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Christmas Dinner 1966
No presents, no Santa Claus, just rain and more rain. Christmas day December 25, 1966. Convoyed from Dong Ho to a site that later became Camp Evan. Spent the afternoon digging in and laying our howitzers. Instead of Santa, we got mortared and the grunts, a ground attack. Then the rains came. Wet powder, swollen ammo boxes and fiber containers. The call for illumination coming from every direction. Then a night move that put us in a river bed. During the night The dry river bed became a river. Morning found my section on an island. Some positions were flooded. Unfortunately the Howtar (mortars mounted on pack howitzer chassis) had been located below us, but no one knew that an earthen dam was there and since water seeks its own level, the battery was completely submerged.
Christmas packages from some schools in California were delivered and soon as they were opened, the stationery and envelopes were soaked. The candy and other goodies were added to our Christmas dinner of Turkey Loaf, Ham and shrapnel, Meatball and beans, crackers and cheese without the benefit of fire to heat anything. HO! HO! Merry Christmas!
Albert Dixon, GySgt, USMC, Ret.
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