Your Story Hello Mom Gary Graham

“Hello Mom”

“Throughout my tour with the FDC Section of Alpha Battery 6/27th Artillery in the Republic of Vietnam, a significant amount of my time was spent waiting for something to happen. During such lulls, time seemed to pass really slowly. In order to combat this situation, members of the section would do such things as play card games and board games, read books and write letters home; just to name a few.

Early one morning in September of 1969, absolutely nothing was happening. It seemed that even the bad guys had decided to take the night off. Time was passing very slowly, so I picked up a field phone and said, “Hello Mom.” Everyone in the section had a good laugh. I then thought, “What the Hell, I’ll give it a try.”

I again picked up the handset and rang the Battery switchboard. I said, “Connect me to Haymaker (the Battalion switchboard)” and I was connected. I wondered where to go next when I suddenly blurted out that I wanted MACV Headquarters in Cholon. To my surprise I was connected.

Okay, I had gotten to Saigon so where do I go next? One member of the Section said Kuala Lampur. I told the MACV operator that I wanted the operator in Kuala Lampur. After numerous cracks and pops; an English speaking operator at that location came on the line.

By now the entire section had become involved in my endeavor and we were all trying to remember our geography. Someone said, ”Manila, in the Philippines.” I told the operator to connect me to Manila. Again after numerous cracks and pops, an English speaking operator came on the line. OKAY!

Another section member said to try Tokyo, Japan. I told the operator to connect me to Tokyo. My luck continued to hold for I was connected to an English speaking operator in Japan.

I then told the operator to connect me to an operator in Honolulu, Hawaii. Again after several loud cracks and pops a voice came on the line with the familiar, “AT&T”. “H0T DAMN”, I had made it to the United States!

I told the operator that I wanted to place a collect call and gave her my parent’s number in Oklahoma. Then my luck ran out. The operator then asked from what number I was calling. A long “pregnant” pause ensued and I said, “Haymaker Five-Niner”. She then asked if I was calling from a military unit in South Vietnam. I said that I was. She asked if I had authorization to make the call and I stated that I had none to my knowledge. The operator stated that no calls could be placed to the U.S. mainland from military units in South Vietnam without prior authorization. There was a loud “CLICK” and the line went dead. OUCH!

I tried several more times to call home using the same procedure; each time to no avail. During my tour in VN I was able to call “home” twice and that was while I was on R&R in of all places, Honolulu, Hawaii. Such was the life of an artilleryman at a place called Quan Loi.

Gary Graham Now and Then
Norman, Oklahoma

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