by Garrett "Moose" Marcinkowski
input from: Glen Gouge
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The idea for a club of our own was that of Bill Cirincione. The squadron had a club but its hours didn't mesh with our crazy schedule, so Bill proposed it, MAJ Laird approved it and I was appointed overseer of the operation. We did have space behind the commanders office that was not being used and it was the perfect spot. The idea was that we would all pitch in to pay for building materials (what we couldn't scrounge), It would be BYOB and soft drinks would be paid for through a slush fund.
Jim Filiatreault was put in charge as he had some construction experience and was getting short. He did a magnificent job with a circular padded bar with padded bar stools, comfortable chairs scattered about, indirect lighting and softly painted walls to help relax. In all honesty it was the best looking club on Cu Chi.
We did need some refrigeration for things that were better cold. So I went to the PX to se what they had. There were two broken counter height refrigerators that were marked down for $10 each. So I bought one thinking we had enough sharp maintenance types that could fix it. Got it back to the club, plugged it in and examined the problem. I looked in the back and saw the circuit breaker was tripped, reset that baby and it cranked right up. Went back to the PX and got the other one So for 20 bucks we had cold cokes.
Air conditioning was another issue. A/C's were not standard issue so we had to do some wheeling and dealing. Then one of our maintenance Warrants (I wish I could remember his name) made contact with some Seabees that had to get to an island off the coast. By chance they had two HUGE air conditioners that were declared "surplus". So we helped them get to the island on a "cross country training flight" and they helped get our club cool. We picked the units up later, installed them and they damn near refrigerated us out of the building.
The club was well used and I still remember the NIghthawk pilots have an early morning "daycap" after flying all night.
There are probably parts I've forgotten so is anyone else has a memory of the club, feel free to hop in.
Glen Gouge: (Pilot, Light Scouts and Aeroweapons 68-69)
Yes there was a club built and I think it was destroyed sometime after April 69 by some incoming mortars or rockets.
The pilot that got a bunch of supplies and I think a walk in cooler was one of the items, was Chuck Weseman, an old navy man. It was the coldest place for many miles.