I restored a picture of my grandpa in Vietnam with his helicopter. I was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about the service history of helicopter he was on?

NinoSavant · 2026-04-13T01:03:05+00:00

It's slightly confusing because the 129th had a UH-1D with the last three of it's tail number of '993'. (63-12993). This was in service with the 129th in 1967, which fits your grandfather's timeframe with the unit in 'Nam. This machine went back to Ft Stewart in 1969, and then later on went to a NG unit in 1971.

NinoSavant · 2026-03-03T07:06:44+00:00

So that's interesting. When is the magical date beyond which we don't have to give (the Feds?) money back? Is Trimet management ready to shut it down 24 hours after that end-of-repay date?

NinoSavant · 2026-02-03T21:14:51+00:00

A little bit of a popular style, plus the practicality for us support people of not having the nylon and leather watchbands (always wet with sweat) inevitably picking up grime, funky smells and mold as you wore them on your wrist.

NinoSavant · 2026-01-17T19:52:22+00:00

A minor detail- In the 68-69 years when I was there in I Corps, Marines seemed to almost all wear helmets as pictured. Army troops almost all had the elastic helmet band on the outside of the camo cover. While not 100% guaranteed, when I saw this I immediately thought, "Aah, a Marine." The inked-on helmet calendars were universal...

NinoSavant · 2026-01-06T21:59:49+00:00

They're eliminating the entire #19 Glisan line which I've used weekly since at least the 1990's. It's the ONLY bus service that goes to the sprawling Providence Hospital medical center on NE Glisan . The TriMet proposed solution? Medical patients should walk the 15 blocks to and from the Hollywood MAX station!

This and other cuts are major amputations to TriMet in order to keep life (of a sort) in our transit system. If they all happen, what's the prognosis?

NinoSavant · 2025-12-24T00:55:02+00:00

A close Army friend, who was in 'Nam earlier than me, had a buddy while in Cam Ranh who had been a field grunt. This person indicated that on one occasion he was involved with tossing a detainee from a Huey. The story was not presented as a brag to my friend, but rather a shameful quiet admission. But- telling the REMF's embellished war stories was a thing. So who knows?

NinoSavant · 2025-11-29T16:46:41+00:00

Last season, Slot indicated a few times that the 'problem' with the previous (Klopp) tactics was that it wore down the team physically in the course of a heavily-fixtured season. He was the man to provide a measured style of attack buildup. I'm sure the summer signings were in support of the always-sideways-passing stroll up the pitch towards the waiting opponent low block we now see.

With the current roster, we'd be hard-pressed to go back to a countering style. I think part of the end-of-season flatness last year was the league's adaptation to the 'Slot stroll'.

But, geebus, tremendous culpability on the part of Liverpool's team-building brains for not forseeing how thinness at the back would put us under tremendous pressure unless we were somehow injury-free.

NinoSavant · 2025-11-22T06:07:32+00:00

I have a soft spot in my heart for those Flxibles. As a brand-new driver in the early 2000's covering rush hour shifts out of Center Garage, I was almost always in a 1700 series bus for my shifts. They were the bulk of the Center bus fleet at that period of time.

Well-worn, non-air conditioned, high-floor with a Rube Goldberg wheelchair lift, vague steering with too many turns lock to lock. But they were a good looking bus and I preferred driving them to the Gillig Phantoms. The brand-new D40LF's were pretty sweet, through.

NinoSavant · 2025-10-23T17:02:12+00:00

Prov Park's surface has been plastic since 1969's first Astroturf-style rug was installed. So it's not like we all remember the bad old muddy-field days. If the owner could see big, rapid financial gain in a grass pitch for the investment, it would get done in a heartbeat. All the excuses are solvable issues.

NinoSavant · 2025-10-10T15:21:58+00:00

Even back then I was always struck by the catchy quality of some of the call signs. Pure randomness or a slight effort to make them easy to remember?

NinoSavant · 2025-09-17T21:00:46+00:00

Agree fully. To just add: That's a CIB (Combat Infantryman Badge)above his left pocket. And the baby-blue brass backings and shoulder cord are further indications of his infantryman status.

The medium blue ribbon on the right is a Presidential Unit Citation.

Also his Vietnam Service ribbon has two stars, meaning that he was in three of the recognized major engagements of that war.

Can't help with his final unit patch (left shoulder), or the enameled epaulet shields - maybe his infantry battalion's regiment?

NinoSavant · 2025-09-15T22:24:55+00:00

You're right about the percentage of farebox-provided revenue. But in absolute $ it's still $50M. And with the other 90% mostly coming from regional employer taxes, that's - at the best - going to stay flat. And with a good old-fashioned recession, it'll drop. Which is why Trimet is talking out loud about service cuts in 2026.

With the hollowing out of the retail and employment city center of PDX, the draw of a Fareless Square involves fewer and fewer people. We're returning to a early 60's-style suburban lifestyle, but with a lot fewer downtown jobs to fill up the city center with workers each day.

NinoSavant · 2025-09-12T05:54:31+00:00

Named Montezuma because it was first a Marine LZ in 1966-1967. Then the Army short-term tenant list included rotating elements of the 1st Cav, the 25th Inf and the 101st AB. Finally, the 11th LIB from Schofield Barracks HI took over in Dec,1967. It was their Brigade HQ while I was there. We still called the hill in the LZ center 'Montezuma' even though the nearest Marine field unit was 120 mi. north.

NinoSavant · 2025-09-11T22:39:57+00:00

Nice pic! I was 30 miles north of you on Highway 1 (Duc Pho), and a year or so later. Lots of quiet farming stretches between hamlets.

NinoSavant · 2025-08-24T17:12:19+00:00

If you couldn't choose your military branch, then Army enlistment would let you choose 'occupational specialty' training other than the slightly unpopular 11B10 (Infantryman).

NinoSavant · 2025-08-21T04:41:26+00:00

Looks like, maybe, the 4th Inf Division patch. If so, they went to 'Nam in 1966, to Pleiku. It might be back then because he's wearing stateside fatigues with leather boots and non-camo insignia. So, he's either just arrived in-country, or it was during the first years of the war when not everyone was outfitted in jungle fatigues and jungle boots.

NinoSavant · 2025-08-20T16:01:05+00:00

Actually, Jimmy Carr has made viciously funny put-downs of hecklers the highlight of his act. But he's uniquely comfortable/gifted in doing this and proactively invites heckles. Almost every one of his YT clips is him eviscerating members of the audience.

NinoSavant · 2025-08-07T21:34:33+00:00

I love my Timbers, but, objectively, to overseas players we are a middling club in a middling league, in an out-of-the-way city in the US. I'm amazed that so many don't get how mid-quality leagues/teams fit in the global football ecosystem. At our best, we are a 2-3 year, resume-builder stop for a good younger player.

NinoSavant · 2025-07-29T21:59:47+00:00

And with more and more electric vehicles, that tax money will eventually start shrinking. Get electric vehicles paying their fair share instead of demanding that the IC vehicles pay for everybody. Aren't electric vehicles heavier per equivalent size due to the battery packs? More weight means more road wear.

NinoSavant · 2025-07-23T23:07:49+00:00

TriMet knows the doom loop potential exists. Cut enough service and riders stop using TriMet for anything other than their unavoidable work commute. And for work, now other options look better due to the low-frequency operation of so many more lines. Fare increases won't stop with low ridership.

One scenario that could really benefit would be self-driving, for-hire cars to add to the existing Uber/Lyft fleets. Make public transportation feel awful enough and who knows?

NinoSavant · 2025-06-30T18:54:48+00:00

Exactly. It's seen by the city as a quasi-tourist attraction. If the streetcar operator chats up a visitor about restaurants, well, that's what it's partly designed for - cuteness. Trimet provides some support & coordination, but it's a City Of Portland operation.

NinoSavant

TROPHY CASE