From Steve Lewis

No idea where he took this picture.  Must be some sort of government building.  Very few buildings in the small towns would be this nice.  Maybe it's in Da Nang.

From Steve Lewis

From Steve Lewis

I always felt better when there were kids around.  A couple of times when we went out on three day sweeps there would be kids waiting at the gate for us.  They would follow along behind us carrying ice, sodas, and beer in sacks.  They'd have the cans in one sack and a block of ice in another.  Like most Vietnamese that had to carry anything they used a pole over their shoulder.  They'd walk/jog along with the characteristic jog employed when they used these poles.  The idea was to get the pole bouncing.  Then when the pole was bowed down and the load was at a maximum they'd have both feet on the ground.  When the pole sprung up and the load was at minimum they'd take a step.  When we'd stop they'd set up shop.  Some of these kids probably made more than their parents. When we moved south, down to Hiep Duc valley we never saw any kids.  I don't remember one time any of them followed us.  There was one kid who had set up a stand just outside the Rock Crusher.  He sold all sorts of things like dope, whiskey, and beer - did a booming business as I remember it.

In the picture on the right, the Marine shown might be John Pedro.

From Steve Lewis

From Steve Lewis

Since the end of the war in 1975 the population of Vietnam has doubled.  At this time half of all people in Vietnam are under 35.  As such they have no, or at the least very little, memories of the war. The picture on the right might have been taken on a road sweep between Cobb Bridge and Hotel Battery.  You can see two Marines on the bridge.

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