Don Dodson was born and raised in San Diego, California. He started college in 1968 at the University of Redlands as a musician, but soon afterwards joined the Army as a bandsman. After basic training at Fort Ord, he went to Fort Irwin where he played bass drum and oboe under the “blissful misconception” that he had successfully avoided Vietnam. Dodson deployed to Vietnam in August 1969, and joined the Fourth Infantry Division Band at Camp Enari as the “first and second and third chair oboe.” He also played “a little bit of clarinet, a little bit of bass drum.” He remembers being the garbage NCO (i.e., fecal matter dehydration technologist, or more properly, sh*t burner), drinking with the enlisted guys, developing photographs, guard duty, and watching I Love Lucy reruns. He recalls a buddy taking dictation of Chicago Transit Authority’s "Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?" while on guard duty, and their band playing it (“the first live performance of Chicago in Vietnam”). He describes painting ammo canisters, the significance of the formula ‘nine parts diesel, one part mogas’ and its reverse, the band conductor’s vision for a 60-piece band (the authorized strength was 40), and “building a ramp down to the showers to replace the crumbling stairs.”
Key Words: San Diego, California, Point Loma, University of Redlands, Redlands, California, bandsman, clarinet, AG band, Fort Irwin, California, Fort Ord, AWOL, M14, OJT, bass drum, Sixth Army Headquarters Band, oboe, 433d Army Band, Lindbergh Field, Oakland Army Base, Alameda Naval Air Station, Travis Air Force Base, World Airways, Hawaii, Guam, Tan Son Nhut, Long Binh, Repo Depot, audition, 299th Army Band, 290th, Fourth Infantry Division Band, bass drum, clarinet, Pleiku, Camp Enari, I Love Lucy, Armed Forces Radio Television Network, night watchman, charge of quarters, Black Panthers, garbage NCO, MWR, Morale, Welfare, and Recreation, photo lab, Quy Nhon, Da Nang, Saigon, Dalat, Vespa taxis, “Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?” Chicago Transit Authority, REMFs, loading NCO, squad leader, 60-instrument orchestra, truck driver's license, short-timer's calendar, Orange Pill Malaria Day, McChord Air Force Base, Fort Lewis, Washington, Seattle-Tacoma airport, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 36th Army Band, San Diego City College, CPAP, pickle suit, ruptured duck, Strategic Communications Command patch, Adjutant General Corps, Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, National Defense Service ribbon, Firewatch Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal with two stars.
Key Names: Richard M. Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, Mr. Ferraro, Carleton R. Morris, Major General Donn R. Pepke, Doc, Jay Carter, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, Major General Walker, Captain Prowant, Lieutenant Allen, Dick Bitner, Vic Saint Clair