Quan Loi Frenchmen's Pool
Water in the Pool
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Yes, there once was water in the pool - July 1968. These photos, courtesy Alton H. Martin, Fire Direction Coordinator for Bravo Company's Mortar Platoon, 1st. Battalion, 2 Infantry Regiment, 1st. Infantry Division, 10/67 - 10/68, prove that. Al Martin writes: "One of the best pools I have ever been in but no French girls showed up that day".
FLASH: Photos recently discovered of Quan Loi French Girls.
Something happened to the pool between July 1968 and May 1969 when I arrived at Quan Loi. As you have seen, there was no water in the pool in my photos. And it remained that way until Feb 1970 when the 1st Cav Re-filled the Pool. (Used to be a link here, but now it is gone from the web.) Unfortunately, I learned that in 1972, during the Battle for An Loc/Loc Ninh, the pool took a rocket hit. As reported at http://www.first-air-cavalry-division-airmobile-in-vietnam-1965-1972.com "That afternoon [April 6, 1972] an F/9th Cobra destroyed a heavy machine-gun set up as an anti-aircraft weapon in the drained swimming pool of the Frenchman's villa on the west side of the airfield at Quan Loi." I wonder if the French or North Vietnamese ever rebuilt it?
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