Stanfill's 8thRRFS

You've heard of Motel 6. Well, this was one of the luxurious accommodations at Hotel 180. Notice that the intercept bunker was well protected with sandbags (gotta protect that radio eqmt), but the only sandbags here were to keep the metal pieces of the roof in place. This shot was taken from the intercept bunker looking SE with the ammo dump, 8thRRFS and Phu Bai Combat Base in the background. It was quite a light show when Apaches [ Cobras? ] would work the area between Hill 180 and the 8th at nighttime when there was some indication of VC activity, although I never quite liked the feeling it gave me in my stomach.

Some believed the wood and metal hootch pictured here could possibly attract a grenade or mortar attack, so it was used mostly for sleeping during the daytime.

At night, some preferred this alternative accommodation at Hill 180; a rain poncho, claymores, and a warm M60. Thinking back now, this almost seems like real soldiering.

Naaahhhh!

And who could forget the lovely Trai Bac Inn, otherwise known as the snack bar at the 8th. Here, you could order two sliced weiners, grilled on two pieces of white toast and an orange soda for less than a dollar, all prepared by Chef Papa-san. Bon Appetit! (Pictured here are Roger Shea and Bob Kies of the Rough & Ready Squad).

Sunset at Da Nang. One of our weekend trips to see Colonel Kies, my buddy's dad, for some unofficial R&R. Civilian clothes (spies incognito), lunch at the Officer's Club with the Colonel, and some serious bar hopping. Seemed like such a nice place if there just wasn't a war going on at the time.

We had arrived at the 8th RRFS just before Christmas, 1971, and surprise, surprise, we went to see the Bob Hope Show at Camp Eagle, courtesy of the 101st Airborne Division, the first week I was there. That's me and Roger Shea, just above the, "da." Yes, the sign was ours, it did make it on TV, and we are still married to those gals some thirty years later. "Thanks for the Memories," Bob.

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