Vietnam War: Another Day at the O'Club

[@WilliamSWhorton]

DOUBLE WOW!!! I love this video. It brings back so many memories of old times in Thailand and Vietnam. Wonderful stories from the old-timers who were part of that history. Thank you Paul for your artistic presention of a world long-gone but alive in the hearts and minds of those of us still living who lived within it.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@WilliamSWhorton Capt. Whorton, Warrior and Renaissance man, a double thank you for all the stories you are making available to we the rapt audience!

[@johnmullis1156]

Love the content,i am 60 so i saw the war on TV and remember when my dad got back from SEA.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@johnmullis1156 John, my channel is uniquely storytelling, and I appreciate you watching and commenting. Here is a full list of my videos and I hope you find more you enjoy. www.youtube.com/@CarterOnConflict/videos

[@christiancork3912]

Lovely stories, thank you!

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@christiancork3912 Christian, I am glad you enjoyed and appreciate you watching. I hope you enjoy other of my videos.

[@leebagdon6922]

Thank you Paul for another great video You keep hitting home runs Nice to hear about where I am currently living

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@leebagdon6922 yes, hometown :-) thank you again Lee.

[@alexkalish8288]

That brings back some memories - I was in the officers club half a dozens times, you nailed it.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@alexkalish8288 love to hear your alls old stories. Thanks for watching and commenting ting.

[@DougPoulton]

I worked as a civilian DoD contractor in Da Nang, Saigon, and numerous other lovely spots from 1970 to 1972. I was enlisted Navy prior to returning as a civilian but as a civilian I was given the equivalent rank of Major so I had access to the BOQ and the Officer's Club. I can attest to the fact that officers got down in the mud just as bad as an 18 year old enlisted private. It must have been difficult for officers to wear two hats, one when they interacted officially with the enlisted and then later in the club when the animal in them came out. With Navy pilots being the worst, no wonder all the "O" Clubs were shuttered after "tail hook".

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@DougPoulton ha, thanks for sharing Doug. I wish I could have seen that era. I appreciate you sharing and commenting.

[@gilmueller4803]

Another slice of life that I know first hand. Thanks for posting and bringing memories. I'll send you an email.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@gilmueller4803 thank you Gil :-)

[@calvinatwood5376]

Dr. Carter, Another great video. Really enjoy your work. I knew a few people you mentioned in earlier works from my "cloudy" years in Bangkok. I was honored to know them. Been living in Thailand 37 years. Met my Thai Lao wife 32 years ago and we have 2 sons that are still in Thailand. we are retired in Phitsanulok. Look forward to your next video. Buddy Atwood

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@calvinatwood5376 Buddy, thank you! Beautiful country over there, I drive through on my way from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen. My, we falang are everywhere. Buddy….maybe you have sone stories you would like to tell? I am serious. On camera or off….let me know….oh, call me Paul, please.

[@calvinatwood5376]

@@CarterOnConflict Hi Paul. Had a house full here with the grandson and finally got quiet. Not sure how I could contribute. I'm not a vet but have been here since '85 and endured challenges. Socialized with good people when in Bangkok. My 2 sons are 27 and 29yo and having hell making a living here. The oldest has married into a business that opened in '65 making uniforms. It needs upgrading but the grandfather put it on hold. My youngest was offered a lucrative deal and may go to LA. Tired of losing money he works for and fighting the obstacles. Maybe we can get together for a coffee. Wifes birthday today. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@calvinatwood5376 Calvin. I look forward to that coffee. As you well know, times are quite tough in Thailand. Young people are having a harder time getting ahead. LA may be a good option.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@calvinatwood5376 yes, I understand. Well, I hope to have coffee with you anyway! Thank you sir.

[@GeneHamner]

Great video.. Once again, thanks to your digging down deep to get to the bottom to stay on top. (and to the stories by Karl). Gene Hamner Raven 12

[@CarterOnConflict]

Gene, thank you for watching.

[@jeffbangkok]

A fun start to my morning. Our nephew lives at Nong Khai but we haven't had many chances to explore yet.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@jeffbangkok good Jeff! Listen, there is a blast on the waterfront there during “Awk Phansa” in October. Some call it the Naga festival. You can light those lanterns and all kinds of benign craziness in Nong Khai. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@Rebel-Rouser]

Man, I'm currently reading Mr. Polifka's book "Meeting steve canyon"... This was a wonderful video. Your's are the best sir.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@Rebel-Rouser I always enjoy seeing your comments. You are such a dependable viewer, I am honored you enjoy my videos. Yes, his book is quite good!

[@badgerbusiness9059]

This shit is what drove me to Rhodesia in 68'-70'. Crippled Eagles and Bright Lighter's, sheep dipped from Green Beret to CIA...but I digress cause that was another lifetime ago. Thanks for the memories.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@badgerbusiness9059 oh man, ha. You’ve lived several lifetimes! Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for commenting.

[@badgerbusiness9059]

@@CarterOnConflict Brother, you don't know the half of it, lol. The best of times...and the worst of times.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@badgerbusiness9059 ha ha ha. Would make a sordid novel? A story that sounds fascinating!

[@donaldplagge9675]

The Udorn NCO Club in '68 and '69 was too small for all , so E-4 sergeants had to patronize the EM Club. That EM club had two regular Thai waitresses that were very good looking Thai girls. One was a little taller than normal, and the other had a darker complexion than most Thais. I cannot remember their names, but I do remember they both were soon to be married to USAF officers! Behind the bar was a big sign with the names of all then drinks available and the prices. I made it to the Salty Dog, before I stopped tasting (it took more than a week) and settled with those if not beer. My New York buddy, Joe Ferrara, from Jolly Green Ops., drank the same. Nam Pong is the name we called the Marines 10,000foot runway to the South, The Rose Garden song came out about then, and Nam Pong was the Marines original "Rose Garden" . I have heard the Marines have had a lot of "Rose Gardens" since then.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@donaldplagge9675 ah, Nam Pong, yes, thanks for attaching a name to the location Karl mentions. You share great stories here. History. Good stuff. Thank you for watching and sharing.

[@shanghaiyancey]

Thank you for sharing those great stories. I have watched a number of videos on KZbin where the bars and women of Khorat and Udorn Thani are featured. I live in the area, and I can say that although the clothing and hair styles have changed, the NE Thailand Esarn faces remain the same......

[@CarterOnConflict]

Thank you for sharing :-) well said sir.

[@lllordllloyd]

I suppose all wars have these stories, but you could read a thousand history books and never hear them. Graham Greene communicated a sense of it in his novels. But nothing beats a presentation like this and I am extremely grateful to you and to those interviewed. I spend time wondering the extent to which the entertainment industry, and its inevitable partner the sex and drugs industry, undermined US authority in Vietnam. At Dien Bien Phu in May I met a young lady, an ardent Vietnamese nationalist and socialist, paying her respects to the dead. I can only imagine what those like her, a generation or two earlier, would have thought seeing a foreign power turn Saigon into a city whose main industry was providing 'entertainments' for tens of thousands of young soldiers. A few Vietnamese got wealthy (and I suppose many escaped in 1975 to keep fighting the war in print), but most must have been incredibly saddened. Even today, whilst Vietnam maintains an image and culture of modesty, it is far more so in Hanoi than Ho Chi Minh City. My fiancee is Vietnamese and sadly the wartime stereotypes are still something I hear all the time. Sure, tongue-in-cheek to some extent, but there is no other stereotype, proving how persistent is this cultural 'collatoral damage' of the war. You handle these issues with senitivity and frankness, Dr Carter.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@lllordllloyd there are a few solid subscribers whose comments I always look forward to - and you are one Lloyd. I had never really pondered it, but I can’t imagine that the sex and drugs didn’t harm our efforts. It had to. Thanks for sharing your personal experiences here - they are salient. Now, I agree, these stories are relevant, they are real, and it provides some context for a life many lived. Lloyd…I’m sure you do, but please share the video with as many as you can. Thank you sir for your thoughtful comments.

[@winaiwongsurawat7080]

Enjoyed the part about fighter pilots needing to be sober. Pulling multiple g's is hard enough without a hangover!

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@winaiwongsurawat7080 ha ha ha, you can’t make this stuff up doctor. And we wonder why we lost the war? Thank you he watching and commenting.

[@SM68Pete]

I'm heading to Thailand in a couple of months..Udon worth stopping by? Big student of the V War glad you showed up in my feed.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@SM68Pete honestly, not much to see there. I probably wouldn’t visit unless you see something from, say, trip advisor that fancies you. I have been there several times, but of course I live in Thailand.

[@billpook1272]

Well the "O" Club was beyond my level as a 19 year old E-3

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@billpook1272 lol, I was enlisted too for 8 years before the Benning School for Boys (OCS). Thanks for watching and commenting Bill.

[@tommcclelland119]

Listening to Karl makes me thankful that I was not an Officer!!! The frogs story was hilarious.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@tommcclelland119 Tom, what’s funny is that I hit “publish” accidentally, and I guess a few people got the email, I turned it back to “private” after a few seconds. It is scheduled for weekend release :-) you got an early preview, ha ha. I’m glad you enjoyed, and appreciate you watching and commenting.

[@tommcclelland119]

@@CarterOnConflict looking forward to the next video. Thanks Paul.

[@andersfant4997]

A Sidebar. Candy Xuan at 3.20 performed until 2010 (?) in clubs in Saigon, in the video she looks a bit like a young Mama Noi from Copa/Check in 99 in Bangkok- who actually "met" Bob Hope in the 60s, but that is whole different story. Great, culturally interesting.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@andersfant4997 Anders!!! You are a wealth of info. Wow…thanks for sharing that. I would like to hear the whole different story sometime ;-)

[@andersfant4997]

@@CarterOnConflict Check in 99 was a favourite in Bangkok, located on Suk opposite the Landmark, sadly they closed down in 2016. I probably dropped by each night I was in town.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@andersfant4997 you know I got here in 2014 living in the Asoke area. I know I’ve been there, the name is so familiar, but mentally I can’t place it. It will come to me.

[@andersfant4997]

@@CarterOnConflict Tight Filipina girl band-its on You tube-, allegedly fine kitchen (never tried it), a bar with a mixture of tourists, writers and old Asia hands. An ex 🇹🇭miltary was head of security, friendly and mature waitresses who actually "did go", which few guests realized. Mama Noi didnt do much in the end, but she had her special chair next to the entrence, I last saw her the day before she died and I sensed something was wrong. Very much Bangkok pre-gentrification.., before rising property values closed down a lot of venues, Cheap Charlies was another example.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@andersfant4997 I’ll check it out on KZbin, that might jog my memory!!! Thanks for this. I do remember Charlie’s.

[@crispusattucks4007]

IYKYK 😂

[@jackstovall4739]

I'm from Lawton. LHS 67" You go to Central?

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@jackstovall4739 Jack….this is not me, it is someone else’s account. I read this account in some papers (personal accounts of young guys coming to the war) and I simply narrated it, I thought it was touching. Maybe I should have made that clear, but it’s not me. I have been to Lawton, I actually love Oklahoma..

[@anthonycheaford1962]

I knew the US aircrews partied hard but hearing that F-16 (or F-4?) pilots were crashing planes & killing themselves (14:00) due to hangovers is breath-taking. On a lighter note, I'd be very interested in any similar reviews of activities in Angeles / Clark air base a that time. A friend said he ran a go-go bar there in the latter years of the War after he was medically discharged following a hard practice parachute landing in Vietnam (some time after May 1969, after he'd fought on Hill 937). He had some funny brothel stories from Angeles, one involving a woman sat in a wicker chair suspended from the ceiling, with a hole cut in the bottom; he said he used to keep getting kicked in the face as he lay underneath & it was spun around.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@anthonycheaford1962 ha ha, apparently Clark/Angeles was wild indeed, and I think that era, those stories, would be interesting indeed. Yes, I was shocked about pilots killing themselves too due to drunkenness/hangovers. Crazy. Love the basket story :-) hey, I accidentally hit “release” on this video and then turned it off. Didn’t mean too. You’ll get another notification but you’ll have already seen (but watch again :-). Thank you Anthony.

[@anthonycheaford1962]

@@CarterOnConflict I spent a few months travelling in the Philippines in 1994 & bumped into a couple of veterans in out of the-way-places. One a US Vietnam veteran living in a indigenous fishing village, the other a very old German tucked away in the jungle who didn't say but I got the impression had served with the French in Vietnam. The old German was protected by a pistol packing priest who told me he shot 'naughty monkeys', monkeys being hairy foreigners! I saw a lot else there too - a truly wild place, even to this day I bet. Would love to see you report on it Paul

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@anthonycheaford1962 well where specifically is it Anthony? You know what amazes me is vets who go to these far flung places. In Afghanistan we ran into Russians in remote villages who had stayed behind. In northern Thailand when the Chinese put a BN in during the 1960s, at least one stayed behind and married a Hmong. Always good to hear from you.

[@anthonycheaford1962]

@@CarterOnConflict Glad you got to see my reply - I thought it'd been deleted. The old German (probably dead now) was in Romblon province. The American veteran may still be alive & enjoying his solitude so I won't disturb it here! There was a Russian stay-behind in Afghanistan still there in 2000s (interviewed for tv) who'd been recovered unconscious from the battlefield & afforded Pashtunwali he said. Have you heard of Manchester's stay-behind German Bert Trautmann? There's a good movie about his life, worth watching I think.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@anthonycheaford1962 ha, I have not heard of the German stay behind! Thank you Anthony.

[@scallopohare9431]

Hmm. So many videos give the impression there was a bunch of eunuchs serving in Vietnam. Of course, that was not the case. I was a woman serving at Osan AB, RoK, in 1977 & 1978. Lots of carry over from Vietnam. Most first term enlisted women got off duty, and hid in the barracks. Not me.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@scallopohare9431 I spent 21 years in the Army (9 in airborne units) and I led many fine female airborne soldiers. They were as good as the men, some were better. Few of my viewers are female so good to hear from you. Thanks for sharing!

[@kelkilkat]

Flying multi million dollar jets, why were pilots allowed to drink at all? That's just crazy

[@Redwhiteblue-gr5em]

Because that was the way for them to cope with stress and fear of death when they went on dangerous missions almost on a daily basis. Pretty sure if they were falling down drunk they would be grounded for “medical reasons”.

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@kelkilkat I was surprised to hear this. Thank you for watching and commenting, and hope you find other videos you like.

[@ukraine7249]

You got giwl fwiend in Vietnam? Me so horni

[@CarterOnConflict]

@@ukraine7249 lol

[@bryansammis998]

🤣😂😅