Let me introduce myself: I am a new member. My name is Dennis Byrne. I’m a Naha vet circa 1967-1969, with the 374th FMS electric shop(a spark chaser) ...ha ha. I pulled my share of TDY’s to CRB. First one during the Tet offensive. Lot’s of stories about that but not now. Your question about Herkey hill. I was one of “the slave labor team” that moved all the “maintenance guys “ from the 12th TFW area hootches to the new 2 story barracks. We worked from dawn to dusk for several days during August 1968. Lugging 150 lb locker in and out, up and down stairs. Talk about bloody hands, sore backs, and I’ll tempers. No Vietnamese help. Strictly GI labor. We also moved all the beds/mattresses/furniture. But the lockers were the worst.
Later, to add insult to injury, I was ordered to pull the very first dorm guard that night. Now remember where the Hercules barracks were!! Adjacent to the beach which had very, very fine sand. The barracks walls were lined with screens to allow for ventilation because no fans in building. Early the next morning the guys started waking up. That’s when the screaming started. The guy’s yelling that they can’t see or hear!! Seems that the sand blew through the screen and settling in the eye sockets or ears. What a cluster f...k!! It was like a Chinese fire drill!! Ha ha. Our temporary fix was to go to the hangars and remove the plastic coverings on the new T56 engines that were in supply. We took the plastic and nailed it to the inside walls to keep the sand out. Talk about bad planning by CE or Sea Bee builders. My TDY was cut short and not sure what the permanent fix was!! War is hell!!
