Sgt. Grit – With the recent publication of “Last Men Out: The True Story of America’s Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam” (Copyright © 2011 by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin) I was browsing through some old files and ran across the orders we received following the evacuation of the embassy in Saigon (Operation Frequent Wind). Marines know that you must have orders for every transfer and movement so attached is the text from the ones received by members of the Marine Security Guard Detachment formerly assigned at the U. S. Embassy in Saigon – who says the Marine Corps has no humor? Here we were bouncing around the South China Sea fresh off of a CH-46 from the roof of the embassy and receive a set of orders (see attached). I especially like Items 2 and 4.: “3. You are authorized per diem and travel chargeable to appropriation 19501113- allot 4320” and “4. No delay enroute is authorized in the execution of these orders.”
Delay enroute? Like where the heck would we go?
Good thing we didn’t get the orders during the evacuation operation, otherwise Major Kean would have some upset Marines since sub-paragraph 3 “… authorized personal baggage allowance of 66 pounds.”
Marine Corps humor.
Semper Fi, Ken Crouse