Boom Boom Alley

When I used to come this way back in "71" it was the gateway to the GI bars. Many "Cowboys" used to hang out in this area to prey on unsuspecting GI's. Many a cheap Timex watch was lifted at this corner and a few Seikos too. One of the Sargents from the 3rd Assault Helicopter Company owned a Boom Boom Bar down here and being from his unit we were allowed credit to be paid back later. Sgt. Hunsicker was airborne qualified like me and we ran into each other back at Ft. Bragg while we were taking the Parachute Refresher Course. We had a good laugh about the great times we had at his place. Coming back this way was like De Ja Vu all over again. No one seemed to know what I was doing here or what was commanding my attention as I strolled the back streets of town. I have a friend Tom Han who now lives in LA that was from Plei Ku and after 1975 he and his family fled Viet Nam along with many ethnic Chinese. I wanted to know where in Plei Ku he lived so I could visit his home and see who lived there now. Probably some party fat cat living on the dole. I spent a wonderful 19th birthday in this town thanks to my buddy John Sheafe from New Mexico. We served together back at Dong Ba Thin and were transferred together up to Plei Ku.
We were way layed in Tuy Hoa for a couple of hours and the XO of the transfer station had a field day with us. Demanding we get our hair cut and clean up. "You look like a couple of hippie bums, my brother in law is up in the 3rd and he'll have your ass if you show up lookin' like that".