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    You Just Had to Be There
    You Just Had to Be There
    You Just Had to Be There
    Ebook70 pages58 minutes

    You Just Had to Be There

    By Michael Francis Trochan

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    About this ebook

    Bobs loyalty to the Troops was at the highest level. He went where the Troops were and if there was a war going on, Bob became more determined to see us.

    Bob was like one of us. He was breathing the same air that we were breathing and that mattered.

    Bob made the Troops the stars, the audience was the Show.

    Bobs U.S.O. Christmas Shows with the Troops had meaning and is now History.

    The spirit and the memories of it all should live forever!

    I wrote about my particular set of circumstances: leading up to the Show, at the Show and then after the Show.

    THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE TROOPS! PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

    I have been watching The Bob Hope United Service Organizations (U.S.O.) Christmas Shows with the Troops with my family, since I was about 4 years old. I enjoyed watching the Troops in the audience laughing, having a good time, getting together.

    The Troops were my Heroes, my Stars. I thought that maybe when I grew up; that one day, I would be in the audience of one of Bobs Christmas Shows.

    It was inspirational for me to see and hear the people singing Silent Night together at the end of the Show.

    The Memories Are Priceless!

    Like we still talk about Remember The Alamo, I think we should say, Remember The Bob Hope Christmas Show, because it was important. It brought us together!

    I thank my Lord, Jesus Christ, for helping me get to The Bob Hope Christmas Show and in writing this book.

    At The Bob Hope Christmas Show: the sights, the sounds, living through the moment of it all was the best.

    Bob, Thanks For The Memories!


    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrafford Publishing
    Release dateDec 20, 2005
    ISBN9781412236942
    You Just Had to Be There
    Author

    Michael Francis Trochan

    I enlisted in the U.S.Army in 1969 and I traveled to Germany, France, Austria , Vietnam, Okinawa, Australia and many other countries and places. The period of time in my military service that gives me some of my best Memories, was being at The Bob Hope United Service Organization (U.S.O.) Christmas Show at Da Nang, Vietnam on December 24, 1970 I received an Honorable Discharge in 1972.

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      Book preview

      You Just Had to Be There - Michael Francis Trochan

      Contents

      Chapter 1

      Camp Eagle

      Chapter 2

      The Tower

      Chapter 3

      After Guard Duty

      Chapter 4

      Permission To Go To Da Nang

      Chapter 5

      Going To Da Nang

      Chapter 6

      Freedom Hill

      Chapter 7

      The Bob Hope Christmas Show

      Chapter 8

      Going Back To My Company

      Chapter 9

      Camp Eagle

      Chapter 10

      Memories

      Chapter 1 Camp Eagle

      I arrived in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam on 9-14-70. After about 3 days of processing in, I was given orders to go North to Camp Eagle located near Hue and Phu Bai. It was the Headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). Airmobile is moving Troops by air; in Vietnam usually by helicopters. I was going to be a Screaming Eagle, which was the name given to a member of the Division.

      At Cam Ranh Bay, about 20 more names were selected, mine included, for the next flight going North to Da Nang. Occasionally, I would see G.I.’s walking in the opposite direction, all dressed up in their uniforms, getting ready for their flight to go back Home. I was very happy for them and they all had various ribbons and medals on their uniforms that they received. They all finished their tour of duty and I was just beginning to do mine. The group that I was with took the next step into the unknown and boarded a C-130. A C-130 is a plane with 4 large propellers and can carry a lot of Troops and cargo. After we landed at Da Nang, we were given some free time before our next flight to go further North to Hue and Phu Bai. I took this opportunity to walk out of the airport to do a little exploring. I discovered a mess hall that served ice cream. A mess hall is a place where Troops have meals. I had 2 or 3 dishes of vanilla ice cream. This was a big treat for me in about 90 degree temperature and I didn’t know when I was going to get my next ice cream.

      It was beginning to get dark and time for me to get back to the airport. We all boarded another C-130 for a flight to Camp Eagle and Camp Evans areas located near Hue and Phu Bai. I was 22 years old at that time and noticed something very real. Most of the guys that I was with were 18, 19, 20, 21 years old and I was considered, by some G.I.’s, a little old at 22. I believed that most of us wished; we were back Home, going to school, working or just going to the beach. When we landed at the airport at Camp Eagle and Camp Evans areas, it was about 10 P.M. and we were all taken to a training area and assigned to a temporary hooch. A hooch is a small house. We were told; that this was going to be our Home for about a week, while we went through training on a variety of things that we needed to get familiar with, for the war in Vietnam.

      My favorite training was rappelling out of a tower about 40 feet high. Rappelling is when someone throws a rope out of the top floor of the tower; then you are hooked up to the rope in a harness and given a pair of gloves. Next, someone asks you to grab the rope with your hands and then asks you to jump out of the tower. We were taught how to slide down the rope to the ground. I was really feeling good at that time and asked one of my training instructors, if I could get some parachute training and make a couple of jumps out of a plane. He smiled and said no, that it wasn’t part of our training in Vietnam. My Dad was a paratrooper in World War II and I thought it would be nice to follow in his footsteps a little.

      We had some funny moments in training. One time, about 50 of us, went out on patrolling exercises on base. While walking down this road, we came across a puddle of water on the road. All the guys in front of me walked to the left side of the road and up a small hill to bypass the water. I wanted to show all the guys that I didn’t mind getting my boots wet. I walked through the water like I did when I was a little boy and before I knew what happened, I found myself literally up to my neck in water. I was standing on my toes with my rifle above my head, then I turned around to go back but there was one of our dedicated training instructors about 2 feet behind me up to his neck in water, ordering me to go forward. I went forward and fortunately the water wasn’t any deeper

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