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| Khe-Sahn Vietnam |
It
was not always easy to keep up with the scheduled events. Usually I had to sign a contract with the
various club mangers as to the number of band members who would be performing.
This normally consisted of a lead singer (who also played the guitar), a
drummer, bass guitar, and a steel guitar. Sometimes I would have a fifth member
who played the fiddle. Now this is a war
zone and everyone is not always on the same schedule. Movement around the streets of Saigon by
members of the military was at times very dangerous. There was the time when
the entire city was off-limits to military personnel. With a contract to perform I had to be a bit
creative at times so I had the members transported in a cracker-box ambulance
with an MP escort. I once did a favor for the Military Police NCOIC (Non-Commissioned
Officer in Charge) but that’s another story.
The
name Southern Playboys may not have any special connotation to the average
person, but for trivia’s sake it was an attempt to connect it to Bob Wills and
the Texas Playboys…Wills was known as the King of Western Swing.
Now the Southern
Playboys lead singer and band members knew most, if not all, of the popular
country and western songs of the time…including some from times long ago. But
what was most popular was one that was written locally in Vietnam…I was but a
small part of that, but a part none the less. It was the most requested song in
the Saigon area even topping the Green Beret song by Barry Sadler which was
topping the charts back stateside. There
was no one person that could take credit for the lyrics and none of us ever copyrighted
the song.
Somewhere along
the line we had enough requests to cut a record of the song but no money was
available…and that’s were my creativity stepped back in. I was able to sell 5,000 records before one
record was produced. I took orders from
the various clubs with promises to mail the finished product to anyone who was
shipping back home. For brevity’s sake,
I ended up having to mail about 300 records the remainder were hand
delivered. By the way, postage was free
for G.I.’s in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, our
lead singer, Hank Dauphin, a member of the U.S. Army, tour was about up and he received
orders for Okinawa. What were we going
to do now? The record was not even cut
yet. Well Hank had some buddy musicians
at his new assignment and he put together a five-piece band and recorded our
special song…not near as good as it sounded in person but an OK job suitable to
satisfy the record buyers. There was a
Capitol Records subsidiary on Okinawa where the recording took place. Rather than use the Capitol Records logo each
record had the oval shape familiar to Capitol Records but with the initials HD…and
I don’t believe an HD label was ever produced after that. A buddy of mine and me took a 5 day leave and
flew up to Okinawa to obtain the 5,000 copies, returned to Vietnam and made
good on our promise.
The band
continued to play but without Hank it was never the same. Our replacement singer was also an Army guy
and his repertoire of songs numbered over 100…maybe 125, heck, I might know three
or four songs by heart. We also had a
back-up new singer that shared the spotlight for the remainder of my tour. The big guy’s name was Neil and I’ve
forgotten the back-up guy’s name. Neil
did a great show but something was missing when it came to our favorite.
Not all country
and western songs are tear-jerkers but the way hank sang “The Medic” it would
be hard pressed not to fall in this category.
Yes, The Medic, was written in Vietnam by a bunch of us and it goes something
like this: (from memory) |
| A Vietnam Medic |
The
Medic
A
young G.I. soldier on leave in SaigonWas stopped by two MP’s, they said pardon young man
There’s blood on you cap
There’s blood on your sleeve,
And we may have to cancel your seven-day leave.
The young G.I. said, Sir, now don’t take me wrong
For I’ve just returned from a place call Khe-sahn
Where the hardships are many and the comforts are few
And brave men are dying for me and for you.
Don’t have much money ‘cause I don’t draw much pay
Just came into Saigon to spend a few days.
Won’t bother your women or drink up your wine
Just write’n a few letters for some friend of mine
Ya see, last week my best buddy got shot in the chest
And, as I held him he told me with his last dying breath
Please write to my mother
Please write to my girl
And tell them I loved them as I left this world.
He left those two MP’s with tears in their eyes
Stayed there three days and went back to his guys.
For he was a medic and his future was made
The dying and wounded would need his first aid.
Now this story is not quite over. Just for the heck of it, I Googled The Medic
song and sure enough there it was on YouTube by a guy named Neil…Neil Ray to be
exact. No, that’s not the same Neil that
took over Hank’s job, unless maybe he’s using a different last name. I forgot the original Neil’s last name but it
definitely was not Ray.
Neil Ray does a pretty good job with The Medic despite the
fact that some of the words/locations were changed. For example, he replaces
Khe-Sahn with Haiphong which takes a little away from the line, “Where the hardships are many
and the comforts are few” …to the best of my knowledge, Haiphong is a harbor
whereas Khe-Sahn was a fire-site; “Fire” as in gunfire where many G.I.’s saw
much action, not to mention those that never made it back. ~ Norman E. Hooben
Ps:
If you wondered why I referred to some as, “an Army guy”… I’m Air Force
