cherokeetimesonline

Posted December 15, 2008 - Murphy, NC

Opinion:

Derrell Maxwell: Focus on the Veteran - The Note

The following account is a true story of an experience I had while serving in Vietnam.
I was assigned to the 412th MMS, 12th TFW at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, South Vietnam, II Corps. I was there from October 1967 till October 1968.
My Air Force specialty was assembling various types of weapons such as bombs, rockets, napalm and other type of munitions. We assembled various munitions to be loaded on the F-4 Phantom fighter bomber; I believe there was a total of forty-five F-4 Phantoms at Cam Ranh Bay. Assembling the bombs and other weapons was a tedious and dangerous job; safety was paramount at all times.
My tour of duty was made up of days of work and boredom, sprinkled with moments of terror when the rockets started hitting the base, especially when I was surrounded by tons of bombs.
As Christmas of “67” grew near I remember receiving a “care package”, a gift from a stranger some where back in the States. My “care package” had some toilet articles and a home made cake. I put the toilet articles to good use and shared the delicious cake with my buddies. There were a few bright spots in Vietnam; the “care package” was certainly one of them.
It rained a lot in Vietnam; that seemed to add to the lonesome feelings and homesickness we all caught, like a virus of some kind. I don’t recall anyone that was immune to homesickness.
One particular bright spot came one night as I was removing the plugs from the tail and nose of some bombs, preparing them to have the fuse booster charges placed in them. As I was removing the plugs I noticed a piece of paper in one of the bomb fuse wells. I thought it strange for a piece of paper to be in the fuse well as there never was anything in them at all, as it should be.
I removed the piece of paper from the fuse well and found it to be a printed work order form used at the munitions factory in McAllister, Okla. The work order form had a hand written note on it. “The Note” said “Who ever find’s this note, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God bless you and all the others.” I shared “The Note” with all my buddies, and we wondered who the nice lady was that sent “The Note”.
I have always marveled at the odds of me finding “The Note”; of all the bombs sent to Vietnam, I am the lucky Airman that discovered it that Christmas Season so many years ago.
I have never forgotten finding “The Note” in that bomb, nor will I ever forget that Christmas half way around the world.
I know how our service men and women must feel as they open their “Care Packages” for Christmas this year. Maybe one of them will find a cheerful note from a thoughtful citizen as I did back in 1967.

Derrell Maxwell is a Vietnam Veteran 1967-1968.