Jefferson Pavan
Postal Clerk 3rd Class
MCB 121 and MCB 40 US Navy Seabee
Phu Bai, Vietnam 1966-1969
Postal Clerk 3rd Class
MCB 121 and MCB 40 US Navy Seabee
Phu Bai, Vietnam 1966-1969
Jefferson Pavan was born in Torrington, CT on September 26th, 1946. He was an only child and his father left when he was young. His mother played an outsized role in his upbringing. Jeff wasn’t much of a student, but he loved basketball. He played on the Torrington HS basketball team. He was 19 in his senior year and went to New Haven to pick up his selective service card in February 1965. He was drafted in November and then enlisted with the Navy in hopes of not going to Vietnam. He didn’t get called to report until March 1966 and spent his time playing basketball at the local YMCA.
When it came time for him to report, the Navy gave him a train ticket to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There he met up with a guy from NYC and the both spent their first night at Madison Square Garden watching Boston College and a few other teams play in the NIT. The next day he was sworn in and took a train to Chicago and then another train to Great Lakes Naval Training Center. He was assigned to the Seabees, who were considered part of the Marines. Jeff remembered boot camp as the worst of the worst. “I was a mama’s boy”, and for 12 weeks “I missed my mother”. But, “You have to grow up quick”. From there he was sent to Gulfport Mississippi. Jeff met up with a black fellow and they became friends. But it was 1966 in the deep south and his friend reminded him, “up north, you know, we can go out and hang out. Not here. They won’t take to kindly to that”. He was growing up quick.
Seabees typically had a background in one of the building trades. Jefferson did not but he lucked out and was assigned to the HQ unit and he was assigned to be a postal clerk. In August of 1967 he flew to Phu Bai, which is about 8 miles from Hue and about 60 miles from Da Nang. He got off the plane at 4am. I asked his first impressions when he got off the plane. His first thought was, “what the hell am I doing here?” followed by “it was hot and it smelled awful.” “You quickly learn to survive. Each day he would drive on Highway 1 to the airstrip to pick up the mail. A lasting impression on Jeff was the body bags piled in one section of the airfield and the incredible number of dead North Vietnamese soldiers on the side of the road. Then there was the Tet Offensive from January to March 1968 and the nightly mortar attacks by the North Vietnamese. The worst part of his first tour was when 3 Seabees were killed when the jeep they were riding in hit an anti-mine while looking for a new quarry. One of the soldiers, Jon Morvey from Ocean city, NJ had only been in-country 2 months. Just days before he had asked Jeff to keep a lookout for a package coming from his mother.
In April of ’68 Jeff returned to Gulfport and headed to Quonset Point, RI. And it soon became obvious he would be headed back to Phu Bai. He left in November of 1968 and went back to the same camp. There was no need for a postal clerk, so he became a writer for the monthly newspaper, “Mud & Thunder” with MCB 40. All during his time in Vietnam he felt that God had a plan for him, and he was going to come home in one piece. He spent his spare time playing basketball with various teams on the base. In 1968 he played with the league champs and he has the trophy to prove it.
He left Vietnam on July 17, 1969 and made it home in time to see the first man walk on the moon (July 20th). He was discharged on November 29, 1969. His mother and Aunt Rose came to pick him up in Davisville RI and when he saw them arrive he ran from the barracks to greet them. He then went on to attend Northwestern Community College and then Central Connecticut State College where he graduated with a Sociology degree. Jeff went back to Torrington but felt that he wasn’t prepared for civilian life. He felt the world had passed him by in the four years he was gone. He was married twice and suffers from the effects of Agent Orange and PTSD.
He fell into the role of a permanent substitute teacher for 8th grade English for 13 years and then as an in-school tutor for 13 years. He never really felt like he reconnected with his hometown and everyone knew a little too much about each other. Or as Miranda Lambert sings, “everyone dies famous in a small town”.
I asked him if there was anything else that left an impact on him. He said, “the day Kennedy was shot, the world changed”. He remembers it being announced over the school PA system. He also mentioned the nights in Vietnam. “Worst thing were the nights. Anything could happen”.
When it came time for him to report, the Navy gave him a train ticket to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There he met up with a guy from NYC and the both spent their first night at Madison Square Garden watching Boston College and a few other teams play in the NIT. The next day he was sworn in and took a train to Chicago and then another train to Great Lakes Naval Training Center. He was assigned to the Seabees, who were considered part of the Marines. Jeff remembered boot camp as the worst of the worst. “I was a mama’s boy”, and for 12 weeks “I missed my mother”. But, “You have to grow up quick”. From there he was sent to Gulfport Mississippi. Jeff met up with a black fellow and they became friends. But it was 1966 in the deep south and his friend reminded him, “up north, you know, we can go out and hang out. Not here. They won’t take to kindly to that”. He was growing up quick.
Seabees typically had a background in one of the building trades. Jefferson did not but he lucked out and was assigned to the HQ unit and he was assigned to be a postal clerk. In August of 1967 he flew to Phu Bai, which is about 8 miles from Hue and about 60 miles from Da Nang. He got off the plane at 4am. I asked his first impressions when he got off the plane. His first thought was, “what the hell am I doing here?” followed by “it was hot and it smelled awful.” “You quickly learn to survive. Each day he would drive on Highway 1 to the airstrip to pick up the mail. A lasting impression on Jeff was the body bags piled in one section of the airfield and the incredible number of dead North Vietnamese soldiers on the side of the road. Then there was the Tet Offensive from January to March 1968 and the nightly mortar attacks by the North Vietnamese. The worst part of his first tour was when 3 Seabees were killed when the jeep they were riding in hit an anti-mine while looking for a new quarry. One of the soldiers, Jon Morvey from Ocean city, NJ had only been in-country 2 months. Just days before he had asked Jeff to keep a lookout for a package coming from his mother.
In April of ’68 Jeff returned to Gulfport and headed to Quonset Point, RI. And it soon became obvious he would be headed back to Phu Bai. He left in November of 1968 and went back to the same camp. There was no need for a postal clerk, so he became a writer for the monthly newspaper, “Mud & Thunder” with MCB 40. All during his time in Vietnam he felt that God had a plan for him, and he was going to come home in one piece. He spent his spare time playing basketball with various teams on the base. In 1968 he played with the league champs and he has the trophy to prove it.
He left Vietnam on July 17, 1969 and made it home in time to see the first man walk on the moon (July 20th). He was discharged on November 29, 1969. His mother and Aunt Rose came to pick him up in Davisville RI and when he saw them arrive he ran from the barracks to greet them. He then went on to attend Northwestern Community College and then Central Connecticut State College where he graduated with a Sociology degree. Jeff went back to Torrington but felt that he wasn’t prepared for civilian life. He felt the world had passed him by in the four years he was gone. He was married twice and suffers from the effects of Agent Orange and PTSD.
He fell into the role of a permanent substitute teacher for 8th grade English for 13 years and then as an in-school tutor for 13 years. He never really felt like he reconnected with his hometown and everyone knew a little too much about each other. Or as Miranda Lambert sings, “everyone dies famous in a small town”.
I asked him if there was anything else that left an impact on him. He said, “the day Kennedy was shot, the world changed”. He remembers it being announced over the school PA system. He also mentioned the nights in Vietnam. “Worst thing were the nights. Anything could happen”.