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Vietnamese Bar Girls

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G
#1 ·
Misterstan
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Posts: 161
(5/23/01 8:58:28 am)
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When our light cargo ship was being loaded with supplies, I often went ashore to experience the night life in the larger cities and villages along the rivers of Vietnam.

The doorway to most bars was a single row of beads that completely filled the opening. I would spread my arms out to move the beads out of the way, and often find two girls on each arm by the time I entered the bar.

At first, I would sit down in a booth with all four girls and soon I learned to choose one of the girls before I would take a seat. In Saigon they would say, "You buy me Saigong tea, I give you VD". These girls could drink tea by the gallon!

In Cat Lo, the village where our ship was home-based, I met a girl who became my main squeeze. I spent most of my free time with her and to this day I still think about her often. She used to say to me, "I love you too much!"

The Vietnamese girls used to assign a number from one to ten to describe their feelings. If you were liked, you were called, "Number one GI". If you were not liked, you were often called, "Number ten GI".

It was my understanding at the time that prostitution in Vietnam was considered an honorable profession. The going rate for a female companion was 500 piasters and for spending the night with her it was 1000 piasters. The exchange rate for 1 dollar military payment certificate was 325 piasters.

I remember reading somewhere that the average income in 1970 for a Vietnamese family was about $36 per year. As a Yeoman Second Class (E-5) I was being paid just over $500 a month tax free, which included hazardous duty pay.

Stan Lambert
St. Clair Shores, Michigan

Copr6
Senior Chief Moderator III
Posts: 203
(5/23/01 1:15:49 pm)
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Good memory Stan. The beads...there were always beads!! I even put some up in a doorway years ago just for the memory!!

hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 310
(5/23/01 1:52:45 pm)
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Those beads were every where. By the time I left there, I didn't want to see another bead.

Also remember those mats, all different colors? Always had one of those at the side of our cots. We had the idea that it would help with the dirt and wouldn't have to hop out of bed and hit the cement.

gorourke
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 32
(5/23/01 8:03:04 pm)
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Stan,

Two Bar Girls from the Club in Cu Chi at the LCLC school - "Lightning Combat Leadership Course". I was sent in from the field to attend this course, another story.

Two minutes after this photo was taken they were called in to receive their shots, the little cutie on the right was crying like a baby, before the shot. I felt so sorry for her.



P. Gary

Edited by: gorourke at: 5/23/01 9:08:13 pm

hope6970
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Posts: 317
(5/23/01 9:32:14 pm)
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P. Gary,

Now I know how you come about finding the swimming pool...and much more. lol

gorourke
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 34
(5/23/01 10:15:57 pm)
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Hope,

No swimming pool that week, but after class, the relative comforts of Cu Chi were more then appreciated. I recall enjoying the steam bath with fond memories.

P. Gary

hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 320
(5/23/01 11:39:00 pm)
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P. Gary,

Steam Bath???? Just what all did you guys have there at that mini R & R Center? I have a feeling there was a lot more then just the usual activities.

Perhaps that is why the alert sounded so quickly after we arrived there. Someone didn't want all the secrets out. hummm lol lol

LarryJK
Senior Chief Moderator III
Posts: 3
(5/24/01 8:39:41 am)
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Gary...great photo! It makes me wonder what they would look like today.
Hope...I don't know if you recall or not but there was a steam bath at Long Binh. I went there several times. After a good steam the bath babes would massage and walk on your back. I would feel like one big limp noodle walking back to Company area.

hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 323
(5/24/01 9:02:33 am)
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Larry,

I do not remember a steam bath or anyone talking about it. I am begining to believe I spent too much time underground....lol lol Where was it located?

LarryJK
Senior Chief Moderator III
Posts: 8
(5/24/01 10:01:47 am)
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Hope...I have no idea about how to tell you where the steam bath was. Wait a minute...ok... if your standing in front of the Stockade main gate with your back to the gate...then the steam baths would have been maybe 5-6 blocks away at approximately 11 o'clock position. This is the best I can remember.

hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 326
(5/24/01 1:07:13 pm)
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Larry,

Sounds like you were heading toward the WAC Det. but more off to the officer quarters, as the crow flies that is. Now please do not tell me you do not know where the WAC Det. was. Almost at 11 o'clock of the 24th Evac. and 9 o'clock of the holding area for the Viet. POWs. Now, have I got you all mixed up?? lol

Steam Baths, huh??

106RR196LIB
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 107
(5/24/01 2:14:26 pm)
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PCOD
I had a funny experience with Vietnamese ladies of the
evening.
We had a cutoff day when you could no longer "consort with Ladies of the Evening". The day was called the "PCOD" that stands for "P (feminine anatomy) Cut Off Day. It was meant t protect American women from STDs. If you were caught "getting any" after PCOD you had to stay in country for a long incubation period determined by the medics. During your extra stay you had to work in your MOS. This means combat for infantry! Any one violating PCOD would get another 30 days of combat.
Our small group of survivors who shipped in together and were getting ready to go home and some of the guys who were not past their PCOD wanted to visit a brothel. We had been in the field for months. Since we do everything together we all went to the same house in Chu Lai. I was past my PCOD and terrified of more combat, so I abstained.
We had one fella who was the cleanest grunt in the world. He always managed to stay clean and neat no matter what. He even had his jungle fatigues tailored! We would kid him about looking good for Graves Registration but he always said he wanted to be the best looking corpse in the 196th.
He regaled us with tales of his civilian feminine conquests for the entire tour. He swore he was God's gift to women and they just couldn't stay away from him.
He went to the back room with a Lady and returned shortly. She then loudly announced that he was not American. We told her he was an American GI. She insisted that he was different. She showed us with hand gestures that American GIs were about so long and so hard. She then told (and gestured) to everybody that his was small and limp! She kept yelling "no same same" and repeating the gesture.
We roared laughing. We bought her several beers and gave her a big tip. It was a perfect ending to his tales!
Mike H

homer4
Moderator
Posts: 631
(5/24/01 7:31:49 pm)
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Hehehe,aw come on Mike give the guy a break...maybe that girl had unusualy xtra-large hands.Hehehehehe! Ah Me!

...and two hard boiled eggs.

gorourke
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 36
(5/24/01 10:24:20 pm)
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Drinks are on me in the Boom Boom Lounge if anyone can tell me the unofficial name of the Steam Bath in Cu Chi.

PS… If you know the name, please send your reply in e-mail, this is a public forum after all.

P. Gary

LarryJK
Senior Chief Moderator III
Posts: 16
(5/24/01 10:32:28 pm)
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Mike, good one..."best looking corpse in the 196"!! Now, that is a ball buster! A very positive attitude...no doubt.

oneknight
Moderator
Posts: 977
(5/24/01 11:50:49 pm)
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Hey Mike,

Great story! PCOD--that is hilarious.

Drop in the Boom Boom Lounge sometime,
Homer needs someone besides me to pick on.

Boom Boom

gene29223
Moderator
Posts: 140
(5/25/01 12:56:32 pm)
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PCOD?
I guess to be politically correct today you'd have to call it the VCOD (heard of the vagina dialogs?) - maybe not - someone might think your talking female circumcision or about the Victor Charlie.
But it was a great story anyway.

Homer, Xtra large hands -yeah - and then she washed him off in ice water! I don't remember (or perhaps I didn't care about) the PCOD.

Take Care, Gene

Edited by: gene29223 at: 5/25/01 1:59:41 pm

TShooters
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 161
(5/25/01 5:01:03 pm)
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Great stories!

And, Great pics, P. Gary! Pretty girls, but they look so young!!!

Hubby had a pic of their hooch maid, and his hand is on her head..think he was tryin' to get her to look toward the camera. Then he explains to me that you're not supposed to touch their heads...what's the story behind that? Anyone remember?

Sharon

dap22
Senior Chief Moderator II
Posts: 597
(5/25/01 7:11:26 pm)
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Sharon:
It was taboo (an insult) to touch the head of a Vietnamese. Not sure of cultural explanation but maybe someone will pick up on it (Gene, you there??). Likewise, when beckoning a Vietnamese, it was an insult to call them with your palms up.....you know, as you'd have your palms up and motioning with your fingers? Properly done, palms would be down and you would say "lai dai" (correct spelling Gene?)

gorourke
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 42
(5/25/01 9:51:27 pm)
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Sharon,

Yes they do look young. I hope they faired well after the NVA rolled in.

P. Gary

106RR196LIB
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 111
(5/26/01 5:01:53 pm)
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Homer:
Her first gesture was with her forearm sticking out at an angle, the second gesture was with her index finger hanging down in a limp posture. I wish my camera hadn't been stolen!

Donna:
Thanks for the offer -- much appreciated!
Mike H

gene29223
Moderator
Posts: 144
(5/29/01 8:37:36 am)
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Larry, Most didn't age well. Time and circumstance were unkind.

Lai Dai (pronounced as lie day)is correct for come here and as Dave said it was always done with your palm facing you and fingers pointed towards the ground. I could never find out why - guess it was just one of those things passed on from generation to generation In the Hue area is was okay for an older sibling or family member to pat (tease or fluff the hair) of a younger person. However is was sinful for a younger person to pat an older person on the top of the head - this was sign of utmost disrespect.

Take care, Gene

Edited by: gene29223 at: 5/29/01 1:09:05 pm
 
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#2 ·
I do remember that you did not brush anything off a Vietnameses' sholder as it meant that there grandparents were lower than a turtle, or something like that. As far as touching them on the head, one was not suppose to pat a child on the head as we often do here in the US. One other taboo was pointing an offered cigarette at them from the pac, the proper way was to turn the pac sideways.:)
 
#3 · (Edited)
We soon learned to call the steam baths "steam and creams" heheh. :D I do remember one just outside the main gate at Tan Son Nhut (Saigon) Air Base was called "Magic Fingers" and for 200 Piasters, plus maybe a 200 Piaster tip, you got taken care of which would probably be called a "happy ending" by most. ;) Darned few of the airfields didn't have their local version of a steam bath/massage parlor. One at Cam Ranh Bay had all of its inside doors removed though, the base commander at the time didn't want any "funny business" going on in there.

At Nha Trang, they had a house of ill repute we nicknamed the Bowling Alley for some unknow reason... I guess so we could joke about going to the Bowling Alley and those who knew, they knew what was going on. Anyway, I was visiting there one night and had a scarey event. The Bowling Alley was a large open building with sheets as dividers to separate the beds and the girls used to laugh and sometimes carry on conversations as we did our thing. All of a sudden it got very quiet after a few quick comments in Vietnamese and my girl softly put her hand over my mouth and motioned for me to be quiet. After a few seconds she whispered in my ear that several Viet Cong had entered with their AK-47s but were only there for the same thing the rest of us were and not to worry. That scared the crap out of me since I was unarmed but I trusted her and nothing happened. It turns out the VC also considered Nha Trang their R&R center too and we had an uneasy truce with them for at least a year. If we didn't go after them in the city of Nha Trang, they didn't rocket or mortar the base. At least that's how it was explained to me.

I had some interesting times in RVN, that is for sure! :)
 
#4 ·
Jerry -
Where were you at, Camp McDermott? I sure don't think "Charley" honored any agreement not to rocket/mortar the bases if left alone in town because
someone was getting rocketed/mortored on a regular basis in 69-70. They hit one of the Gasoline storage tanks at McDermott and the fire burned for days. We were getting short rounds on a regular basis when they rocketed the air base. They put a 107mm rocket into the middle of our ammo dump, but it ws a dud.

We had our own "steam & cream" on the compound at the SFOB in Nha Trang. It was almost straight across the street from the PX.

Course we also had one of only 2 "dairy queens" in country, at least for several years. You walked up to a window cut into the side of the building and ordered what you wanted.

There was a cat house just north of the COC/Recondo compound, off the west end of the runway. The airfield got rocketed early one morning in late Aug 69 and a short round hit the house. Killed some of the girls and wounded several. They were brought to the SFOB hospital for tratment.

Speaking of beads on doors reminds me of the Streamer Bar on the south edge of Nha Trang, it was different, it had a screen door. If you weren't Airborne you didn't last long in there.
Sarge
 
#5 ·
We had a massage palor on a Special forces "C" camp at Bien Hoa. It was a true steam and cream. The girls woudn't do anything else. When we were restricted to base, this place was a treat for us AF guys.

Though I did have a great squadron cc, who would sign a day pass to go to the Saigon USO for a phone call home. We would make the call, eat a water buffalo burger and then leave and head over to Tu Do street and the bars. If that didn't workout, we would go over to the Colon district and the Houses. I guess if we didn't have this place, life would have been much harder.
 
#6 ·
Welcome RAF.....noted you've made a few posts, but didn't recognize your name.....I read the post title and knew I hadn't seen that for years...Sure enough, Old Stan Lambert, another navy man, posted there almost 10 years ago..As I read thru the old postings, I recalled the names of troops I hadn't seen for years...wonder where they are and what they're doing now? And here I linger still, like some old mold leather boondockers that just keeps molding away. Please fill us in about your Army experiences...I have a grandson, Bryan, leaving for his Army boot training April 27th....he's been asking me about what's it like and I have to remind him, I was Navy and maybe it's done differently...I told him we navy guys could swim further than we could run like the army does their troops...should'a compared the Air Force for him...the navy can swim further than they can fly!!!!! Chief
 
#7 · (Edited)
God, I loved the boom-boom girls!!! I was 19 and without any significant other, so I enjoyed the hell out of them.

Before you could sit down, you'd have at least a pair of them on you giving you the shakedown. "you buy me tea G.I.?" "you bucoup dap, I love you toooooo much!!!!"

I loved the look on their faces when they made the grab for the crotch and wrapped their hands around my steel hard 1911 that I always had with me. "Hard, aint it?", I'd always say. :D :cool: :D :cool:
 
#8 ·
Where are all the girls like this? I love Asian women.
 
#9 ·
Dang HOGGER, many of them work at HOME DEPOT....most have aged gracefully and seldom ever see a fat one....It's difficult to tell the Vietnamese gals from the Filipina gals....Now, that's where I spent my glory years...down in the PI during the Korean War...We Seabees were building the Cubi Point Naval Air Station near Subic Bay...I was 18, 19, 20....did 2 tours there...Chief
 
#12 ·
Dang HOGGER, many of them work at HOME DEPOT....most have aged gracefully and seldom ever see a fat one....It's difficult to tell the Vietnamese gals from the Filipina gals....Now, that's where I spent my glory years...down in the PI during the Korean War...We Seabees were building the Cubi Point Naval Air Station near Subic Bay...I was 18, 19, 20....did 2 tours there...Chief
Vietnamese, Filipina, doesn't matter to me. I don't discriminate.
 
#13 ·
I don't know if you all, ever been to a bar in honolulu, on kaheka street named aradan'e. great place to go in the 60's . use to haul troops there on friday nites from schofield. what a great time it was. lot's of ono pupu's and great sprit's and great entertainment.
 
#14 ·
ooohh dont get me started about the girls. I was stationed in Taiwan.Man the chinese girls.Same can be said for the girls in Angeles city outside clark field.Hell,anywhere in asia.Thailand and Pat pong road.I get excited just thinking about em.
 
#16 ·
We soon learned to call the steam baths "steam and creams" heheh. :D I do remember one just outside the main gate at Tan Son Nhut (Saigon) Air Base was called "Magic Fingers" and for 200 Piasters, plus maybe a 200 Piaster tip, you got taken care of which would probably be called a "happy ending" by most. ;)
Was in there a couple times myself Jerry - dang that's been a long time ago - 1971!!!
 
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