indiantown gap task force
TRANSCRIPT
April 1975 – The South Falls…
Saigon Falls To NVA Forces
NVA Tank rolls into Saigon
Tan Son Nhut AB under Attack
Chaos at the US Embassy
US Department of State
P AArmy National Guard
Forces Command
April 1975 – TF New Arrivals… US
Department of Defense
MILITARY TASK FORCE ELEMENTS
Dept of the Army
Fort Indiantown Gap 1975
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
“…Give me your tired, your poor,
Fort Indiantown Gap 1975
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
From “The New Colossus”By Emma Lazarus, 1883
Photo: Jay Fine, Caters
…meanwhile…in the US…
At Camp Pendleton, California
At Eglin AFB, Florida
At Fort Chaffee, Arkansas
The US Departments of State and Defense gear up to prepare,operate and maintain four
Reception Centers to process and resettle more than 130,000 Vietnamese and
Cambodian war refugees
And at
An interagency task force • Department of Defense• Department of State• Pennsylvania National Guard• Non-Governmental Organizations
Begins to prepare post facilities to receive at least 10,000 refugees
Fort Indiantown Gap Gets Ready
Temporary Civilian &Military medical Services and Facilities set up
Aid agencies get organized
The Vietnamese Arrive…
Planeloads of refugeesbegan to arrive at HarrisburgInternational from all acrossthe Pacific, around the clock
…moving in…
A place to sleep, not much, but for the youngsters, it’s an adventure…
Once Army mess halls, now Dining Facilities, they’re ready to serve
…where to resettle?The mission of TF New Arrivals?
Find sponsors and new homes all overAmerica for over 23,000 refugees
Volunteer Agencies do the hardwork of finding sponsors and newhomes for 23,000 refugees
..while the support work goes on…
Chris Crowley, USAID, Area 6Civilian Coordinatorat work in the camp
Charlie Oellig displaysThe Daily Camp
newspaper,DAT LAN Published in English,
Vietnamese and Cambodian.
Major Ed O’Brien CA Spt Bn Exec coordinating all the details of Camp support.
1LT Brian Buckoski, Bn Assistant S4, making
sure the Red Crosshas everything it needs
Capt George Padar, Area 6 Mil Coordinator, behind the scenes, making things happen.
1LT Schuback getting Medevac flights off the ground
..and on…
Major Claude Raffin,Bn S3, meetingrefugees flights.
CPT Frank Estigo, Bn S4, keeping
everyone warm .
LTC Lundquist, wife Bertha and son Carl relaxing after a long Day’s work in the camp.
1LT John Williams assigns families to quarters
CPT Glenn Siegal Mil Area Coordinator at
The Gap
CPT Falconer getting theheating to work in thoseold barracks.
US Army ReservistsCivil Affairs Reservists made it happen!
The Civil Affairs Support Bn
LTC Carl W. LundquistCivil Affairs Support BnCommanding Officer
Civil Affairs Support Battalion
(Composite/Provisional)`1LT
Williams
1LT Eure
CPT Falconer
LTC Lundquist MAJ O’Brien
CPT Smith
1LT BuckoskiSP4 Bell1LT Shuback
MAJ Calain
1LT Carr
LTC Tillman
CPT Roessler CPT O’Brien
1LT Carlson
MAJ Raffin
MSG Williams
SGT Mendzef
SSG James
CPT Dallas
`1LTMiller
Missing:SSG HindsCPT EstigoCW2 RodgersCPT SiegalCPT Padar
CPT Fredericks
…and now…
COL Carl W. Lundquist and his wife Bertha celebrating 60 years of marriage (2011). Also shown are son Carl, his wife Vicki, and daughter Linnea, & every person in this photo is a veteran of the US Army. COL Lundquist retired after 37 years of service, from the Pacific in WWII, to Germany during the Korean Conflict, to Indiatown Gap to resettle refugees, and to the Middle East as a peacekeeper. He is also a retired school teacher. He currently lives in Boston where he very much enjoys being a man about town!
Vicki Carl M. Bertha Carl W. Linnea
…and now…
LTC Brian Buckoski retired from the US Army and is now a DA civilian at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD.
Glenn Siegal, with George Padar at a reunion at Indiantown Gap. Glenn served in a Civil Affairs Co. in VN. He continued his service with USAR Civil Affairs Units before and after serving at Indiantown Gap. He recently retired from the GSA and is happily substitute teaching in an Elementary School.
…and now…COL George Z. Padar retired from the US Army Reserve in 1994 and from Public School teaching in 2003. These days he’s busy working to preserve the history of Army Civil Affairs in the past half century.
George and Brian Buckoskireminiscing about the days at Indiantown Gap
George meeting with the PA NG Military Museum Director Charlie Oellig at Indiantown Gap. MG (ret) Smoker founded the Museum
MG Smoker adopted a young refugee at Indiantown Gap in 1975. His son David attended the USAF Military Academy. COL Smoker is a Commander in the PA Air National Guard.MG Smoker passed on in 2010.
A Refugee Thank YouWe’ll leave this beautiful camp with too much sadness and sorrowness that have never faced before. We shall dispose behind us all souvenirs, such an unbreakable and impossible to clear up from our best memories forever. They’ll bear in our good mind up the last breath of our lives even thought the warm welcome and much helpful from our new friends in the lovely country. Of course, the majority of American’s people were refugee since the previous days, not different from our case that we are the latest refugee came from Cambodia. Only the refugee knows better how difficulties, miserables, and suffering and sorrow in life that the refugee have faced. That’s why we found no proper words enough to express our true heart to the American who is kind enough and try their best to help too too much. We are grateful to you and pray a lot for Lord Jesus Christ help you to succeed everything in life. We still have a strongly expect to see you again. Good bye. America not too big.
Thiem Tech Kong and Friends(Found written on the ouside wall of barracks 5-18 at Fort Indiantown Gap, the 11th of December 1975, by 1Lt Gary D. Carlson)