From mid/late '62 to mid '63 Vern and I were assigned to the 502d Aviation Company, 2d Armored Division, Fort Hood.

Later in '63, I believe it was about August, the division rolled over to the "ROAD" concept and the 502d Company became 502d Aviation Battalion.  I was assigned to B Company and not sure which one Vern wound up in.  But at about that time I was alerted for Korea and cannot remember which one of us went first, but we both wound up in E Company, 707th Maintenance Battalion, 7th Infantry Division.  Shortly thereafter, in February 64, we were both appointed to Acting Sergeant (E-5) and we both ran H-21 (Shawnee) repair teams.
 
 

The E Co, 707th Maint. detachment that we were in had previously been the old 151st  Transportation Detachment (CHFM) supporting the 13th Transportation Company at Camp Stanley, just east of Uijongbu.  Both our teams were heavily involved in repair of two H-21s that had been down for a year and we had several 1200 hour "PE"s going on as well.  Needless to say, we had plenty to do. But we also played hard together.  We had so many good times in Camp Stanley, at the NCO club and "Chopper Club", as well as the local village, which name slips my mind.

Vern had a real sense of humor . . . one of my favorite tricks with him was to walk into the latrine some mornings, the guys would be lined up at the sinks, including Vern, and I'd say, "Hey, Vern, lemme borrow your toothbrush!"  That one always turned heads and was good for many laughs!
At that point Vern would hand me my own toothbrush we had already "pre-planted" in his
shaving kit.

I might add, at this point, that from Dec 59 - February 61 I was in the 150th Transportation Detachment (CHFM) supporting the 6th Transportation Company at K-6, (Camp Humphrey's).
It is interesting to note that the 150th Trans Det (CHFM) also supported the 175th Outlaws at Vinh Long.  I assume this would have to be the same unit.
 
 

In late Dec 63/early Jan 64 we took an isolated leave R&R cruise from Pusan to Hong Kong aboard the USS NAVARRO (APA 215).

We departed Uijongbu at about dark on 26 Dec 63 and arrived Pusan about 0700 on the 27th.  It was a long, cold, hard ride on that Korean train with wooden benches but I recall we commented on how comfortable the old army overcoats were.  I think it was about the only time we had ever worn them.   We were authorized to wear civilian clothing which was a rarity in Korea at that time and, strangely enough, one of the prerequisites for going on this trip was being able to show our "detachment commander" (CW4 Harold McGrath) a minimum of $100.00 in cold hard cash! Can you believe a 5-day stay in Hong Kong at the top-notch President Hotel, and only having $100.00 in cash?  I believe the currency in HK $ then was about 5:1, which made it a lot more comfortable.  About midway into our stay in Hong Kong we ran short on money so we picked up another boarder to help pay our hotel bill, a PFC Walker that was assigned to the 13th Transportation as a crew chief.  PFC Walker checked out of his hotel room and moved in with me, Vern, and SP5 Halcum G. Tilley at the President. He really bailed us out of that dilema and we all ended up with a little more cash to spend.
 

Vernon Lee Newton
President Hotel, Hong Kong
December 1963-January 1964

Jim Baines is seeking information on Vernon's death and contact information for Vernon's
family.  Jim would also greatly appreciate any photographs of Vernon Lee Newton during
his service at Vinh Long.  If you have photographs or details please take a moment and
contact me:  jarw@mchsi.com.