Hey Guys . . . I’d like to thank the Association for letting me guide this “History of Army Engineering Divers” Vietnam segment. As near as I can figure it, 60 to 100 Army Divers served in Vietnam. I am proud to have served with the 523rd Engineering Company (PC) from December of ’67 thru November of ’68. Very little has been documented about the divers of this era, and the Association is giving us the chance to rectify this. I look forward to working with many of you in building out this section. If anyone has comments or questions, please email me @ [email protected]
LCM’s were our transportation and hotel. A pretty good boat to be travelling the rivers of the Mekong Delta. When the rivers got narrow, and the banks closed in tight, it was comforting to go down into the well-deck and put some metal between us and the sneaky little bastards hiding in the weeks on the shore.
Hey Guys . . . I want to thank the Association for agreeing to my request to change the history area to gather info on the Vietnam Veteran Divers from “Cold War Era” to “US Army Diving in Vietnam.” To me (and I’m not pointing any fingers here) this error was indicative of how all vietnam vets were looked upon. Nobody’s fault, just the way the world looked at us . . . a group to be forgotten.
I was stationed at Ft Eustis after Navy Dive School from June – October 1967, prior to going to Vietnam. I finally returned to “Useless” in 1996. I found the old Dive Tower, but no dive unit. I dug around until I could find someone who could point me to the Dive Unit. My wife and I walked in and were looking at the Mark V Rig that was near the entrance, when a diver came up and said, “Pretty scary looking.” To which I added, “Well, it scared the shit out of me.” To which he added, “You dove in this?” To which, of course, the answer was yes, and I added that I had been an Army Diver in Vietnam in ’67 & ’68.
The young man quickly added that they had never met a Vietnam era diver. Which didn’t surprise me. I told him that most of us probably felt the modern-day divers would not relate to us, and that when we got back, we all pretty much scattered to the wind. The group at the unit truly treated us as royalty and we all had a nice chat.
I started my memoir back in 2010, but my PTSD and Agent Orange issues soon kicked in, and the book didn’t progress much more. Later, when I was able to start back up I created a Facebook Page to try to find as many Vietnam guys as I could, and it worked. I probably found about 30 to 35 guys. Now I’m back to work on the book.
I’ve also been contacted my many of you modern-day divers who somehow found their way to the FB page, and I’ve had some wonderful talks them. Now, my goal is to leave as much of our (Vietnam Divers) legacy here on the Association page. I thank you all for this opportunity. I’m also trying to figure out a way to make the next reunion, but we’ll see. My goal was to get as many of the Vietnam guys that are left to attend, but time is short, and I don’t know how many of us will be left if we wait for the next one.
Anyway, I welcome your comments and questions, and appreciate any help or suggestions you all might have to accomplish getting as much as our legacy to this site as possible.
Spec 5 Jackson Quigley
US Army Diver ’67 – ’68
China Sea & Mekong Delta