I had three really close friends during my tour in Vietnam: Dick Wade, Ken Vasilik, and Greg Wagner. We somehow managed to convince our command to allow all four of us to go on R&R together over New Years 1971 to Hong Kong. We happened to be good friends with an executive who worked for our civilian contractor, RMK-BRJ, a fellow named Bob Wood, and his wife. They met us in Hong Kong, and they were childless, but had a pair of nieces who were in college back in Ohio. They flew the nieces to Hong Kong for the Christmas/New Year trip. Wade and I were the bachelors of our gang, so we were paired up with the girls. We went everywhere and did everything humanly possible in a week. It was very exotic for a kid from Louisiana like me, sort of like landing in the middle of a movie.
Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony back then, and I am so glad I got to see it in those days.
As a side note, Greg Wagner passed away, but I have reunited with Wade and Vasilik and we created the first ever reunion of our command and the hundreds of officers who served in it during the war.
