PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
The following Reflection represents SP4 Eugene Dawson’s legacy of their military service from 1966 to 1968. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life.
List the names of old friends you served with, at which locations, and recount what you remember most about them?:
Richard Henry and I connected during induction to basic training at Fort Polk, LA, in February 1966. During our first recreational break, we headed directly to the recreational center and checked out guitars and amps. We hit it off right away. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitar guy, and I was the lead guitar guy and backup singer.
We were both assigned the same MOS, transferred to the same locations in California and Maryland, assigned to the same unit, 81st Quartermaster Platoon, and deployed to Vietnam together.
One night at the base camp at Tay Ninh, Vietnam, in 1967, we were invited to perform at a base recreational event for the pay of free food and beer. Beer was a rare treat at a place like Tay Ninh. We played and sang everything we knew, from The Beatles, Beach Boys, Turtles, Hang On Sloopy, etc. At the end of the evening, we floated back to our quarters with smiles on our faces, knowing that we left smiles on our faces at the event.
This was a special occasion not too long before the 1968 TET offensive, after which there were no such events.
We both made it home and remain friends to this day, over 50 years later. We still play and record music together. We both met our future wives at the same time in Washington, DC and have been married to our wives for over 50 years.
I’d call that a band of brothers!
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