Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Firebase Entertainment

Here I am posing behind a rock-n-roll band made up of American soldiers.  You can see the audience sitting on the ground out in front of the band.

You are probably wondering how a band like this one was even formed.  After all, we were in a combat zone.  Well, musicians are very dedicated to their craft.  I know, ...my son is a professional musician.  Even in Vietnam, musicians found a way to get instruments and play.  I'm sure they were based in the rear somewhere, working for a support group.  Infantry soldiers could never have pulled this off.   I'll bet they started by getting together after work to jam.  What began as jamming sessions built into a reasonable repertoire of popular rock-n-roll tunes.  Others began to stop by and listen to them.  A few supply sergeants liked what they heard so found a way to get them the amplifiers, drum kit and keyboard they needed.  Before the group knew it, they had created for themselves a part-time job traveling between firebases playing for grunts.

I never did see Bob Hope while I was in Vietnam.  He played the big Air Force Bases and Navy Bases, ..not the small firebases where I spent some of my time.  So what we got was Vietnamese rock-n-roll bands when we were at the VIP Center in Bien Hoa.  This was the first and only time a band actually came to us.  It was nice!  I remember thinking though that they were like sitting-ducks up there on those storage boxes.  Vietcong soldiers could have easily hit them with rifle fire.  Well this time anyway, it didn't happen.


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