Civilian Construction Companies
Lonesome Pine
Once upon a time I was on a convoy heading out of Da Dang and went by a
building crew rebuilding this foot bridge...I noticed they were wearing
civilian clothes and hard hats.....I ask an sarge next to me "who the hell
was those guys?"...
He told me it was an Construction Company that Lyndon Johnson was part
owner of...
He told me the initials of the company as being LBJ-??? stationed out of Da
Dang......
I know our honorable President would have been underhanded enough,to
make a "buck" off the war as many other individuals did....!!!
Did anyone know the history of these companies.....and does anyone by
chance have first hand knowledge of these "make a buck" companies...???
I was told that the Civilian's would have the Military blow up the
bridges in order to get government money to rebuild them with all kinds of
"under the table" money changing hands...etc..etc...!!!
Just a Grunt...wandering here....!!!
The only Construction crews we seen in the bush were Seabee's...and
those guys earn there...11 cent an hour....want to thank all the Seabee's
out there for that fine bunker they build at A-3 for us...!!!
It took two direct hits and lived thru it...THANKS..MCB 11 Quang Tri......
L.P.
3/3/3 Marines
Dennis N. Price
On 3 Feb 1997 02:37:02 GMT, "Lonesome Pine" <lone...@southwind.net>
wrote:
Thanks from a "Bee with MCB40 (Chu Lai 66-68, Phu Bai 68-69). The
civilians were probably with RMK-BRJ, a hugh conglomerate, which built
facilities all over RVN. They couldn't (wouldn't?) go out in the
bush.
Dennis Price
denn...@ix.netcom.com
JChafe
I remember treating an employee of Philco Ford at our triage in Danang in
68. A fat guy, civilian, he had a heart attack. He died. I was surprized
to learn there were civilians besides gov't guys there. I have since
learned that were plenty of them, advizing the military on the equipment
their company built. Same thing in the gulf war, by the way. I doubt that
there were construction companies getting money for fixing intentionally
damaged bridges, however. At any rate, LBJ had a big communication company
in Austin that made plenty of money, and didn't need to scam for it. That
company still exists in Austin, owns KLBJ Radio station, among other
holdings.
Rob Parker
RMK-BRJ:
R = Raymond International, Houston, TX (?)
MK = Morrison-Knudsen Company, Boise, ID
BR = Brown & Root, Inc., Houston, TX
J= J.A. Jones Construction Co., Charlotte, NC
Morrison-Knudsen (MK), during WWII, built some airstrips on some of
the islands in the Pacific theater. I don't know about these other
companies - or whether they were even around during WWII . There's a
big Omaha, NB construction company, Peter Kiewit & Sons, that also
worked in the Pacific. At that time, I think these companies were
the precursors to the Seabees. Some of their deeds - construction,
engineering and otherwise - were considered to be heroic during that
war effort.
MK also helped to build such projects as the Hoover Dam, missile silos
for the 'early- warning system', the vehicle assembly bldg. at Cape
Canaveral/Kennedy and parts of the Alyeska pipeline. Right now, the
company is trying to recover from a recent bankruptcy.
During Vietnam, the RMK-BRJ consortium was made up of construction men
(past the age of conscription usually) that simply took overseas jobs
to feed their families back home and were there to earn a
living...they were not in the military and, as a result, their
mission was to build encampments and support facilities. They were
not paid to fight, nor for 'going into the bush.'
Asking the military to blow-up their (RMK-BRJ's) work is pretty
fanciful thinking and makes little sense in reality. It would have
impeded military operations and made living conditions that much more
intolerable for the the fighting men themselves.
If there was graft, corruption, etc., I doubt that it was any more or
less than what could be found in government, other parts of society,
or in Vietnam at that time. OK, let's scratch Vietnam. Nothing was,
or has been, as corrupt as the South Vietnamese gov't. during the
war, probably, in the history of Man.
je...@acadia.net
In article <01bc117c$8fa7ffa0$7b535fcc@lonepine>,
"Lonesome Pine" <lone...@southwind.net> wrote:
>
> Once upon a time I was on a convoy heading out of Da Dang and went by a
> building crew rebuilding this foot bridge...I noticed they were wearing
> civilian clothes and hard hats.....I ask an sarge next to me "who the hell
> was those guys?"...
> He told me it was an Construction Company that Lyndon Johnson was part
> owner of...
> He told me the initials of the company as being LBJ-??? stationed out of Da
> Dang......
> I know our honorable President would have been underhanded enough,to
> make a "buck" off the war as many other individuals did....!!!
> Did anyone know the history of these companies.....and does anyone by
> chance have first hand knowledge of these "make a buck" companies...???
> I was told that the Civilian's would have the Military blow up the
> bridges in order to get government money to rebuild them with all kinds of
> "under the table" money changing hands...etc..etc...!!!
> Just a Grunt...wandering here....!!!
> The only Construction crews we seen in the bush were Seabee's...and
> those guys earn there...11 cent an hour....want to thank all the Seabee's
> out there for that fine bunker they build at A-3 for us...!!!
> It took two direct hits and lived thru it...THANKS..MCB 11 Quang Tri......
>
> L.P.
> 3/3/3 Marines
There was a PA&E ( pacific architect and engineers) they were all
over SEA also a RMK something or other, can't remember their name.
Paddy 28
>
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
OutbackBob
Lonesome Pine wrote:
>
> Once upon a time I was on a convoy heading out of Da Dang and went by a
> building crew rebuilding this foot bridge...I noticed they were wearing
> civilian clothes and hard hats.....I ask an sarge next to me "who the hell
> was those guys?"...
> He told me it was an Construction Company that Lyndon Johnson was part
> owner of...
> He told me the initials of the company as being LBJ-??? stationed out of Da
> Dang......
> I know our honorable President would have been underhanded enough,to
> make a "buck" off the war as many other individuals did....!!!
> Did anyone know the history of these companies.....and does anyone by
> chance have first hand knowledge of these "make a buck" companies...???
> I was told that the Civilian's would have the Military blow up the
> bridges in order to get government money to rebuild them with all kinds of
> "under the table" money changing hands...etc..etc...!!!
> Just a Grunt...wandering here....!!!
> The only Construction crews we seen in the bush were Seabee's...and
> those guys earn there...11 cent an hour....want to thank all the Seabee's
> out there for that fine bunker they build at A-3 for us...!!!
> It took two direct hits and lived thru it...THANKS..MCB 11 Quang Tri......
>
> L.P.
> 3/3/3 Marines
>
Viet-Nam basecamps. From what I heard while drinking with a bunch of
them in Saigon one night, LBJ owned the controlling interest and is one
of the resons he left the White House a millionaire. Also was a rumor
going around that they were a full of CIA, they hired a lot of
ex-military types, especially Special Forces.
--
OutbackBob
C Btry, 2/19th Arty, 1st Cav. 69-70
519th MI BN, MACV Saigon 72
--
OutbackBob e-mail:b...@outbacksat.com
Outback Satellite http://www.outbacksat.com (newly updated)
Eagle Point, Or. "The Cable Alternative Since 1984"
tig...@ix.netcom.com
Lonesome Pine wrote:
>
> Once upon a time I was on a convoy heading out of Da Dang and went by a
> building crew rebuilding this foot bridge...I noticed they were wearing
> civilian clothes and hard hats.....I ask an sarge next to me "who the hell
> was those guys?"...
> He told me it was an Construction Company that Lyndon Johnson was part
> owner of...
> He told me the initials of the company as being LBJ-??? stationed out of Da
> Dang......
> I know our honorable President would have been underhanded enough,to
> make a "buck" off the war as many other individuals did....!!!
> Did anyone know the history of these companies.....and does anyone by
> chance have first hand knowledge of these "make a buck" companies...???
> I was told that the Civilian's would have the Military blow up the
> bridges in order to get government money to rebuild them with all kinds of
> "under the table" money changing hands...etc..etc...!!!
> Just a Grunt...wandering here....!!!
> The only Construction crews we seen in the bush were Seabee's...and
> those guys earn there...11 cent an hour....want to thank all the Seabee's
> out there for that fine bunker they build at A-3 for us...!!!
> It took two direct hits and lived thru it...THANKS..MCB 11 Quang Tri......
>
> L.P.
> 3/3/3 Marines
>
There were a lot of civilians employed by different companies. After
my discharge from the Army in Apr 71 I went back to Vietnam to work for
NHA, Inc first (May 71 to Nov 92) and then to LSI second (Nov 92 to Dec
73) From my memory some of the ones that I remember were:
Alaska Barge and Transport - Transported barges up and down the
Mekong.
Dyna-Lectron -
Vinnel Corp. -
Lear Siegler, Inc. (LSI) - At first Army Helicopter DS/GS Maint until
lost the contract to NHA, then had an Air Force Contract to train and
support the VNAF in aircraft maint. on fixed wing and Helicopters.
Norman Harwell Associates, Inc (NHA)- Army Helicopter DS/GS Maint.
Bell Helicopter - Mainly worked with the VNAF, but the work was done
by LSI.
Hughes Aircraft - Had a team bring tow mounted UH-1's in from Germany.
There were alot more, but I just can't remember them all or what they
did.
And yes we did experience the usual mortar and rocket attacks, plus we
lost guys to traffic accidents, murder, terrorist bombings and
ambushes. The only restriction that we had was curfew other than that
we went where we wanted, when we wanted and how we wanted. Things got a
little hairer after the Peace Accords was signed and the military
started pulling out, we sort of had to depend upon ourselves for
security, so you would see us civilians moving into buildings or areas
downtown where there were a number of us to help each other out if and
when the need arose. Sure hated to leave when I did, but in the long
run it probably worked out for the best. One of my friends that worked
for Bell Helicopter made it out 2 days before the country fell.
--
Jim Williams
CWL#166
Read The Real Truth About The American War Library
at the below Url faqawld.htm.
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1955/faqawld.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1955/index.html
Roland Kunkel
Lonesome Pine <lone...@southwind.net> wrote in article
<01bc117c$8fa7ffa0$7b535fcc@lonepine>...
> Once upon a time I was on a convoy heading out of Da Dang and went by a
> building crew rebuilding this foot bridge...I noticed they were wearing
> civilian clothes and hard hats.....I ask an sarge next to me "who the
hell
> was those guys?"... SNIP ....
>
Interesting...
About a 168 miles north of Da Nang, at the Mouth of the Cua Viet River...
there were about a dozen civilians employed by RKO working on the initial
beginnings of the LST/LSD landing ramp. They were there when I first
arrived there in early Nov. 1966. The were gone before Christmas. The
wore civies and packed none military sidearms. Those that I talked to
were mid-aged Americans, I don't know if any were from other countries.
Roland Kunkel
Dave Thompson
JChafe <jch...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19970203165...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
> I remember treating an employee of Philco Ford at our triage in
Danang in
> 68. A fat guy, civilian, he had a heart attack. He died. I was
surprized
> to learn there were civilians besides gov't guys there. I have
since
> learned that were plenty of them,
(SNIP) for brevity, NOT content.
PA&E - Pacific Architects and Engineers, San Francisco, Betchel
Construction, SF and others had mucho contractor personnel in
country. I hauled a Sperry Gyroscope technician (with his moped)
around the delta and ultimately up the coast to Cam Rahn Bay. They
sure made a lot more than we did!!!
Dave Thompson
Boat_Driver
CWL #LCU1567
The Army's Brown Water Navy
Bob Aldrich (Mountain Man)
In <19970203165...@ladder01.news.aol.com> jch...@aol.com
(JChafe) writes:
>
>I remember treating an employee of Philco Ford at our triage in Danang
>in 68. A fat guy, civilian, he had a heart attack. He died. I was
>surprized to learn there were civilians besides gov't guys there. I
>the equipment their company built. Same thing in the gulf war, by the
>way. I doubt that there were construction companies getting money for
>fixing intentionally damaged bridges, however. At any rate, LBJ had a
>big communication company in Austin that made plenty of money, and
>didn't need to scam for it. That company still exists in Austin, owns
>KLBJ Radio station, among other holdings.
Ok....... I stayed out of this thread as long as I could. Yes there
were Civilian Contruction outfits there. They pissed me off to no end
because they would only do the "cushy" jobs. And that wasn't even what
pissed me off the most. I guess I preferred it that way because we
were better than they were anyway. I wouldn't HAVE them anywhere
outside of the major bases and camps. As any Seabee will atest, we
were not allowed to do our job in CONUS or realtively passive areas
overseas. Agreements were established with outlying communities and
governments that any construction or other heavy equipment jobs would
be contracted out to LOCAL labor. I spent many a day in the desert in
Fallon Nevada picking up rocks and throwing them in a dump so the CO of
the base could have pretty ornamental rock walls put all over the base
BUILT by civilian contractors with the materials WE provided. I can
live with that, but to be in SEA where they didn't belong really ticked
me off. It's a damn good thing there weren't very many of them!
Ok....... I've got my meds......... I'll be ok. As they lead me down
off my soapbox and into the comfy little snug white wrap-around jacket
we toddle off back to the ward..............
cl...@silverlink.net
I recall the initials RMK-RBJ as the construction company in Viet Nam. I
don't know if they had the whole country or only I Corps. This outfit
was not really a single company but a group of construction companies
represented by the initials in thename. I assume they work on a cost
plus basis as was the case of the construction of the Navy Base at Diego
Garcia. I don't know who owned these companies but I think they are
stockholder companies so it was just investors. Philco-Ford had a
contract for maintenance in the Da Nang area and maybe in other areas.
The workers in the Philco-Ford company were mostly Korean and Vietnamese.
If you wanted your refrigeration and air conditioning equipment jerry-
rigged to death a call to Philco-Ford would do it.
Clarence Land
DaNang 70-71
Perry Marlin, Jr.
big Civilian construction company in RVN, It was part of Brown and Root out of
Houston Tx. Which LBJ's wife LadyBird was part owner.
Wayne Stratos
Dave Thompson wrote:
>
>
>
>
> PA&E - Pacific Architects and Engineers, San Francisco, Betchel
> Construction, SF and others had mucho contractor personnel in
> country. I hauled a Sperry Gyroscope technician (with his moped)
> around the delta and ultimately up the coast to Cam Rahn Bay. They
> sure made a lot more than we did!!!
In III Corp we ran into alot of PA&E and they had a very large crew of
Koreans and locals. I saw the setup some of the American Supv. had and
had even thought of signing on after my stint in the Army. The pay
seemed very well. I think I still have their address in my old "black
book". They would remodel offices at HQs and in some cases I have seen
the workers fill sandbags for a price. The Sup. had it made. In talking
to one of them, he said he was able to shop in the same places as
embassy personnel for food and household needs. The ones I was around in
III corp usually had homes in Siagon or other cities of size. They
certainly were ones who lived the comfotable life.
Dennis N. Price
On 4 Feb 1997 14:28:38 GMT, mnti...@ix.netcom.com(Bob Aldrich
(Mountain Man)) wrote:
>Ok....... I stayed out of this thread as long as I could. Yes there
>were Civilian Contruction outfits there. They pissed me off to no end
>because they would only do the "cushy" jobs. And that wasn't even what
>pissed me off the most. I guess I preferred it that way because we
>were better than they were anyway. I wouldn't HAVE them anywhere
>outside of the major bases and camps.
I spent 3 tours in RVN with MCB 40, 2 in Chu Lai and 1 in Phu Bai and
I have to agree. Such tasks as building the cross-wind runway at the
Chu Lai airbase was tough work, heat, sun, mortars, rockets, etc. The
civilian crews (up in I Corps I only saw RMK-BRJ) drew some big bucks
for doing relatively light construction (at least that's all I saw).
Seabees, Army Engineers, Marine Engineers were in short supply and
great demand throughout RVN. All of the battalions formed Seabee
Teams and other detachments and send them all over hell's half acre,
from Saigon to Khe Sahn. We certainly left behind MILLIONS of dollars
in high quality infrastructure. Deep water piers, asphalt paved
highways, bridges, hospitals, etc.
Like Mountain Man, I guess I should take my meds and go watch Barney.
JEL
They were still there in 1969 - 1970. They weren't "building" then,
they were "managing". I always thought they had the sweetest racket I
ever came across. Their "management" consisted of sitting in an air
conditioned office doing nothing.
Just Me
Dennis,
The mention of Phu Bai got my attention. Did you, by any chance
get out Westerly on QL 547 and have anything to do with a bridge
out there?
JV (RFOKC)
11B40 101st Abn Div
Co A 2/502
RVN class of 68-69
Original member Gang of Six
CWL# 101
Doug McArthur
Lonesome Pine wrote:
The name of the company was actually "RMK-BRJ Construction Company."
The "BR" in the name referred to "Brown-Root" which is a huge, still in
operation, construction company that handles large construction projects
all over the world.
There were several large civilian companies that had contracts in
Vietnam while I was there. I worked for "LSI Service Corporation" which
was actually Lear-Seiglar in disguise. "LSI" and its chief competitor
"Dynalectron Corp" were the main aircraft maintenance contractors to the
Army, Navy and Air America. I spent nineteen months working for LSI
mainly at Phu Loi and Bien Hoa with a number of temporary jaunts to
other such exotic spots in SVN and an occasional hop to Cambodia.
"RMK-BRJ" was a predatory outfit that was always trying to recruit
employees from the other civilian companies to get out of paying
transportation costs from the US. Rumor had it that the "J" in "BRJ"
stood for "Johnson" and the guys that worked for RMK-BRJ said it was
true. They claimed that Ladybird Johnson was the major stockholder and
was responsible for them getting all the lucrative contracts. Along with
all the construction projects, they also supplied the equipment for the
military radio stations, operated the generators on most US bases (I
know they did at Phu Loi), and guarded barge traffic on the Mekong
river. Dynalectron beat them out of the barge traffic guarding contract
and recruited a lot of former GIs to work as guards on the barges.
I was approached once by Dynalectron to work as a barge guard. The pay
was better than working on helicopters but the life expectancy was much
worse. I declined.
Doug McArthur
>
> Once upon a time I was on a convoy heading out of Da Dang and went by a
> building crew rebuilding this foot bridge...I noticed they were wearing
> civilian clothes and hard hats.....I ask an sarge next to me "who the hell
> was those guys?"...
Doug McArthur
tig...@ix.netcom.com wrote:
>
> There were a lot of civilians employed by different companies. After
> my discharge from the Army in Apr 71 I went back to Vietnam to work for
> NHA, Inc first (May 71 to Nov 92) and then to LSI second (Nov 92 to Dec
> 73) From my memory some of the ones that I remember were:
>
other in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. He had cancer from Agent
Orange exposure and had been trying to get treatment for it from LSI and
the government for years. He managed to finally get treatment under some
obscure law covering, of all things, the transportation industry.
JChafe
Actually, Johnson went into the White House a millionare. His Austin
holdings alone made it unnecessary for him to profiteer on the war. I
believe that he made terrible errors in judgement on the war that caused
him to resign and ultimately die before his time.
JChafe
So that was where that guy came from!
Dntulsa
> So that was where that guy came from!