Now consider that one gallon of milk weighs about ten pounds and the capacity of each barrel is about 25 gallons. Each of these four barrels had to be pulled out and dragged about thirty feet away to the “safe area”. Both doors, enclosing the barrels on the rear of the outhouse were raised 180 degrees and latched to the wall. Actually, there were eight in total – four replacement empties from the day before. An eight foot long by three foot wide piece of plywood ran across the length of the small building – four oblong and evenly spaced holes were cut into the wood plank to create a throne for a foursome a half barrel waste collector was strategically placed under each of them. Envision this, and yes this is gross, but fifty-five gallon steel barrels were cut in half and used for the collection of waste.Įach community outhouse, some enclosed and some not, were fabricated with wood and screen material. The hardest and most difficult part of this day-long work detail, was moving the filled barrels to a spot considered safe for burning. Honestly, once you pour in the diesel fuel and light a match, only two other tasks were required for the remainder of the day: Having to stir the mixture every fifteen minutes or so with a large stick, and then doing your best to avoid the billowing and shifting thick, black smoke. I was able to tolerate painting, filling sandbags, digging holes for bunkers and just about any other task they could throw at me when I wasn’t in the bush, but, hands down, burning shit left a permanent brown stain on my memory. Personally, assigned to the firebase shit burning detail was absolutely the worst of my experiences in the Nam…closely followed by having to relocate the “piss tubes”.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |