Life In The Rear

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by Ken Hornbeck

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L ife "in the rear" was obtainable to all GIs, even if Saigon itself wasn't. "In the Rear" was, most of the time, much like military life back home.

Except for the heat. And the shitty beds or cots. And piss tubes. and no cars.

And no girls. Unless, you knew where to go to and find them. (The "Dump").

But the rear was heaven for the boonie brothers and bearable for those who lived there permanently, which is to say 9 out of every 10 members of the U.S. military expedition.

There were mess halls with cold milk and there were hooch maids to change the sheets and movies about every night and beer in the EM clubs.

There were also duty rosters--just like back home, and guard duty even at some secure base like Long Binh. And God knows there were the rockets attacks which kept you up just about all night and made everybody grumpy as hell the next day, especially the first sergeants and the gunnies.

The infantrymen were always happy to get back to the rear. And just about everyone who lived there was happy he wasn't out walking the bush.

If you had to do a year, doing it in the rear was hell of a lot better than doing it in the boonies. For one thing, there was a hell of alot better chance of " doing " the year and going home in an airplane seat instead of a box.


Ken Hornbeck
D/1/501: Vietnam 1969-'70