Hair-Raising Ride:
Stay Calm and You May Stay Alive

Editor’s Note: The following story is being reprinted with the permission of Stars and Stripes, which retains all rights. The story was written by Spec. 4 Philip McCombs, Stars and Stripes staff correspondent and originally ran Feb. 23, 1970 in the Pacific Stars and Stripes, Three-star edition, serving forces stationed in South Vietnam, and part of the 7th Fleet. Find the original article and issue in Stars and Stripes’ historic newspaper archive: https://starsandstripes.newspaperarchive.com/.

We were inspired to seek permission to print this story after receiving a clipping of it from our webmaster’s father, who’d saved it to remind himself of a similar trip he’d taken while in Saigon.

By Spec. 4 Philip McCoombs
Stars & Stripes Staff Correspondent

SAIGON — Stay calm. It is only a 11-mile drive north from Saigon to Long Binh. Nice big highway, plenty of room for everyone. Just stay calm. Stay calm dammit!

Lot of traffic on the road today. The highway is like two giant machine guns hurling three-ton bullets in opposite directions over a flat plain.

The key is to stay relaxed. Just plug along. Try to forget the hustle and bustle and then:

“Watch out, you fool!” Driving on this road is a very tricky business. Stirling Moss I’m not.

Self-control is the key. I had a nice, relaxing breakfast at the USO and maintained my cool on the road for all of 35 seconds before:

“Rey, what are you doing? Hey. Look out. Look out!” A very close call. Why do those big trucks alway, drive on the line? Maybe they can aim better that way.

What pretty countryside. Except for that dump over there, and that cluster of new factories belching smoke and the smog that keeps me from seeing more than 100 yards down the road, this would be a tropical paradise.

Hmmmm. A deuce-and-a-half seems to be closing in on me from behind. He seems to be closing fast. That’s quite a feat, since I’m doing 60 miles an hour. You know, one of the most interesting things about a deuce-and-a-half is:

“Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.” — is that it has a very loud horn.

The Vietnamese are interesting people. That Oriental, patient philosophy of life. I just wonder why. Good Lord!

“Screeeeeeeeeeeeech.” — Why they are such, uh, aggressive drivers. Maybe they watch too many Steve McQueen movies.

A Vietnamese boy’s climbing out the window of a bus. The bus is going 70 miles an hour. The boy is hanging from the side of the bus, laughing and shouting. A tanker is approaching from the other direction.

Why are we stopped? A traffic jam? It is the middle of countryside. By standing on the hood I can count 300 horn-honking vehicles. Barges carrying explosives are going under the bridge. There are five barges and it takes half an hour for them to pass.

Finally crossing the bridge:

“Bllaaaaaaaaaapppp. Blap. Blap. Blap.”

Why is that bridge guard firing his M18 into the air? Sure speeds up the traffic, but I wonder where the bullets fall? Oh well, it’s a war zone.

Here we are at last. Hmmm, there’s a bullet hole in the fender? Never saw that before.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. McCombs, a reporter for The Washington Post, was a U.S. Army sergeant in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, serving in the 1st Logistical Command, then as Saigon bureau chief of Pacific Stars & Stripes. He returned in 1973 as a Washington Post correspondent, remaining until the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.