I stared up at the unlikely and ungainly monster of a loud propeller-driven airship. The Skyraider didn’t look like it could even stay in the air, but there it was, orbiting dependably not more than three hundred feet up. The Gunny nodded toward the 323 radio, also looking like it was from WWII, and held out his hand. I gave him the handset. I could tell right away that the Gunny had never encountered Cowboy because he winced every time the pilot referred to him as Zarkov, the mad doctor from Flash Gordon. I preferred Flash to Junior, but stood without expression listening to the exchange. The Gunny instructed Cowboy to fly the ridge all along our direction of travel to see what he could see and then report back. The 323 apparently had even less range than the Prick 25 we used for command and artillery nets, so I presumed we would not be able to get reports when the plane was at a distance.
“Look, Cowboy, or whatever name and rank you really are, I’m the Gunnery Sergeant down here, not some character in a movie. This is real.”
So much to work with in your writing, thank you from an Army vet, Pleiku 67-68 & Cha Rang 70-71. Ran into a Black Panther twice the first tour. Bunch of wrench jockeys during the day and ambush patrols at night. Trying to stop the NVA rocket crews from chewing up the air base and disrupt the Sappers. Finally got the rocket crew just before the Sappers got us. We did ok that night 25 to 2 our side. A bit later got hit with our own 105s, no casualties fortunately. As Gunny said, the Gunny before doesn’t exist anymore. I can’t remember who I was before Vietnam. Semper Fi from an old Army dog.
Wow James. You were definitely in similar circumstance. It was never one simple thing at a time.
It was always a plethora of things and then bad and missed communications. It was hard to hear
using those radios and it was confusing as hell at night…always. Thanks for the real life shit.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was an aircraft mechanic and sometimes a volunteer for pilot rescue, on the A1’s at NKP Thailand for 13 months beginning in 1969, our squadron was the Sandies. The reason that there was a lone A1 was there probably was a pilot rescue in the area..Cowboy didn’t want to come back to base with ordinance so they look to see where they can help.
Hey, why we occasionally had a Sandy on station overhead in the area. I had no idea that
Cowboy might have been looking for us as much as we were looking for him. He needed a good target instead of just
pickling his load! Makes all the sense in the world. Thank you for that.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, Am enjoying reading your story. You might want to check through it regarding the K-Bar. You mentioned the men stirring coffee with theirs and said you didn’t have one. Later you mentioned your K-Bar bayonet. It seemed strange being issued a bayonet when all you had was a service pistol. Now you have a K-Bar knife. That seems to be an inconsistency in your narrative.
The K-Bar knife was issued to officers at the time and some Non-coms because the .45
was officer issue not the M-16. And sometimes you needed a knife.
Thanks for the comment and looking at the manuscript so carefully.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, 1959 – 63 I was a HCO – VCO for a while in Okinawa and went to radio school and became a voice r/o with D-2-12, 3 MAR DIV. My weapon at that time was a 1911A .45 cal and a Kbar….not a rifle….of which we had but they were 30 cal, M-1’s.
Yes, I handled some of the leftover M-1 Carbines the ARVN forces carried. I liked the little
things so much I bought one when I came home just to have it around. Cartridges about the same size as
a 357 Magnum with about the same punch. Neat little things. You know the .45, of course.
A pocket wonder. Thanks for the remembrances and the support in your writing on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
I read a book years ago about a bounty hunter (Brit) in India. They hired him when a village had a man-eating tiger. Told about people camping at the edge of roads and in the morning a person would be missing and the only sign was huge paw prints. They would grab them so fast and be gone that no one else would wake. The tigers would jump great distances with the victim still in their mouth. The hunter would get in a tree with a high powered rifle and hang meat across the clearing at night and wait. So many years ago I don’t remember the name of the book.
The book was called “The Lunatic Express.” At least it is one of them from the era about tiger hunting. The danger of tigers
is disproportionately portrayed across the spectrum of communications, of course. In Vietnam the men were, for example, more afraid
of snakes than the enemy, yet losing people every day to the enemy and none to snakes! Real life.
Thanks for the comment and the reading…
Temper fi,
Jim
James; Enjoying your writing and stories. I was in Nam in 65-66 but not in combat, I was a medic with a medical company attached to an Evac near Long Binh. I was a deuce and a half and jeep driver for my company. I just finished reading a great book, “A Shau Valor.” Have you read it?
Thanks, can’t wait to read your next post.
Thanks for the comment. Medics and corpsmen are special, as you know. Thank you for that too!
No I have not read the book. As you are reading my own you may note that valor does not play a big part.
Survival was almost everything. But I will look it up to see if I can find it on Amazon.
Thanks for letting me know.
Semper fi,
Jim
M-14 equals clean kill on Tigers!
Yes, the M-14 was one special piece of gear that never came into its own.
Trained with it, shot expert with it and then got handed an M-16 to see what it was like.
I know the 16 worked effectively in Vietnam but I could never really ‘get with the program’ with respect to it.
Thanks for the accurate comment about the perfect hunting weapon for tigers.
Semper fi,
Jim
Hi, Jim,
I’m loving reading this series, especially the fact that you were an artillery officer. I was a section chief in a fire direction center during my ten years in the Army and served with the 101st Airborne in the first Gulf War.
It’s really cool to hear an author talking about gunnery and actually understanding it. To most of the “gun bunnies” in the field artillery, fire direction is voodoo science (and I never told them otherwise).
Hoooaaahhh!
Hey Bill. Yeah, it would be pretty tough to fake the gunnery stuff,
but it’s done all the time in the movies and on television.
The real stuff is a bit more complex and a helluva lot more dangerous than civilians might think.
Being able to understand and call accurate artillery certainly saved my life, and a lot of others on top of that.
Thanks for the comment and big time compliment from one who knows.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was an Army Dustoff Pilot with 247th Med Det. No war story here, just want to tell you what a stellar writer you are. I anxiously await each new post, and will stay up ’til 2-3 am reading. Thank God for people like you that so deftly relay the horror, hardship, and heroism of simply surviving combat. The fact that it never goes away and stays in your head forever is important to communicate to those who have never been there. Maybe people will have a better understanding of what they are thanking us for when they just absently say “thanks for your service”.
Thank you Dan. There are so many stories from that time that will never be told.
And loose ends. Cowboy and Jacko, never to be encountered back in the world but life savers both.
People who thank us for our service cannot know, of course.
They can’t even read what I am writing and believe it.
That’s not the worldthey live in.
They get their war stuff from the television and movies and quite purposefully
that stuff follows the same old mythology.
How else would we get young people to go?
Thanks for the real support and the reading, and your comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Worked in CAG teams. Wounded Tigers eat villagers. Wounded tigers were more common than you would think, with all the arty and air they were just a by product of the war. The villagers would turn to us to take care of their tiger trouble. Found out the hard way 223 ball ammo just didn’t safely get the job done. Used the shotgun with slugs and the M3 (grease gun). The only ones with the knockdown power to safety take the tiger. NVA and VC never hunted tigers, left that to “Bo Coo dinky Dow” marines.
Think you mean beaucoup Dien can day, combo mix of French and Vietnamese. Only learned the spelling and language junk long after though.
CAG units were tough duty units. Charged with protecting damned near unprotectable friendly villages. I saw a few grease guns and even shotguns but never with line units. It always came back to ammo supply. We used ammo like water. .45 was really limited to order and shotgun slugs damned near impossible. The guys who captured AKs swore by them but dumped them later because of no ammo. I know about the 5.56 because of later trouble with a water buffalo that had to take a hundred rounds before it finally went down! thanks for the comment and the reading.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m really enjoying your work. I was at DaNang and Chu Lai in 68 and 69. Made napalm for six months. I didn’t see the bush like you guys did but enjoy hearing the stories. I wrote a poem titled ” The Boys of War ” that explains your theory of being changed by it. You went as a boy but came back a bitter old man. Will your story be in book form or is it already a book? Thank You, Semper Fi
I didn’t come home bitter or old. I was young and fucked up! Now I’m old and fucked up.
The book will be out in January on Amazon. Thirty Days Has September, The First Ten Days.
Thanks for liking the story and for the exchange here.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m enjoying your writings. You mentioned being a Harley mechanic, so you ride. I find it very therapeutic and a long ride I did during the Hoka Hey Challenge in 2011 helped me get through some misguided guilt I experienced in Iraq. I wrote about my experience as a contractor, being there while my son was a Marine in Fallujah. My story is nothing like yours and is for the most part humorous. If you or your fans would like a copy to read, feel free to email me at murraylp@bellsouth.net. I’m a vet also, no charge just like to share it. The Book title is Tales of the DeadMan, the story of how I got my road name is in there, and the ride that night the guilt was taken. Thanks for your sharing.
Never rode a Harley Larry. Triumph. Old TT500. Shitty starting beast,
with an electrical system designed from an Erector set. I was a Harley mechanic
because I needed the money and the guys at the Harley shop were good in working everything
but the physics and mechanics of the oil system and the lower end. That was my territory.
Especially the factory problems with the Evolution motor. Thanks for your stuff and please send
your copy. I will use the email to ask for an issue.
Semper fi,
Jim
Had two brothers over there and I graduated from Parris Island in 74. Our DIs were all Vietnam vets.I carried their wisdom thru 6 years in the Corps and then for 21 years in the Guard. It is good to get the real deal from those that went before us and it helps those of us who listen and learn. Thanks for telling your story and a big THANK YOU for your service. Semper Fi!!
Thanks Herb, for the support, the reading of the story and your comment. So many guys don’t say anything at all.
Appreciate the support.
Semper fi,
Jim
In 1966 we had our “Night of the Tiger” as we call it now. I was in B Company, 2/12th Cav, 1st Cav Division and we were in II Corps in the highlands just off Hwy 19 between An Khe and Pleiku. A tiger prowled around our perimeter that night. No one ever saw him but he was close enough we all heard him breathing and moving through the grass outside our perimeter. Our guys were probably more alert that night than any other night and I don’t think anybody slept. He may have been just curious about us, but none of us wanted to see him up close.
Funny how the enemy was a helluva lot more dangerous and deadly than any tiger but wow did we fear the tiger in the night.
Thanks for the comment and reading the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
Was in the Cmbt Engs opening the Area out of Quin Non clearing brush and building roads and encampment area for the ROC Division. We had a platoon of Marines as security! My dozer operators saw a tiger at dark and chased him all night firing .45s and grease guns. War is a funny place sometimes. The locals got pissed because we bulldozed some graves and threw some grenades at my dozers at night and I had a hard time stopping the dozer operators from chasing them in the dark.secong tour was during TET in the delta – no tigers!
Thanks for the comment. Funny how the combat engineers could run into so much stuff but nobody knows about them.
The heavy equipment and operators were big time targets. Thanks for the comment and the reading.
Semper fi,
Jim
Spent my time in Camp Holloway Pleiku 66-67. We had the construction supplies, received 125 semi 125 Duce n half 6 days a week. Knew a lot of the mp’s check point 88 , 85. A lot of traffic on the road shipped materials to 4th Div and 815 Eng. Our Depot rep was killed on a return convoy in the pass. First attack on a return empty convey at that time.
Thanks William for a bit of your own story.
So many tiny little huge wars fought on the game board of the big war.
thanks for giving us some of your own.
Semper fi,
Jim
Met a tiger my first week in the bush. My hair stood up. Happened in I Corp.
There were a lot more of those things than I had learned about in school, or anywhere else for that matter!
I am glad your incident turned out to be as benign as mine!
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow, just wow. Great story telling. I’m hooked.
Bill. Thank you. A laconic compliment, to be sure, but accepted with enthusiasm.
Thank you and I will continue on into the eight night…
Semper fi,
Jim
I graduated in 73 and missed out on all that “fun”. I respect all servicemen and women and never miss a chance to thank them for their service. My dad spent 4 years in the Pacific and was wounded twice. He’s 96 and still a tough old son of a gun and lives by himself for the most part. Thanks again for sharing this with us.
My ‘pleasure’ Phillip! It was some run through a bit of life, as I am certain your father could attest.
They say some of the Pacific campaign was a lot like the Nam.
Anyway, glad you missed the show and can write to everyone on here.
Thank you!
Semper fi,
Jim
I have been reading your personal accounts of your time in Vietnam. I graduated from high school in 73, so I just missed being personally involved. My father was a pilot in the Marine Corps and did two tours in Vietnam, flying A-4s then CH-46s. As all Marine aviators, he did time with ground units as well. He never said much about what all he did, I wish we had those conversations. Reading about your experiences, I think I can understand why. Funny how when I decided to go into the military, he talked me out of the Marines. He told me, “everything the Marines had they either stole it or nobody wanted it.” So I went into the Navy as a surface warfare officer. I may be getting ahead in your accounts but I am appreciating reading about your developing into the unit commander, if only you live long enough.
Thank you Jim.
The Marine Corps is a mixed bag but, and it’s a big but, if you live, it’s all good for the future.
The frontal attack, the exercise of courage habit, the accommodation
and usage of weaponry, the accommodation and handling of high threat.
The fraternity.
The sharing later on.
Wonderful stuff.
But combat sucks and I don’t care if you go into as a band leader with the Coast Guard.
You are not going to come out as the ‘you’ who went in.
But I love the corps and all I got since I lived.
Semper fi,
Jim
We lost two men from my company due to tigers on different LRRP missions. The first was killed and and the second one was drug off by the tiger and dropped when the guys shot over its head. One lucky dude as he went stateside and only had been with the company three days.
Mark, I heard many of these tiger stories after I got home. I studied the fauna of Vietnam and discovered there
were a hell of a lot of tigers out there among us, particularly in the lesser populated highlands. Interesting stuff
you don’t hear much about. Thank you for commenting on what you know. Adds a lot.
Semper fi,
Jim
Finally. Something in this saga that I would have got right. As soon as you described the position and action of the tiger, my mind said “sick, or hurt”. I know zero point shit about tigers, but I’ve spent my entire life with animals. (One of my real-life heroes is the autistic veterinary, Temple Grandin, she who ‘thinks in pictures’) The only ‘predators” who are part of my AO are coyotes and foxes, far from being king of the jungle, but still keeping themselves alive by killing and eating other living things. Even so, I think my actions would have dove tailed with your platoon, I’d have left her there waiting for what she had already concluded was her imminent end. Ironically, a 5.56 to the heart may have been the most merciful path.
SF,
PFJ
Thanks John, for the usual support. I don’t think any of us in the company had any idea about the tiger.
It was just there, magical, majestic and so very very real. I never found out if anybody had a camera and took a real picture.
Later I read about other units running into them but never with such regal attentiveness and honor. Never found out the real
deal, of course, but you and Nguyen were probably most correct. The bullet through the heart was not possible for any of us to
deliver on the scene though. Just wasn’t. A band of roving killers moving through the jungle unable to kill something. A moving
moment, although that was hard to portray.
Thank you John,
Semper fi
Jim
James, I am wondering why you could not communicate with the A-1 using the PRC-25. The Skyraider was the only fighter/bomber in SEA that had an FM set on board along with UHF radios.
I found that out later Gary. I never found out why it was that way right there and then. The Prick 25 had a lot more range and dependability than the 323. Maybe somebody out there knows. The guys in my company were of one mind about the air radio traffic. Mystery remains.
Thanks for writing in about that. The details are important.
Semper fi,
Jim