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14 Indispensable Books to Learn Technical WritingClassic and general books on how to write well and plainly (like “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White, or “How to Write Well” by William Zinsser) are of course great. You should read them by all means to learn the A-B-Cs of good communication in English.However, when it comes to writing a technical document like a user guide or an installation manual, those books would not help you at all.Specific style guides (“Microsoft Manual of Style”) and books formatted like a dictionary (“Handbook of Technical Writing” by Alred et al.) with an entry for each important concept would help a little but since they present information in a fragmented manner, or they address the kind of formatting rules that may not apply to your project at all, again, they are not probably what you need. You cannot read these books (which were not designed and written to be read at one sitting anyways) and then sit down and write a great user manual, for example.You need to read books that approach the specific topic of writing technical documents with lots of detailed examples, including information about putting together the individual components of a document and some techniques specific to procedural writing.That’s why I’d recommend the following additional books that I’ve kept for years on my book shelf and consulted frequently:(1) “Why Not Say It Clearly” by Lester S. King, M.D. Even though out of print, try to get a copy of this book by all means. The author is a medical writer, a specialty within the general topic of technical writing, and as his last name suggests, he is truly a King of technical editing! Even though slim as a volume, after finishing this book and thinking about the examples he provides, you’ll be a much better writer for sure.(2) “How to Write a Manual” by Elizabeth Slatkin. How to plan, design, write and review a manual, and how to produce it. It even includes a section on page layout techniques (and you’d be amazed the amount of page layout you’ll be doing as a technical writer).(3) “The Elements of International English Style” by Edmond H. Weiss. Why this book? Because more and more, technical writing is writing for an international audience. Most tech documents are translated (“localized”) to different languages. Knowing how write for an international audience is a must these days for all tech writers. This is a good source to learn that.(4) “Letting Go of the Words” by Janice (Ginny) Redish. The best source to learn, with hundreds of examples, on how to write for the web. This breaks through the assumption that a technical document is a printed “book.” No, it’s not. There are as many tech documents these days on the Internet as they are in printed form. And the web has its own rules and requirements. Read this milestone book if you ever want to write on the web as a technical writer.(5) “Agile Documentation” by Andreas Ruping. This is a rather advanced level book for those tech writers working in a Agile (software production) environment. Even though the field is advancing and changing too rapidly to be captured properly by a book published back in 2003, it still gives you a great birds-eye view of the whole topic. Great introduction to a very technical (and well paying) sub-niche in technical documentation.(6) “Technical Writing for Engineers and Scientists” by Barry J. Rosenberg. A bolts-and-nuts guide to how to write a great manual including chapters on audience, documentation plans (which you won’t find in too many other books), how to write sentences, paragraphs, lists, lab reports, PPT presentations, and much more.(7) “How to Write Usable User Documentation” by Edmond H. Weiss. This is an old book that is obsolete in its coverage of many subjects like page and book formatting. However some of the sections like how to create a decision graphics, or how to write a chapter or section headline are still superb. It’s approach to how to write and organize “modules” of a technical document is equally priceless. You’ll discard half of this book since modern technology made that section totally irrelevant. But the other half you’ll keep and continue to benefit from.(8) “Technical Communication” by Mike Markel. This the all-time best seller classic book on technical writing for a very good reason — it’s as good as it’s cracked up to be! It’s somewhat expensive — that’s one of its drawbacks. But if you can find a used copy, even of earlier prints, get one. Jam-packed with great how-to-do examples of every conceivable technical writing topic, this is one volume that I enjoyed consulting over the years. It’s a must for your tech writing library.(9) “Editing Technical Writing” by Donald C. Samson, Jr. Writing is one thing, editing is another. Every good tech writer is not a good tech editor, trust me. This is one of those rare and precious books that go into the details of technical editing (text and images) with examples. Some of those examples are dated but the main principles they illustrate are still valid and good. There is an answer key for the exercise questions and even a section on how much to charge for your writing (also outdated of course).(10) “Making Money in Technical Writing” by Peter Kent is one of those rare books devoted to the business of freelance technical writing. There are golden tips and techniques int his book about how to set up your freelance tech writing business, how to market your services, how much to charge (outdated into), and how much you can expect to make (also outdated). How to pay taxes, whether to incorporate yourself, how to negotiate with agencies… are some of the many interesting topics that you can read and benefit from. It’s almost a source without an alternative even though some of the information is outdated.(11) “Creating Technical Manual” by Gerald Cohen. As the subtitle says it all: “A step-by-step approach to writing user-friendly instructions.” It’s good to remember from time to time that all tech writing is about writing instructions. This book’s no nonsense approach provides road maps and detailed example sheets of accomplishing that goal. This is one of my main sources for writing clear step-by-step procedural descriptions even though some of the graphic examples provided are outdated (as most everything becomes quickly in this crazy age of non-stop of progress and innovation).(12) “Technical Writing - Process and Product” by Sharon J. Gerson and Steven M. Gerson. This is a book in the same category as Mike Markel’s classic reference book. It’s well designed, well written, and covers a lot of ground by focusing on individual tech doc products like resumes, fliers, brochures, newsletters, reports, proposals, and even oral presentations. The volume is capped with a good section on grammar, spelling and punctuation.(13) “Writing and Speaking for Technical Professionals” by Martin S. Roden and Teresa E. Murphy. This is an excellent book that teaches how to communicate, and not necessarily how to write any specific technical documents. Its unique angle is, it’s written specifically for engineers and scientists who find it difficult to express their ideas in a coherent manner. The authors get down to the craft of actually writing a technical document only after page 200. But the valuable communication ideas and drills that come before then is especially useful for all academicians and especially engineering students.(14) “Technical Writing 101” by Alan S. Pringle and Sarah S. O’Keefe. Written by two well-known technical writers, this is another book that you must have on your book shelf. It’s a “real-world guide to planning and writing technical documentation” as the subtitle claims and it lives up to that promise. The second edition includes sections on XML and structural authoring (the cutting edge of tech writing) as well.And last but not the least, if you’re looking for a comprehensive online introduction to the craft of document design, technical writing and editing, I’d like to suggest my own best-seller course: https://www.udemy.com/technical-writing-and-editing/Wish you good luck!

Google Search is a web search engine, which is Google's core product. It receives over 3 billion search queries per day. Google also offers regional search by its 189 regional level domains. (see List of Google domains#Localized & regional domains)Hummingbird – Expanded query analysis. For example, if you search for 'best pie place in Seattle' Google will also search for 'best pie restaurant in Seattle'.PageRank – link analysis algorithm.Snapshots – mechanism that indexes PDFs, Word documents, and more.Google Search functionality – Google Search includes Boolean logical operators, wildcards, and more, to help users refine their searches.Multiple languages – Google Search is supported by a large number of different languages.Google Author Rank – The idea that an online author can have topical authority within Google Search Results.Experimental Search options for testing new interfaces while searching with Google, including Timeline views and keyboard shortcuts.Encrypted Search – In May 2010 Google rolled out SSL-encrypted web search.[1] The encrypted search can be accessed at Google [2]Google Alerts – email notification service, which sends alerts based on chosen search terms, whenever there are new results. Alerts include web results, Groups results news, and video. The system is not functioning correctly beginning in 2013.[3]Google Books (formerly Print) – search engine for the full text of printed books. Google scans and stores in its digital database. The content that is displayed depends on the arrangement with the publishers, ranging from short extracts to entire books.Google Custom Search – allows a user to create a customized search experience for his/her own website. Renamed from Google Co-op, which in turn replaced Google Free Search.Google Finance – searchable US business news, opinion, and financial data. Features include company-specific pages, blog search, interactive charts, executives information, discussion groups and a portfolio.Google Groups – web and email discussion service and Usenet archive. Users can join a group, make a group, publish posts, track their favorite topics, write a set of group web pages updatable by members and share group files. In January, 2007, version 3 of Google Groups was released. New features include the ability to create customized pages and share files.Google Hotel Finder – Provides searches similar to other Online Travel Agencies (Travel website) that searchers can search for check-in and check-out dates.[4] Now directly available through searching, for example searching 'hotels in Seattle' will result in an info box under advertisements.[5]Google Flight Search – a service that allows users to search for flights from many airlines to many destinations, offering tools such as price comparisons and travel recommendations.[6]Google Image Search – image search engine, with results based on the file name of the image, the link text pointing to the image and text adjacent to the image. You can also make a search by uploading a picture from your computer. When searching, a thumbnail of each matching image is displayed.Language Tools – Collection of linguistic applications, including one that allows users to translate text or web pages from one language to another, and another that allows searching in web pages located in a specific country or written in a specific language.Life Search (Google China) – Search engine tailored towards everyday needs, such as train times, recipes and housing.Google News – automated news compilation service and search engine for news. There are versions of the aggregator for more than 20 languages. While the selection of news stories is fully automated, the sites included are selected by human editors.Google Patent Search – search engine to search through millions of patents, each result with its own page, including drawings, claims and citations.Google Recipe View – lets you narrow your search results to show only recipes, and helps you choose the right recipe amongst the search results by showing clearly marked ratings, ingredients and pictures. First mentioned on Google's blog in February 2011.[7]Google Scholar – search engine for the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and scholarly fields. Today, the index includes virtually all peer-reviewed journals available online.Google Shopping (was Google Product Search and Froogle): price engine that searches online stores, including auctions, for products. Beginning in Fall of 2012, it will become a fully commercial product, only indexing paid listings.[8]Suggest – auto-completion in search results while typing to give popular searches.Google Video – video search engine. Google's main video partnerships include agreements with CBS, NHL and the NBA. It also searches videos posted on YouTube, Metacafe, Daily Motion, and other popular video hosting sites. In the past Google Video itself offered a video hosting service, but this feature was shut down on August 20, 2012.[9]Web History (was Google Search History, Personalized Search) – web page tracking, which records Google searches, web pages, images, videos, music and other data. It also includes bookmarks, search trends and item recommendations. Google released Search History in April 2005, when it began to record browsing history,[10] later expanding and renaming the service to Web History in April 2007.[11]Knowledge Graph – a knowledge base used to enhance search results with semantic information gathered from several sources.Zagat – a source of consumer survey-based information for restaurants and other leisure activities.Advertising services[edit]AdMob is a mobile advertising network that Google acquired in November 2009.[12] It offers advertising solutions for Android, iOS and Windows Phone 8.[13]Google AdSense – Offers a contextual advertising solution to web publishers, and delivers text-based Google AdWords ads that are relevant to site content pages.Google Ad Planner – Ad Planner has been replaced with Google Display Planner.[14]Google AdWords – advertise with Google AdWords ads in the Sponsored Links section next to search results to boost website traffic and sales.Adwords Express – Local online advertising made easyGoogle Certification Program – Google AdWords partner certification program, providing AdWords qualifications to agencies that pass exams and other criteria. Replaced Google Advertising Professionals in April 2010.DoubleClick – ad management and ad serving technology foundation for buyers, creators and sellers of digital media.DoubleClick for Publishers by Google – Set of tools for driving direct sales revenue and maximizing yield on non-guaranteed inventory.Google Ad Grants – in-kind donation program awarding free AdWords advertising to select charitable organizations.Google Think InsightsCommunication and publishing tools[edit]Google Cultural InstituteGoogle Art ProjectFeedBurner – news feed management services, including feed traffic analysis and advertising facilities.Google Keep – note keeping (like Evernote)Google 3D Warehouse – online service that hosts 3D models of existing objects, locations (including buildings) and vehicles created in Google SketchUp by the aforementioned application's users. The models can be downloaded into Google Sketch-up by other users or Google Earth.Google Apps for Work – service for businesses, enterprise, and education providing independently customizable versions of several Google products under a custom domain name. Features included are Gmail, Google Hangouts, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms, Google Slides, Google Sites, Google Contacts, and Google Groups.Blogger – weblog publishing tool. Users can create custom, hosted blogs with features such as photo publishing, comments, group blogs, blogger profiles and mobile-based posting with little technical knowledge.Google Bookmarks – free online bookmark storage service, available to Google Account holders[15] launched on October 10, 2005.[16]http://Boutiques.com – personalized shopping experience that let users find and discover fashion goods. http://Boutiques.com was launched in November 2010, and consolidated with Google Product Search on October 14, 2011.[17]Google Business Solutions – collection of services offered by Google specifically directed at webmasters and businesses.[18] Products included are Feedburner, Google AdWords, Google AdSense, Google Analytics, Google Enterprise Search solutions, Google Apps, Google Checkout, Google Local Business Center, Google Merchant Center, Google Trusted Stores, Postini, Google Webmaster Central, Google Ad Manager, Google Maps and Earth Solutions, Google Website Optimizer and Google Site Search.Google Calendar – free online calendar, includes Gmail integration, calendar sharing, and a "quick add" function that allows inserting events using natural language input. It is similar to those offered by Yahoo! and Windows Live.Google Charts - interactive, Web-based chart image generation from user-supplied JavaScript.Google Docs – document, spreadsheet, drawing, survey, and presentation application, with document collaboration and publishing capabilitiesGoogle Domains (United States only) — a domain registration service, with website publishing partnersGoogle Drive – an online backup service and storage space. This service is connected with Google Docs.Google Hangouts – an instant messaging and video chat platform launched on May 15, 2013, serving as a unified replacement for Google Talk, Google+ Messenger, and Hangouts, the video chat system present within Google+.Google Helpouts – Hangout-based live video chat with experts (defunct since April 20, 2015)Gmail (also termed Google Mail) – free webmail IMAP and POP email service provided by Google, known for its abundant storage, intuitive search-based interface and elasticity. It was first released in an invitation-only form on April 1, 2004. Mobile access and Google Talk integration is also featured.Google Inbox – an email app for Android, iOS, and web platforms that attempts to organize emails for the user and automate to-do lists using information provided in emails.Google URL Shortener – URL shortener for both Google and non-Google websites. (Also referred to as Google URL Shortener).Google Play Music - upload up to 50,000 songs for free for cloud media accessGoogle+ – Google's social networking servicePanoramio – Photos of the worldGoogle profile – allows controlling how users appear and present themselves on Google products, to other Google users, and tell others a bit more about who they are.Google Sites (was Jotspot) – Website creation tool for private or public groups, for both personal and corporate use.SMS Channels (Google India only) – Launched September 2008, allows users to create and subscribe to channels over SMS. Channels can be based on RSS feeds.Spaces, a cross-platform application for group messaging and sharing.Speak To Tweet – telephone service created in collaboration with Twitter and SayNow allowing users to phone a specific number and leave a voicemail; a tweet is automatically posted on Twitter with a link to the voice message stored on Google's SayNow.Google Voice (United States only) – known as "GrandCentral" before 2009-03-11, Google Voice is a free voice communication system. Google Voice provides a phone number, but is not a last mile provider (unlike POTS, which does provide the last mile connection). It includes a follow-me service that lets users forward their Google voice phone number to simultaneously ring up to 6 other phone numbers. It also features a unified voice mail service, SMS and free outgoing calls via Google's "click2call" and 3rd party dialers.Google Fonts – interactive directory of free hosted web font-API's.YouTube – free video sharing Web site which lets users upload, view, and share video clips. In October 2006, Google announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the company for 1.65 billion USD in Google stock. The deal closed on 13 November 2006.Google Ventures – a radically different kind of venture-capital fundGoogle Classroom – a content management system for schools that aids in distribution and grading of assignments and providing in-class communicationGoogle Cloud Search - Launched February 2017, a smart search engine that allows G Suite business customer users to search across G Suite products, including Google Drive, Gmail, Sites, Google Calendar, Docs, Contacts and more.[19][20]Development tools[edit]Google App Engine – tool that allows developers to write and run web applications.Google Developers (was Google Code) – Google's site for developers interested in Google-related development. The site contains open source code and lists of their API services. Also provides project hosting for any free and open source software.Dart – a structured web programming language developed by Google.Go (programming language) – compiled, concurrent programming language developed by Google.OpenSocial – set of common APIs for building social applications on many websites.Google PageSpeed Tools – tool for helping developers to optimize the performance of their webpages.Google Swiffy – tool that converts Adobe Flash files (SWF) into HTML5.Google Web Toolkit – open source Java software development framework that allows web developers to create Ajax applications in Java.Google Search Console (was Webmaster Tools and formerly Google Sitemaps): Sitemap submission and analysis for the Sitemaps protocol. Renamed from Google Sitemaps to cover broader features, including query statistics and robots.txt analysis.Translator Toolkit – collaborated translation toolSecurity tools[edit]reCAPTCHA – a user-dialogue system use to prevent bots from accessing websitesMap-related products[edit]Google Map Maker – Map editor used to submit changes to Google Maps.Google Maps – Mapping service that indexes streets and displays satellite and street-level imagery, providing driving directions and local business search.Google Street ViewGoogle Street View Inside Trusted (formerly Google Business View) – A 360°, interactive tour.[21] Customers will be able to truly experience a business by walking around, exploring, and interacting with the business using the same Street View technology used in streets around the world. These virtual tours are created by Google certified trusted photographers or trusted agencies.Google My Maps – Social custom map making tool based on Google Maps.Google Maps Gallery – Collection of data and historic mapsGoogle Mars – imagery of Mars using the Google Maps interface. Elevation, visible imagery and infrared imagery can be shown. It was released on March 13, 2006, the anniversary of the birth of astronomer Percival Lowell.Google Moon – NASA imagery of the moon through the Google Maps interface. It was launched on July 20, 2009, in honor of the first manned Moon landing on July 20, 1969.Google Sky – Internet tool to view stars and galaxies, can be used via browser version of "Google Sky".Google Transit – Public transport trip planning through the Google Maps interface, now fully integrated with maps. Released on December 7, 2005.Google Santa Tracker – Tracking Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.Zygote Body (previously Google Body) – 3D anatomical model of human body.Build with Chrome – a initiative between Lego and Google to build the world using Lego.[22]Statistical tools[edit]Google Analytics – Traffic statistics generator for defined websites, with strong AdWords integration. Webmasters can optimize their ad campaigns, based on the statistics that are given. Analytics is based on the Urchin software and the new version released in May 2007 integrates improvements based on Measure Map.Google Consumer Surveys – Market research tool similar to Survata.Google Correlate – Search patterns relating to real world trends.Freebase - Open, Creative Commons Attribution licensed collection of structured data, and a Freebase platform for accessing and manipulating that data via the Freebase API. (Deprecated)Google Fusion Tables – Tool for gathering and visualizing arbitrary data.Google Ngram Viewer – Tool for charting year-by-year frequencies of any set of comma-delimited strings in Google's text corpora.Google Public Data Explorer – Provides public data and forecasts from a range of international organizations and academic institutions including the World Bank, OECD, Eurostat and the University of Denver. These can be displayed as line graphs, bar graphs, cross sectional plots or on maps.TensorFlow - Machine Learning service that allows for making effective neural networks in an easier and more visible fashionTrendalyzer – Data trend viewing platform to make nations' statistics accessible on the Internet in an animated, interactive graph form. Acquired from the Gapminder Foundation in 2007.Google Trends – Graph plotting application for Web Search statistics, showing the popularity of particular search terms over time. Multiple terms can be shown at once. Results can also be displayed by city, region or language. Related news stories are also shown. Has "Google Trends for Websites" sub-section which shows popularity of websites over time.Zeitgeist – Collection of lists of the most frequent search queries. There used to be weekly, monthly and yearly lists, and topic and country specific lists. Closed 22 May 2007 and replaced by "Hot Trends, a dynamic feature in Google Trends". An annual Zeitgeist summary for the US and other countries is still produced.Google Activity Report – A service that provides a monthly report including statistics about a user's Google usage, such as sign-in, third party authentication changes, Gmail usage, calendar, search history, and YouTube.Operating systems[edit]Android – Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.Chrome OS – Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Runs on the Chromebook and the nettop Chromebox, the first of which (Samsung Series 3) was released in May 2012.[23]Android Wear – A version of Google's Android operating system designed for smartwatches and other wearables.Android Auto – A version of Android made for automobiles by Google with the help of the Open Automotive AllianceAndroid TV – A version of Android made for TVs. Similar to Google TVTelevision Fanatic - Mindspark Interactive NetworkGlass OS – Operating system for Google GlassGoogle FuchsiaDesktop applications[edit]AdWords Editor – desktop application to manage a Google AdWords account; lets users make changes to their account and advertising campaigns before synchronizing with the online service. (Supports Mac OS X (10.7 or later), Windows 7, and Windows 8.)Google Chrome – web browser. (Supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Linux (specifically Debian- and Red Hat/Fedora-based versions), and Mac OS X.)Google Earth – virtual 3D globe that uses satellite imagery, aerial photography, GIS from Google's repository. (Supports Linux, Mac OS X, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, iPhone, iPad, and Android.)Google Input Tools – input method editor that allows users to enter text in one of the supported languages using a Roman keyboard. (Supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.)[24]Google Japanese Input – Japanese input method editor. (Supports Windows XP SP2+, Windows Vista SP1+, 7, and Mac OS X Leopard+.) (Google Japan)Google Pinyin – input method editor that is used to convert Chinese Pinyin characters, which can be entered on Western-style keyboards, to Chinese characters. (Supports Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.) (Google China)Google Toolbar – web browser toolbar with features such as a Google Search box, pop-up blocker and ability for website owners to create buttons. (Supports Internet Explorer 6 and up.)Android Studio – development tool for Android. (Supports Windows, Linux, and Mac.)Google Web Designer – WYSIWYG editor for making rich HTML5 pages and ads intended to run on multiple devices. (Supports Windows, Linux, and Mac.)Google Drive – Client software to synchronize files between the user's computer and Google Drive storage. (Supports Windows and Mac.)Google Photos Backup – Back up photos and videos to Google Photos service. (Supports Windows and Mac.)Nik Collection - Make your Photoshop more HDTilt Brush - A painting game for the Vive and Oculus RiftMobile applications[edit]Mobile web applications[edit]These products can be accessed through a browser on a mobile device.Blogger Mobile – Available on some US and Canadian networks only. Allows updating Blogger blog from mobile devices.Google Calendar – Displays a list of all Google Calendar events on a mobile device; users can quickly add events to personal calendars.Drive – View documents on a mobile device, previously known as Google Docs.Gmail – access a Gmail account from a mobile device using a standard mobile web browser. Alternatively, Google provides a specific mobile application to access and download Gmail messages quicker. User must now provide phone number to verify account.Google Keep – Quickly create, access and organize notes, lists and photos with Google Keep. (This product can be accessed through a browser on a mobile device.)Google Maps – Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps. (This product can be accessed through a browser on a mobile device.)Maps Navigation – Android navigation application for GPS-enabled mobile devices (such as Google Nexus One) with 3D views, voice guided turn-by-turn navigation and automatic rerouting. (Supports Android and iOS).Mobilizer – Optimizes web pages for mobile web browsers.Google News – Allows user to access Google News in a mobile-optimized view. Google AMP Integration is expected in the future.[25]Google Offers – Works with Google Wallet to combine coupons, discounts, and payments for people buying things through their phone.[26]Google+ – Social network, competing with FacebookGoogle Product Search – Updated version of the prior Froogle Mobile that allows users to easily search for information about a product.Google Photos – Provides unlimited video and photo storage for personal use.Google Search – Search the world's information, including webpages, images, videos and more. (This product can be accessed through a browser on a mobile device.)Google Search for Android – A Google Search app for the Android operating system.Google Wallet – Android app that makes your phone your wallet using near field communication, or NFC; its virtual plastic card. Will work together with Google Offers to combine coupons, discounts, and payments for people buying things through their phone.[26]Google Currents – Interactive magazine. Launched on December 9, 2011, it was discontinued in November 2013 and replaced by Google Play Newsstand.Google Translate – Google's free online language translation service instantly translates text and web pages.YouTube – Video hosting service that publishes to a public web site available for both desktop and mobileQuick, Draw! a online game based around a neural network guessing what a drawing represents, intended to teach people about machine learning.Mobile standalone applications[edit]Some of these products must be downloaded and run from a mobile device.Google Authenticator – A downloadable application for MFA (Multi-factor authentication) to enhance security by using your smartphone as extra authentication. (Supports Android, Blackberry OS, iOS)Google Play Books – A downloadable application that allows users to buy and download books and keep them stored on remote servers, allows reading one book on a variety of devices.[27](Android, iOS)Gmail – downloadable application that has many advantages over accessing Gmail through a web interface on a mobile at any time, such as the ability to interact with Gmail features including labels and archiving. Requires a properly configured Java Virtual Machine, which is not available by default on some platforms (such as Palm Treo).CatalogsDrive – Downloadable app that allows the user to access files and documents stored on Google Drive remotely through this application. This service was previously available as just a web-service and was called Google Docs.Google Keep – mobile application which integrates note-taking and web surfing.Google Goggles – downloadable application from Google Labs that uses image recognition to trigger searches based on pictures taken with a device's built-in camera; taking pictures of things (examples: famous landmark, product barcode) causes searches for information on them.[28] (Supports Android, iOS).Tango - downloadable application that includes augmented reality, indoor navigation, 3D mapping, physical space measurement and environmental recognition. It also allows developers to create applications using it's APIs.Google Maps – mobile application to view maps on mobile devices. Lets users find addresses and plot directions. Teamed with a GPS, it can use user geolocation and show current location on the map. Users can also share current locations with friends through Google Latitude. The device must have either a specific application to use Google maps or any phone with a properly configured Java Virtual Machine. (Supports Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, iOS, Symbian, Palm OS, Palm WebOS, and J2ME).Google Play Music – online music store which started operations on 16 November 2011.[29] Music is now available for free.Google Play Newsstand a news aggregator that combines the features of the discontinued apps Google Play Magazines and Google Currents into a single product. Newsstand serves subscriptions to magazines, web feeds and server-generated topical feeds.One Today – features nonprofits that are part of the Google for nonprofits program, and allows people to donate to them.Shopper – downloadable application that makes shopping easier and smarter. (Supports Android, iOS)Sky Map – augmented reality program displaying a star map which is scrolled by moving the phone. (Supports Android, Mobile).Google Sync – synchronizes mobile phones with multiple Google calendars and contacts using a Google Account.Google Talk – VoIP and text application for smartphones. The Android version is text only and lacks the VoIP function of BlackBerry version. (Supports Android, BlackBerry, iOS).Hangouts – is an instant messaging and video chat platform. (supports Android, iOS)Translate – allows users to translate conversations instantly. (Supports Android, iOS)Google Voice app – downloadable application for accessing Google Voice functions on selected devices. It is currently available for users around the world. (Supports Android, Blackberry, iOS).Yinyue (Music) (Google China) – site containing links to a large archive of Chinese pop music (principally Cantopop and Mandopop), including audio streaming over Google's own player, legal lyric downloads, and in most cases legal MP3 downloads. The archive is provided by Top100.cn (i.e., this service does not search the whole Internet) and is available in mainland China only.YouTube – downloadable application to view YouTube videos on selected devices.YouTube Remote – A downloadable application to view YouTube videos, it lets users browse and play videos, control television volume and essentially do everything the YouTube Leanback product supports, but from their mobile handset.[30] (Supports Android).Google Now – A application that acts as a personal assistant through voice commands (Supports Android and iOS).Google+ – A downloadable app that will allow the user to access the multilingual, social networking site by Google. It provides the user the ability to incorporate his/her accounts from YouTube, Google Photos in order to share photos and videos. Hangouts, Circles, Sparks and Ripples are some of the new features that have been added by Google into G+.Waze – A GPS application that allows users to input and view live traffic and alerts.Who's Down – An app to indicate your social availability to your friends.[31]Gboard (Google Keyboard for IOS and Android) - A keyboard for iOS and Android that features glide typing, GIF search, emoji search and Google search built in.[32][33]Hardware[edit]Google Search Appliance - a search appliance designed for indexing corporate data.Google driverless car – a driverless car.Nexus One – Smartphone running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 2.3 "Gingerbread".Nexus S – Smartphone running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 4.1 "Jelly Bean".Galaxy Nexus – Smartphone running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 4.3 "Jelly Bean".Google TV – Smart TV interface running on smart TVs and set-top boxes.Nexus Q – Media-streaming entertainment device in the Google Nexus product family. Discontinued.Nexus 7 (2012 version) – 7" Tablet manufactured by Asus running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 5.1 "Lollipop".Nexus 7 (2013 version) – 7" Tablet manufactured by Asus running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 5.1 "Lollipop".Nexus 4 – 4.7" Phone manufactured by LG running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 5.1 "Lollipop".Nexus 5 – 4.95" Phone manufactured by LG running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 6.0 "Marshmallow".Nexus 6 – 5.96" Phone manufactured by Motorola running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 5.1 "Lollipop".[34]Nexus 9 – 9" Tablet running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 5.1 "Lollipop".Nexus 10 – 10" Tablet running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 5.1 "Lollipop".Nexus 5X – 5" Phone running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 6.0 "Marshmallow".Nexus 6P – 5.7" Phone running the Android open source mobile operating system, version 6.0 "Marshmallow".[35]Nexus Player – A streaming media player created in collaboration between Google and ASUS, the first device running Android TV, version 5.1 "Lollipop".Pixel C – 10.2" convertible tablet running Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow"Chromebook – Laptop personal computer running Chrome OS.Chromebook Pixel – High end laptop computer designed by Google running Chrome OS.Chromebox – Desktop personal computer running Chrome OS.Chromecast – A media streaming adapter produced by Google.Chromecast Ultra – A 4K capable media streaming adapter produced by Google.Chromecast Audio – An audio streaming adapter produced by Google.Google Glass – a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display and camera that allows the wearer to interact with various applications and the Internet via natural language voice commands. It is still in development, after an initial version was discontinued.Google Contact Lens – a contact lens capable of monitoring the user's glucose level in tears. It is not yet released for public usage, but is in testing at Verily, a subsidiary of Google's parent company, Alphabet.Google OnHub – a brand new line of routers manufactured by TP-Link and Asus.Google Daydream - a virtual reality platformGoogle Home - an AI assistant competing with Amazon EchoPixel - A 5" smartphone running Android 7.1 "Nougat"Pixel XL - A 5.5" smartphone running Android 7.1 "Nougat"Services[edit]Google Cloud Platform – a set of modular cloud-based services for software development.Google Crisis Response – public project, which covers ongoing and past disasters, turmoils and other emergencies and alerts.Google Fiber is a project to build an experimental broadband internet network infrastructure using fiber-optic communication in Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, Provo, Utah, and Austin, Texas.Google Get Your Business Online, launched by Google in 2011, aimed at increasing the web presence of small businesses and cities. Provides free advice on search engine optimization and helps business owners update their information on Google for free.[36]Google Public DNS – publicly accessible DNS server run by Google.Google Ideas – a cross-sector, inter-disciplinary "think tank" or "think/do tank" based in New York City, dedicated to understanding global challenges and applying technological solutions.Google Person Finder – an open source tool that helps people reconnect with others in the aftermath of a disaster.Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) – an open source project and service to accelerate content on mobile devices.[37][38][39] After a technical preview, the service was launched in February 2016.[40][41][42] AMP provides a vast JavaScript library for developers and restricts the use of third-party JS.[43]Google Firebase - Firebase's primary product is a realtime database which provides an API that allows developers to store and sync data across multiple clientsGoogle Cast - Google Cast is a technology that lets you cast your favorite entertainment and apps from your phone, tablet or laptop right to your TV or speakers.[44]List of Google products - Wikipedia

I’ve got a Vietnam story you don’t hear much. I was sitting on my rocking horse when my Mom said that we were going to Vietnam. I had no idea anything about Vietnam all I knew was Lawton Oklahoma and Ft Sill. Then she said that we could visit Grandma and Grandpa and go to Disneyland too and I thought, “Vietnam sounds great, I can’t wait!” then came the shots and I started to get suspicious, if Vietnam was so great then why did I need all these shots? It was the Fall of ‘59 Eisenhower was President and my Dad was an Army officer stationed at Ft Sill and had gotten his orders to go to Vietnam.It was between wars and dependents could accompany military personnel. There was no such thing as the NLF or the Vietcong, there were more French than Americans and whatever combatants there were, were still called the “Viet Minh”. When the time came we loaded up the ’55 Ford (same year as me) and took the “Grapes of Wrath” route to California, staying at Howard Johnson’s alone the way. When we got to the Gramp’s house in Long Beach everything started looking up, Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm. My folks got a spot on “Truth or Consequences” and my pop won a Polaroid Camera*. It was amazing technology at the time, you could spend a lot of money for a roll of film with a few exposures and after a couple of minutes you could have a black and white print … magical.After a few days it was back in the Ford and off to San Francisco. We ended up staying at Ft Mason. It was kind of a weird Army base, small and more like a Navy Port than an Army base. Today the Army is gone and there are civilians and tourist all over the place. A day or two later in the middle of the night an Air Force bus took us to Travis AFB. At that point things became certain and Vietnam was a done deal. The sun was starting to rise when we got to Fairfield and I was about to take my first plane ride. My dad was pretty excited, our plane was a Super Constellation (Super Connie) one of the most modern passenger planes at the time, 4 engine prop, super loud. All of the seats faced toward the rear, it was kind of weird when I found out they usually faced forward.Pic of our plane at Travis, taken from the AF busOur first stop was in Hawaii and we stay there for a week or so. My Dad’s Dad was a Naval officer and was stationed in Honolulu until a couple of weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, so it was like a return to my Pop’s old haunts. We saw all the sights, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, The Punch Bowl, luaus and poi. When we left Hawaii it was hop scotch all the way to Vietnam. We stopped at every place along the way. I can’t remember if it was Midway or Wake that was so small that it didn’t have a terminal, we had to get off the plane and hang out along the runway while it refueled. In the meantime there were a bunch of Goony Birds walking around on the runway like the owned the place. It’s a good thing we were out in the middle of the ocean or all the other birds would have fallen out of their trees and died laughing about how the Goonies landed. I don’t think I saw a single two point landing, everything was head over keister … tumble landing like the Navy. From there it was overnight in Guam and then onto the Philippines. After a day or so of sight seeing it was off to the Main Event.Good morning VietnamWhen we landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport everything seemed hunky dory … until the door came open. Back in the day you couldn’t go straight from the plane to the terminal, instead the ground crew had to wheel up some stairs and then you would get off like the President and then wait around on the hot tarmac for a bus to take you to the terminal. When the doors came open and the Saigon heat and humidity hit me I immediately lost my enthusiasm for Vietnam. I tried to convince everybody to wait for the sun to go down and let things cool off before we got off but my folks pulled rank and I got over run, right off the bat I lost the Battle of Tan Son Nhat Airport. I thought that I might make it if I lived long enough to get to the air conditioned terminal. Boy was I wrong, there’s no air conditioning there, it was full of hot sticky people. At this point things were going way to quickly for me to process, the heat was inhumane I didn’t know how I was going to make it through two years of this, I was only four do the math. At first we stayed at the Connor’s house in Saigon. He was a helicopter pilot and his family stayed in a rather large old French colonial house with high ceilings and slow moving fans, a la Casablanca. We explored Saigon for a few weeks, Cholon district, Tu Do Street, everything under the sun for sale, live deer the size of a dog, I had a great wooden model of a Chinese Junk. By far my favorite place in Saigon was the old embassy. At that time the embassy was a six story structure right on the street, the lobby was full of hot sticky people like the airport but it had an elevator, the first one I ever rode in my life. It was magical like Disneyland and the top floor had an air-conditioned cafeteria, it would have suited me just fine if I spent all my Saigon time in that cafeteria. Just as I was starting to get use to the weather, my Dad got his assignment to Dalat. The controlling command authority at that time was called MAAG (Military Assistance Advisory Group) most of the veterans you read about today operated under MAC V (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) not that that’s relevant to the participants experiences it just shows that one was an Old Timer.Old embassy in Saigon after a terrorist attack a couple of years after we left in fact I think that’s what motivated the US to build the new embassy that everyone remembers from the evacuation. The top floor was an air-conditioned cafeteria.Dalat was a mid sized town north of Saigon, it’s about in the middle of the country longitudinally and almost due west of Cam Rang. Nothing much happens there, it’s sort of like a domestic tourist destination, lots of flowers and the location for a lot of weddings. It also the location for the South Vietnamese Military Academy and that’s were my father was assigned as an instructor. It was within eyesight of our house but I never visited there.Back of the picture says: “Platoon in attack problem-cadets-note camouflage”Instead the unit my father belonged to was called the “Detachment” and I went to the HQ on a weekly basis. The unit was made up of about a dozen officers led by a Lt Col and as a Captain my dad was one of the more junior officers. About half of them brought their families and lived around town and the other half stayed at the HQ.First day at the hacienda, I hadn’t even been inside yet, from the right Mr Ba, Chi Tu (Second Sister) and Mom with Sugar Crisp. The pics were taken with the Polaroid* Pop won on Truth or Consequences and he was dazzling the Vietnamese with American technology, the pics they are holding are prints from the Polaroid he just took. The process was you take a pic wait a minute then peel the film apart and spread this stuff called “goop” on it to stop the development and then let it dry. Apparently someone grabbed the pic before the goop dried and left a thumb print on the right hand corner. The house was an old French colonial house with French toilets. Their tanks were mounted near the ceiling and you flushed them by pulling on a chain hanging down. When we first got there I was so short that I had to climb up on something to flush it, by the time we left I had grown enough to where I could stand on my tippy toes to flush it.The Detachment HQ was sort of the center of our social life. It was in some old French bld, I think at one time it may have been a motel. It had some small rooms up stairs that acted as the BOQ, it had an enormous kitchen, easily the biggest room in the house and a small room in the back with a reel to reel movie projector. It also had a radio room in the downstairs cellar that was run by a Vietnamese guy who spoke perfect English and always wore western civilian clothes. The part that I liked were the “Milk Run” trips. Each week our groceries would come from the commissary in Saigon and on a rotating basis the members of the Detachment would pick them up at the Dalat airport in a black stepside pickup. About every other month it was my Dad’s turn and I use to make the trips with him. It was a great father/son bonding experience, the best part were the sand bags on the floor and in the bed. With the sand bags my feet could touch the floor, without the sand bags my legs just dangled over the edge of the seat like a miserable little kid. I liked hanging out at airports and Dalat’s was kind of like a sleepy county airport. One thing it did have though was a soda machine, that’s where I got my Nehi grapes and orange Fanta’s … in a bottle. The plane was a C-47 and when it came in we drove out on the tarmac and unloaded boxes of groceries then we went back to the HQ and divided everything up. They also sent arts and crafts, model kits, jig saw puzzles along with reel to reel movies. I think I stitched and stamped enough leather wallets, belts and key fobs for every cadet at the Academy. Most of the movies were Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stuff, one of the most memorable movies I ever saw was, ”To kill a Mocking Bird” with Gregory Peck.Frisco Lou, “Gorilla Fighter” showing off his cap gun. Sugar Crisp is messin’ with my little red sneakers. Picture taken April 16, 1960 on my 5th birthday.Not enough cool hats for everybodyThe French connectionDuring that time there were more French than Americans and more missionaries than military. If they didn’t know differently people would just assume that we were French. My parents had a lot of French friends, I even went to a French/Vietnamese kindergarten.Kindergarten 1960, even the Vietnamese had “Flying Nuns”. This is where I learned the words to the “Frère Jacques song …“Frère JacquesFrère JacquesDormez-vous?Dormez-vous?Sonnez les matinesSonnez les matinesDing, ding, dongDing, ding, dong Frère JacquesFrère Jacques …”One of the French friends we saw the most were Henri and Francois De Guenyveau, they were really nice people about my grandparents age, they had been in Vietnam since WW II and knew everybody. They had been there through the French, through the Vichy, through the Japanese, through the French and Viet Minh and now the Americans. Henri was a plantation manager for a coffee and tea company, it seems like the French always find a way to make money no matter who’s in charge. At their Dalat house they had a bowl of French candy, every time we visited they would bring out the candy and tell me that I could have one piece. I think I was the only little kid that came by as the bowl always looked the same as the last time I was there. At the time I was dying for a piece of Bazooka bubble gum and some of the candy was wrapped like bubble gum … except it wasn’t bubblegum. I was so disappointed but the De Gunyveau’s were such nice people all I could do was smile and say, “merci”.Pop, Francois and HenriTea processing plantMost of the time they were at the Dalat house but once we visited them at their coffee plantation house. It was a bigger house down by a river. When we got there Francois had a big bandage around her forearm. They had a pet monkey in a cage and it had attacked Francois when she was doing something with the cage. That monkey gave me the creeps when I walked by, he always had murder in his eyes. I guess he didn’t like being locked up while all his friends were running around acting like monkeys. Sunset by the river was a real experience, at first everything seems normal then right before the sun goes down the jungle goes off, birds chirping, monkeys screeching all kinds of cacophony and then when the sun goes down all is quiet, all conversation stops and everyone listens, I had no idea that there were so many critters out there, after the show it’s time to go inside.French/Vietnamese doc and his fam + me.Never seen so many girls in one place in my life.The Ugly AmericanEugene Burdick’s best seller “The Ugly American” was published in ’59 and my parents had read it. It was about a fictional country in South East Asia that closely resembled Vietnam or Laos and also resembled the events at the time. Spoiler Alert! The Ugly American was the good American, he was just physically ugly … or ordinary and my Mom was inspired to be like him. One of her friends was a missionary nurse who acted as a bush doctor for the Montagnards. She was always short of supplies so my Mom started writing letters to some pharmaceutical companies and they sent her some free samples for Lynn.Picture taken by a short person with a plastic Brownie camera, note class of ’50 West Point ring.Montagnard village, the girl I talk about below is about the same age as the girl in the picture … heck it may be her.One day I saw something that I shouldn’t have seen. We were hanging out at the missionary school when my parents said that we were going to see Lynn at the jungle clinic, except this wasn’t like the other one. It was just a two sided hut with a dirt floor on sloping ground. Now that I think about it it was probably built just for this occasion. There was a group of 3 generation of Montagnards huddled around a little girl about my age lying face down on a bamboo mat. She had fallen into a cooking fire and her whole back from the nap of her neck all the way to her heels across her arms and legs was one big wet scab. My parents were standing with Lynn and there was nothing that she could do, I was standing by myself as far away as I could, about 8–10 feet. Her Montagnard family was just squatting around her murmuring and shooing the flies away, there was a lot of love and concern for the little girl in that group. The little girl was resting her head on the mat and occasionally she would lift it and look around the hut and then rest it again, never making a sound. After about 10–20 minutes we left but it seemed like hours. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen, I had never seen anybody hurt that badly. Every few hours I asked my parents, “How’s the little girl?”, like they had any news and then the next day my Mom told me that she had died ... I remember feeling relieved that her suffering was finally over.Elephant WalkVietnam may have been a third world country but it had the coolest zoos. Where else can you go for elephant rides and get pawed at through the air hole on the Siberian Tiger pit? There was a zoo near Dalat called Thac Prenn, it may have been small but size ain’t everything. It had elephants, peacocks, monkeys and tigers up close and personal, also a cool waterfall that you could walk under.Frisco Lou, baby bull elephant rider. At one time we could have bought that Elephant for $50 … but Pop said, “Nooo”.My dad’s boss with his family at Thac Prenn, L-R Mom, Jeannie Pettigrew (7th grade), Mrs Pettigrew, Chip Pettigrew (3rd grade), Me (Kindergarten), Lt Col Pettigrew. Jeannie was probably the only one in Dalat with a 45 rpm record player, she use to play Elvis Presley 45s when we were over at her house.Himalayan Bear pit at the Saigon Zoo. L-R Baby I Forget Who, Mrs Connors, me, MomSnake CityAnybody’s that ever been to Vietnam knows that place is Snake city. One day I was hanging out at the Christie’s house next door when I got the “Mom call” to come home for lunch. I took off running as fast as my skinny legs would go, when I got to our yard I skidded out on some gravel and went horizontal through the air. When you’re young your mind works fast and I was thinking, “This is going to be a bad one, I’m gonna take it like a man, I’m not going to cry this time” and then thud I hit the ground, my first thought was, “well, so far so good” and then I opened my eyes and saw the flickering tongue, right in front of my face! I must have let out the most blood curdling scream in all of South East Asia because everybody came running, The neighbors came running, people were poring out of our house, I think my mom got there first, a Montagnard was coming from around the back of the house with a hoe and the snake was slithering down the bank trying to get away. The Montagnard caught up with it at the bottom of the bank and went to town on it with the hoe. After he was finished I went down to look at the snake chunks. Years later I heard Veterans talk about 1 step/2 step snakes, I don’t know if that what it was but everybody’s eyes were telling me, “you don’t know how lucky you are kid”.Three MontagnardsThe Montagnard in the middle was the one who whacked up the snake. He was a nice guy but I can’t remember his name to save my life. Wong on the left was my buddy he was a guard and stayed at our house. Try to imagine a little kid dangling by his finger tips from the balcony while his “friends” were standing up on the rails holding up his home made “parachute” … because that’s what I did.Geronimo!A bunch of Big Wigs from Saigon came up to see a Parachute demonstration at the lake in Dalat. There were bunch of dignitaries coming up and they had set up bleachers for it at the Boat House. My parents were going to be there and I wanted to go too but all I heard was a bunch of negativity so I gave up asking, instead I came up with Plan B. I waited about 10 minutes after my parents left then I hopped on my bike and took off for the lake, it was only about 1/4–1/2 mile away so it was doable. There were crowds of people around the lake, I had never seen so many people there even during Tet. It worked out perfect since I could blend in with the Vietnamese. A flight of about 3 or 4 C-47s flew over and discharged their paratrooper sticks. I was enthralled it looked just like D-Day … and they all landed in the lake. There were these landing craft like boats that came and scooped them out of the water, it looked like it was planned that way. The last one out was some Vietnamese airborne general who did a free fall while he was streaming Vietnamese and American flags, there was some drama as was he going to hit the silk in time? He did … and went into the water too. I don’t know what they were demonstrating unless it was to show how competent the Vietnamese are with fixing their FUs. That did it for me, I realized I was a paratrooper trapped in a little kid’s body. I knew I was destined to be a paratrooper so why wait, jump school starts today. So I got on my bike and peddled home, when I got home I went to the rag bag and got out an old sheet and made a DYO parachute. I tied a few strings to the sheet and attached them to my belt and presto I was ready for a practice jump. I told my friends about my plans and they were all excited to help. I climbed over the railing and and was dangling from the edge of the balcony while my “friends” climbed up on the railing and held up the “parachute”, then I made the 3, 2, 1, Geronimo! countdown and then thud, I hit the ground like a bag of bricks. My “friends” were all excited, “It worked! It worked! the chute opened up, it worked, let’s do it again”. Good thing kid’s bones are made of rubber … and I had my PLF down pat. There was no way I was going to try it again, I needed to find new friends. I thought no one was looking but I must have had a Vietnamese Guardian Angel because the next day there was a big pile of sand under the balcony and no one knew where it came from or why it was there.This is a screen shot from Google maps, this is about where I was watching the paratroopers, the boathouse is the white bld across the lake. I see that the Commies got a new fleet of Peddle Boats*.Dragon LadyOur house was on a dead end street, the Mayor’s house was at the end and ours was the second from the end. The street was more like a driveway, anytime somebody drove on it we usually knew. Whenever the Shot Callers from Saigon came to town they usually went to the Mayor’s house. I never went past the gate but several times my parents went up there and they met some historical figures. One time my parents went there when Madame Nhu was staying there, first time I heard the word “Dragon Lady”. At the time I was into dinosaurs and I really wanted to know all about Dragon Ladies, who would win a fight between a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Dragon Lady?Finding The Dragon Lady: In Search of Vietnam’s Infamous Madame NhuMadame Nhu, Vietnam War Lightning Rod, DiesAnother person they met was Dương Văn Minh, aka Big Minh. Minh had all his teeth knocked out by the Japanese save for a single snaggletooth in the front. My Mom asked him how they fight the Viet Minh and he pulled out his dentures and made a chomping motion and said, “I bite them”. Later on Big Minh came to power after a coup but he was thought of as too accommodating to the NLF and was disposed of himself in another coup … except he wasn’t executed, he was put out to pasture until the very end. After Tu and Key got out of Dodge Big Minh was back in the saddle again.NVA tank crashing through the gate to the Presidential Palace while Big Minh waits inside to hand over keys to the country.Tomb RaiderWhenever my Pop got some leave we’d explore some exotic location, My future ex-wife’s father was a colleague of my dad from Ft Sill and we visited them once in Bangkok when they were stationed there. Later we went to India and visited the Taj Mahal, amazing place if you’re into mosaics you’d be in Heaven. I could do a whole Quora thing about India, lots of snakes, lots of mongooses, lots of Holy Cows, lots of beggars and Saigon like heat. By far the most interesting place we visited was the temple ruins at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The back story is the vast temple/canal complex was constructed by the ancient Khmers and then they disappeared to all but the locals. In the 1870s a French explorer rediscovered them and before he could organized an archeological expedition he died from some tropical disease, so they laid mostly undisturbed until a few years before we visited there. When we got there archaeological work had just begun. Some temples were uncovered, some were half covered and some were big mounds the size of a house in the jungle with trees growing out the top. The main temple at Bayon was the most uncovered and was the only place that I saw people other than us. There was one guy doing a “temple rubbing” where they would stretch a black silk over a portion of the temple and then rub gold leaf over it until an image came through. There were more monkeys and elephants there than people. I was in Heaven running around exploring the place, going where ever I wanted. Just about every temple had bats hanging from the ceiling. The stench was pretty strong, at first I though it was some sort of nose rot incense but it was really bat guano. At first the bats were disconcerting but during the daytime they were pretty benign, If you could get past them being butt ugly they were pretty cool. At sunset that’s when the fun started, an increasingly number of bats would leave the temples and then shortly there would be a jail break with hundreds of bats flying out of the temples … just like in the scary movies. I was fascinated about how bats fly. I threw sticks and stuff in the air and watched the bats follow them until they hit the ground and then the bats would break off before crashing, Goonies could learn a lot from bats about how to fly right. Bad time to be a bug during sunset at Angkor Wat.National Geographic comes to townWhile we were in Dalat National Geographic did a profile of Vietnam with writer Peter White and photographer Bill Garrett. I’ve lost my archive but I think their article appeared in the June or July ‘61 issue. They later teamed up for some other articles about Vietnam and Angkor Wat over the years. Eventually Garrett ran the whole photo section of the mag and then became the editor of the whole enchilada. Look at the contents of the mag during the 80s and you’ll see Wilber E Garrett listed as editor. They were in the country for months and when they came to Dalat they stayed at our house for a few weeks. I really hit it off with Bill, he’s one of my favorite people that I met in Vietnam. When he left he gave us some pics that didn’t make it into the magazine.Former National Geographic Editor Bill Garrett DiesThat’s Bill Garrett in the middle with his back to the wall, they’re talking about film ISOs and what not with pics all over the table. The brass coffee table came from when we visited India. We got the pictures on the wall behind Garrett in Thailand but they look like they could have come from Ankgor Wat. They’re called temple rubbings, someone would stretch a black cloth over a portion of a temple then rub gold leaf over it until an image came through.At the Mayor’s house the guy in the back with a white jacket is my Dad’s CO, Lt Col Pettigrew, Mom, Pop, General Kim. I never saw Kim in Vietnam but I met him at Ft Sill. There were several General Kims, one was suppose to be pretty competent, another was a coup leader (might have been one and the same) I’m not sure which General Kim he was. Garrett was using real flash bulbs for the lighting, they’re about a billion degrees after they fire and have to cool off in the ash tray for a while before you can touch them, got to carry around extra bulbs like extra ammo, not like these days with lazy boy speed lights.At the Mayor’s house, I’m not sure who that is next to Mom, I can’t tell if that’s Madame Nhu or not.First GradeIn the fall of ’61 I started the first grade. I went to a missionary boarding school in Dalat that missionary parents in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam sent their kids when they were doing their work in the bush. It was started in 1928 and was continuous operation except for a few years during WW II when the faculty was shipped off to concentration camps in Indonesia. After the war it started back up again and had expanded. It went from the First grade to the Twelfth. There were two people in the 12th grade and the 1st and 2nd grades shared the same classroom. My row was next to the second graders and I did what I could to blend in with that side of the room.My school in ‘61. Boy’s dorm, library and cafeteria on the left Girls dorm’ science room and classrooms on the right. My classroom was on the other side of the bld at the far right. The original bld from ’28 is in the middle. From what I under stand the school has now been moved to MalaysiaI can’t tell you how many LaBuffs there were in that school. There were even more in the upper grades and their first names all began with ”T”. My Mom knitted my ski sweater. Picture taken in front of the original bld.Sayounara VietnamAround Dec ’61 my Dad got orders to return the the US and go to Clemson College in South Carolina and be a ROTC instructor. At the time it was almost like a military school with hundreds of cadets. Captain Street (Airborne officer) was my Dad’s replacement he had his family with him and they stayed at the Christies old house next door. We may have been one of the last dependant families that completed a full tour of duty over there. The NLF declared themselves to be a thing in Jan of ’62 and all the dependents were sent home. The Street kids were back in the states a couple of months after we left them.Bud and Karen Street in the Ford. Like Nick from the “Deer Hunter” the Ford never came back. By the time we left my future ex’s were by then stationed in Japan and we visited them there in Tokyo on the way back.Return to RealityI don’t remember a whole lot about the return trip except that Kennedy was President and we stopped in Hawaii and then San Francisco. Somehow we got to Kenosha Wisconsin where my Dad bought a brand new Rambler station wagon and we got a tour of the AM plant. From there it was a drive to Clemson. To make a long story short I ended up staying there all through my school years.Stroke of LuckAs I was going through HS and saw what was going on I thought, “Holy Moly, I may be drafted to fight in this thing that started when I was there in the 1st grade” and then luck hit when Nixon cancelled the draft the year I turned 18. I graduated from HS in ’74 and the commencement speaker was Gen Wm Westmorland. Westmorland made an inspirational speech about an inspirational word that I have forgotten.I’m going to put Cambodia and Vietnam on my bucket list and see if anybody remembers me.Frisco Lou, Commodore of the Peddle Boats* demonstrating the “broken wrist” salute. Picture taken by Bill GarrettCrazy HouseAfter civil wars it’s common for Carpet Baggers to move south and take over everything … and one of them moved to Dalat. Her name was Đặng Việt Nga daughter of the guy who took over N Vietnam after Ho tipped over. She was an architect trained in Moscow and she was inspired by Antoni Gaudi, Salvador Dali, Walt Disney ... and I think the Flintstones, she built a landmark in Dalat called the “Crazy House”. If this place was here when we were here I don’t think anyone could have gotten me out of it.Crazy House (Hang Nga Guesthouse) a Da Lat, in VietnamCambodian fish basket for table, Montagnard backpack/basket for firewood and babies, Montagnard axe, Montagnard bracelet, 90mm brass from the range at Ft Sill, Pop’s command picture, cartridge fired at his funeral.… and that’s the end of my Vietnam story.