Da Nang

We arranged for a guide and a driver to take us around DaNang.  This day belongs to Gary.  Our guide is Thinh (pronounced Tin).  He is knowledgeable and very outgoing.  His English is excellent – beyond simply understanding our words, he understands our meaning.  Idiomatic language is the toughest thing to master, and he manages quite well.

We spend some time getting oriented in the City.  Gary remembers the main road, Doc Lap.  Once we find that, it’s simply a matter of finding a cross street that he also recalls, and suddenly he `knows where he is.  We find the DaNang Hotel, and suddenly it’s as if a switch is turned on in Gary.  He’s pointing in every direction, telling us what was there and there and there.

Now a school - the building has changed - but recognizable

 

Gary spent part of his tour living behind the brown doors in the upper part of the photo.

And then we’re off to look for the location of his billet, and we find it surprisingly easily.  Thinh is a great help, explaining to the people who run the place why we want to come in, and in we go.  It looks different from the street, but once we’re inside the inner courtyard, we can see how it used to be a motel.  Gary points out the door to the room that was his, and the rooms of the others in his group.  Then he walks over to a corner and begins to tell us of the makeshift bar they set up in here and how popular they were because they actually had cold beer.  Those enterprising Marines had visited the Navy and liberated one of their generators, so their watering hole was electrified and refrigerated.  It’s a story you need to hear Gary tell.

 


















From there, it is just a short walk to the Catholic Church where he and his fellow Marines used to attend Mass.  Because they always had their weapons on them, they were not allowed to come into the church itself, but could stand in the back vestibule.  As we enter from a side door, Gary remarks that this is the first time he’s ever actually been inside the place.  We move to the little space at the far end of the church, and he tells us how the priest would walk all the way to the back of the church to bring them communion, and then “turn around and walk all the way back up to the altar like it was nothing.”  I could only imagine how comforting this must have been to these young men so far from home, and am once again reminded of the important of those small acts of love.


Just next door to the church is the site of a former orphanage where Gary and the other fellows spent a lot of time.  It sounds like those Marines did a fair amount of liberating extra food and supplies from Uncle Sam and passing it along to the orphanage…a kind of Marine version of Robin Hood’s Merry Men.  


Gary recalls writing home one time asking for extra clothes for the children; a plea to the good people of Melrose that yielded a shipping container of clothes.  He tells of bringing one pickup-load at a time until he had them all delivered.  There were so many clothes that the Sisters didn’t know what to do with the leftovers, so the Marines taught them the concept of a garage sale.  The orphanage saw a windfall of clothing and cash that day. There are lots of other stories too and you’ll just have to ask him about them when you see him.
 


As we are about to leave, a wiry little Sister comes up and asks Thinh about us.  He explains about Gary and she tells us she was one of the nuns who worked at the orphanage during that time.  Although she does not remember Gary specifically, she recalls the Marines and the good things they did for the children.  She is tiny.  Gary is huge next to her.  She laughs and points out the size difference and we have a common language in that moment.

The rest of our time in DaNang is spent visiting China Beach and Marble Mountain.  The day has been cool and rainy, so we don’t spend much time at the beach, but we are there long enough to see the many fishermen in their little round boats navigating the choppy surf, and wonder how in the world they manage to keep those things afloat.  We’re told there’s an excursion we can sign up for that involves riding in those little things.  I’m going to need to think about that.

Vietcong used caves to be near US bases

Marble Mountain is exactly that… a mountain of pure marble. It is actually five hills known collectively as the Marble Mountains, each one named after one of the five Taoist Elements: Kim Son (metal), Thuy Son (water), Moc Son (wood), Hoa Son (fire) and Tho Son (Earth).*  The one we visit is Thuy Son.  With our entrance fee, we have the option of purchasing an elevator ride to the top or taking the stairs for free.  We spring for the ride, which is a one way ticket.  If you want to ride it back down, you have to pay extra.

 
There are lots of caves and grottos with Buddhas tucked in every niche.  We also see a fair number of marble phoenixes and dragons.  At one spot on the stairway down, there is a fierce-looking, gigantic nine-headed dragon and we stop to admire him, then press on.  We’re only about 1/3 of the way down the stairs, when Jeff and I encounter an elderly woman with a cane making her way UP the stairs, with assistance from her family.  When she reaches the landing where we stand, I bow to her in total admiration and humility. 

And then our day in DaNang is over.  It’s been a good experience and Gary seems pleased with having seen what he wanted to see.   We will see Monkey Mountain and the Hai Van Pass as we travel north with our group toward Hue in two days time, and that will close the circle for Gary.  Everything from here on out is bonus.

*From Insight Guides book on Vietnam