Letters_Elftmann

Dick,

Would you please add my contact information to your database.

First, thanks for the nice work on the The 218th Military Police Company in Vietnam site.

I recently found it and am overjoyed to read information about, and see pictures of the guys and the places that we shared in Cam Rahn Bay and Nha Trang.

I went to Cam Rahn Bay from Bien Hoa, and made my way to Nha Trang, in late 67 thru late 68.

As a rookie in Cam Rahn Bay I remember being put on patrol/s in a really little skiff in Cam Rahn Bay. Looking back on it now am not exactly sure what the hell we could have done even if we did see something out of order. I spent some time at the docks, and in the belly of some cargo ships too. I moved out with the Platoon - (I think it was the night of), that went to Nha Trang for '68 Tet Offensive.

After the Tet madness settled down, I did a little bit of everything in Nha Trang, helped build the kind of funky little wooden armory for the Company, burned some really nasty stuff in barrels, spent a fair amount of time on the roof of - (or laying in the sand on the beach across from), the Duy Tan Hotel roof keeping an eye out for/guarding a bunch of what seemed to be awfully drunk officers/high ranking civilians, guarded some really messed up Vietnamese casualties at the hospital, and eventually wound up working the TAPS - (Traffic Accident Prevention Section), at Camp Mc Dermott for a period too. I initially lost, and eventually won, a lot of money playing poker there too.

I spent a lot of time with Carter Dickey, Teddy White and Ron Bowman among others. Carter "Cool Dick" Dickey was my Pinochle partner during our off hours until he went home. He was a great guy. If my memory serves me right he was Mormon and wouldn't drink any alcohol. The funny thing was, he always seemed as drunk as the rest of us by simply being woozy with happy emotion and sharing fun with the rest of us. I can still remember his friendly demeanor.

When Carter went home Teddy White took his place as my Pinochle partner and we had a lot of fun working and playing cards together. Although I can't remember the date, on the night that Camp McDermott was being shelled - (just as we were really starting to have some fun at one of those famous chicken/steak/beer parties behind the barracks), Teddy & I jumped into a jeep to get to - (not sure where we thought we were going anymore) the front gate/downtown? With Teddy driving pretty fast - (lights off, only "cat eyes" on), we had a terrible head on collision with a deuce and a half. Teddy took the brunt of that and had to have some fairly extensive dental/facial work done. We also had/have some other amazing stories that we could tell too.

Ron Bowman and I also spent a fair amount of time together there too. He was a great guy and we always enjoyed working together.

If I'm not mistaken - (like some others, it seems my memory is fading), I think David Yell was in my Basic and AIT company's together back at Fort Ord and then Fort Gordon before getting to Cam Rahn/Nha Trang. He was in a different barracks building from the one I was in there, but we obviously still saw each other frequently. I think he hung out with other guys that he lived close to back in the World. I enjoyed reading his letter on the site.

I think Rick Ansbro was from Philly and we communicated a couple of times when he got home but haven't done so since then. I still have a pile of the reel to reel music tapes from Nha Trang that we had made somewhere there and used to listen to on the TEAC tape deck in the barracks every chance we got.

I got up close and personal with Captain - (maybe Lieutenant at the time), Blankenship when he called me in on the carpet after receiving a letter from my parents. They were checking to see if I was OK because I hadn't written home since I got there. In plain and simple, but very forceful terms from him I got the message. After that I made sure to send notes home in regularly. My parents never forgot him for that and always appreciated his effort on their behalf.

Well that's enough for now. Like all of us that were there, I have a ton of memories, some terrible and lots of fun ones too obviously. Even though I can't remember all the details from all of the events there, I can definitely remember the close friendships and bonds we all formed while there together so damned far from home.

I'll be back in touch in the not to distant future. I have some photo's that I'd be happy to share if it would help.

I'm not sure what timing looks like for me and the reunion but I sure would like to make it. Even if I can't make it, I'll be there in spirit with all of the guys that do get there.

Thanks for the work/time you put in to this.

Alann Elftmann

I would really appreciate it if you could pass on my contact information to the guys I mentioned above and would be happy to communicate with any of them, or anyone else too, if they request contacting me.