Page 75 - Stand Down Vietnam

We often used “sand bombs” during target practice. The
use of actual live bombs caused nearby windows to be
blown out. The sand bombs were less expensive and did
not cause damage to the nearby houses. Each sand bomb
weighed two hundred pounds.

We also had remote-controlled boats that would move
around as targets. At first, we used actual five-

hundred-pound live bombs. But they caused too much
damage and cost us a lot of money; so, we started using
the sand bombs on the boats too. This was my final
assignment.

I was forced to retire at thirty-years because of time
in service. I was credited with thirty years of active
duty and fifteen days of reserve duty. I had forty-
five days leave on the books.

We had a home there in North Carolina. But we wanted to
return to Kentucky, but not eastern Kentucky; there
isn’t much to do in that part of Kentucky. We had
family in Lexington. I went to Lexington and started
looking for a job. I was reading the paper one day,
and I saw an ad for a supervisor at a paper-craft
company. The manager was a former military guy; I got
the job. I worked there for about a year until they
sold the company.

I decided I would start going to Lexington College.
But, two days before starting college, I got a good job
working at a car factory and a glass factory.

It took me about ten years to fully make the transition
to civilian life. I didn’t want to live near a base.
I didn’t drink and all that, so Lexington was the
perfect place to retire.