Document pBd7b4j6kQoLRVJJ1Gge7nrjB

COPIHIJ FROM THE OJELEtTlONS IN THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN HISTOli THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Vol. 10, No. 18 ESSO DALLAS GOES TO VIETNAM By AB BILL E. TYRA Suddenly we found ourselves in the midst of the war. We had just crossed the "bonus boundary" and were near the coast of Vietnam. A scant 2 weeks be fore, when the Esso Dallas was 2 days away from Bahrain, orders were received to load a cargo of diesel and jet fuel for Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam. Because of an anticipated large-scale offensive by North Vietnam, similar to their "Tet" offensive earlier this year, we were hoping for a change of orders to Japan or other relatively safe port. When this change never came, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we were bound for Vietnam and jokingly reassured one another there was no real danger. Arriving early next morning at the entrance to Cam Ranh Bay, Captain Sebastian J. Masuzzo requested the services of a pilot but when none was available, he skillfully piloted the Dallas to the anchorage area. Just as the ship was safely in the inner harbor pre paring to anchor, we received a message from MSTS via radiotelephone -- PROCEED AT ONCE TO DA NANG VIETNAM TO DISCHARGE FULL CARGO. In what has to be the fastest port turnaround in Esso's history, Captain Masuzzo executed a sharp 180 turn and went out the way we came in. Cam Ranh is a beautiful harbor, with modern port facilities built since the United States intervention in Vietnam. Everything here looked peaceful and serene, except for 3 or 4 armed patrol boats and some Navy frogmen. The frogmen (skindivers) were bobbing up and down around a Shell Oil Co. tanker, apparently looking for mines or explosives that may have been attached to the ship's hull by Viet Cong. Departing Cam Ranh Bay only minutes after arrival, we proceeded out into open water and followed the coastline (about 250 miles) toward Da Nang. During the daytime we could hear the heavy whomp, whomp sounds supposedly from heavy artillery and big bombs. At night we could see flashes of light -- like lightning -- as the sky lit in reds and yellows from the shelling and bombing. Muted, muffled explosions were heard as we were now further out from shore. September 26, 1968 We passed several destroyers on their stations in a picket line, and a number of Vietnamese "fishing" boats. There didn't appear to be much activity at sea but occasionally one of the destroyers would signal us by semaphore, wanting to know the ship's name and destination. Now that we could see and hear the sights and sounds of shellfire and bomb bursts, a pathetic and apathetic mood encompassed the ship. This mood was alleviated to some extent by a message from the Com pany (with the loading orders) advising us to "stay loose." The oft-repeated phrase soon became the by word aboard ship as loose we stayed. Captain Masuzzo, desiring a daylight arrival of the Dallas at Da Nang, deliberately delayed her. The arrival was timed for early next morning (8/19/68) and once again, without the services of a pilot, Cap tain Masuzzo carefully maneuvered his ship into a strange harbor, relying solely on his judgment and experience in ship handling. At first, when we got this last-minute change of orders to proceed to Da Nang, we thought it was just a "snafu" and we found ourselves frequently using the French phrase, c'est la guerre (it's the war). But as we eased into Da Nang Harbor, we could see a still-burning and smoldering tank containing jet fuel that had been set afire 2 nights before. This, perhaps, was the reason we were diverted to Da Nang. Finally, a native pilot came aboard and guided us to an off-shore mooring where the ship was made fast. Hoses were connected and we began pumping the diesel and jet fuels into shore tanks. As expected, discharging was quite slow, giving us several days in a safe sanctuary to watch the "fireworks." We were even granted shore leave to Da Nang City in spite of it being off limits to military personnel. Da Nang is a typical Asian city with narrow streets, throngs of people, awful smells, bazaars, bistros and street vendors who deal mostly in black market mer chandise. Some of the better bazaars have what ap pear to be legitimately imported and domestic goods and produce. As for the sightseeing I would say that it's all very interesting and educational but not very entertaining. It's not much fun to tour a town that's tattered and Captain Masuzzo pilots the Esso Dallas into Cam Ranh, South Vietnam -- then puts her hard right (note wake] after receiving orders to proceed to Da Nang. Hi - iZhsifcs'<s it i !! m: EXX-MOR-007164 Photos by Bill Tyro torn, where each street bristles with barbed wire and sandbag emplacements and the people are indifferent to what is transpiring around them. But it's not neces sary to go ashore for entertainment. Each night you are treated to a fireworks display like you've never seen before -- even on the 4th of July. Most of the action around Da Nang occurs at night because that is when the Viet Cong are most active. In an effort to spot any Viet Cong, hundreds of flares are expended nightly. One hill that commanded the highest view of the harbor area was under attack almost every night. We were able to see the arcs made from the tracers of machine guns and the flashes of rockets and artillery. And nightly a light cruiser would come into the harbor and fire sporadically to ward the DMZ. Each time she fired we would watch the muzzle blast and count the seconds until the sound reached us. In the daytime we watched as America's air might peppered and pounded the hills and valleys around us, the big bombers going up to lay their "eggs" near the DMZ. The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is a strip of ::r1* ..a esso M *- : '' Two views of downtown Da Nana. I- - . .. . . . . yc'y n U". T ____ ; - V. : _ -' V"'- A quartet of helicopters (left) carry wounded Gls to the hospital ship Repose (above) in Da Nang Harbor. FWT William Katros and OS DeForest Marshall in front of a sand-bagged defense post in a tree-lined residential area of Da Nang. land about 6 miles wide that separates North and South Vietnam. And there was the familiar chatter of 'copters on their missions of mercy and mayhem. One day we watched a team of these whirley birds retrieve a drone (small remote-controlled airplane used in photo reconnaissance missions) from the air as it dangled from a parachute. And every day we could see the medical evacuation or "dustoff" choppers deposit wounded Gls on one of the hospital ships. Da Nang Airstrip (allegedly the world's busiest air port) was hit twice by Viet Cong rocket attacks while we were there. In an attack early on the morning of Aug. 23, the airstrip, city and tank farm were hit and we had to shut down because the shore line we were discharging through was hit and required the replace ment of 4 sections of pipe. At 8 a.m. the same morn ing Da Nang went on a 24-hour curfew, ending our shore leave as no one was allowed on the streets. The same morning an American patrol boat made a circle around the Dallas and tossed grenades to dis courage any Viet Cong frogmen from trying to attach explosives to our hull. Not having storage space ashore, or perhaps because of damaged facilities, we shifted the ship over to an MSTS T2 tanker, the Schuylkill. We pumped the re maining cargo into her and departed about 10:30, Aug. 24, for Singapore and the Persian Gulf. As we left Vietnam anc! the war behind, the somber mood of the Dallas' crewmen vanished -- and once again we had a "happy" ship. ESSO FLEET NEWS is published for the seagoing em ployees of the Marine Department, Humble Oil & Refining Co.: T. J. Fuson. General Manager: Sydney Wire. Assistant General Manager. W. E. Gardner. Editor Contributions and suggestions are invited and should be addressed to The Editor. Esso Fleet News. Humble Oil & Refining Co., P. 0. Box 1512, Houston, Texas 77001. C u t^-- 5 J7'U2U1J >2* f* EXX-MOR-007165 COPIF/J FitOM THE COLLECTIONS IN THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN H1STOK' THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT a h s t im Teagle Scholarships Awarded College scholarships for the academic year be ginning Sept. 1968 have been granted by the Teagle Foundation to: John E. Kelley, son of John F. Kelley. First Asst. Engr. in the Esso Scranton, to attend Tulane University, and Paul W. Lewis, Jr., son of New York Branch tug captain Paul W. Lewis. Sr., enrolled at Cor nell University. WORDS OF THE WISE The man who thinks his wife is smarter than he. is married to a smart woman.-- AB Carl Vella The way to gain a good reputation is to en deavor to be what you desire to appear. -- Socrates 20 Years' Service Paul P. Raicius Hull Inspector July 16, 1968 Edmund H. Smith Repair Inspector September 13, 1968 Six Ships Sailing Offshore Maybe, if the Esso Gettysburg shaves a little time off her schedule and the Esso New York doesn't, there could be some salty versions of "Imagine meeting you here: small world, isn't it.'' in Chimu Wan. Okinawa. Both ships are on their way there, the Gettysburg due about Oct. 9 and the New York about Oct. 6. Esso Lima loaded at Baton Rouge for Pearl Har bor but before she sailed Sept. 1 7. the orders were changed to San Francisco and Stockton. Calif. -- so the lads won't need their grass skirts this time. Esso Dallas was to arrive at Yokosuka. Japan. Sept. 26 (from Ras Tanura). completing her 5month charter to MSTS with that cargo. She should be heading homeward now with all hands anticipating Thanksgiving. Christmas and NewYear's Day ashore. Our other 2 offshore voyagers are the perennial long rangers Esso Scranton. homeward bound (Tampa. Oct. 14) from Chittagong. East Pakistan and the Esso Seattle, outward bound from Port Arthur to Yokosuka. The reason for this unusual offshore activity was a dovetailing of a long position in our coast wise trade and MSTS requirements for tonnage. Individual Safety Awards Being Sent To Esso Jamestown Men As a result of the Esso Jamestown's 1 million man-hours without a reportable lost-time accident, achieved between Jan. 30, 1965 and June 2, 1968, individual safety awards are available to every man who sailed in the ship during this period. A. pamphlet illustrating and describing 24 award items has been mailed to each of the 430 eligible men, along with a post card on which to indicate the choice of award. The post cards are pre-addressed to M. Sickles & Sons, 1260 E. Mer maid Lane. Philadelphia, Pa. 19118. This concern will ship the awards and guarantee safe arrival in proper condition. They have also agreed to settle complaints or problems to the satisfaction of each employee who contacts them directly in such regard. The 24 items in the safety awards pamphlet are as follows: 24-cup coffee urn Insulated pitcher and mugs in holder Staple gun kit Folding step stool Rechargeable portable lantern % " electric drill Hedge and pruning shears Elec, can opener and knife sharpener 3-piece sauce pan set Elec, jig saw Air temp.-pressure- humidity combination Elec, blender Hair dryer & case Kodak Instamatic camera kit Portable radio Portable food mixer Fishing tackle box Fishing rod and reel 50-piece set stainless tableware Elec, deep fryer Elec, sander Chrome Binmaster Teflon steam and dry iron Barbecue grill This picture of J. H. HAYS (AB, ret. Aug. 1) arrived too late for his retirement write-up in the Aug. 29 issue. J. H. says he is operating a 400-acre dairy farm in Pelican, La. and "milking 43 head of dairy cows." That's what he's doing here (no Roscoe, NOT milking their heads) with an electric milker and a bottle of beer for a chaser. We feel sure the cows mean no disrespect by their position to the photographer. -1 %$i ll: p -r- EXX-MOR-007166 RECENT RETIREMENTSTMTM* Chief Engineer John Danko, who retired Sept. 1 with 28 years' serv ice, hasn't decided yet where he and his wife, Mary Louise and daughter, Karen, 13, will live. They have 3 choices, at least, in addition to their present home in Baltimore. John owns 23 acres (and 10,000 pine trees) near Man chester, Md., a home and 33 acres in Washington, N.J. and 5 acres near Pittsburgh. r Beginning in the Fleet as FWT on May 30, 1939, Mr. Danko had wartime service as Electrician in the Esso Houston (torpedoed on May 12, 1942) and Esso Bolivar, and in the Esso Baytown as Third and Second Asst. After his first Chief's berth in the Esso Char lotte, Dec. 7, 1948, he sailed as First Asst., relieving Chief and, since 1964, Chief Engineer. "It's been a pleasure working for the Company," John said, "met a lot of fine men and made a lot of good friends. Good sailing to all of them." Second Asst. Engineer Thomas A. Matthews' cred ited service of 20 years, 1 month at mandatory retire ment, Sept. 1, almost exactly equaled the elapsed time since he joined his first Company ship, the Esso Little Rock, on July 8, 1948. Except for one assignment as Oiler, all his service was as Third, Second and First Asst. A native of Massachusetts, Mr. Matthews lives in Barrington, R.I. with his wife, Helen. They have a daughter, Virginia, 24. SERVICE EMBLEM AWARDS + 20 YEARS + itlgiiiife William A. Wilburn Second Mate March 27, 1968 \ 'is John A. Gerrity Third Mate August 27, 1968 Harry J. Gillway, Jr. Second Asst. Engineer December 22, 1966 Edward B. Kerby Radio Officer August 9, 1968 John J. Brennan Ordinary Seaman September 14, 1968 John J. Fernandes Chief Steward October 6, 1967 10 YEARS Charles S. Cicero Ordinary Seaman September 2, 1 968 Willard W. Poyner Fireman-Watertender July 25, 1968 Patrick F. McLaughlin Ordinary Seaman September8, 1968 Chief Cook Alfredo Gibau has been sailing and/or cooking for nearly 50 of his 65 years. In addi tion to his 20 years, 11 months in the Esso Fleet at retirement, Sept. 1, he has operated a food conces sion on a New York excursion ,v - * boat, worked ashore in West Coast 1 restaurants and made annual sum- '--r mer cruises to northern Alaska and Canada in a fur trading boat. His Company service has been almost exclusively as Chief Cook, starting with the F. H. Bedford, Jr. in Sept. 1947 and including the maiden voyages of the Esso Baltimore and Esso Boston. A1 and his wife, Alice, are residents of Brooklyn, N.Y. and have 4 children: Alfred 20, Dolores 18, Henry 14 and Yvonne 13. '% '` - A.. m Able Seaman Francis A. Anto nio went to sea in 1930 as a cabin boy in a sailing ship in the British West Indies (where he was born) and worked up to skipper in 11 years. He joined the Company as OS in the S. B. Hunt, April 30, 1942, was AB in the H. H. Rogers from July 1942, until she was tor pedoed in Feb. 1943 and sailed in 4 other vessels during the War. Frank returned to the Fleet in Dec. 1946, after 2 years in a U.S. Army Transport tanker. Since then he has been Bos'n and AB, retiring Sept. 1 with 23 years, 4 months' credited service. A good craftsman, Frank does ship models and miniature furniture and has made a "show place" of his home in Baytown, where he lives with his wife, Maud. Messman Jesus T. Campos, retired Sept. 1 with 20 years' service as Messman, Utilityman and Wiper. His first ship was the Esso Wilmington, in Feb. 1947, and his last, the Esso Houston. A native Texan, he lives in Baytown with his wife, Esther. They have a son, Adrian, 13 and 3 daughters, Olga 12, Edna 9 and Leah 6. OBITUARY Robert G. Muir, 46, Third Asst. Engineer in the Esso Bangor, died Sept. 19 in Methodist Hospital, Houston. On the same day his heart was transplanted into a 57-year-old Jacksonville, Fla. engineer, Bernard E. Pfohl, by the famous surgical team headed by Dr. Michael DeBakey. Mr. Muir is survived by his wife, Oleta. Born in Jamestown, N.Y., and a resident of Bay town, Mr. Muir had more than 20 years' service in the Fleet. He started at FWT in Oct. 1947 and had been Third Asst, for the past 5 years. Michael Kica, 73, former Fireman-Watertender, died Sept. 19, in Bayonne, N.J., where he had lived for many years. Mr. Kica retired Jan. 1, 1960. He had over 31 years' service in thhe Fleet, during which he sailed in 52 vessels and survived the sinking of the Writ. Rockefeller on June 28, 1942. < u z! aU! ;` EXX-MOR-007167