I was a guard at the transit facility. We eventually evacuated to China Beach. Our Captain organized a patrol to go back the first night while it was still blowing up and secure the area. They walked at night through the live ammo and falling debris. I think they got decorated for their efforts? I couldn’t go, I didn’t have my rifle. I only had my camera. Taken with a Kodak instamatic.

THE DAY AFTER
THE DA NANG AMMO DUMP BLEW
April 28, 1969
Photos by RD Foster

This was a large metal shop building	This was the building next to the first pic.	Walls blown off
Enlisted Men's club	Another view of the club	Shower building	Inside shower building
Hill 327 in the background	Shrapnel damage to ambulance	Regimental HQ	Battalion mess hall
Repairing the hooches	Chapel	Side view of Chapel	Pacific Stars and Stripes articles
These 4 photos by Tom Benton, USMC, were taken 6 September 1969, after a sapper attack on ASPII

This article appeared in "Nam Magazine" June, 2005.

THE DAY THE DA NANG AMMO DUMP BLEW
By Ronnie D. Foster

After almost twenty months overseas my short-timer’s calendar was down to one day and a wake-up. It was Sunday morning, 27 April, 1969, and being as short as I was, the Gunny had left me off of any duty rosters. My only remaining responsibilities were to check out, survey my gear and climb aboard that Freedom Bird out of Da Nang the next afternoon. I didn’t have far to go as I was stationed on the western side of the air base with 1^st FSR, 1^st FLC, 1^st Marine Division.

A truck-driver buddy of mine was on a routine convoy to Marble Mountain that morning, so I decided to take my camera and go along for the ride. The view of the Da Nang area on that clear sunny morning was magnificent as we worked our way to the top of the mountain. At around 0800 a tremendous explosion to the northwest got our immediate attention. We could see a large column of gray and black smoke rising from the area on the other side of the city, southeast of Hill 327 in the vicinity of our compound. The blast was followed by a series of more explosions. Word came over the radio for the convoy to return immediately, at which time the trucks found a place to turn around and headed back.

We didn’t know exactly what was going on as the explosions didn’t look the same as the incoming VC rockets which were accustomed to and were much too big for mortars. Our unit was responsible for the security of the western perimeter of the air base, so that was our immediate destination. As we headed back down the steep mountain road at white-knuckle speed, word came that the ammo dump had been hit. It was located just across the road from our compound and west of the little village of Dog Patch. As we worked our way closer the intensity of the explosions increased, filling the air with gray smoke and burning pungent aromas to go with it. All along the road locals had stopped whatever they were doing and were watching the once in a lifetime show. The convoy worked its way around the stopped vehicles and continued on.
We entered the main gate on the eastern side of the air base and turned left to go around the south end of the airstrips. The two-lane road was filled with a stream of Army, Navy and Marine Corps vehicles, all going in the opposite direction we were. There was nothing to slow us down now and the drivers drove even faster. As we came around the south end of the air strips, we saw truck after truck loaded with personnel headed away from the massive wall of fire and smoke that covered the horizon only a couple of miles away. We could really feel the heat on our faces by that time.
We pulled into the rear gate near the motor pool and stood beside bunkers while waiting for orders. Massive blasts shook the ground and the tin buildings around us as we watched in awe the huge mushroom shaped clouds that billowed hundreds of feet into the sky. We were so close now that we were looking up to see them. Small pieces of rock and metal dinged off our helmets and the hoods of the trucks. We didn’t have to wait long. We were told to proceed to our assigned bunkers along the outer perimeter wire. By that time it must have been around 0900, and the intensity of the explosions showed no sign of letting up. As a matter of fact they seemed to be getting bigger and more frequent, which in reality they were.
We stooped low and hurriedly ran across the open company formation area which had pieces of jagged metal lying around on the ground, some of which were still red hot and smoking. As we ran through the hooch area we could hear rocks and pieces of metal hitting the tin roofs. My assigned bunker was on the perimeter near the main entrance gate and just across the road, Highway 1, from Dog Patch. The other members of my squad were already there, peering out the open port of the sandbag covered emplacement with M16s, and an M60 machine gun locked and loaded not knowing what to expect. We figured if any VC were brave enough or bad enough to come through that fire and metal hail storm and attack the perimeter, we would certainly have a fight on our hands.
As the day went on the intensity grew even more severe. Somebody had a transistor radio tuned in to Armed Forces Radio, and the news report said that the situation was so dangerous that all military and civilian personnel in the area had been evacuated. Well, not exactly, we thought as we all laughed at that and tried to relax to the music of the Beatles, the Animals, and Elvis that continued to play. It was certainly exciting, but a scary place to be.
Every few minutes one of those big explosions that produced the mushroom clouds would occur. We guessed they were 1,000-pound bombs but never did know for sure. When they went off we could see the shock waves rolling toward us across the ground like ripples on water. As they passed through the village, roofs of houses would fly into the air like in disaster film footage of tornadoes and hurricanes.
We would watch until the wave got to the road and then we would hit the ground face down and cover our heads. The ground and the sandbag bunker would shake and the concussion would raise us off the ground and slam us back down. We would then jump up and look out the rear porthole and watch the waves roll across our compound sending big metal shop buildings and roofs of hooches flying through the air.
The show continued on through the day and all night long. Once darkness fell it was really a sight to see. Talk about a fireworks show. The explosions finally began to let up about twenty-four hours after they began. As we exited the safety of our bunkers we could see the damage that had occurred and it was extensive. Huge metals buildings that had been fourth echelon heavy equipment repair shops were now just piles of metal and tin lying on the ground, or gone altogether. Most of the damage was from concussions, with the hooches being the least damaged as they had sides made of screen wire. All the wood buildings were in bad shape: the mess hall, chapel, sick bay, Battalion HQ, and our shower building. An ambulance that was sitting next to sick bay had a live artillery round lying in the floor that had gone through its metal roof. Dangerous live rounds and large jagged pieces of shrapnel littered the area. Up on Hill 327 the damage was also extensive at the PX and the R&R center.
I was able to check out and turn in my gear that Monday afternoon, and by 1500, was on my way out of there. The view of ground zero from the plane was something to see. Just a large patch of blackened smoldering earth. That night I was at transit barracks at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, and watched the footage on the TV news. It was totally awesome. Once again they erroneously reported that all personnel in the area had been evacuated. I didn’t even bother to tell anyone else in that room that I had been there, very close. I just didn’t think anyone would believe me. It certainly looked unbelievable.
Two weeks later I was back in my hometown of McKinney, Texas, a civilian once again. I never heard what caused the ammo dump to blow, if there were any casualties, nor what happened to that compound or the village of Dog Patch after I left. In the past couple of years I have begun to surf the Internet and have learned a lot of stuff about my time in Vietnam. I have seen a few mentions of that day but not much. One of the things I just recently found was a warning that anyone who was in that Marine compound across the road from the ammo dump at the time should get an Agent Orange Test. I am being tested next month.
(OCTOBER 2010, UPDATE - On 26 December, 2007, I underwent open-heart surgery at the VA Hospital in Dallas, Texas. In 2010 the VA announced that Ischemic Heart Disease is related to Agent Orange. I have filed a claim and am waiting to hear back.)
Witnessing the Da Nang Ammo Dump blow up, first hand from a ringside seat, was without a doubt the most awesome thing I have ever seen in my life. My hearing has never been the same, however. But I’ll bet I will never witness another fireworks show like that one again. What a show!

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT TO HOW IT ALL BEGAN
By Bill Letendre, Sgt.  U.S. Marine Corps
Bradenton, FL (Born and raised in Massachusetts)

ASP 1, Camp Monahan
Danang,  South Vietnam
April 27, 1969

I was in the ammo dump on that Sunday morning in April when it all began.  Out by the road at the far end of the dump by the “grade 3” area some Vietnamese were burning trash.  A 5 year old kid supposedly lit a piece of paper on fire and stuck it under the fence and started a field of dry grass burning which eventually reached a pallet of 105 WP (white phosphorous or “willy peter”) rounds. I, and 3 other marines, (I think one of them was named Sanders or Sandman) tried to beat the fire out with our shirts and the firefighting tools in the area.  These firefighting tools consisted of an 8 ft. 2x4 with a rubber mudflap attached to the end. This old Gunnery Sgt from South Dakota (I can’t remember his name) yelled from a distance to “get the hell out of there” because it was going to blow.  We started running and sure enough it went up.  The rest, as they say, is history.
 When we got to the main operations office in the dump it was really starting to spread.  One of our truck drivers, Tom Robertson from NJ, told us to get in the back and he drove us to the gate at the other end of the dump (which happened to be closed).  He said to “hang on” and he crashed through the chain link gate.
Back in the compound there was pandemonium.  Everyone was scrambling around trying to figure out what to do.  I, Stan (Buck) Owens and a guy named Hart (I think) were running down the dirt road.  I believe we jumped on the back of a tank that was going by.  When it got to the hill on the other side of the rice paddy we jumped off.  We were at the entrance to a communications compound which had already evacuated.  We had a fantastic view of the destruction taking place but it soon got out of control.
By now the Air Force bomb dump and bulk fuel area were also blowing up.  1,000 pound bombs were flying through the air and skimming along the ground like little toys.  Some were too close for comfort so we went into the communications compound where there were some pretty good in-ground sandbagged bunkers. The compound was deserted except for us three.  Some of the explosions were so big that the 4x4 beams across the top of the bunkers were starting to collapse and sand was falling in.  We would take turns watching the dump from the opening in the bunker while the other two huddled in the corner.
At one point, the dynamite mag went up.  The day before, my crew unloaded semi after semi of pallets of dynamite (250,000 one pound sticks).  This looked like an atomic bomb explosion.  You could see the shock waves coming through the air.  When it reached our bunker the concussion was unbelievable.  Hart was starting to freak out.  We had to leave that bunker and run to another one about 30 or 40 yards away.  Hart didn’t want to go but we dragged him out and told him to run for his life.  All kinds of debris was falling from the sky and the dump was going “full bore”!  All the smoke and dust made the daylight seem like night time.  The air was moist with a stench of fuel, chemicals and gunpowder.
We spent the entire day till about dusk running from bunker to bunker.  We had one M16 with us and wondered if the VC would try to take this compound during the night.  Then all of a sudden we heard trucks and dogs barking.  To our relief it was the entire rest of our company. They had all gathered early in the day and ran down the road a few miles and laid low till dusk.  They decided they had to find shelter for the night and ended up in the communications compound.  Were we ever glad to see them!  We spent the night and most of the next two days hunkered down while the ammo dump “did its thing”!
When it finally started to die down they gave each of us a piece of paper, an envelope and a pencil and told us to write home and let someone know that we were OK.  I guess this event made national news and loved ones would be concerned. In the aftermath, SSgt Vanmeter received a medal for bravery when he drove a jeep out to the dump in the midst of the destruction and rescued SSgt Fulton from the underground bunker there.
Clean up of the dump began immediately.  I was in the first wave of guys sent to walk the road (or what was left of it) looking for any live rounds of ammo.  We had a couple EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) guys with us.  About 2 weeks later I was transferred to ASP 2 and spent the rest of my tour there.
The day the ammo dump blew up I had been in country a little shy of 10 months of my 13 month tour.
Well, that’s my account of that fateful day in history.  I did read an official account of that day in some publication.  It said that some of the explosions had blown the metal doors off a concrete foundation at 3^rd MAF headquarters which was 15 miles away.
I hope this helps.  Just writing about it brought back the memories.  I’ve never done this till now.  What a rush! (Nov. 2010)

PACIFIC STARS and STRIPES
10 July, 1969
AN EXPLOSIVE JOB,
EVERY INCH OF IT
By Spec4 Jim Clare
S&S Correspondent

Da Nang, Vietnam- The shells and shell casings stick out of the ground like small crosses in a large cemetery. The land itself is burnt and littered with twisted metal like a junkyard. Giant mounds of earth cover not tombs nor treasure, but bombs of unknown type and number. And there are craters 100 feet across, 100 feet deep, and big enough for several swimming pools.
The Da Nang ammo dump disarmed itself with the proverbial bang. The present problem is cleaning it up. A Vietnamese- if his name were known, he might be as famous as Mrs. Leary’s cow- was burning trash on the morning of April 27. The trash set the grass on fire, and the grass fire swept a short distance to the U.S. Marine ammo supply area. The munitions started to explode. The troops pulled out. The air filled with smoke, fire and hunks of metal. Some of the bombs were buried across the road where they set off secondary explosions in the Air Force ammo dump.
The explosion continued for 15 hours. Cleaning up the mess is taking a lot longer. The amount of munitions stored here and the totals of what was lost have not been released. But right after the explosion the estimated cleanup time was about six months. By this week the job was about one-third done.
The Marine ammo dump covers 332 acres, the Air force dump is about one-third that size. Munitions are separated by type and sorted in revetments, areas about 40 yards square and surrounded on three sides by high, thick walls of dirt. There were 215 revetments in the Marine dump and 60 more on the Air Force side. One guess is that about one-half of the stored munitions exploded. Some of the ammunition is still usable. It was either untouched or buried by dirt from other explosions. Other munitions were thrown through the air. Marine ammo landed in the Air Force dump and vice versa. Most of the ammo that didn’t explode has been subjected to enough heat or stress to make it highly dangerous. Some of this ammunition, scattered on the ground as casually as pickup sticks, has taken all the temperature or tension changes it can. One more nudge and it will explode. There’s no way to tell which piece of explosive is about to go off. So it’s all treated the same. Most Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) work is classified, so the men don’t talk about the tricks of their craft. But it looks like a giant police call.
A man slowly picks up an explosive and carefully carries it to a group of the same kind. If it’s small, like a hand grenade, he’ll cradle it in sand inside a box. These will be boxed and trucked away, to be dumped at sea or blown up in specially designed holes. In the meantime, the men continue the cleanup. Nobody rushes, they take frequent breaks. They work only a half a day to cut down on accidents caused by fatigue. There is a look of casualness about the work, but of course it’s not like a police call.
"Everything you pick up is different. You remember that it might kill you," said S/Sgt John L. Lorentz, with the Marine EOD team. "You must treat everything like it was the first time you touched it. You never let it become routine. I like the work," he continued, "not everyone can do it. And I’d go crazy if I had an office job, filing the same papers day after day."
It would be safer for the men to simply blow up everything in place, but there are so many explosives that it could set off another holocaust like the one of April 27. Jobs as big as this are rare for EOD men. Typical would be a load of bombs in a plane that crashed. For the EOD men cleaning up the ammo dump it is like a small town fire company having to battle a four alarm blaze everyday.
"First the EOD teams cleared the roads that ran past the revetments. Then they cleared the ground and piled the munitions along the roads for the trucks to pick up. The last phase is digging out the buried revetments," said Capt. Gary J. Williams, chief of the Air Force EOD team.
The Air Force has 24 EOD specialists from all over Vietnam and the Pacific on temporary duty in Da Nang to help the base’s nine-man EOD team clean up the ammo dump. The TDY personnel are in Da Nang for two-week stretches, so that every Air Force EOD specialist in the Pacific theater can probably expect to be sent there.
Lt William R. Sullivan leads about 50 men working mornings and afternoons to clean up the Marine dump. Five are U.S. Army EOD specialists working one-week shifts. Twenty-six are Marine EOD from Vietnam and the Pacific area. Another 25 are ammo technicians who worked in the dump before it blew up and who have volunteered to help clean it up. The same Marines will stay on the job until it’s finished.
One other important fact; Not one of the men actually cleaning up the munitions in both dumps has been injured on the job.

(Note by R. D. Foster: Two things I know are wrong in this article. The explosions went on for over 24 hours, not 15. Not all of the troops pulled out, as these pictures and the comments below can attest to that.)

Comments from others who were there:
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Kent McBride - USMC
Dear Fellow Marine,
I was taking a break from some office work and I discovered your website on a whim. Good job my friend! This brought back a bunch of memories. I don't have much time at the moment but I will provide some photos and other information later. This is what I offer for the moment:
I was working at ASP-1 in the main office (had been there about a month) when the incident occurred. Someone came running in and said we had a fire in Grade 3. We rushed out to help but only had shovels. This didn't work too well because the ground was hard as brick. There was a pile of old ammo and a lot of wood, and the fire was starting to catch on. Someone said there was some WP in there and it was time leave. We grabbed rides on anything with wheels and drove back to Camp Monahan to wait out the burn off (this is why Grade 3 is segregated from the rest of the dump). What we didn't figure on was that two flatbed semi trucks loaded with civilian dynamite had just pulled into staging to be counted before being stored in a secured area. The staging area completed the link between Grade 3 and the rest of the dump. The first big explosion was the lead truck of dynamite. When it went off things swapped sides in our hooch and we went running outside to see what was going on. That's when the second semi went off. I was watching the fire ball grow and grow and I thought we were going to be consumed by fire. Not wishing to meet that fate I literally dove into the bunker next to our hooch. At that point our entire company decided Camp Monahan wasn't a good place to be. The rough terrain forklifts lowered their forks to the ground and we followed in a dead run through our perimeter wire headed west. I think we all collectively broke the four minute mile that day! Even that distance away, when a big magazine went off, we could see the shock wave coming at us, knocked us on our collective asses. This was in an area that was later made into an ARVN 155 battery. The problem now was, few of us had weapons or ammo, and we were all by ourselves.
We finally got some transportation and headed south then east to a camp that formally had been a 175 battery. Later that afternoon as I headed to the latrine I saw a small piece of shrapnel land next to me, I started running for cover (a truck) yelling "In-coming!". Everyone thought I had lost it until they (and me) heard this large piece of shrapnel coming our way. I dove under the truck at a dead run and got sprayed with gravel and dirt when the thing hit. Unfortunately, it took out part of the elbow of the guy that dove in after me. For the next two days I kept my back glued to a two foot high berm cut for a 175. As best as I can recall, it was three days before we felt safe coming out in the open.
A few other tidbits and I'll have to go for now. Twenty volunteers (Marine Corp style) were hooked up with five EOD to clean the ammo dump up after it was all over. We were on the job trained and not one of us got killed or hurt badly though the whole thing. It was projected to take a year and a half to get the dump going again and we finished in six months. We had one EOD man to four of us. If we saw something on the ground we couldn't ID the EOD would instruct us on how to handle it. My EOD man was S/Sgt John "Chief" Lorenzo. The Stars & Stripes misspelled his name. Funny thing is, that was my interview, not his. Why the mix up? I wasn't there. In fact, none of my other fifteen volunteers were there. You see, we were handling dangerous stuff for which we were not trained, nor did we have the secret clearance required, nor did we get the hazardous duty pay the EOD folks got. And we didn't care. We were proud of what we were doing and how we were doing it. And the EOD folks were the best, an honor to have worked with them. When the commendations eventually came, it was directed to the EOD team. This fact really pissed them off because they wanted us to share in the laurels.
Another interesting note. When we were almost completely done a film crew was brought in, and myself and my crew were filmed loading damaged ammo for transport on a 5-ton truck (we developed a new technique). When they said they were going to show the film I asked if I could see it. They said I could not because I didn't have the clearance!
As to why ASP-1 went high order? A whole bunch can be said (and speculated) about that. I was told at the time that we were 20% overstocked on ammo, that is why we kept getting sympathetic detonations. Our perimeter was not cleared of combustables for 50 feet (more like 20). Our fire truck had been taken from us (sent to Red Beach) a week prior. There's a few other things but I'm not going to put them in here. Besides, they are only speculation.
That's all for now. 

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Cpl. Michael Wimmer, USMC
 I was in 7th Sep Bulk Fuel right across the road that day. We lost everything we owned. My personal stuff was in the mail room ready to ship, as I was so close to heading home. It was hectic. I'm fuzzy on some things. I was driving a 3/4 ton PC with a group of guys and were some of the last to leave. Amtracs where going from bunker to bunker getting stranded people out. As we highballed it to the road I remember bombs, shrapnel, parts of 3rd MP's buildings, 7th Sep Bulk Fuel, etc. rolling along side of us. At the staging area no one was there, so we drove out to a fire base miles down the road.
I'll have dreams and wake up sweating for the rest of my days.

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Frank Piontek , M.A. USMC
I and others were coming back from China Beach to our AO on Hill 10, lst Tanks lst MarDiv-  which was pretty "blowed up" at about 1700 when the Btn CO ordered the napalm removed from the tanks and had them refilled with water and other agents to put out the fire. I  have never seen a mention of that extremely clever action (which apparently saved several 500 lb bombs from going off)....I also thought it could even be deployable today in certain situations in CA etc.....Keep up the good work!
 

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Larry Greer USMC:
I Was Stationed with a security platoon near the Freedom Hill PX when the explosion occurred. It rained gunpowder for at least two days. I was in the General's Guard Platoon. We stood watch at General Ormond R. Simpson's compound at the top of Freedom Hill not far from Charlie lines, Hill 327, and Di Loc Pass. I was 19 at the time. Enjoyed your website, Sir. I live in Mississippi and am a retired State Trooper. Semper Fi.

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Sgt. Bill Woodcock, USMC
I was there also. I was part of the reactionary platoon. Freedom Hill did get attacked during this period of time. I have two hearing aids today-a gift from the VA -this definitely contributed.

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Cpl Mike Wellington, USMC
We watched the same show from our bunkers on Hill 37.  Scuttlebutt had it that Da Nang had been hit, and we were expecting a ground attack.  That is why they had us man the bunkers. We could actually see and feel  the shockwaves from some of the explosions, and we were about 18 miles South East of Da Nang. My cousin was with 7th Bulk  fuel. Their compound was totally destroyed.
 

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Sgt Al Shook ,USMC / MAG11, 6 June, 2010
For what ever reason, today I decided to look up the Dang Dump going up. I read your story and it literally sent chills down my spine. I was with MAG 11, MABS 11 from Aug. 68 through April of 70. Was a radio operator for a mobile reactionary platoon. When the dump went up we were sent out to secure a perimeter on one side of the dump. Your description, to the letter, is what I saw and felt --- again: You sent shivers down my spine. One thing that I was able to hear that you probably didn't was all the choppers being called in to evac upper echelon "brass". One of the Bright spots of the night? We spent the first night on a perimeter around the dump and as you said ,I was more worried about what was coming from behind me, then from the front. We had a boot Lt that had me request "flares" because he thought there were gooks coming in for us. You would not believe the anser that he got from the command center. Next day we had a new Lt.    Well "thanks for the memories".   

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Ty Walford, son of Richard L. Walford
My father is a veteran of the ammo dump explosion that took place on April 27, 1969.  He was with MARUE working as an EOD with the 1st Marine Division Ammo Company.  We came across your site, and the images began to bring back many memories.  Your pictures were very vivid and reminded him of that terrifying 24 hours.  He has many photos of the explosions taken from inside Camp Monahan.  "I was working Sunday morning and decide to go mass.  Half way thru the mass, a small explosion occurred. I was aware of something going on when I saw five Vietnamese burning a tire next to the high grass outside of the dump.  He was concerned at the lack of precaution and the lax behavior the were exhibiting due to the close proximity to the munitions.  That turned out to be the fastest sermon in the history of a Catholic ceremony. Ha Ha Ha.  He blessed us and told us to get the hell out quick.  He immediately ran to his hooch and gathered what gear he could and then went outside to observe the explosions.  At first it was entertaining watching the smaller ordinance cooking off.  Marines were lining the rooftops watching when one of the big boys was set off.  He laughed as he told how everyone was falling off the rooftops and scrambling for cover.  At that time,  it turned from entertaining to frightful.  He grabbed a case of beer in a backpack and sought out the platoon sergeant, Sgt. Williams.  He and Sgt. Williams headed out to the perimeter of the compound into the boonies.  Sgt. Williams decided that the possible danger of the enemy outweighed the danger of the explosion.   So they moved back toward the compound and took up a position over the crest of the hill where the 175 howitzer battery was.  Here they spent the rest of the night.  Around dusk, they were told that they go back to the EM club for food and drinks.  While eating, another explosion sent an 8-inch artillery shell thru the roof top of the club where it thudded and smoldered. It  was a dud.  All they could do was hold their breaths and pray.  He found his way to a bunker where the bodies and heat were too much so he left and sought refuge behind a five-foot high loading dock to avoid the hail of shrapnel and unexploded shells in the air.  All the roads leading in and out of the compound were closed so he passed out where he was at.  At daylight, it was still an inferno."  He climbed to the crest of the hill and witnessed what he thought that hell would look like. He cant remember if there was even so much as one building left standing.  This will forever be etched in his memories.  There isn't a day goes by that the events of that day do not enter his mind.  I want to thank you for listening to his story and any feedback that could help him remember more details such as names and locations would be greatly appreciated.  We are currently in the process of converting the photos and slides to disc so we could upload them.  His name is Richard L. Walford and is very interested in corresponding with you.  It seems that many peoples lives have been affected by this one event.  Thank you
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Richard (Rick) Baker - Cpl USMC
I was with MTM Co. Maint. Bn. 1st FSR/FLC Da Nang.  Aug 68 through April 70.  Sometimes rode wrecker with Dave Cordray out of Banister Mi or Jimmy Pierce out of Atlanta.  Worked a little with Chuck Connelly out of Ft Smith Arkansas. Yes, I was in a bunker near the back of the storage yard when the dump went up. Your picture with Ski, Frenchy and others have me in the back row, last on the right and again at the Barbeque with Frenchy.  Ski was From Detroit, Frenchy was still a private, how many times was he busted? I was with the company when we moved from Dog Patch out to China Beach.  I chased a couple guys back to El Toro for Dishonorable discharges in late April 70. I was on of the guys who later in 68 and 69 ran the projector for our movies...
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Dan Coleman - Aurora, Ohio
Just found your article about ASP-1. I was at Red Beach on April 27, '69 - remember it well.  We felt the shock waves from five miles away. Can't imagine what you felt.  I was told at the time that there was 100,000 tons of high explosives that were valued at $100 million.  Because of "force feeding" ammo into RVN, the dump was 100% overloaded. Stuff was piled everywhere and once the fire started, there was no stopping it.
I am very interested in your comment about Agent Orange exposure.  I spent time in ASP-1 during the cleanup operations and have had prostate cancer.  Do you have any more information about AO storage or handling at ASP-1?  Have you heard from anyone who might have info? That's what got me thinking about where I got exposed to Agent Orange.  I would be willing to bet there was AO stored in ASP-1.  If so, then I and many other Marines and Seabees walked around in that stuff.  Danang is still is a major hot spot for dioxin which was used in high levels in AO.  And it is said to be 25% more toxic when burned.

Tom Cleveland, Maint. Bn. 1st FSR
Hi. Ronnie I sure am glad you're still out there being a good Marine.  The last time I made contact with you I had a heart attack a few days latter that kind of set me back a little.  My wife and I now live in Rio Rancho  New Mexico.  I have a small plumbing company and I deal in antiques and collectables on Ebay as a hobby.  One of these days we have got to get together while we can still remember some of those good old days.  It may be difficult to talk about the craziness we went through as young immortals with someone who actually share experiences that were so close.  I'm sure you understand when I say that its getting harder and harder to separate the realities of what happened there and some of the unbelievable things we witnessed from the stories we heard and dreams.  But I do so remember the day the Ammo dump exploded.   It must have been pretty early as I remember I was on my way to the shop, where we repaired brake shoes when I noticed the first explosion.  must have been pretty early about 7:00 a.m.  It seems to me it started on he west side of Hwy. 1, just south of our compound.   We stayed at work for probably an hour or so.  I think we decided to leave and head back towards the barracks when the shrapnel started hitting the metal roof of the shop.  We were walking back to the hooches when the first of the napalm dumps went at the south of the compound. That scared the crap out of me.  If you remember the way it happened, different parts of the dump went at different times all the way up and down Hwy 1 and up towards Freedom Hill.   Ammunition would be blown for one bunker to set off another several hundreds of yards away.  But there were three moments that I can remember above all.    One,  we sere standing on a deck of one of the hooches, I believe it was the E-5 barracks  which was the closest to the fence line on the Dog Patch side, watching the small-arms dump exploding like popcorn when one of the guard towers was blown down and seeing what I'm sure was a body hurdle towards the fire.  I don't know if I was the only one who saw it or we all just decided not to say anything because what I remember is that no one said a word, and about two minutes later, the whole small-arms dump kind of inhaled and and then came that life-changing moment and this I'm sure you remember.  We could see the shock wave coming at us and I can remember thinking to myself that I should probably do something, but like everyone else there I had no idea of what was about to hit.  I remember seeing Sgt. Ackers from Oklahoma's helmet blown straight off of his head and turn up side down and come straight back down and knock him cold and people were just flipped over and then the sound hit and that's why I was in the V A Last week.  I don't think I have spent a day since then with out hearing crickets in the key of G.  I remember we tried to pull back and made it just pass the mess hall before the MPs turned us around and sent up back to our bunkers because we were the only unit left between Happy Valley and the Air Base.  Hey I bet you still remember the sound of an F14 afterburner.  How about the difference in the sound of an incoming 122 and a B4.  Or how about hearing whistle of a 122 over the sound of the artillery that was just south of base.  Remember the Da Nang 500.  Bread runs to China Beach Orphanage.  I think we remember those days because we were so alive and living so fully. I would like to know if you can remember New Year's Eve 1968. It was also an important day and I would like to have someone help me remember what happened that day. I do remember drinking too much.   Well anyway lets entertain ourselves with those so fond memories.  The pictures are from my limited collection. 

Hi RD  My name is Dick Allen. I was a Seabee (MCB128) in Vietnam. We were at Camp Faulkner just north of Marble Mountain. Our battalion helped build ASP-1. My platoon poured concrete head walls around the drainage
pipes under the interior roads in the dump. We were back at Gulfport, Miss. when the dump blew. Later we returned to Quang Tri for a tour. Thanks for the great pictures.
Dick

Thomas Benton USMC
WOW!!
Thanks for your memories (apologies to the memory of Bob Hope).  I arrived in Country at the end of May 1969, and I heard many stories concerning the GREAT AMMO DUMP EXPLOSION of April.  It wasn’t until I was transferred to ASPII in August of '69 that I began to learn about the event.  I was a forklift operator (MHE Plt. Support Co. H&S Blt. 1^st FSR FLC).  It seems that one of the guys in my platoon had driven his forklift, with forks extended, into a chain link fence on the perimeter and lifted it up so that who ever was near by could get out of the dump.  He evidently was awarded a commendation with combat V for his efforts.
While we lived in the ASPI compound (“do not kick anything sticking out of the ground it is probably a live round”) we were trucked over to ASPII every day until late September.  The Seabees built living quarters (huts) and a mechanics shop for us.  This was after we had been hit twice, about three days apart, and the original shop was damaged, along with a couple of forklifts.  The VC were in our compound long enough to have wired several forklifts with grenades.  It has been a long time now but it seems that I was one of the first to climb on to a forklift when I discovered a grenade wired to the front wheel; the date was September 6, 1969.

BOB EDWARDS
Hi Ronnie, I just ran across your Web Site. Marine MAAG II were immediately across our Operations Center on the West Side of Da Nang, and I remember this event very, very well as for the first hour or so, I had a chance to get a few photos, and then after a Major Bunker of Bombs went off - Everyone were ordered out of the area to the East Side of Da Nang AB, myself included.  Because we had a Top Secret Operations Site by Freedom Hill / Dog Patch area - we were a bit exposed with what we thought was an almost empty side of the Base, and the Security Police were the Only ones there from our Unit.  I was Selected to Return to the Operations Center, while the Sky was Black with Smoke, and Frequent Explosions were blowing doors off Buildings up to 12 miles away.  With the Squad of ERU "Emergency Reaction Unit" going back, we witnessed an empty base deserted by all the assigned units.    As we turned the corner on the North side of the Base, I could see my Friends framed in a Sky of Red Flame.  I don't know why, but I thought of the possibility - could there be any Nuclear there?  Could there be any Poisonous Gas?  And, why weren't there more people on that side of the Base?

     We offloaded, and one of the Communication Center crew had me and John Kovacs into the Comm Center Showing us the Krypto Comm Sytems, and he showed us the Phosphorous Bombs sitting atop the devices.  We were shown the Activator Bars that had to be Pulled out and Pushed back in, and I thought and then said - "How Much Time will we Have".  And, then he laughed and said "Not Enough".  With the laugh, I just thought he was jerking my chain.  John Kovacs and I had just been charged with Destroying some of the Most Secret and Sensitive Communications Systems in Vietnam. 

The Security Police then positioned us at different spots outside the Operations Center.  In between the Explosions, a Couple of Marines coming down the road decided to join in with us and climbed into one of the Sand Bag Bunkers we had around the Operations Center.  A Long Night with a lot of stuff landing and hitting all of the Metal Buildings in our Compound.  At daylight, the Bomb Dump began to play out, and our Marine Deuce and Half arrive from the other side of the base to remove the Krypto Gear.  Our Operations site would be destroyed three times in the years we were at Da Nang, and that night of April 27th would see the Complete Destruction of our Facility.  The Intel for the Air War in the North, was now down and out.  The mission had to continue, and part of our Unit were sent to the top of Money Mountain outside of Da Nang, and I was lucky enough to be able to make it to the Philippines for four weeks, while Mobile-Communications Vans were sent by Ships to the Harbor of Da Nang.  Within 2 days after the Bomb Dump Explosions, I was sitting at the Major Communications Collections site in the Pacific Tracking all of our Air Traffic in Vietnam.  We Were Down!  But not out - The Mission Continued.
You can find some of my other photos at: www.bobedwards.myphotoalbum.com 

 CAPT. ED MC DANIEL, USMC, RET.
 I was stationed at ASP 1 when it blew up in 1969. I was a Cpl  with Ammo Co. I participated in the clean up and then was promoted and sent over to ASP 2 to replace their rotating NCOIC. I was injured in Aug 1969 while burning the unserviceable 155mm gun powder that was left from the explosion. I was burnt pretty bad and after several months recuperation in Japan and Okinawa I was sent home. I was sent to MCB Quantico and was stationed with Schools Demonstration  Troops (SDT) and trained officers and went to Wash. D. C. to quell Americans during all the anti-war riots from 1969 to 1972. I chose to reenlist and later went to Warrant Officers School and retired as a Captain in 1989. Yours is the first sight I have seen about the ammo dump blowing up. All the pictures I had of the explosions were confiscated and never forwarded to me after I was med-evaced out. I do still have a few BEFORE pictures. I now am the Manager of all Ordnance Services for the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida. 
I was in Platoon 293, June 1967,San Diego, ALL TEXAS PLATOON. 
I will dig out the old pictures and send them to you. The Truck Company that was by the 1^st Mar Div helped with the clean up quite a bit. We put 55 gallon drums filled with sand behind the driver and lined the truck beds with sand bags to transport all the unserviceable ordnance to the destruct site out past the old ARVN camp. A lot of that was very sensitive due to the blast effects it had be subjected to during the explosions. We had one that slipped off the road and was hanging over a 50 foot drop off and carrying 155mm gun powder. Every time the driver and A driver tried to get out the truck would slip a little more so I had my troops grab onto the side still on the road and I climbed in the back and unloaded the pallets by hand that was on the drop off side to equal the weight so the drivers could get out before it fell over the edge. The driver who was from Beaumont, Texas, was named Richard Hamilton and I later met in Texas while I was home on leave and he remembered me as the Marine that had climbed up on his truck so he could get out. Walked up to me in a bar and related the whole story to me. Told me I should have stuck around after because the 2 SNCO's  that were there and had climbed on the side of the truck had got Bronze Stars for their action. I told him that later they had given me a Meritorious Mast for climbing in the back but it did say for heroic action. SMALL WORLD.  No Agent Orange worries so far even though my daughter did delivery two premature babies. We had CS (tear gas) and CN (vomiting agent) stored there but no nerve or blood agents. I did get a good dose of them when we went back in to rescue some Marines that had been trapped in the rear of the ammo dump. But I have never suffered any long term effects as far as I know other than a low grade fever for years that the Doctors have never been able to pin down or get rid of. Did another 20 years after that so couldn't have been too bad. Will order you book. Glad you responded, SEMPER FI!!!  

DOUG PUGH - Louisville, KY
I just visited your website with the awesome pictures of Da Nang. I was in the Corps stationed at Camp Monahan (ASP1) at the base of the west side of Hill 327. Our group did guard duty in the towers and bunkers on and around Hill 327. Later I was at Red Beach and ASP2.  I arrived in country Aug ‘68 and rotated ‘back-to-the-world’ July ‘69.  I really enjoyed going through your pictures – it brought back a lot of memories.
I lost my pics during my various moves during the first 2 years I got home. Even so, no where near as many as yours - you've captured history. I forwarded your site to a buddy of mine I was in 'Nam with - we still keep in touch. I'm curious if you remember or have pics of the night the Da Nang airfield was hit. I can't remember the date, but it was before ASP1 blew. I remember being on bunker watch on Hill 327 and rockets hitting the airfield. It blew on of the large JP40 jet fuel tanks located at the east end of the airfield. I remember seeing the fire trucks and guys in asbestos suits hosing-down the other large tanks - quite a sight. More later...
Semper Fi,
 

GARY H. SHULER - Corporal of Marines, Vietnam '69-'70

I saw your on-line article and photos of the ASP exploding.  I was an ammo tech at Camp Monahan but I didn't arrive until a day or two after the explosion.  Looks like you were  leaving country as I was arriving.  I was wondering if perhaps you have more photos (not posted on-line) of the dump, pre-explosion, or maybe even Camp Monahan, were the Marine EOD unit and ammo techs were based.  I'm trying to put together a map of the unit locations in relation to each other, such as #3rd MPs, 7th Motor Transport (Bulk Fuel? I think they may also have been at Monahan), the 175 batteries right next to Camp Monahan, ASP 1, Dog Patch, Marble Mountain, Hill 327, etc.  I bought a Miranda 35mm at Freedom Hill and took lots of photos, but Florida hurricanes (mostly Ivan, in Pensacola) eventually got them all, including 95% of my service records and memorabilia.  Enjoyed your article on the day the dump exploded.  Thanks for the memories.  

 TIM CONRADY - GySgt. USMC RET 
Ronnie, I cant believe how much I enjoyed your web site. It brought tears to my eyes. You see, Ronnie I
was one of the original ammo techs who put ASP 1together in August 1965.There were about 40 of us at
the time. Back than the Vietnamese had graves all through the ammo dump. The American government were
paying them so much to dig up their dead and move them. being a converted 0331 to a 2311 I knew what a
mortar stake was and so did the other guys. All at once these poles started sticking up all around the
bag charges. We told the CO but he basically ignored it. The XO didn't and put us on alert. Evidently he had
heard something earlier about a strike on the dump and took matters into his own hands. Well it was about a
week of silence and no sleep. Needless to say all of us were scared to death. It finally happened. Mortar
rounds started coming in. It didn't last long. 1/9 got the fire mission and took them out quick. It wasn't
long after Operation Hastings was over and 15 of us had to pack up. We were all transferred to Dong Ha where
we had to construct a brand new dump. We were there a few months and and we got severely hit.
Ronnie, I have not seen any of the men that I served with at the dump. Do you have any knowledge of any one
who was at ASP 1 ASP 2 or Dong Ha in 1965 or 1966? If you do could you please advise me of such. I did 24
years in the Corps and I retired in 1988 as a Gunny. I sure would like to hear from you.
                     

JAMES D. PRIM
I remember that day very well. I was in Da Nang at HQ Squadron and we had to leave the buildings and stay outside and watch the waves in the sky due to the explosions. We were in front of "Dogpatch."
 

RICHARD KAST
I remember this scene. We were down on the beach that day and I was the only one who had a weapon. Being a Corpsman, we only had my 45 and my unit #1. We jumped in the jeep to get back to headquarters and had to go out around. It took us approximately 2-3 hours. After this we took the roofs from the clubs that were destroyed and delivered them to the people outside the compound. I was a Corpsman with the Wing Surgeon’s Office, 1^st MAW at the time.
 

RANDALL C. WOOTEN
I remember this too really well. I was there in Happy Valley at the time. We had to be evacuated from our battalion on tanks. The ammo dump blew for three days and completely our battalion area.

JOHN DANIELS
That was something I won’t ever forget. I was at 1^st Med Bn. Right down the road. Stuff was landing all over the place.

RON GEROFF
Found your website this morning. I served in the fire department, USMC, Force Logistics Command, Headquarters Bat. in 1969. I have no clue what motivated me to do a search for Force Logistics Command, Da Nang, but it got me to your site. Thanks for the photos. I'll get back to work now, but you've done a great job documenting things.
The ammo dump got blown a few months prior to my arrival. The fire department had photos up and there were still Marines around who told me the story.  
It has been good to be home. Most of us came back, got jobs, raised families, and voted. Now more than ever I think those of us who love this nation need to step up and object to the politicians who denigrate our military and our very nation. It was a pleasure searching through your website. Thanks for serving our country.

RALPH J. TAYLOR
Found your Web Site and it brings back lots of memories.  I was out at Camp Brooks.  Would you happened to remember Cpl Larry Tyson?  I believe he was with your unit.
One of the Marines from my unit. Sgt. Green, was at Freedom Hill going on R&R when the ASP blew up.  He was in kakis and had to run from Freedom Hill to Hwy 1.  I was at Camp Books and we had parts of bombs which blew up landing inside my base.
I have another friend Doyle Carr who was in the Provisional Rifle Company at Camp Books.  I also spent about 2 months in Prov Rifles.  You might want to look at http://www.billyjoe.net/vietnam/ .  Its later than when I was there.

The video below was taken by an unknown Marine in Iraq. It is very similar to what I remember seeing in 1969 near Da Nang, although at ASP 1 Da Nang there were large bombs, napalm and chemicals stored.

Department of Defense:  “On October 10, 2006, at approximately 10:40 p.m., a 82mm mortar round, fired by militia forces from a residential area in Abu T-Shir, caused a fire at an Ammunition Supply Point (ASP) at FOB Falcon. The ASP, containing tank and artillery rounds, in addition to smaller caliber ammunition, set off a series of large explosions. About 100 troops from the 4th Infantry Division were reported to be stationed at the base at the time, but no injuries were reported.”  (Looks like the DOD forgot about the Marines in the area - just like 37 years earlier.) If anyone know who filmed this, please let me know.