Sea Stories

My Trip to the Moon

by  Al Bell

After training to become an advisor to the Republic of Vietnam Navy, I arrived in Saigon in late March of 1969.  I was initially assigned to be what was called a Fleet Command Advisor to the captain of a Vietnamese ship.  In this case the ship was a WWII Landing Ship, Infantry, Large (LSIL).  My first voyage was up the Bassac and Mekong rivers to Tan Chau, escorting a convoy of merchant ships to Cambodia.  The small LSIL’s 3” gun, 20 mm cannons and .50 cal. machine guns protected the merchant vessels from ambush.

When I returned to Saigon, the Naval Advisory Group had discovered that I was an expert on LST 542 tank landing ships, similar to those being transferred to the RVN navy under the Vietnamization program.

I just had a couple of days in Saigon before I had to join up with "my” Vietnamese.  I made the most of it by dining two nights at a restaurant for U.S. officers.  This restaurant was atop the Johnston Bachelors Officers Quarters, which was across the street from the Continental Hotel in downtown Saigon.  There was a cute, naive little waitress, Co Duc, with whom I enjoyed a little innocent flirting. 

I took about one hundred Vietnamese officers and men to Guam in May to train on the ship and to supervise the overhaul of the ship.  It turned out that I was very well suited to the job.

My Vietnamese counterpart was Tran Van Chi, a lieutenant commander in the Vietnamese navy.  After the turnover, he was the captain of the ship.  After a great deal of work and a big ceremony, USS Coconino County (LST 603) became RVNS Vung Tau (HQ 503) in June.  However, we still had much to accomplish before we could depart.

While the ship was being overhauled and I was training the crew, the Apollo 11 Mission was also gearing up for its July 16 launch for the Moon.  I followed developments on the radio, for there was no television available in Guam.  When the landing occurred on July 20, I hung on every word.  When the astronauts returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, President Nixon flew to Guam to meet them. 

Shortly after that, RVNS Vung Tau (HQ 503) sailed for Vietnam by way of the San Bernardino Straits in the Philippines.  I assisted with the celestial navigation en route.

We arrived in Saigon in August to a big celebration, featuring the Chief of Naval Operations of the RVN Navy, a band, rows of sailors, and pretty Vietnamese girls with armloads of flowers.

That night I returned to the restaurant, where my waitress was again Co Duc.  A full moon was visible low in the southern sky.  Air pollution caused the light rays to refract such that the Moon seemed twice normal size. 

Co Duc inquired, “Dai Uy [Lieutenant], where have you been?  I have not seen you for more than a month.”

I replied, feigning amazement, “Didn’t you read about me in the newspaper?  Was there nothing on television or radio?”

“About what?” she asked.

“I have been to the moon!” I exclaimed, pointing to the glowing orb.

At first she seemed doubtful, but then she remembered hearing something about the mission and began asking me questions about what the moon was like. 

I responded with a degree of detail that would have made Neil Armstrong proud.  As I spoke, I could see her becoming totally enthralled by the magnitude of my feat.  At last, she could wait no longer.  She began rushing around telling the other waitresses of my trip to the Moon.  They, too, became excited and gathered in groups chattering and pointing at me.  Finally, word reached the cashier, the only educated, intelligent person on staff.  Unfortunately for me, the game was up.  Not only had the cashier cashed checks for me, but she knew the names of the Apollo 11 astronauts.  She told the waitresses that I was joking.

Co Duc was not amused.  I had caused her to lose face among her friends and coworkers.  Furious, she ran over and screamed at me for deceiving her.  I had to leave with my tail between my legs.  Fortunately, I was soon transferred to river boats in the U Minh Forest of the Mekong Delta, where, thankfully, I had only to deal with VC and NVA armies. 

Afterwards, on rare occasions when I visited Saigon, I went to the old restaurant.  Each time that I entered the room, there was a chorus of shouts, “Apollo! Apollo!”  Even Co Duc had forgiven me my weird sense of humor.  I hope that in later years she told her children with a smile about my famous Moon mission.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this