Listen to the episode here.

Angie steals the entire episode to share a story of friendship in a time of war that you are not prepared for.

In 1967, John “Chickie” Donohue, a merchant marine and Marine veteran, took up the mission to leave the safety of New York City by himself, with a dufflebag of Pabst beer, and deliver it to friends fighting in the Vietnam War.

This impossible tale is apparently now a movie starring Zac Efron.

This story pairs well with:
Tootsie Rolls at the Chosin Reservoir

Transcript

Theresa: Hi, and welcome to the Unhinged History Podcast. The podcast for two absolute nutjobs, joined forces, and became friends by sending each other inappropriate memes and info dumping on the history we just learned. I’m host one, I’m Teresa, and that is host two. I’m Angie. And Angie started today by going, oh my gosh, hey, so sorry, I didn’t tell you in advance, but my story is going to take like the entire time. I did. 

Angie: I did say that. And I’m still sorry that it happened that way. I didn’t really think that it was going to, and yet here we are. I mean, so I have no problems. I guess in the end it works either way, huh? Like, yeah, anyway, I’m just going to get into it because I love my story so much. And also, let me double check, but I’m fairly certain that this story will air, I think maybe the week of the fourth of July, I really hope so. 

Like literally the day before. It is. Okay. 

Okay, fantastic. You ever story, you ever hear a story that just like still do a smile and that would be the story for me? When I first heard it, I was like, there is no way this is absolute BS. And then I realized I am 100% the mother of the son who would do the exact thing. 

So I guess in hindsight, it could in fact be real. And that said, I thought that there would be no better way to celebrate the fourth of July than tell you about the greatest beer run ever. Go on. My sources and the bulk of my story comes from the book, The Greatest Beer Run Ever by John Chick Donahue and JT Mollie. This was so entertaining. I literally finished it in one day. 

Like I had so much fun. A Man, A Mission and The Greatest Beer Run Ever, a history net.com article by David Kindie from October of 21. The New York Post has an article by Eric Spitznagal published November 7th of 2020. Meet the man who brought his buddy’s beer in the Vietnam War. 

Theresa: Oh, okay. This just took a turn. Right. 

Angie: How John Chick Donahue made The Greatest Beer Run Ever. This is an all that’s interesting article by Marco Margueritoff. I think it’s how you found it. Was updated originally published in December of 21, but updated in 26. So you’d be surprised to learn that my story starts in a bar as all good stories and most terrible ones too. Right. Yeah. My caveat to this is that I don’t know much about Vietnam. So this was an adventure to say. 

Theresa: I’m going to interrupt. I’m going to interrupt because I have a sneaking suspicion about what is about to happen. Okay. Each time you have done a story where you said, I don’t know much about Vietnam, but. One, shenanigans do indeed take place. Two, when we post about this on TikTok, shenanigans do indeed occur. Three, you and I spend the week in hyperventilating into paper bags and moderating the common threads. Do you want me to just 

Angie: call it for the 

Theresa: day and pick up the call? Honestly, like look, I’m here for the insanity. I just. Try to get that out. Yeah. I’m, you know, I’m the Cassandra of this podcast. 

Angie: Well, to be fair, the one other story I have told about Vietnam did cause a bit of stir. And that is the only other thing about Vietnam I know. So here we are. Go with me. It’s 1967. 

It’s November. There at a place called Doc Fiddler. This is a pub that is situated on the west side of Sherman Avenue in the Inwood neighborhood of upper Manhattan in New York City. That is such a specific location. Now, there’s a young man there called John Chicky or Chick Donahue. He was born in the neighborhood in 1941. 

Now, the Inwood neighborhood is home to this large population of Irish Americans. And, and it’s really evident in the book. And it was really fun to sort of see that come to life for me. Like I love authors that create like they give you such great visuals. You see how the neighborhood works, you know, they did the full world building. Yeah, he really did. 

And it was just, it was so fun to see that. So he says that the kids in this neighborhood, they all grow up together. Everybody looks after everybody. You see it all. Everybody is included. There’s like a real community here. If your mom has to work the late shift, that’s okay because Nancy down the block will take care of everybody for dinner tonight. Like that kind of thing. 

And everybody just comes together and handles neighborhood business together, which I love. He spends his youth writing around with his friends. They get into all sort of trouble as, as young boys are wont to do. And then when he comes to the age, he joins the Marines. While he’s in the Marines, he learns how to handle weapons. 

And he does serve his full, like the full four year terms, but he doesn’t see combat while he’s in the Marines. Sure. This is. Pre-Vietnam. 

Okay. So after his time in the Marines, he follows this up by becoming a merchant seaman. Otherwise known as a merchant Marine. Now I have heard of merchant Marines before, but I never really fully understood like what they are. So I looked it up and Google tells me that the merchant Marine consists of several mariners and commercial vessels. They’re cargo ships, tankers, ferries. They transport goods and passengers. Now their primary focus is like global commerce during peacetime, but in military time, like wartime or their military uses, they act as like this vital naval auxiliary. They transport personnel and supplies. Be it wartime, peacetime, national emergencies, like these merchant Marines are the guys you want in your corner. They’re gonna usually need to go. Which I was like, oh yeah, okay, that makes sense. I’ve met a merchant Marine, but I was too young to make like the connection and ask questions. 

Yeah. I wish I wish he was still alive today so I could learn some more information. But anyway, now in the winter of 67, Chicky, who is like 26 at the time, he is quote, on the beach. And this basically means he’s between jobs. 

This is like Union Seaman’s term for my boat. My last gig is finished. I’m just waiting for the next gig to arrive. So I’m just hanging out at home. That kind of thing, right? Okay. 

He’s on the beach. So on this particular night, Doc Fiddler’s is the place. Like everybody goes into Doc Fiddler’s, that’s sort of like a community hub. And on this particular night, he is hanging out and the man that runs Doc Fiddler’s is this wonderful man called George the Colonel Lynch. Now, in his day, he was in the US military. 

He made it to private first class. But behind the bar, he’s the Colonel. Like he is the man in charge, right? He’s known for being incredibly patriotic. He’s known as an organizer for things like Independence Day and Memorial Day parade. Like he’s just always doing something in the community to keep that patriotic nature going. To the point where he has like a room in like a board house down the street just a little bit. 

And all that he really keeps in his quarters is a bed for himself and a spare bed for any any gentleman that’s coming home from the war and needs a place to stay. Wow. His life is these people, which I think is awesome. Now, Kiki says in the book that the good Colonel was quote, beautifully crazy. So on this particular evening at the bar, the news is on and the crowd is there and they have a lot of big feelings flying around. And to quote the book, he says, the Colonel had become unhappy lately with what he was seeing on news reports about the war. Anti-war protesters were turning anti-solder, not just anti-president Lyndon B. Johnson, who escalated the conflict that he inherited from JFK. But but he’s increasing the troops from JFK, 16,000 to half a million. Nor were they strictly focused on General Westmoreland, the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, who was asking for even more troops to be deployed. Protesters are now training their sights on teenagers who’ve been drafted and on veterans who’ve come home from a hell they couldn’t express. We were told that when the neighborhood boys had gone down to the draft board on Whitehall Street, many were so inexperienced that their fathers or older brothers had accompanied them. And they’ve been met by picketers carrying signs that read GIs are murderers. 

So you can imagine. These guys are really patriotic. There’s big feelings in this bar. 

Whatever you believe about the war in their mind, it’s down to the nuts and bolts of the guys that are just either trying to serve their country because that’s what they believe is the right thing to do or have been drafted in and are just trying to survive. Right. So for them, these are the guys next door. And this is kind of a thing and some thoughts are happening. So the colonel, he’s listening to the news and he makes some comment about how demoralized these boys over there must be feeling and that something ought to be done. 

And everyone’s agreeing, right? They got boys like Tommy Collins and Rick Dugan. These boys they grow up with. They’ve got sons, brothers, cousins that like everybody in the neighborhood knows these guys and they’re like, man, they’ve got to be feeling the heat over there as well. Someone ought to go over there and bring all these boys a real New York beard. Give them a hug. 

Let them know they’re people back home who care and are sending goodness their way. And the colonel looks at Chicky. So remember is a union see men and he is on the beach and Chicky and the colonel knows this. 

Right. He looks at, he looks. According to Chicky, he looks at the colonel, looks at him and says. So give me a backup. The colonel looks at Chicky and demands to see his demons ID. Now, according to Chicky, his demons card is called a Z card. 

It’s got like your picture, your years of service and other pertinent information in in and things like he can handle ammo because he also has military clearance, like the good stuff. Right. Sure. The Coast Guard issues this in lieu of task force to these Mariners. So by this point, Chicky’s been around the world three times just on this one demon’s ID. So this is like, OK, this is a thing for him. Now civilians, they can’t just fly over there. Obviously, military orders or this card are basically the only way that anybody is getting anywhere near Vietnam like this. 

And the colonel is like, I’m going to see your card. I’m going to go. I’m just going to go. I’m going to take this card. I’m going to go hop a ship. 

We’re going to handle it. Chicky’s like, we don’t we don’t look anything alike. Right. The colonel is at least 10 years older than him and Chicky has red hair. OK. Yep. 

Right. So when I OK, for all those of you playing at home, my son has fire engine red hair and like reading the story just totally made me think of him from beginning to end. So Chicky points this out like, Colonel, this card is not going to work for you. Like they’re going to see right through your ruse right off the back at which point the colonel is like, well, then it’s you. You got to do it. You’re the one in the perfect position to handle it. Like you’re between jobs. 

I got a case of beer in the back. Like we can make this work. And so for the next couple of days, Chicky goes back and forth in his thoughts because. On the one hand, he agrees something needs to be done. But on the other hand, this is super dangerous and he has no clue how the hell he’s going to pull it off in the first place. Like you can’t just walk into Vietnam and be like, I brought beer for everyone. 

Theresa: And you need more than a person to man a boat big enough to get there. Right. 

Angie: But in the meantime, names and notes and last known locations are being collected by like the. The friends at the bar and on the second day, he runs in to Mrs. Collins and like she comes into the bar. Like I give the sense that she’s she stops in to see if he’s there. Like she’s heard through the grapevine that this is what’s happening. And she really, really wants to send her love to her son, Tommy, and she tries handing Chicky a hundred dollars and she tells him, give it to Tommy or use it for whatever you need to get you there. 

But but please just tell Tommy I love him. And I think for me, this is the point where he is like made up his mind. He definitely doesn’t want to be obligated to do this. But at the same time, he’s kind of he’s kind of it. Like he is kind of the guy in the best possible position to do this. And so he tells her, all right, just go ahead and give me his information. I’ll see what I can do. 

And at this point, he still hasn’t made like he didn’t make any particular promises that he’s just like, you know, kind of a flip in. I’ll see what I can handle, right? Right. But the colonel hears it and he proceeds to tell the bar to raise a glass for Chicky. So he’s like, oh, right then. So the bar raises the glass as you do. 

It’s the whole thing. It’s late November and the very next day, Chicky goes down to Union Hall and he starts looking for a boat that has a need for his skills that happen to be going to Vietnam or at least nearby. Because remember, he’s a merchant marine. 

We are taking supplies and things to this area of the world. Perhaps if he could just get on the right boat, he might it might be worth it. And if it’s not, like if he can’t get close enough, well, then he has a job, right? Like he’s just he’s just hoping this is going to fly. So he signs on board a ship called the Drake victory. It’s as an oiler. He boards the. This is wild to me. He boards the boat with a double bag full of the boys’ favorite New York, New York beer. Paps Blue Ribbon. Paps Paps. 

Theresa: He’s going that hard for a Paps food. Yes. OK. And let’s let’s also like call into question. OK, you’re on this. This is I’m going to out myself here. You’re on a mission. It is stressful. 

It is long. And you have a thing to help you let the steam off, but you’re not supposed to take any of it because it’s a gift. Now, when I’ve done things like deliver a dozen donuts and I know that, boy, those donuts are fresh off the line. They’re still warm. The glaze is nice and there is not a dozen donuts that make it. 

Angie: OK, so you see the problem. I do see the problem. In Chicky’s in Chicky’s thought process, he is going to do his damage to bring his buddies from the neighborhood, the good New York beer. Once he gets to Vietnam, he knows he can buy other American beers like Budweiser, Miller, blah, blah, blah from like commissaries in places nearby. 

Sure. So once he runs out of the good stuff, he knows he can go find other beer. And at the point when some guy shows up to bring you a beer in the middle of the Vietnam jungle, like you’re going to be having no matter what, right? True. So that’s his thought process. 

Like I can always buy more, but I really want to take this case and try to give it to my buddies from the neighborhood. That’s his plan. So when he boards the ship, he takes however much beer he’s got and he hides it in the back of the ship’s freezer, like the cool area. And like, as far as I understand, he leaves it deep. Like that’s his plan. We’re not going to mess with it. 

These are my guys. And the other thing that he’s doing on board the ship is that he is, um, he’s working extra shifts. So he’s perpetually busy. And I think that helps. And I’ll tell you why just a little bit. But right before he boards the ship, he does this thing that I so understand to the very core of my bones. And he calls his mom and he has this conversation. Ma, hi, it’s me, Chicky. 

Chicky’s mom’s like, hi honey. All right, I’m fine. I just want to let you know I’m headed out again. 

Just want to say so long to you. So which mom’s like, Chicky, where are you going? And his response is, um, Asia, you know, like when I was in the Marines, I’m going to be on a beautiful, refurbished World War II victory ship. So that he’ll like that. 

It’s a cargo ship contracted to the Navy. And she says, well, can’t you wait till after Thanksgiving, Chicky, I’m making the mushroom stuffing. This is so right. He’s like, oh, Ma, that’s my favorite. Puts him in the freezer for me, but it’ll have to wait till I come back. Take a drumstick in there as well. 

Ships don’t really wait. And so she’s like, all right, well, Chicky, be careful. Don’t be anything foolish. 

Try to send us postcards. Now, as a mother of a young man, I know very well that this is exactly how that conversation went. Because my child, if at all he thinks that what he is about to do is even remotely dangerous or remotely outside of the scope that I would feel to be. He says he is going to skirt around the entire issue the whole time. And I’m going to be like, but are you not coming home for dinner because there’s a lasagna in the oven? 

Like 100%. And, you know, he’s doing it because he doesn’t want to scare her, but he does want to tell her, hey, I’m not going to be home for a little bit. Right. Right. So he spends the next eight weeks far out at sea. And then on January 19th, 1968, they spot land. They drop anchor in South Vietnam in the Kui Nong Harbor. It’s in the South China Sea. Now, it’s worth saying that the boys on the ship, they’re not told where they’ll be docking for safety reasons. So initially, some of the sailors think they’re in the Philippines. I think that some were actually hoping for that, but needless to say, no, they have made it to South Vietnam. 

They’re about 400 miles away from Saigon. Now, here’s the thing. It’s time for our boys, Chicky, to figure out how the hell he’s going to get off the ship because there are four things you need to know here. One, this is the primary place the U.S. military transfers to their petroleum products from ocean-going vessels to this giant fuel tank that’s set up on the hillside that are like looking Chicky right in the face. The second thing you need to know is that Chicky doesn’t really like or trust ship captains. For his own reasons. 

Okay. Mostly, he’s a union guy and he only speaks to the captains when it is absolutely necessary. Like he just tries to do his job, he just head down and move on. Unless an issue arises and then you’re going to want Chicky on your side. He does say, to be fair, though, he is not always easy to deal with. In fact, he says, quote, in fairness to captains, I wasn’t always the teacher’s pet either. It was my custom to have a good time whenever we pulled into port and enjoy what the city had to offer. I mean, isn’t that what traveling the world is all about? 

Theresa: He’s a marine. That’s what I’m hearing. Admittedly, there had been occasions when I had to be brought back to the ship, heard if you have a police escort. 

Angie: Like the time in Durban, South Africa, when I was cussed and arrested by six cops for drinking in a color-gonly club. The dancing in that place is a lot more fun than Lily wipes all night apartheid hideaway. Let me tell you, I’m just like my guy, Chicky. I love you so much. Yes, agreed. Right. Now, the third thing you need to know here is that Tommy Collins, Mrs. Collins’ son is an MP and it is his job to guard these ships from any enemy attacks while their cargo is being unloaded. 

Okay. The fourth thing you need to know is that these sailors, or rather mariners, are not supposed to leave the ship, especially in wartime. Surprisingly, this does not get honored. This does not like. 

Get honored. The invisible of fate. Yeah. I know. Shocking. Weird. I know. You’re going to put a bunch of boys on a boat and tell them to sit there. 

Okay. The ship’s captain immediately shows some pretty glaring hypocrisy by refusing to let one of their sick crew members disembark for medical care, like they’re on base. He’s got jaundice, like he needs to doctor. Yet the captain immediately arranges a boat and two crew members to get his injured Doberman treated by base medics. 

Oh, geez. This is why Chicky’s got authority issues, right? You can see this being a little bit, and he’s seen this time and time again. So the captain leaves to go see the pup, but not before telling the crew that he expects the ship’s hold to be sparkling clean. 

All right, Cinderella stat, mom. Pretty much. This is the point at which the crew did promptly what their captain had refused to do, and they took their ailing shipmate to stick bay. Like, forget you. We’re going to handle this. They follow that up by unloading the 50 spare mattresses from their ship and giving them to the airmen on base when they find out they’ve only got crap caught. And in case you’re curious, they’re brand new still on the wrapping, Ceeley post-repetix. Whoa. The way they’re looking at it is no one’s going to find out about these missing mattresses until long after they get home. Right. Need some kind of comfort. 

Like, life is not great, right? So my guy is dying to figure out how to get off the ship, like, for a few days. He needs to buy himself at least three days. So he comes up with this BS story about needing to find his stepbrother and personally tell him some devastating family news. Like, I have to tell him in person. He’s not going to take it well any other way. And his job for the time, as I mentioned earlier, has been done. He has swapped so many shifts with people that the next three days are covered. 

Right. Like, he’s golden. And the captain tells him, like, well, I guess it’s the work done. You better be back by 800 hours Monday morning and don’t die because I don’t want to do the paperwork. So this is the point where Chicky grabs his backpack and the beer and the beer. 

Now, mind you, because I still like this is so important to know. In his backpack he has, or duffel bag, whatever it is, he has the beer, a razor and an extra pair of socks. That’s what my guy Chicky decides to take to Vietnam with him. 

Theresa: He packs light. Honestly, yeah, good for him. Yeah. 

Angie: Right. He hops a water taxi who just happens to be ferrying some MTs across as well. He sees their insignia and he’s like, hey, do any of you fellas know Tommy Collins? And wouldn’t you know it? 

But these guys are actually going out to release Tommy Collins. So moments later, he sees his happy but a little confused friend furrying down the ladder to greet him. At which point, Chicky pulls a cold beer out of his pack and tells him the story of his adventure so far and reminds him, hey, write your mom, she loves you. Tommy loses it. 

He cannot help but laugh. Chicky is standing there in a t-shirt and white jeans in Vietnam. White jeans? 

With a back cold beer. Yeah. I’m shocked that they’re still white. Right. 

Honest to God. So in the book, he talks about how when he disembarked the ship, he didn’t think about dressing for Vietnam. He was thinking about how he would have dressed on the ship because in the boiler room where he worked with as an oiler, it would be very uncomfortable, like muggy hot. So he was wearing what was good for that. He did not think about like, I don’t know, maybe boots going in to Vietnam or like a sweater or a poncho or bug spray. 

He didn’t think about any of that. He was just like, I need the outfit I’m going to be comfortable with on this board, on the ship. So like I said, Tommy’s laughing his butt off and Chicky is now realizing he did not plan well for foot travel in Vietnam. That night, he takes Tommy and the rest of Tommy’s crew out for drinks. 

They close down the bar and they move the party back to the barracks and then Chicky sees some of the crew. All okay, Republic of Korea, military men out doing martial arts in the middle of the night. Like they’re doing their stretches, they’re training, but it’s like two in the morning. 

And I did not know this, but fun fact, did you know that the South Korea was America’s biggest ally supplying 320,000 troops over the course of the war? So despite the late hour, these are okay guys are outside working out more martial arts. They’re really in a self defense. 

In fact, the first of the 140 South Korean soldiers that were sent into Vietnam in 54, 10 of them were Taekwondo instructors. Interesting. Right. So they’re like, and it’s constantly a recurring theme for him to see these groups of people. And he mentions like the clothes they’re wearing and the type of martial arts they’re doing while they’re training just in his day to day activities. Like, oh, I see this happening over here. Oh, I see, which is really interesting that he like makes that connection. Yeah. 

But back to the story. This night would also be the night that he figured out that being dressed the way he was would actually come in handy because everybody thinks he’s CIA. You can imagine how this will help his cause. Earlier that night at the bar, he makes friends with a Texan and he tells him what’s up and the Texans like, oh, love this. 

So they agreed to meet up the following day. This Texan is part of the first air Calvary and they have 600 choppers and greater independence than most. And this Texan is on board with what he’s trying to do. So our guy hops a ride with the Daily Mail North and yet finds out that the men that he’s looking for, there’s been a bit of a hiccup. 

His friend has been moved. So Chick has to catch another mail plane in an hour or so and he starts walking back to the airstrip when a jeep with three men stopped and they tell him to hop in. Because these military guys, their belief is that if you see American, you’re not letting them walk. You’re going to pick them up and the chick is clearly an American and very displace. So they stopped to pick them up only to realize that the driver is another one of his friends, a guy called Kevin McLoone. 

Theresa: What are the odds? Right. He is stoked. Kevin is on his list and the other two guys with him are just an absolute disbelief. Like you cannot be serious. Yeah. Kevin gets his beer and looks at Chickie after Chickie’s done telling him his story and goes, well, that’s a hell of a beer run. And then he passes the beers around to everybody else on the jeep and then they all ask to get him where he needs to go. On the next plane, one plane now he’s on the next plane, he meets a couple of young guys that are also hitching ride on this plane if they know Rick Dugan. And yep, wouldn’t you know it, he’s their sergeant. 

So they land only for him to find out that he needs a chopper to the next landing zone because Rick Dugan just keeps getting moved further and further up the mountain. 

Theresa: And this script is so already written. Right. 

Angie: Like so, right. Okay, so this the CIA effects I mentioned earlier helps him out again. He finally makes it to where his friend is supposed to be. And he finds the highest ranking officer tells him the story and the officer loves it. He is laughing his butt off. They stuff him in a hidey hole cover the hidey hole and called Dugan in. Dugan arrives. 

They rip the cover off and out jumps Chicky only to scare and confuse the hell out of him, who simply does not believe he’s here to just deliver him a beer. I’m sorry. What? At which point, his sergeant major says, Dugan, you better get the help get you better get the hell out of here. 

Because he’s not supposed to be here. I know that much to which Rick Dugan asked, well, what do I do with them? And the officer declares, he’s yours now take him with you. So that night, he would spend a good portion of the night in a fox hole and then be ambushed and then finally make it back to safety. 

It was a busy night. They find him a chopper the next morning. He hugs his buddy boards the chopper. And after a little bit of trouble, he makes it to this area called Phuket. 

It is about 17 miles northwest of where his ship is. So you’d think things are going great for him. Like he’s met a handful of his buddies. He’s done the things, but he also realizes that he’s got to start getting back like the ship’s going to leave. He gets a bunk and then realizes he’s actually missed his captain’s 800 Monday orders as it is Tuesday night. Snap. 

I’m going to give a little wait. After a rather eventful and long scary night, so it’s a rather eventful night and a long scary walk in the dark, he eventually gets to the Harbor Master. And the Harbor Master is like, bro, your ship had to leave because your captain got word of an enemy and attacked. 

And so he finished early and left. They’ve already reported you missing. But, well, crap. 

But then he finds out that maybe they can catch his ship in the Philippines, but he’s going to need a visa and orders because you can’t do anything in Vietnam without orders. But Chicky has been at it for a week. Like, I’ve been all over the place. 

I don’t really need your help. I didn’t have orders to get here, but here I am, right? Right. All he needs is to get to Saigon. So he takes whatever the Harbor Master could do for him and he heads back to the dock. He sees Tommy one more time and then back to the first airfield where he basically BS’s his way to the most important looking man there. 

In Yahtzee, for him, this man happens to have one of the planes on the field and he helps him board it. No orders, no problem. Just get on there when I tell you to blah, blah, blah. And the man tells him basically, you scored finding me because I was a merchant marine in World War II. If it weren’t for that, I’d have left your story on the tarmac. 

Theresa: Wow. 

Angie: When you get to Saigon, can you do me a favor? And Chicky’s like, yeah, of course, man, anything. Just please base. Buddy, you’re gross. So he finally makes it to the American Consulate in Saigon where his life is about to become so much harder. They already have a missing person file on him and tell him that a boat, that his boat will take him back, but he’s got to be able to catch it. 

He’s got a problem. He’s got no passport. And as I said, he’s already been around the world three times and has never had a need for a passport until now. Because in order for him to leave Vietnam, he must have a visa from the Vietnamese government. And in order to get that visa, he needs a U.S. passport. 

Theresa: That’s a bit of an issue. 

Angie: Bit of a problem. It’s going to be at least a week and our guy is down to his last five bucks. The man at the consulate gives him all these forms to fill out in a business card of another man who can help him. Now this guy, he takes care of like the daily basics like food and shelter and he works for the shipping companies who work with the military. So he’s the guy you sort of want on your hand side when you’re in a tricky situation because he can find him housing. He can make sure he’s fed. 

He can do the things that needs to happen while he’s waiting, right? Because he’s got five bucks. Now, at this man’s house, because he is union, he receives 40 bucks a day for a room and board, but he has to come back every day to collect his money for the day. After a week of this, he gets his passport. Cool, cool, cool. But he still needs to get the exit visa from the Vietnamese and this is going to cost him a $900 bride. 

Theresa: Oh. And probably another week. 

Angie: Now, fortunately for him, the guy at the US Consulate is the man he lovingly refers to as Hillar. He quote unquote lends him the money to make this bride. It’s not the first time he’s had to do this. 

He goes down to the Vietnamese offices he’s supposed to go to and they tell him they take the money, no issue, and they tell him they’ll let your consulate know when your paperwork’s ready. And Chicky’s like, the hell? I’ve got to have already been waiting a week. You can’t just print me my thing and go? Like, what are we doing? So it’s about this point where he decides that 40 bucks a day is okay. But I really don’t know how long I’m going to be here and I can sling beers. So I’m going to go get a job. Like, there’s got to be a bar somewhere around here that’ll hire me. But he gets laughed out of every bar in town. 

Theresa: Why would he get laughed out? Like, this is weird to me. 

Angie: I think the way I took it is that the proprietors of these establishments don’t think white men can sling a beer. So they’re like, no, no, no. It gives, like, I don’t know if it’s a symbol of like their respect for these GIs or just that they think they’re so inept at this one particular thing. You’re great at drinking it, but you can’t possibly be great at pouring it. So I’m sure he does not get a job. He cannot get a bartending job anywhere. But then he finds the Carval Hotel. 

Now, the Carval Hotel was quote, more like a cup of tea or glass of beer, if you will. It was owned by Australians and guarded by the Australian Marines because their embassy was inside. The Australians, allies of ours, had about 757,500 troops there at the time and 60,000 over the course of the war. 

Some 3,500 New Zealanders also served. So that’s where the Aussies, the New Zealanders, Canadians, the Irish, the Brits and our other American cousins, people are able to have a good time, even in the middle of the hill. That’s where they would congregate. And they appreciated the view from the Carval Glorious Rooftop Bar. So they’re having a good time. And quite frankly, as far as I’m concerned, when you find the Australian Bar, you’re probably winning. Yeah. The fact that their embassy is in there makes me laugh even harder. 

Such an Australian thing in my brain. Now, my guy spends most of his free time here hanging out with the riffraff and the journalists. They love it there. So they’re also frequenting the place. So you’re hearing all the like rumor mills and everything going around, right? It is the foreigner bar. 

Pretty much. He finally gets word that his visa is ready and he is joked because there is another ship that will take him on, but he’s got to catch a flight the next morning. Wednesday, January 31, 1968. Are you aware of the significance of this date as it pertains to the Vietnamese and this war as a whole? 

Theresa: No, but the second you said it with such gravitas, I knew that, yeah. 

Angie: This is the date of the beginning of their lunar new year and it is a big deal. This is the time of year when the Vietnamese will travel back to their home villages. They love on their families. They honor their ancestors. 

It’s called Pet. And the journalists have said that the powers that be, Ho Chi Minh, General Ghiap and LBJ have all called the truce for the holiday. In Chicky’s timeline, he decides to try and stay close because he is not missing another damn boat. So he finds a nearby bar and once again finds an old buddy whose name is, for whatever reason, redacted. And they throw him back. 

Theresa: Because that person literally is CIA. Probably. 

Angie: That’s sort of what my take was. But anyway, they swap stories. They throw a few back and he learns that this friend of his is working on what I can only describe as a fridge ship. And it has something like 7000 pounds of fresh perishable food on board. That night, he would get to meet the crew and he would get lobster, fresh clothes and a hundred bucks. The boys have all sort of pitched in together for him because they’re loving this story. 

Like, are you kidding me? You figured out how to get here to deliver the boys back home some beer. That’s so cool. So they head back out on the town. They meet up with some girls. They have a lovely, lovely evening. And then they part their separate ways because, you know, my guys got to catch this flight in the morning so he can catch this boat back home. And as he is getting closer and closer to the main area of Saigon, the fireworks are getting louder and louder. 

Oh, no. He makes it back to his room, collects his few belongings that he has, falls into bed hoping he’s going to get his 5 a.m. alarm, which at this point is only a couple of hours away. His flight’s at 11, but like, our guy is not going to be late. He is going to be very early. The guy will be sure that I’m the first one in line ready to board that plane, right? About the time he thinks the fireworks are a little much, something shatters his window and he decides time to leave now. Yeah. 

Yeah. He heads downstairs and is confronted by the manager screaming at him and hiding behind the desk. And he’s like, he’s screaming in his native language. Chicky has learned a little bit of it, but he doesn’t know a ton. He is more, Japanese is more his take. 

But finally the man screams, Boku V.C. Oh, my. There could be a problem. Okay. He convinces the man to give him a ride to as close to the embassy as possible because he still believes getting to the embassy is his best bet. 

The road, however, is like blocked off and it doesn’t really look great, but that doesn’t stop Chicky. He gives all the like two, like two bucks left to the manager and wishes him luck. Like, thank you for writing me out. 

Here’s $48 American money spends like really well. So he’s like, thank you so much for your help. He makes it as close to the embassy as he can get and he picks up on the American saying B.C. Boku and B.C. Oh my God. 

Boku V.C. Wow. My brain. 

Boku V.C. And he finally learns that the Viet Cong had started an attack on Saigon just a couple of hours before. This is also where he learns that they have taken the embassy and right at that moment, the Marines and the MPs are fighting to get it back. 

There is fighting all over Saigon. And my guy, for whatever reason, is still believing if I could just get inside the embassy, maybe I can still get the airfield. Maybe there’s armed transport or something. 

Maybe it’s still moving. I got to get the airfield. He makes it a little closer. He makes it to the Army bachelor’s office quarters, which apparently was like a really cool place until it was blown up in 1964. 

And now it looks just more like a fortress, but it’s got an armored vehicle outside. So he’s like, maybe. Yeah. But then he gets another bad blow when he finds out that the airfield has been taken also. And he’s like, oh, this is no bueno. What he learns after the fact is that for the three months prior to this, the enemy had been bringing in the needed supplies in vegetable trucks and hiding. Quote, the night that began, large numbers of Viet Congarilla’s had laying in wait in the city’s cemeteries, parks, the racetracks. 

And his friend, Mr. Manus, the man that’s been helping and said the Saigon zoo, they had emerged from their hiding places, including a 75 mile multi level network of underground tunnels like the catacomb under the Choo Chee District of the capital city. They use the truth as a means to travel freely for the five days. So they had been plotting this for months. 

They knew the truth was coming. The death toll in the two month period of Tet from January 29 to March 31 of 1968 was 3,895 American servicemen, 14,300 civilians, 4,954 South Vietnamese soldiers, 214 allies, and 58,373 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. Meanwhile, my guy is literally just walking right into battle trying to stay alive. Like he just wants to get to that down airfield, whatever it takes, despite the fact that he knows it’s now been taken by the enemy. He is like, I think in my mind he’s probably a little bit in shock at this point. 

Yeah. But he is seeing everything and that includes things like the gross mismanagement of the embassy and how understaffed it was. It was astronomical, like how understaffed this and guarded this area was that evening. I won’t get into it, but it was, it was, I could see why he would have to get the feelings the way that he had. One of the things that he saw was that the ambassador’s own driver had been a VC plant. 

Whoa. And looked at how it looked to him. So he’s like, he’s putting, he’s walking through this and putting two and two together the whole time, right? One of the things that I think that’s really interesting about his memoir is he definitely has big feelings and rightfully so. And it makes me, I’m very curious about the reliability of his narration. However, he’s so forthcoming with the rest of the story that in this moment I think he is probably sort of in a dreamlike state and putting everything together. Because I do not want to discredit what he saw because there are moments where, yeah, that is absolutely what that looks like. I can’t imagine it to be anything else. And there of the opinion that this plant, this driver probably had access to a lot of really great information as the ambassador’s own driver and he had been feeding it back to Ho Chi Minh the whole time. So he is like seeing this stuff and like just putting everything together and he’s like, holy hell, what are we doing? 

Right? Now, regardless of the fact that I think he’s in shock, he’s in a little bit of a dream moment for him. He makes it to his guy and for whatever reason, thank God his guy, Hiller, is still alive and he gives him room and board at this like posh place. Like, bro, you’re not going home anytime soon. 

Take this down to the hotel. You’ll be taken care of until he can sort this crap out. And so he’s like, well, okay, like it, I’m obviously not getting on that plane today, right? He finds his way. He’s on the way to the next hotel when he finds himself smack dab in the middle of another firefight at the president’s palace. By the end of this, he is convinced he is dead and in purgatory. He is like, holy crap, what am I witnessing? At one point in the book, it describes him like being in an alcove and he is, he’s dreaming and he knows he’s dreaming, but he is so convinced that he’s dead that this dream is just like a replay of his life. And he’s remembering this as childhood. 

Whoa. But in actuality, it’s probably another guy trying to wake him up and be like, hey, hey, like we need to move. And he says he has no idea how long he’s, he sat in that alcove. But eventually, he’s able to pull together and he ends up getting a room instead of that the posh place, he ends up getting a room at this tiny in of like a local guy. And he is like the only guest. Shocking. He also finds out that his friends on the fridge shift are still there because there is now a strike and the longshoremen are refusing to unload because we’ve just been attacked. Why are we going to put ourselves in danger? 

Theresa: Yeah, I literally don’t get paid enough for this. 100%. 

Angie: So he ends up staying there for a while. But while he’s there, he realizes there are hungry people everywhere. So he heads over to the fridge ship and is able to bring food to the hotel car of all and they feast like deliciously that evening. He’s able to take them to the family of the small in and then he finds out that the local zoo had all that been abandoned by humans and the neighbors nearby are doing the best they can to help these animals. But like what do they eat? 

How do we care for them? And this does not sit well with Chicky or the boys of the SSLM on the fridge ship. So they’re like, we’re going to load you up and go feed those grills, whatever we got. Like they are hell bent to help the situation because as far as they’re concerned, they’re just sitting ducks and we have 7000 pounds of food that is going to need to be eaten. 

So like let us help these people. They are not getting fresh anything else. He is at one point he gets shot off a motorcycle. He’s got the guy that’s riding the motorcycle and then he’s on the back and he’s got like these huge duffel bags full of food. They’re trying to deliver food. They get shot. 

The food is stolen. He’s there so long that he’s a regular. Everywhere he goes at one point he gets offered a great gig on a Coast Guard ship and then loses that job almost as fast as he got it when they find out that the VC still has the airfield. 

So they’re not getting on any planes anytime soon to get anywhere near any of these ships. So he’s like, well, crap, that would have set me for a long time. Like from what he said in the book that particular job working with the Coast Guard would have given him enough money after a couple year contract to go buy his own bar at home. Like he would have been set. But so because he’s there for so long and he’s a regular like everywhere he goes, he’s eventually trusted and granted a little more freedoms and he’s able to go deliver beers to another friend. 

Like he’s able to leave town for a couple of days to go and deliver some more stuff. And they have a great time. Despite the fact that this buddy of his should be at home with his family because he is a father and they are supposed to be left out of the fighting. However, his friend Bobby is not left out of the fighting and a couple of days later Bobby’s base would be bombed. 

Bobby was safe in his underground bunker where he worked, which is really great news for Chicky because he literally can see this stuff happening in the distance and it was like, oh my God, Bobby, that’s where he’s at. Then some DC gorillas start causing problems for the boats in the harbor. So the captain of the SS limo and tells the Coast Guard to unload the ship or he’s taking it all to Manila like work your crap out or we’re leaving. And then the captain of the SS is left out of the fighting and the ship is empty. 

The next day the boat is emptied and the ship can take anchor. Our guy Chicky with the help of his friend Johnny gets a spot on the crew and finally after months starts his journey home. He makes it to California, buys new clothes and the first flight to New York where he sits next to this like middle-aged businessman who asks them like, where the heck, what are you doing? They spend the next six hours like hearing his whole story while they drink Manhattan. He said he had the one and he hasn’t had Manhattan since. 

Theresa: Honestly, that would be the best person to sit next to on a flight. Right. 

Angie: He goes straight to Dr. Filler’s once the plane lands. The Colonel pours every run around including himself who he and he never drank on the job to toast Chicky’s success. To Chicky he said who brought our boys beer respect and pride and love. God damn it. That’s the story. 

It’s the greatest beer run ever. Holy crap. And it’s a movie starring Zac Efron. I haven’t watched yet because I didn’t want to be played. But I cannot wait to watch it. What’s it called? I will be thinking about story three. The greatest beer run ever. Okay. 

Theresa: You just found my plan. So I appreciate it. 

Angie: You’re welcome. That’s been the highlight of my week. 

Theresa: If you’ve enjoyed this highlight of this week and you’re thinking, okay, yeah, they got the greatest beer run, but do they have the greatest fill in the blank? Tell us. Right in. We’re going to have that in the subject line, the show notes. The show notes. 

That’s what I was looking for. Email us. Let us know. We’re here for that. And rate, review, subscribe and send this to somebody else who would do this beer run. And on that note, goodbye. 

Theresa: Bye.