Dangerous Hardware 2487

Anne & Lynn Wheeler

Ahhh... Thot that might be what you were referring to.

I Was There. In the fall of '67, and I didn't even know what was going on! Seriously. I was a weather observer (and weather computer operator), sent for 30 days TDY from Bien Hoa. Worked 12 hours on-12 hours off for those 30 days. Slept a little, drank a lot. We had a small portable obs site, a trailer, really, with a little glbutt enclosed turret. You sat on a stool with your head poked up into the turret so you could see the sky and make your obsevations. It fogged up a lot.

One of our forecasters (a Capt. as I recall) used to fly out on special missions which he wouldn't talk about, but usually shrugged off as "forward weather support" or something like that. Saw him later at Tan Son Nhut, wearing a Silver Star. He still wouldn't talk.

There were rumors of Black Helicopters, some perhaps from the other side, but I'm probably mis-remembering that. It was right on the river, actually north of the DMZ.

That's where I learned the legend of a little snake called alternatively the "What-the..." snake, or the "One-stepper", 'cause that's all you got if he bit you. Can't remember its real name right now... Krait, maybe?

Bill