

Ray Norton
Me, age 23, sitting on my bunk drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette. My barracks was an old French barracks at Camp Tien Sha near Da Nang.

Recent photo of Cheryl and me

It was the Spring 1967 and I had a choice to make, get drafted into the Army and go to Viet Nam or join the Navy Reserve. I joined the Navy Reserve and went to Viet Nam anyway. I was land based in Da Nang. I was not in the bush and am grateful that I wasn't. I have nothing but respect for those that were. I was a guard for Tien Sha Peninsula Security division. I was later assigned to the Monkey Mountain Patrol. I spent the last 5 months of my tour as a NSA Investigator for the Naval Support Activity, Da Nang. I experienced rocket attacks, an ammunition dump explosion, total boredom, drug busts, police raids, China Beach, and the birth of my daughter, Rebecca. I also made life long friends.
Tour: August 2, 1969 through July 17, 1970
351 Days in Da Nang

The Monkey Mountain Patrol. The mountain is in the background. We looked a lot more hard corps than we were. I am on the far left.

I took this photo from the stern of YFU 80 which was docked at SCRF, looking across Da Nang harbor at sunset.