Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Americal base at Chu Lai
Episode 3047 – Vietnam Vet Bill Curwick helped close down Chu Lai baseListen to Episode 3047 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Bill Curwick of Marshall, MN. He served with D Company, 26th Engineer Battalion, the Americal Division at Chu Lai, South Vietnam. A story about Bill is featured in this episode. The story appeared in the Independent of Marshall. It was titled The Vietnam War – Bill Curwick – Shutting down Chu Lai and was submitted by Bill Palmer, a writer for the Independent.
Bill Curwick grew up in Marshall, graduated from Marshall High School in 1968, and attended some college before enlisting in the Army and training as a combat engineer. He deployed to Vietnam in November 1970 where the Army assigned him to Company D, 26th Engineer Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division at Chu Lai.
Bill was working to detonate a suspected mine at his platoon’s road construction side when a sniper’s rifle round detonated the mine and Bill’s plastic explosive charge only ten feet away. His uniform and boots were shredded and his helmet was dented from gravel thrown out from the explosion. Bill listed his limited injuries as painfully-embedded gravel in his arms and legs and hearing loss for a couple weeks.
Other members of the unit were not as fortunate when they encountered sniper fire, mines, or booby-traps.
The Vietnam War was often grim business and lots of hard work in lousy living conditions, but it also offered up the occasional, unexpected moments of amazement.
“One day a Huey came out to our worksite and we were stunned to see two Playboy bunnies as passengers. The first question we asked them revealed our priorities of the day, ‘Did you bring any hot food with you?’ They hadn’t, but I’m sure we were able to hide our disappointment because it was pretty amazing to see them in the field. We enjoyed the music they brought and danced with them. They must have gone through through a tube of lipstick before they left because we all had lipstick on our faces.”
Listen to Episode 3047 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Bill Curwick of Marshall, MN.
