I spent the day showing my new SFC around the battalion, explaining that I was getting short. Sgt Phong was told to make sure he got to go out on a couple demo ops, and that I wanted him, Phong, to go with him. I gave him a list of phone numbers, and took him out to the Soc Trang Army Air Field to the 121st AHC and the 336th AHC, the Tigers, the Vikings, the T-Birds, the Warriors that had been so much of my year.

We also went over to Ops, where I made a reservation on Delta Flight 440 for 3 January 1969. I left them a copy of my orders, and told the SFC (whose name I can't remember) that he was the first to know when I was leaving, and that I didn't want the battalion to know.

Don't ask why I wanted to keep them in the dark. Same thing happened in Korea, my guys didn't know until the last moment that I was actually leaving. The Koreans working for Trans Asia were on a sit down, and fussing, and I didn't want anything to happen that could have kept me over. Guess the same thing happened in Vietnam. I was so close, that I was almost afraid to do any thing different for fear it would keep me over.

Well, around 1400 hours, the four of us living in the Engineer Hooch at the MACV Compound decided that the best way to celebrate New Year's Eve was to have genuine egg nog. Only problem was that there was no local store to go to to buy it!

So, we started to put it all together. The only ingredient we had was a full bottle of rum, which we agreed was essential. Well, we had some Vodka and some Kuala, but they weren't what we wanted in our egg nog. Two of us decided to set out on a scrounging mission to see what we could get. The MACV messhall, worse in the military, anytime, anywhere, had no eggs, not even the powdered variety. They had no ice! They had no fresh milk! However, they did give us a couple of gallons of powdered milk, which was a start.

Ron and Roger said they knew a couple of pilots out at the Soc Trang Army Airfield, and they set off about 1430. Mike and I cleaned a large pot we were given by the messhall, and eagerly awaited the arrival of the necessary supplies.

An hour and a half later, Ron and Roger came back, sans everthing except for a bit of nutmeg. The mess halls at the airfield had no eggs! The club at the air field had no eggs!

None of our sources had any eggs!

So, down to the local market we went; and for a handful of pi, we bought two dozen eggs, and a block of ice! Back to the Engineer House, to make our eggnog!

I don't need to tell you about the anticipation abounding was we mixed our libation. It was New Year's Eve, and the next one would not see any of us in Vietnam. Hell, I was scheduled to board that big freedom bird in a short nine days!

And, what a concoction it was. A huge bottle of rum. A couple gallons of milk. Two dozen eggs, bought on the economy. And chilled by a big block of ice, bought on the economy. And a couple pinches of nutmeg and vanilla scrounged from the messhall.

By 1830, all was ready! Invites went out to some of our friends to join us at around 2200 hours to toast in the New Year. And I can tell you no year has ever been as much waited in my lifetime as 1969!

Time passed, and at 2200 hours it was already 1969 on our side of the International Date Line. Another two hours, and I would be going home next week!

There were ten to twelve of us, eagerly waiting to toast the New Year in with homemade egg nog! Then, one of the guys, I think a Navy Doc with the Military Provincial Advisory Team, asked the fatal question. "Where did you get the eggs and ice? I thought the messhall was out!"

We looked at one another, wondering. We weren't supposed to drink the water; but we were MACV, and drank it all the time. Then we discussed whether we should consume raw, Vietnamese eggs! We wondered out loud what kind of bugs could there be inside?

One by one, we each decided not to drink our gorgeous egg nog; me first, because I was going home! At 2230, the concoction, brought about by our bartending skills, our ability to scrounge, and our initiative in finding eggs and ice in the market; went down the drain, untouched by human lips! Not even a taste!

We toasted in the New Year, 1969, with warm White Russians, Fresca, warm Coke, and warm Black Label. But, I didn't care! I was leaving in nine days!

{NOTE: I wrote this two years ago (saint's note: 1/1/97), and this, plus my, "A Special Christmas in Soc Trang;" are what gave me the idea of writing these journals.} Both these documents are on the Viet Nam Veterans Home Page.

Eight, and a wake-up!