Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

Fort Ord Memories

Fort Ord is a great place to ride and I have lots of pictures and several videos shot there. However, probably most of my audience is too young to know much about Fort Ord and the days of the Vietnam War. Even though I served in Vietnam for two years I had forgotten some things myself. The following was sent to me via email and it is printed in its entirety with the author's permission. I only made up the title. 

Steve,

I really enjoyed checking out your website! I found it via MTBR. Your shots of Fort Ord are bitchin but a little haunting, I grew up there during the Vietnam war. My father was in Vietnam from 1965-1971, 3 1/2 tours. Fortunately he made it through, my cousin was not so lucky. It was a strange place to be a child. We lived in a cull de sac on Lincoln RD. As kids we would hold our breaths when we saw the dark green sedan drive up the hill into the circle, waiting with much anxiety to see whos house they would stop at. They would pull up in front of the apt. building and in their dress greens walk to the door. We could never hear what they were saying but most times the person answering the door would collapse onto the floor. When they left, they would hang a purple wreath on the door. The family would be moved out within the week and a new family moved in. We would walk to school counting the wreaths on the door wondering if our dads and us would have the same fate. On the way to school, we would exit the base through a gate to neighboring Marina, I went to Marina Vista Elementary. The kids here were civilian and lived in quite a different world than us, completely oblivious to the war and the fears we had, I am sure shielded from the war by their folks whom we felt were almost the enemy. They protested the war and spit on the soldiers who did come home back to Fort Ord at the main gate. In later years I spoke with one of my teachers and she was always so heartbroken to see the military kids in class, with their military hair cuts and squared away clothes. What broke her heart was the same look of fear and sadness on all the base kids while the civilian kids seemed so happy. Making friends was out of the question, the civilian kids alienated us and treated us different and the base kids were not around long enough. One year, I had over 30 of my base friends leave the base, not to move to another Army base but just leave, their fathers had died in Vietnam. It did not take long to harden the heart and not grow fond of anyone anymore.

To this day, I enjoy my rides, alone. I have yet to make the trip back to Monterey to ride the trails we as kids use to play soldier on, ducking the convoys of APC`s and lines of soldiers in full BDu`s running PT on the trails as they prepared to go to the show. For me this would be a pilgrimage, and there is a fear in me of going back there. I see your pictures and think damn, those trails would be a blast to ride on but the kid in me has a lot of baggage from that place. It is however a place where heroes were made, two in particular, my father and cousin.

You have a great website, thanks for your time and the pictures.

Gary Chase
Ventura California

P.S. My cousins name was Freddie Nicklys Chase and he lived with us at Fort Ord before we took him to Travis [Air force Base, where most left for Vietnam]. He told my father that if he received orders for the First Air Cav, he would not be coming home. He was right.

[ Home ]