“It usually goes out in the morning before the wind chops up the water.” There are four Boston Whalers, four Aerocraft and four Sunfish. Ange keeps 12 sailboats on the cooler-by-day, warmer-by-night water. “I’ve yet to find a beach that is superior to this one.” “I’ve traveled all over Europe, Africa, South America and the Caribbean,” Barrett said. The grainy white sand stretches along a half mile of shoreline. The beach is the prime attraction during the day. Monsoon season doesn’t begin until November. The sun shines strong this time of year at China Beach. Sometime in between, there’s a happy hour when beer flows free. The bar opens when the sun is low in the sky and stays open long after it has dropped over the horizon. Soldiers can get their morning meal as late as 9:30.Īnd their first drink as early as 9 a.m. And the R & R site is one of the few places in this land where breakfast isn’t served before the sun comes up. The only soldiers in uniform are the 46 men who pull security for the center.Īt China Beach, every building is now, or will soon be, air-conditioned. So, we try to maintain an entirely civilian atmosphere.”Ī civilian atmosphere means civilian clothes. They’re here to forget where they’ve just come from. “We want people who come to China Beach to feel that they have nothing to do here that concerns any of the military services. Danny Barrett, who runs the reception operation, explained the philosophy of the 36 permanent party who run the show. China Beach was a local R & R site operated by the Navy before becoming the in-country sham center for all of Vietnam. And you don’t have to go through mess hall, stand-in-line stuff. You get your choice of three entres at lunch and dinner. They treat you as if you were a human being. “The people here go out of their way to make you feel at ease. “China Beach is a place where you can unwind and get away from the everyday hassle,” he said. One soldier from the 25 th Division summed it all up. The only problems a soldier will encounter are determining how much sun to soak up, how much food to take in and how much beer to wash down. Nobody wears their rank on their swimming trunks or carries it into the weight room. At China Beach, a soldier can shuck the war for three days to surf, swim, sail and sleep. Someplace else is the China Beach in-country R & R center, a bit of world tucked into a cove near Da Nang. Now there is someplace else in Vietnam a place with beaches instead of bunkers, night life instead of night patrols and steaks on barbecues instead of Cs in cans. Someplace else like Sydney, Tokyo or Hong Kong for Double R. To a soldier in Vietnam, the best place to be is someplace else. This article – except for my commentary about Vung Tau, was originally published in the 25th Division Tropic Lightning newspaper on 9/14/70.
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