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| U.S.S. Allen M. Sumner DD-692 | ||||
| Sounds of Vietnam | ||||
While the Sumner was on her way home from the Vietnam Deployment, a reel-to-reel audio tape was made by the officers and Chiefs as a memory of the cruise. Our shipmate Doug Rinear was lucky enough to be given a copy, which he has kept all these years. Another shipmate, Dale "Mort" Surber converted the tape to CD from which we are able to present these Sounds of Vietnam to you. A Bravo Zulu and Well Done to Doug and Mort!
The tape has been broken into sections for your enjoyment as the total is almost two hours in duration. In order to hear them on your computer you must have the Real Player Audio program installed on your PC. If you do not as yet have the software, it is available free by going to http://www.real.com. When you have reached the site you will find an entry on the screen which states "Free RealOne Player", click on this item and then follow the instructions to load it on your hard disk. Some of you may have to upgrade your current Real Player software to a newer version. This software was used as the total size of the traditional WAV files are in excess of one billion bytes which is beyond what our site can process at this time.
The Sounds of Vietnam are presented in a series of TRACKS. They begin with a summary of the deployment made on September 6, 1967 by the Executive Officer, LCDR William B. Moye Jr. This is followed by three tracks of actual General Quarters sounds made during Sumner's support of Operation Beau Charger in May 1967 when U.S. Marines were landed in the DMZ to expel the Communist forces located there. The next track contains the many sounds of the Equator Crossing ceremonies including Davey Jones and Neptunus Rex. This is followed by two poems written and performed by Chief Williamson's wife Katherine. And finally, a prayer that was sent to the Sumner just before our departure for WestPac. Note that the GQ portions were made as it happened, they are not made-for-TV movies. As such, there may be portions that you do not hear clearly or understand. There will be pauses where it appears no sound is on the track or it appears to be a mass of confusion. This is the real thing unedited and "as it was."
Click on the track number and then be patient as the software loads, connects to the server and buffers the first block of the sound file. Depending on your modem and phone lines the actual playing may be a bit choppy as communication takes place between you and the server. For that we apologize but there is little we can do to correct this - you can by spending more dollars than you really want to!
| Track |
Content |
Playing Time |
| 1 | Summary of the Vietnam Deployment made on September 6, 1967 while Sumner was enroute to Rodman, Canal Zone given by LCDR William B. Moye Jr. | 22:31 |
| 2 | General Quarters during Operation Beau Charger with sound recorded on the bridge including the sounds between spotter planes and Gary Barnes (one of the HMAS Hobart's Radar Specialists) | 19:05 |
| 3 | General Quarters during Operation Beau Charger with sounds from the Gun Circuit where you will hear the Gun Captains, Director and Plot. Voices: MT 51 GMG3 John R. Humbard, MT 52 GMG3 Larry R. Allen, MT 53 GMG2 Thomas R. Brown, Director FTG3 Robert J. Kearns, Plot FTG3 John L. Lambert | 25:34 |
| 4 | A continuation of Track 3 (note: this GQ occurred on 18 May 1967 from 0525 until 1113 when the guns fired a total of 775 rounds of which 316 were AAC, 326 HEPD and 133 VTF(NSO)) | 1:23 |
| 5 | The Equator Crossing ceremonies where lowly Pollywogs became Shellbacks, hear your favorite officers beg for mercy! | 33:29 |
| 6 | A poem by Katerine Elaine Williamson entitled "Premonition on the Beach" with appropriate beach music in the background | 3:19 |
| 7 | A poem by Katherine Elaine Williamson entitled "Navy Wife" with Richard Rogers "Victory at Sea" as background music, a transcript of this poem appears on Katherine's page | 5:07 |
| 8 | A reading by the Executive Officer of a prayer sent to the Sumner by the Reverend S. B. Curiale prior to our departure for Vietnam | 2:11 |
Again, many thanks to Doug Rinear and Dale Surber for all their efforts in making these sounds a permanent part of our history!