigon) and memories come flooding back....

After 46 Years...a Trip Back in Time, Part 7

by Glenn N. Holliman

A Tour of Vietnam, an old Soldier returns....

My series on a March 2015 tour of Vietnam continues with more on the medical conference in Ha Long, Vietnam, chaired by my cousin, Dr. Jim Holliman, president of an international emergency medical association.  Thanks to an invitation from Jim and his wife, Karen, my daughter, Grace, and I took advantage of the situation and traveled with them.  For me, it was my first return to Southeast Asia since leaving South Vietnam as a young soldier in January, 1970 after a year with the 1st Infantry Division.  I continue to wrestle with memories of that anguished time in my life....

Jim, below right, speaks at the opening of the Ha Long conference and medical workshops. He is the author of numerous books on trauma and the treatment of emergency situations. He is family; I am allowed to brag about him. 

Below left, Jim and speakers fine tune their headphones for the simultaneous translation from Vietnamese to English.

 

 While Jim was working, I visited the exhibits and made friends with some 22 year old translators studying to be nurses.  They likened me to their grandfather, and enjoyed practicing their English.  In this culture, the old are venerated which felt good. 

At evening, we were bused to another hotel, and the Gala Dinner occurred – perhaps dinner for 400, mostly Vietnamese.  Sat at round table for ten, and again the Lazy Susan.  Twelve courses, delightful groans when the meal of crab, pork, rice, vegetables, noodles, fish, bread, and on and on, washed down with French wine.  A Vietnamese dance and singing groups put on a continuous show….delicate dances and native songs and costumes.  Remarkable, a demonstration of their Asian cultural arts.  Magnificent.

Another banquet and more folk music and dance.  

The instrument is made of bamboo.

During the dinner, the five translators saw me and ran up and treated me like a rock star much to Grace’s amusement.  I gave the girls my social card.  Did my ego a bit of good.

A Senior Moment

And that was good because I had a lapse in attention while checking my email back in my bedroom. Struck by irritated  skin, I fumbled for a tube and squeezed some lotion on my reddened ankle.  I noticed the cream was thicker than usual, but thought no more about it.  The next morning, no itch, great I thought, and then I noticed a tube of Colgate tooth paste on the desk, next to the computer.  Hmmm…maybe I will use more tooth paste in the future.  Fortunately I did not brush my teeth with hydrocortisone!

I am posting this latest article at Christmas time 2015.  The memory of that 1969 December in South Vietnam comes back to me.  Here is a few photo of a young G.I. in a time far away.

It is Christmas Eve day, and I am typing letters of condolences from the chaplain to the parents and loved ones of Americans who have died recently in combat with our brigade, the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry, Lai Khe, Vietnam, 40 miles or so north of Saigon.  

Why the helmet and flack jacket?  A note on the picture says we were having a raid at the time, rockets fired from outside the perimeter into the base.  Yes, it was a manual typewriter.  Make a typo and one was required to start over from the beginning.  I typed very, very slowly and concentrated. Even with 'incoming'.

More observations of both new and ancient Vietnam (and aging) in the next post!

************************************************************************************

THE CHRISTOPHER HOLLYMAN, SR.

 HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Executive Committee

Tina Peddie (California) Jeanette Holiman Stewart (Texas), Allen Holleman (North Carolina), Glenn N. Holliman (Pennsylvania), Lynn Holliman (Texas) Glenda Norris (Alabama), Sue Jones (Wyoming), Joseph Parker (Texas), Denise Goff (Virginia) and Sandra Torbert French (Florida)

CORDIALLY INVITE YOU

to

The Inaugural Meeting of the Society

at

SMITHFIELD

ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY

VIRGINIA

MARCH 31- APRIL 2, 2016

FOR

A ONCE IN A LIFETIME TOUR TO THE CHRISTOPHER HOLLYMAN'S PLANTATION CA 1682

AND

OTHER HISTORIC HOLLYMAN SITES

AND

TWO DAYS OF SEMINARS

and Round Table Discussions

ON

THE HOLLYMANS of ENGLAND

AND

SUBSEQUENT MIGRATIONS

THROUGH OUT THE USA

PLUS

SESSIONS ON HOW TO TRACE YOUR HOLLYMAN DNA, THE MASSIVE FAMILY TREE (at www.Ancestry.com), HOLLYMAN WEB SITES, THE JAMESTOWN SOCIETY AND THE NEW HOLLIMAN ARCHIVES FOR HOLLYMANS (ALL SPELLINGS) AND ASSOCIATED FAMILIES!

For information and a complete schedule of the program and times, email Allen Holleman, Program Reservations, at jallen.holleman2@gmail.com or call (919-210-6862).

  

Birthday # 96!!

by Glenn N. Holliman

Homer Bishop Holliman has another birthday!

Below age 96, he takes his daily walk and enjoys a cup of cappuccino ever afternoon.
  He has lived as long as his maternal grandmother, Lula Hocutt Caine (1861-1957), a native of Fayette County, Alabama who moved to Irondale, Alabama during World War I.  Her three daughters and their families followed, finding employment in the Magic City of Birmingham, a steel and coal metropolis, which sprang out of a cotton field in the early 1870s.

Bishop, my father, was born December 17, 1919, the year of the over-reaching Versailles Treaty was signed and an angry young German veteran, Adolph Hitler, joined the Nazi Party.  At age 22, Bishop was in the U.S. Navy preparing to brave the U-Boat submarines of a revived Germany under the leadership a tyrannical dictator.  Two of his brothers, Melton and Ralph, followed him into that conflict.

The Irondale of the 1920s and 30s, a working class suburb, a long street car ride from the center of Birmingham, was Bishop's childhood.  At age 9, his mother, Pearl Caine Holliman (1888-1955) let him stay home to hear Herbert Hoover take the oath of office, broadcast through the family's brand new radio.  A brother-in-law, Robert W. Daly, Sr., eventually a prominent banker, gave Bishop's siblings and the boy rides in his open top roadster.  The roads in the late 1920s and early 30s were still red clay or sand around Irondale.  The family had a chicken house, electricity, a cow and eventually in 1936, indoor plumbing.

Below 1932 in Robert's roadster - Ralph, Virginia and Bishop

The house at 2300 3rd Avenue North looked over the switching yards of numerous rail lines.  The romance of the railroad infected Bishop, who for the rest of his life rode the train whenever possible.

After almost four years in World War II, he returned to Alabama with a bride from Philadelphia.  The couple had three children.  

The G.I. Bill allowed Bishop to finish college at Birmingham-Southern, a prelude to five years of teaching.  In 1952, he returned again to earn his living from Uncle Sam, this time an employee of the Social Security Administration, the old age retirement and disability program that his Republican father, Ulyss Holliman (1884-1965), had railed against as an infamous part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Bishop would retire as manager of the office in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Right, Bishop and Geraldine Stansbery, 1945 at Bishop's home in Irondale, Alabama.



Bishop thrived in Cookeville, becoming a prominent member of the community.  Over the years he was president of the Rotary, United Way, the library board, the Red Cross and the local railroad depot museum and always active in the local United Methodist Church.  The three children all attended Tennessee Tech, the local university and all met spouses there.  Today there are eight grandchildren and sixteen great grandchildren!

Below right, the family in 1966 in Tennessee - Becky, Glenn, Gerry, Alice and Bishop.            



Bishop has outlived his first two wives, good persons both, Geraldine Stansbery and Anne McLaughlin.  In 2000 he married Ellen Cox, a church friend from Gadsden, Alabama.  They make their home in Avilla, Indiana, a friendly community surrounded by Ellen's nieces and nephews.  Dad says it reminds him of Irondale, the home of his youth. 

 Above October 2015, the daily walk with Ellen and the ever faithful Bee Bee.

We can't pick our parents; Mother Nature does that for us.  My two sisters and I won life's lottery being the off spring of Geraldine Stansbery and Bishop Holliman.  Happy Birthday once again to one of the finest men in the world. - GNH