| Page 24 Harvey Arnold's Page The photos below were sent to me from Harvey Arnold. Harvey was one of the original members of the 551st Transportation Company arriving in Cam Rahn Bay in 1966. A few months later, the 551st was sent to Long Bien and assigned to the 71st Transportation Battalion to help with the operation of the newly-constructed terminal called Newport. Here is Harvey's story. *********************** My name is Harvey Arnold, and I served with the 551st Transportation Company from September 1966 until September 1967. The decision that allowed our paths to cross was made on January 25th, 1965 when I quit high school at the age of seventeen and joined the Army. My first duty station was in Schwabach, Germany where I served with D Battery, 4th Missile, 57th Artillery. One morning we fell out for company formation and the first sergeant called out several names (Claude Wheeler, Steve Wiggington, Donald Zink, Chuck Hayden, and Harvey Arnold) and then announced, "you men are going to Vietnam." After a short leave, we reported to Fort Eustis, Virginia where we underwent training to be certified as stevedores. |
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| Barber And Arnold In Base Camp At Cam Rahn Bay Our Pet Dog At Cam Rahn Base Camp |
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| On September 7th, 1966, our unit arrived in Cam Rahn Bay where we immediately set about building our base camp. If my memory is accurate, we worked on building our base camp for over a month before reporting to the docks to start unloading ships. |
| Visiting Another Unit In Cam Rahn Bay Reading A Letter From Home In Cam Rahn |
| Shortly before we received our orders to move to Long Binh, one of the members came down with the Bubonic Plague and our base camp was bulldozed into a ravine. I don't know if that had anything to do with us moving to Long Binh or not, but shortly thereafter, the 551st moved to Long Binh (Camp Camelot), where we soon started working the docks at Newport. |
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| Base Camp (Camp Camelot) During The Monsoon Season - Very Early Photo Of Camp Camelot |
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| Communicating With The Bunkers Posting The Perimeter Guard |
| I was promoted to sergeant in April or May of 67 and 1st Lieutenant Richard Ill immediately sent me to serve as the sergeant of the guard for the 71st Transportation Battalion's perimeter guard unit. The guard platoon was made up of a quota of men from each of the other surrounding companies of the 71st Transportation Battalion. Lieutenant Black was the OIC of the battalion guard and I answered directly to him. I really didn't have any interaction with the members of the 551st after I assumed the duties with the perimeter guard. I was, however, sent to Newport occasionally to post the guards there, but my primary guard responsibility was the perimeter for the 551st at Camp Camelot. I rotated back to the United States, or "The World" as we used to say, on September 7th, 1967 and I served my last three months in the Army at Fort Bliss, Texas. |
| Me In The Guard Tent |
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| Sgt Arnold, Inspecting Officer, And The Perimeter Guard Platoon At Camp Camelot |
| Building The Guard Bunkers Around The Outer Perimeter Of Camelot During The Monsoon Season |
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| Me With Some Of The Children In Bien Hoa The Faces Of Poverty In Bien Hoa |
| Some Photos I took On One Of My Visits To Bien Hoa |
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| Another View Of Bien Hoa - The Land That Time Forgot |
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| A Few Recent Photos |
| Me At The Vietnam Memorial In 1985 |
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| My Wife And Daughter At The Wall In 1985 |
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| From High School Dropout To Ph.D. - Vietnam Changed My Life Forever |
| It's great to have some contact with my buddies again. You are, and always will be, the finest men I have ever had the privilege and honor to know and serve my country with. Harvey E. Arnold |
| March 1967 - The Move South To Long Bien And Camp Camelot |
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| The Freedom Bird Home Rice Paddy Along Bear Cat Road |
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| First Lieutenant Harvey Arnold - USMC - 1974 - 1976 |
| Full Speed Ahead |
| Reflections - Diana Ross & Supremes - 1967 |