All soldiers going to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry arrived in Vietnam by many different routes from the United States: Bien Hoa, Cam Ranh Bay, Da Nang, Long Binh, or Ton Son Nhut airport. Regardless of where they touched down in Vietnam, their next stop was Chu Lai, headquarters for the Americal Division.
Your tour guide for "Chu Lai" is Dave Eckberg who was the S-5 and Medical Platoon Leader for the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry from August, 1970 to August, 1971.
Photograph by Dave Eckberg
To get from the "replacement depots" to the Americal Division, most soldiers were loaded into a C-123 for a flight to Chu Lai. The aircraft in the background in the picture was also popular, the DeHavilland C-7 Caribou.
Photograph by Dave Eckberg
If you made the trip inside a C-7, the conditions were extremely cramped. The soldiers sat faced inwards from the outside of the fuselage. When the aircarft took off, the guys toward the front of the plane would lean downwards towards everyone else. The guys at the end on both sides almost got pushed out of their seats, and the plane. The barrel seen here on the middle left was a combination of a trash can and "barf" bucket.
Photograph by Dave Eckberg
Upon landing in Chu Lai, everyone was warmly welcomed, at the airfield, by the Americal Division. Here is Dave Eckberg, a fresh 2LT, on his first day with the Americal Division.
Photograph by Dave Eckberg
From the airport, everyone was trucked in a "deuce and a half" to the headquarters of the Americal Division. Here, the sign proudly announces the division's name.
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