Tom made me remember sumthin

[Haytrader]

Was reading the turkey cookin thread and came upon Tom's post where he mentioned "a disc you can buy to save yer lawn". This reminded me of my service time in Alaska. I didn't want to ruin the turkey thread so.............. ;D

I was a grunt in Nam and they sent me to Alaska when I got back. Guess they thought I needed coolin off........ ;)
Anyways, we had to go do some things out in the elements and had to set up tents. Some on the frozen area they dozed off and some on the 157" of snow that was outside of Fairbanks in "71". They had these regular gas burnin stoves called "yukes" and the ones in the tents on the snow had these giant cookie sheet lookin peices of iron to put under the legs of these stoves. Even though the legs were close to a foot long, the heat still traveled down and heated the pads which melted the snow letting the whole thing sink and when the end of the stove pipe got close to the tent, we used two ski poles to lift the pad and stove and more snow was shoveled under the pad. First time I saw this I about cracked up. I was really enthused about this little camping trip too........not.    ;)  

Got a story about the tents that were on frozen gravel but don't want to bore ya.

[Tom]

Bore me!  Bore me!  

You should consider putting that story on the Funny Story thread. ;D :D

[Gus]

That is funny haytrader. Don't sound like you had any trouble running outa snow to shovel under the stove. :D :D

[Gus]

And THAT reminds me of the first trip I made up to the logging camp where my Dad and uncle worked. It was in the Arrowhead region of NE Minnesota.
I think I was about 13 or 14. I usually spent the day clearing limbs out of the old mans way or running the tape for him. One day he left me at camp to cut and split firewood for him and my uncle. I was to start a fire before dark in my Uncles shack so it was warm when he got back in.
 These shacks, if I recollect right, were about 8' X 8' or maybe 8 X 10 with an airtight trash burner in them. Now I don't know how many of youse guys are familiar with these stoves but they work real well, just don't hold the heat real good because they are made of tin and cool quickly. Being made of tin they are not very heavy either.
Well, I started a fire in the old uncles shack and went back and banked our stove too. All we had to burn was dead tamrack and spruce and I went outside to finish up what I was doing, clean up the mess and stack wood before it got plumb dark.
After dark I decided to go back to my uncles shack and take a look at the fire. As I rounded the corner around some brush I could see flames coming out the top of the chimney. Looked like the fire was doing fine  ??? I started running toward the shack and as I closed in on it i could here the DanGdest racket coming from inside. I threw open the door and the heat DanG near nocked me over. Musta been 150 degree's in that little shack already.
When I recovered from the surprise of the heat I went inside, the burner was a red- white color, the stack was red nearly to the ceiling and that little stove was dancing around on the floor like it was ready for lift off. Scared the gewillickers out of me.
I think I was 20 years old before I told the old man what happened.

Gus

[redpowerd]

 :D :D :D :D :D :D
that sounds all too familiar, i did the same at the huntin bus.
same senario, only not so extreme. the paint was peelin off the roof of the bus, and the flames out the chimney were lickin up a nearby red pine nature called me to the stove and the fire was under control :D the best part was tellin by buddy what i did in his stove ;D ;D

oh, howd you pick all that stuff up with two ski poles?
i just cant picture it!

[Haytrader]

red,
 
It took four guys. Had to do a little diggin to get the poles under each end of the "cookie sheet" and then lift in unison. The tents were almost round and had a liner like the feild jackets did. It was VERY heavy. Where the stove pipe went through the liner and tent, there was an insulated ring. We layed ponchos on the snow and crawled in sleeping bags with all clothes on. You quickly learned not to drink much as getting up during the night was not yer regular trip to the poddy......... :D  :D  :D

P.S.  I guess we did take off our snow shoes............. ;D

[redpowerd]

ahh, 2 poles APEICE!  :D now i see!
gittin late!

[Bibbyman]

These stories remind me of the third house we lived in when I was a kid.  The first two were built in the mid to late 1800's out of logs and I don't remember them being cold.  But the third was a saltbox frame house on rock pillars.  

Anyway, we had two of those old blue sheet metal stoves to heat the house – the kind you use one winter and then throw away in the spring.  I remember getting up to frozen water.  Not frozen water pipes mind you because we had no running water.  The side of the stove would be glowing orange and the water in the wash pan no more than ten feet away would be frozen solid.  

We'd pile everything we had on the bed to keep warm – even throw rugs from the floor and heavy coats.  I remember waking up to find a light coat of snow on the bed that had sifted around the loose glass in the windows.

Sure made it tough to swing your bare feet out of bed and onto the linoleum.

You know what?  I didn't mind winter back then like I do now.  

[Norm]

Leave it to the military to send a poor guy from heat and humidity to just colder than.... well I guess it's not cold there either. What was your assignment in Nam Haytrader?

When we moved to our first farm the upstairs had two rooms. One was for my sisters and the other where we boys slept. One of the windows had a broken pane in it that was fixed with a piece of cardboard. During the winter when it got cold a glass of water would freeze if you left it. We did like Bibby and would put old coats and anything else we could find for covers. I never realized how poor we were at the time but I sure appreciate a good furnace now. Funny thing is I still sleep with the window open a bit and lots of covers on the bed.

[Haytrader]

SDSaw,    No, we didn't lack for snow to put under the stove. Although we had 157 inches, it does compress, and you could see soot like rings in a tree.

Norm,    I was in the 1st Cavalry, Air Mobile as an infantryman. We got to fly around in DanG hueys and they would sit us down in a new place so we could go for a hike and look for little people who were lookin for us.    ;)

Tom,    If you insist. I figure the reason we got to put up tents with different circumstances, was to teach us both ways. We, and the tents, were hauled to the site in the back of duece and a halfs. (they also had insulated liners and gas stoves like the tents) To hold the tents up in the deep snow, we used extra tent poles and just stuck them approximately four to five feet in the snow. As we layed out the tents on the frozen ground they had cleared, I wondered how in the world we would be able to drive a tent stake in the ground. (I should add that we were in lots of clothing including bunny boots and very big mittens) I grabbed a sledge and was gonna try to drive the stakes. Another guy called me a dumb sunny beach and told me to get a can out of the back of one of the trucks. He instructed me to hold the stake at a slight angle and he poured a small amount of water from the can at the base of the tent stake. It froze immediately. He repeated this till the ice had built up about six inches on the stake and was about eighteen inches in diameter. It didn't take long to erect the tent and get the stove going. This old kid from the country was glad when that was all over.

[Norm]

I used to fly with a gentleman that flew Hueys for the 1st Cavalry. It was hard to get him to talk about his time over there. He mentioned how much respect he had for the grunts that he flew for and how little respect he had for the local soldiers they flew. He was a great guy and taught me more about flying in a month than the previous guy did in six.

Glad to have you home and thanks.

[Tom]

I got a taste of grunt work at Benning and when the time came, had to put up with a warm rack 'cause I joined up with the Navy. :D

While in the States we had some really tough times too. Here is salt-water ice on the lines in Norfolk Virginia and a shot of the parking lot at the D&S Piers (Destroyer and Submarine).


 Then we would "get tired of it  :D" and end up in the BWI's where the locals would dive for coins.  Kinda like being on a cruise. :D :D  "Course the reason for  heading south was the canal and you know why the Eaton would go to the Pacific :-/


Link to USS Eaton DD-510 web page

[DanG]

I don't got no wintertime war stories, 'cause I did the "Southern Tour."  South Louisiana, South Texas, South Alabama, South Vietnam, and back to South Alabama.

Here's a link to my outfit:

www.geocities.com/pentagon/quarters/1517

[Tom]

 :D The navy seemed to know when the weather was the worst and that is when I went. Chicago, Feb 3rd, for instance. :D

Visited your groups site but wasn't able to find much but the guestbook. Left a note.

[DanG]

Thanks for looking, Tom. If you look to the left of the guestbook entrance, there is a dropdown menu. Lots of stuff there.

[Norm]

That's a well done site Dan, sounds like a good tour except for the South Viet Nam part. What was your assignment there?

[Gus]

Nice site Dan,
Thanks for the look!
Gus

[DanG]

I was a Huey pilot. Flew lots of "ass & trash" missions. Did lots of night work, dropping flares for the gunships, and a little "starlight" work. Carried a big searchlight and a .50 cal mounted inside the aircraft to do low-level night patrol. Very effective set-up, but SKEERY!

[Wes]

 I remember using those stoves, they used to catch on fire alot. used to mix gas and diesel for fuel.
  One time during training in graf. the one in my tent caught fire, we just returned from stand two. the stove was red and white hot.one of the guys tried to turn down the regulator and somehow knocked it over,and it erupted into flames. About the same time someone set off a fire extinguisher, what a mess that was to clean up.

DanG,I also enjoyed that site.

 How about a military service related poll??

[Haytrader]

DanG,

When yer gunner pulled the trigger on the 50, did yer ride go sideways?
  :D  :D  :D
Rode many times in a Huey. First trip as a newbie in the middle seat. Pilot couldn't touch down cuz the little people had cut some small trees into big pungy sticks so we had to jump. When the last man went (me) the bird was considerably farther from the ground. I'll never forget that landing.......ha. From then on I rode in the door with my feet hanging out. Was a Marlboro Man but they wouldn't stay lit so went to Swisher Sweets for the ride. Got some nice pics of the tree tops with my boots in the pic.  ;D  ;D

[Patty]

You guys are my heros. 8)

[DanG]

Hay, I always hated the LZ's where we couldn't set down. It's hard to hold a hover with folks bailing out of both sides. ??? Sometimes we'd come back with the next load and have to evac the ones that were injured in the fall from the previous load. :'(  Sounds like you were a quick study. Being first out is usually a safer bet, for several reasons. The guys still inside were sitting ducks until they could get out and into some cover.

Used ta love tree toppin'! ;D We did a lot of it because you're harder to hit down there. Had to do a quick post-flight inspection, sometimes, to check for leaves in the skid shoes. Maintenence Officer and CO didn't like to see that AT ALL!  :D :D

[Haytrader]

DanG,

Roger the quick study, and I didn't have to point my 16 at the floor either where I was sittin.  ;)

In 1970, when we went to Cambodia, I was in the first bird of a 19 bird CA (combat assualt). The birds were in two rows and staggered. I have some pics of this somewhere. As we got to the LZ, I noticed we were going to land in a huge open area next to the tree line. There were several irrigation canals leading into the trees. I didn't like the odds of landing that many birds in the open and with 6 grunts to a bird, that was a lot of targets for the little people. I got the door gunners attention and borrowed his helmet and had a quick chat with the pilot. I had them land along the canal and we quickly unloaded and got in the canal. The water was about waist deep but we were able to get to the cover of the trees Turned out it was not a hot LZ but you never knew. I had a lot of respect for you guys that gave us a ride to work. ;)

[Haytrader]

  ?????????????????????????????
Is this puter playing twix on me?

 :D  :D  :D

[Fla._Deadheader]

Yeah, Haytrader. Them guys that dropped in for dust-offs to get the wounded out, no matter what, or into a hot LZ, coming OR going, will be forever in my heart.