Ho Chi Minh Getaways

My husband, Eddie, is a Vietnam veteran and I have heard him tell many stories from when he and his best friend (now deceased) were in Vietnam. Not necessarily together at the same time. They would just get together over the years and talk about their separate times together while they were there. It turns out that they were only about 10 minutes from each other and didn't even know it until after they came back to the states.

One of the funny stories he tells is about these sandal type shoes they wore while they were in Vietnam. They called them "Ho Chi Minh Getaways". Eddie said they were made and sold by the Vietnamese to the servicemen because the servicemen had no access to real sandals. Since it was really hot in Vietnam, at least 150 degrees, they were happy to get these getaways. He said they were made from old tires that the Vietnamese had found. The bottom of the sandal (the sole part) was made from old tires and still had the tread on them. The inner tube part came around the top of the sandal some way and made the straps of the sandal. I'm sure it was a sight.

I would love to see what a pair them looked like, but when I do a search in Google for "Ho Chi Minh Getaways" all I get is hotel information for a "getaway" to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. I even did an Images search in Google and I got a picture of a high rise hotel from the Vietnam Tourism web site.

How ironic. Somehow I think during the Vietnam conflict, the term "getaway" had a whole different meaning.

Ok, I did some research and found some pictures that must be similar to what these looked like. There is even a web page that someone created with instructions for how to make them. Here is one of the pictures that I found, not from Vietnam, but apparently the Vietnamese weren't the only ones who made these.