LVTR-7 on a trailer

The kind of truck the expensive driver drove……this one was on the maintenance ramp at Camp Schwab over a weekend, probably in the spring of 1977……the vehicle on the trailer is a LVTR-7, the Recovery version of the P-7 family, later called AAVs……..R&E, if visible, stands for Replace and Evacuate, which is a Depot overhaul program intended to remove vehicles from the FMF while overhaul is still economically repairable….a one-for one exhcange. The truck likely belonged to Truck Company, H&S Bn, 3rd FSR…….they moved 128 tracked vehicles from Schwab to Naha Port that year….all between midnight and sunrise, which is when the Japanese permitted wide loads on their roads. read more

Vietnam chow and C-rats

Sgt. Grit,

I had to send you these pictures. Others have talked about cooking in their helmet but I thought you would like to see what we made. Here is L/cpl Jim Berry fixing what we called chili in his helmet. We would ask our folks to send us chili powder and tomato sauce. Then we would empty out all the meat products from a case of C rations mix heat and serve. We were on the go a lot and made the best of any situation. My dad sent me a care package every week, these consisted of cigarettes, a local newspaper, salami, pepperoni, cookies and a small jar of manhattans, a family drink. Jim was my best friend in Vietnam we shared everything. Sadly Jim was killed in a motor cycle accident a few years after getting home. read more