SP5 Stephen Denno
4th Transportation Command - 71st Transportation Battalion - 368th Transportation Company
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Local Road Repair Crew 3rd Ord
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Steve Denno & The "Indian"
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368th Motor Pool - Larry Fairless (Mechanic) - Steve Denno (Seated)
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My time with the 60th Ord was short lived (thank goodness); I hate truck driving. I was then sent to the 71st Transportation Battalion, 561st Transportation Company. That only lasted two days, and then I was sent across
the street to the 368th Transportation Company to be a crane operator at the barge site at Newport Terminal. I worked as a crane operator at the barge site for about nine months. From time to time we also loaded out
the retrograde yard.
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Steve Denno - 368th Motor Pool
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Soon after settling in with the 368th, I found two Cat D-7 dozers tucked back in the trees behind the company. I asked the first sergeant what the story was with the two Cats. He told me the company was issued two of
everything, but because our job was working the barge site at Newport, we didn't use them.
Steve Denno - 368th Motor Pool
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Steve Denno & Steve Barnett - Forklift Operator
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Next to the Cat D-7s there was a small maintenance tent. The Sergeant said they try to service all the equipment on site, but the big fixes go to Newport. He told me if I was interested in operating the D-7 to talk with the
mechanic. So between unloading barges and the motor pool, I managed to get in some bulldozer time.
? Bridwell - Larry Fairless - Steve Denno
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Grading Behind The Mess Hall For The Baseball Field
Both D-7s came from a cold climate and had winter fans on them - fans that pull the radiator heat toward the operator, not forward away from the operator.
They were hot.
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Steve Denno - After a hard days work on the ball fields with a winter fan in the dry season.
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Drainage Ditch Around Camp Camelot
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Steve Denno And Our House Maid
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After some bartering with the 277th S&S, I was able to find a summer fan. Installing the summer fan was not an easy job.
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During some down time I walked over the hill to USARV where RMK-BRJ were working. The two Vietnamese dozer operators had no clue how to move mud.
I convinced them to let me show them the trick of buddy dozing.
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L-Steve Denno - R-Foster Dorn
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Lenny Pugh - Steve Denno - Larry Fairless - Foster Dorn
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Lenny Pugh - Larry Fairless - Foster Dorn
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After about 9 1/2 months at the docks and working at Camp Camelot, I was assigned TDY with the reactivated 507th Eng. Company. The 507th helped maintain roads and buildings around South Vietnam. They took
one Cat D-7 from each company of the 71st Transportation Battalion. I was overjoyed to go TDY with them for a while. Operating cranes was so boring. With the 507th we still lived with the 368th. It was like having a
day job, home every night.
Working The Latterite Pits
Latterite was a shale - clay combination that was used as gravel on road surfaces. The pits were outside the confines of Long Binh. We did get shot at a few times.
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Vietnam was the most memorable experience of my life. It allowed me to see how people live with almost nothing. It really opened my eyes to what a great country we live in. You come and go as you please, earn as much
as you want, and sleep at night without gunfire. We truly live in a greatest country in the world. I hope I didn't bore you too much, but I wanted to share my experience with you. To all of the service men and women that
served in Vietnam, I say Thank You, and God Bless Us All - Steve Denno
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Heavy Metal Starring The D-Series Of Dozer - Johnny Cash
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My once in a lifetime experience began when our plane to Vietnam was struck by lightning forcing us to land in Okinawa. After an hour of sitting in the plane on a 110º runway, we switched planes and finished our trip in
Bien Hoa. I was immediately assigned to the 60th Ord Company of the 3rd Ord. I had a crane operators MOS but there were too many operators and not enough cranes. I was given a 5 ton tractor and hauled ammo for
three weeks.
