Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
Photographs
Major General R. S. "Sam" Kem, Deputy Chief of Engineers, 13 July 1990................................................ 2
Cadet Kem met with Congressman Ralph Harvey, who had appointed him to West Point, in the
Hotel Willard after marching in the Eisenhower inauguration parade in January 1953................................. 4
Cadet "Sam" Kem ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Cadet Kem showed his parents and brothers the "sammy" (syrup) pitcher on the dining table in
Washington Hall during his plebe Christmas at West Point in 1952 ........................................................... 17
First Lieutenant R. S. "Sam" Kem............................................................................................................... 30
First Lieutenant Kem watched a motor pool vehicle inspection in West Germany in November 1958. ...... 33
Captain Kem was an advisor with the 201st Engineer Battalion of the Army of the Republic of
Vietnam in 1962. ......................................................................................................................................... 58
In May 1962 Company B of the 201st Engineer Battalion was rebuilding the French airfield at
An Khe. ....................................................................................................................................................... 59
In May 1962 Company C of the 201st Engineer Battalion was constructing a road north from
An Khe to Kannack. .................................................................................................................................... 59
Cantonment of Headquarters and B and C Companies of the 201st Engineer Battalion, Army of
the Republic of Vietnam. ............................................................................................................................. 61
Captain Kem as an Engineer advisor talking with a local inhabitant near Pleiku in South Vietnam
in April 1962. .............................................................................................................................................. 62
In August 1962 the 20th Engineer Group of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam was opening
a road from Cheo Reo to Cung Son. ............................................................................................................ 67
Captain Kem, Deputy District Engineer, Chicago District, and Ann Kem in 1965. .................................... 75
Brigadier General Raymond J. Harvey, Assistant Commandant of the Engineer School, presented
the Army Commendation Medal to Captain Kem for his work during the Alaska earthquake in
October 1965. .............................................................................................................................................. 87
Lieutenant Colonel Kem commanded the 577th Engineer Battalion from July 1968 to July 1969. .......... 101
Army Engineer bridges over the Ban Thach River in South Vietnam ....................................................... 105
The 577th Engineer Battalion quarry operations at Chop Chai Mountain near Tuy Hoa, South
Vietnam, in January 1969. ......................................................................................................................... 106
The 577th Engineer Battalion (Construction) built the Ban Thach River bridge from pre-cast
elements in 1968........................................................................................................................................ 108
Reviewing stand of Headquarters, 577th Engineer Battalion (Construction), at Phu Hiep, South
Vietnam, in September 1968 ..................................................................................................................... 110
U.S. Army helicopters leapfrogged M4T6 trestles along the route from Tuy Hoa to Cung Son
in February 1969........................................................................................................................................ 114
The completed Ban Thach bridge was dedicated on 7 December 1968. ................................................... 116
Lieutenant Colonel Kem spoke at the dedication of the Ban Thach bridge. .............................................. 117
Lieutenant Colonel Kem with Brigadier General John W. Morris, Commander of the 18th
Engineer Brigade, at Don Duong, South Vietnam, in May 1969............................................................... 118
Colonel Kem received the colors of the 7th Engineer Brigade from Lieutenant General Frederick J.
Kroesen, Commanding General, VII Corps, in July 1976 ......................................................................... 185
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