The S.O.A.P. Lab.

We Gotta Get Outta This Place is Playing.


The S.O.A.P. Lab entrance to the Engine Shop
Sgt. Koopman standing near the S.O.A.P. Lab entrance to the Engine Shop.


Inside the S.O.A.P. Lab
Sgt. Koopman inside the S.O.A.P. Lab.


S.O.A.P. Machine
S.O.A.P. Machine

After the attack I got a few hours sleep on the mattress stored behind the S.O.A.P. machine.


Engine Oil Door on the S.O.A.P. Machine
Engine Oil Door on the S.O.A.P. Machine


Analyzing Engine Oil
Working in the S.O.A.P. Lab.

In the foreground my partner sets up for a run as I insert an oil sample into the S.O.A.P. machine. SOAP was an acronym for Spectrometric Oil Analysis Program. Engine oil was burned in the S.O.A.P. machine to create a spectrum of colors which corresponded to different varieties and amounts of metal content. The purpose of this was to predict engine wear.


S.O.A.P. Lab. Associates
My associates in the S.O.A.P. Lab.


S.O.A.P. Lab Associates
One of my friends and associates in the S.O.A.P. Lab. A1C Tom Lindholm.


Vietnamese Snack Bar Waitress
Vietnamese Snack Bar Waitress

A visit to the S.O.A.P. LAB by Dinh Le Nhan; one of the Vietnamese Waitresses from the Snack Bar near the Engine Shop.


Bien Hoa Bound
Our first trip to Bien Hoa

Occasionally our S.O.A.P. machine would brake down. While it was being repaired we had to run our oil samples at Bien Hoa Air Base. The serious look on my face was caused by the SSgt. on the right. He had just informed me that I was going to drive the Duce and a Half to Bien Hoa and back. I hadn't driven any kind of vehicle in the two years I had been in the Air Force and I had never driven a Duce and a Half before. Saigon was a chaos of pedestrians, ox-carts, mopeds, taxicabs, and trucks. I'm sure you can understand why I became a little sober.


Bien Hoa bound with M16

Click here for a road map of Saigon to Bien Hoa.
Click here for a military map.

Bien Hoa Air Base was about twenty air miles from Tan Son Nhut; a little more than that by road.


Attack on TSN