Watch

farewellthumb  

Click here to view the 127th's farewell, December, 1966, as we shipped out for Vietnam.  Took us a month to get there, 9,000 miles, and we had no idea what we were in for...


127thsign  

Click here to view Dodge City, home of the 127th, in early 1967.  We'd just started constructing real buildings – mess hall was the first up.  Loads of tents, sandbag reinforcements everywhere, and a machine-gun tower out back to keep the VC from crawling down the mountain...


inspection  

Click here to view a pre-patrol inspection.  Every patrol began with a check of our weapons, uniforms, even our haircuts.  Eight-hour patrols ran in three shifts per day, seven days a week...


patrol  

Click here to view a typical patrol through Qui Nhon and the Valley.  It was our job to maintain law and order, sweep for snipers, guard VC POWs, keep GIs safe.  Not always easy when the locals weren't exactly thrilled you were there... and you weren't exactly sure who the enemy was...


downtown  

Click here for a quick ride through downtown Qui Nhon in the rain.  It's not every place you'll find pigs roaming the streets...


snake  

Click here to see Dodge City in mid- to late-1967.  Real barracks, plus monkeys, bugs, snakes, monsoons, and more...


banana  

Click here to see the Electrical Banana, the touring, recording rock band I formed with a few fellow MPs.  We never missed a patrol and performed in some seriously dangerous terrain.  The band got us through the war.


This clip gives a good idea of what the book's all about...


Rock 'N' Roll Soldier: A Memoir by Dean Ellis Kohler with Susan VanHecke, foreword by Graham Nash  •  © 2024