No Water

One of my earlier stories was about the night a typhoon hit Phan Rang Airbase. If you recall that story, I stayed at the kennels with several other guys in order to take care of the dogs if an emergency arose. The storm did not damage the kennels, but it dumped a lot of rain.

The rain caused the canal to overflow and the water from the canal got into the wells and contaminated our drinking water. When I got back to the barracks, I could not take a shower because the water was shut off to the showers. Water was only used for flushing the toilets. The chow hall used paper plates and plastic eating utensils, only using water to clean the pots and pans that were used for cooking.

We did not know how long the water would be restricted. So, on the 14th day of having no shower, I caught the first bus to the beach instead of going to bed after a long night of sentry duty. I figured it would be better to itch from the salt of the ocean than to suffer one more day without bathing. Everyone on the base must have thought the same thing because the bus was packed. I did not get a seat and, therefore, had to stand for the whole trip. I was so tired after working all night that I fell asleep and woke up as my knees buckled. The bus was so tightly packed that I did not collapse to the floor. I stayed awake after that.

The beach was about a 15-minute ride. It was a beautiful white sand beach. I went for a swim and it felt good to rinse away 2 weeks of crude. I caught the next bus back to the base and I was able to wash the salt off of my body when I got back because the water had been turned on. After a long refreshing shower, I went to bed.