24 – Refuge From a Flood

One team, which included Mike Thompson and Jim Graves, among others, could have used a boat returning from one mission.  Nobody seems to remember just where they had been other than somewhere outside of Qui Nhon.  It may have been during the typhoon of October 1970.  While driving back after a torrential rain, they noticed the water on the road was getting fairly deep, so they stopped at a firebase, the name of which is lost except to those who lived there, somewhere north of Tuy Hoa.  The firebase was on a hill and provided refuge from the flood.  The unit there provided the team with quarters, much-needed showers, and meals.  For days, they stayed on this hill, watching Vietnamese poling their boats up and down Highway 1.  Infantrymen in the field were living in trees to escape the water, and the weather prevented helicopters from picking them up.  After about a week, the water on the road to the highway was down to axle depth and the highway had some dry spots, so they loaded up and left.

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