CRAB BOIL

Do you remember the ditch that went across the company area? There was a bridge over it, just before you got to the Operations Building. Some of the guys came around one day asking who would like to have a CRAB BOIL. I wasn't interested, but a few of the flight platoon were so they pooled their money to buy the crabs.

A few days later they borrowed a large pot from the mess hall and boiled a large amount of crabs and potatoes. This one guy, who was from New Orleans, must have ate three times as many as the rest of them. We just sat around watching them cracking the crabs open and sucking out the meat. I must say that a lot of us were tempted and agreed to go in on the next purchase of crabs. This sweet little mama son was selling them cheap.

The next day we went south to worked Li Kay and Quan Loi area to moved an artillery battery. When we came home that evening there were about four or five ships together, so we flew in a formation. When we came in on down wind to Phu-Loi the lead ship called Phu-Loi tower and said "Phu-Loi tower BLACK CAT so and so with a flight of four request permission to land". Because of the large number of aircraft the tower asked that we break and come in one at a time. This meant we had to go around. When we came around on the west side of Phu-Loi, there was a sweet little mama son, catching crabs out of the ditch, just outside the wire.

Now, if you remember, there was a daily job of pulling the barrels out of the back of the OUTHOUSES and burning the previous days remains. And, if you remember, all the OUTHOUSES were in close proximity of the ditch. So, some not so desirable amount of waste was daily washed down into that ditch. We were back in the line far enough to see and hear the lead ship ask the other ships, is that the mama son who sold them the CRABS?

We got down and off the runway all right, but it took some time to get the ships parked in their revetments because most of the crews were too bushed from tossing their cookies. We had no more crab boils after that.

Tasteful Memories
From,
George French
213th BLACK CAT
1968-69