How The NSA/NSF DaNang Veterans Association Got Started

By Jerry Hubbs, President

I left DaNang in 1967, and here it was almost 32 years later when I started wondering what happened to my Navy Shipmates that I served with in DaNang, Chu Lai, Hue, and Phu Bai. I kept in touch with a few, but lost contact with most. Around 1998 I was working with a man who had been a Glider Pilot in WWII, was captured, escaped back to England, and flew another flight into Normandy. He was finding men he served with using this new thing called the “Internet.” He told me, “DON’T WAIT 50 years like I did to find your buddies. Start now!” My wife’s uncle was on a Navy Destroyer at Normandy, and was later sent to Japan where they were hit by a Kamikaze suicide bomber. He told me the same thing; “start looking now.”

I always looked at the reunion notices in the VFW and American Legion magazines, but never saw a listing for NSA DaNang. Thinking that maybe I missed a notice, I called the Reunion Coordinators from the magazines who said NSA DaNang had never been listed.

I decided to take the co-worker and uncle’s advice and try to find our shipmates. I placed listings in the VFW and American Legion magazines for a reunion in Louisville, Kentucky at a local hotel for July of 1999 and worked out the details for rooms, meals, a Belle of Louisville steamboat ride, and waited to see if anyone replied to the ads. About 60 calls were received, and 30 vets showed up for our first reunion. The first reunion went well, with a Louisville Army Chaplain who served in Vietnam, good meals, caps and patches, our first raffle, and a good time was had by all. Many wives and girl friends also attended, and toured various sites in the area. None of my close friends that I served with attended this first reunion, but we all made great friendships with those who did attend. There was an instant bonding of those who served at the ‘Navy’s Largest Overseas Shore Command – 1965 to 1970.

What I discovered was that NSA DaNang, under the command of a Rear Admiral, was downsized to a Naval Support Facility (NSF DaNang) in 1970 under the command of a Navy Captain, and was decommissioned in 1972. The boats and facilities were turned over to the U.S. Army and the Vietnamese.

At the first reunion, we decided to move the reunions around the country, North to South and East to West, trying to find more shipmates in different areas of the country. Two years later, in 2001, we had our second reunion in Lancaster, PA. It was graciously hosted by our Pennsylvania Veterans. It was at this reunion that we decided to become a more formal organization and chose the name NSA/NSF DaNang Veterans Association, selected our officers, and set up our basic mode of operation.

Our association continues to grow as we find and log more shipmates. We work to promote a kinship, healing, and connection between NSA/NSF Veterans. Our reunions continue to be really nice events as we make many new friends and even reunite with a few old friends during our social times, tours, a business meeting, speakers, and a banquet.

Hopefully the association has a lot more history to establish!

Note: The Veterans of NSA/NSF DaNang owe a deep debt of gratitude to our President, Jerry Hubbs, for having not only the foresight but the courage as a single individual to begin the endeavor of starting our reunions and association.