Viet Nam Experience - Patriot's Point SC

[ispjs]

We are visiting the Charleston SC area this week and took a ferry from Patriot's Point over to Ft. Sumter for the tour yesterday.  It was very interesting and worth the trip.  In the same boarding/docking facility there is the USS Yorktown you can tour and the Viet Nam Experience.  I won't go into great detail about the Viet Nam Experience exhibit but if you served then you have to visit it if you are ever in this area.  Part of the outside exhibit is set up outside with a guard tower and several buildings, including a small mess hall and a hooch.  They have numerous speakers set up in this area with all the sound effects, announcements, chopper back round, and other realistic sounds from back then.  As I stood there with my foot on the skid of an old huey it was like I was 18 years old again.  I could almost see some of my buddies walking through the area with flip flops on and no shirt, dust everywhere.  It was very moving for me especially since all but two of us are now gone.

[hermanmullins]

Joe, I am glad you were able to experience such a moving point in your life. Thank you and all that served with you for your service.

Herman 

[ispjs]

Thanks Herman.  

[JHartmangruber]

We went there last year. Although I'm a Vietnam veteran my tour was on the Ranger so we spent most of our time in the Tonkin Gulf.

I can understand your feelings because the Yorktown definitely brought back a flood of memories for me. As soon as we walked up and entered the hangar deck the smell alone brought back memories. I didn't serve on the Yorktown but my first ship, the Hornet, was just 4 numbers away from her. Walking through the various compartments and seeing the old canvass racks was like being 17 again. The burger we had in the galley was a heck of a lot better than the sliders of yesteryear!

This 68 year old man definitely felt the pain when going up and down the many ladders. I even managed to hit a couple of head and knee knockers that made me laugh as I felt the pain.

I want to go back again some day to look at the places we didn't get to.