I arrived in Vietnam in October 1965 as a part of a US Army Strategic
Communications Command (STRATCOM) team to establish the STRATCOM -South East
Asia headquarters in Saigon. Colonel Henry Schneider was the commander and I
was the Operations Officer. Major Albert Cervini was sent over in advance to
acquire office space and logistic support. Major Cervini obtained four
houses just off of Plantation Road near the PX warehouse. Plantation Road
was the main road from the Cholon district to Tan Son Nhut Air Base. On a
map of Saigon dated 1969, these buildings are identified as BEQ Kalamazoo.
In
Early 1966, shortly after Col Bob Terry (later MG Terry) arrived to
establish the 1st Signal Brigade, he tasked me to create an IWCS
Engineering and Management Office. This office remained in this area until
early fall when it moved to the new Brigade Headquarters area. This is
me and CPT (later COL) Roy Buckman in our Saigon office in 1966. In the
other picture is MAJ (later LTG) Emmett Paige visiting our office in 1966.
I
was a charter member of the 1st Signal Brigade when it was
activated on 1 April 1966. I remained with the Brigade until I returned to
Washington in October 1966. Prior to departure from Vietnam I was awarded a
Bronze Star for my Legion of Merit.
I have written an article about my experiences in Vietnam, “IWCS and the
1st Signal Brigade, My Memories of the Early Days".