When you getting close to coming home you start marking the days off of your calendar. First it’s 120 days then it’s 90 days then it’s 60 days then it gets down to 30 days your on your last month . Can’t wait to get home . Since we came over on a ship together their was eighty of us going home at once from the same outfit . They loaded us up on a C-140 cargo plane and flew us to Cam Rahn Bay for out processing about a week before we was to come home . That is also the same place the incoming personnel comes in to the country the ones that fly into the country . When you get under a certain amount of time left before you come home you have earned the right to yell “SHORT” .Well we all eighty of us arrived at Cam Rahn Bay together and every one working there thought we was incoming GREEN troops coming into the country and they started yelling “SHORT” . Any one that has ever been in the military knows you don’t mess with an outfit of eighty guys that is together . ( We were Engineers and proud of it ) We all yelled back “HOW SHORT SUCKER” They would reply “60 DAYS” We would say “7 DAYS” After a few times they started leaving us alone . The night we were supposed to leave came and we waited and waited and waited and waited and finally they said you get a little sleep it will be another 3 hours . That will be about 3AM when the plane gets here . I was about to fall over from exustion I was so tired but I didn’t want to miss my ride home finally I couldn’t resist . I fell asleep . And all of a sudden someone yelled “SPRATT , IT’S TIME TO GO “ I don’t think I ever woke so fast in my life . We boarded a huge Brannif International Lime Green plane and the Stewardess said “ARE YOU READY TO LEAVE ? “ Every one yelled “YESSSSS” I still remember seeing the lights disappear into the darkness . We flew to Tokyo Refueled then on to Anchorage for another refueling then to California . Home at last .The ones that was getting out of the service got to leave first but the ones that had time left in the service had to wait to get their orders . I had another 15 months left in the service so I had to wait for my orders to go home for two weeks leave and then report to Ft Hood Texas.