MARS STATION

The original N0EFA on the hill in Da Nang   NOEFA

July 1966 saw the transfer of Master Gunnery Sergeant Norman J Laursen into Truck Company, FLSG-A.  He pioneered the construction of the first MARS Station at the base in Da Nang RVN next to HQ up on the hill.

Red Beach in Da Nang   NOEFL

The second station was again constructed by Master Gunnery Sergeant Norman J Laursen at Red Beach RVN.  MARS Station NOEFL at Camp Books was set up and ready for operation on 20 January 1967 and the first phone patch was made by Lt. Oldt to Santa Monica, California, on 22 January 1967.  The first message was sent by Sergeant Arthur J Aocdisan, H&SCo, Cooks Section.  The message was received by his wife in Canton, Georgia.  The first message was made by PFC James Lane, FLSG-A, Maintenance Company.  It came from his mother.

Information provided by Billy/Elaine Brock (Truck Co/FLSG-A)

If you have any information or memories of MARS, contact us

I'm the same Larry Matthess who ran the MARS Radio Station at FLSG 

Red Beach.

Time periods in that far past distort on me, so my time period 

estimates may not be too accurate.  It seems like I did a lot during 

what was only a 13 month tour in VN.  Nowadays, 13 months go by 

lickety-split.

It was only for a relatively short time that I drove a truck at Truck 

Company.  From my initial arrival in country for perhaps three months 

or so.  During that time, it seems that I drove mostly at nighttime and 

slept days (I suppose that must have been true for about half of us), 

and this perhaps minimized my socialization time with the company 

members.

MGysgt Norman Larson of Truck Company desired to establish a MARS 

station for FLSC, and he recruited me, a Ham Radio Operator in civilian 

life, to accomplish that.  To that end, he sent me (TDY?) to an 

established MARS station on Marble Mountain near 'Charley Med' for OJT. 

  I worked there for some time, and then was sent up to Phu Bai and 

established and operated a station there for some time (TDY from my 

TDY?).  During these periods, I was of course physically separated from 

the members of my parent Truck Company.

When FLSC was established at Red Beach, I was recalled to my parent 

origination, Truck Company, to set-up and operate a MARS station there 

(as was MGysgt Larson's original objective), which I did.  I operated 

that station for the duration of my tour in VN.  That work was also 

mostly nighttime, and my sleeping quarters were in the station itself.  

Although the Truck Company people were probably the majority of my 

"customers" to call home, I had no real social contact with them.  They 

came in and I gave a short briefing on how the calls would be 

conducted, and then they were in a waiting room and I was behind a wall 

and glass partition operating the radio equipment.  I believe that Tom 

Beesley was recruited to help me after some time, and so he also worked 

at the station.  Prior to my departure, Sgt Dick Stultz, a field comm 

guy, was brought in for training and he replaced me.  There were about 

five Navy/Marine Corps MARS stations in-country, and my "social family" 

had become those fellow MARS station operators.  I'm afraid that Tom 

Beesley was the only name I recognized on your roster (and I'm not 100% 

sure about that).

From VN I was sent to a Barstow, and very shortly thereafter sent to 

Hawaii (Kaneohe Bay) and operated MARS stations until the end of my 

4-year Marine Corps commitment, when I was discharged (at my desire) as 

a Sgt E5.