Related Pages:
Det 2, 175th RRC
Bill Kosek's Con Son Photo Album
Con Son is about 150 miles off the Vietnam coast southeast of Saigon* and was mainly a prison Island for the RVN; home of the so-called Tiger Cages which did make the news on ocasion.
Another View:
(From the Website's Email Contact)
YourName? Bob
YourEmail xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx
Subject? Con Son
Message:
Two Army landing craft visited the island in 1969. We were delivering useless bags of hardened cement. The stuff had been stored in open marshalling yards, during monsoon, and the bags had ruptured. It was useless when it was loaded. The other captain and I had the temerity to point out that fact, and it was almost like being back in "basic." Shut up, soldier, and haul cargo. Anyway, we delivered the stuff and spent a few days on the island. Beautiful place, for a visit. I don't recall seeing any fence lines, of any importance. Political prisoners and criminal offenders were wandering around the island, with impunity, ala Devil's Island, performing odd jobs (of a "houseboy" nature) for the Army and Coast Guard personnel.
The Army guys were living in thrown together huts and the Coasties were in neat air-conditioned modular type buildings. They had wall to wall carpets, so to speak, and the Army didn't even have wall to wall floors. Highly placed Saigon muckety mucks used the place as a quiet little getway spot. I guess there were unscheduled flights into the pretty basic little airstrip. If they ever get their act together that place would be more beautiful than Hawaii.
*I use mostly in era terms and place names - Such as Saigon, RVN etc.
