I scrambled, slid and crabbed my way through the low growing debris spread like small islands of living flora all over the mud flat I was trapped on. The NVA gunners had opened up high or were trying to take out the Ontos instead of shooting at a few scavengers trying to reclaim dead bodies and riddled supply boxes and tins. I couldn’t see in the miserably low light because, what the lack of light didn’t hide, the everlasting misting rain made so invisible that nothing of substance or real form could be distinguished. I moved laterally, turning away from the NVA filled jungle down the river and directly away from the river itself. The river’s presence ruled everything because it was a given in the night. The noise of the rushing water could be heard over all else. With the Bong Song at my back, I did what I did best under fire, I tried to get away before the enemy got around to cleaning the mud flat of all living things. I’d taken one quick look over my shoulder to see if the fire was directed at Sugar Daddy’s strung out platoon, but there’d been nothing to see in the blackness, which was good for the members of that platoon. But those of us down in the supply area were in a previously registered position, and it wouldn’t take the NVA long to go back to playing cleanup, with our lives being what were going to be cleaned up.
I found a spider hole. I hadn’t prayed to find one, but I murmured “thank God” when my hands plunged over the front edge of the hole. There was no hesitation on my part. I didn’t care what was in the hole, I plunged forward and then dove over the lip head first. The hole was big. Bigger than I would have imagined. My body had time to flip over as I fell, which was a good thing because I landed in a pool of water at least a foot deep, with a foot of sucking mud right at the bottom of it.
Every time I read about you or the Gunny using B explosive to heat water or food, I remember how freaked out the FNGs got when someone pulled out a chunk of C-4 and lit it. We would take the cracker and jelly can, perforated it around the top and bottom to make a makeshift stove that you could boil water or heat C-rat food on. Ham and Mothers were damn good when hot! (or maybe after awhile it just seemed that way!) We use to cook rice and make all kind of concoctions between the food provided in the C-Rats and what we could scrounge from the locals. We would tell the FNGs it was fine to burn it, just don’t stomp on it while it was burning, then we would kick it over and act like we were going to stomp on it. Got them every time. I went thought nothing like you have but I was in I Corp in 72 when 30-40,000 NVA came across the DMZ and there were 200 Americans in all of I Corp outside of Da Nang AB. We really didn’t have a unit, it was crazy. A platoon of remnants from the 196 Army LIB, 35 man AF Security Force, a mortar team from the Americal Division and two Marine spotters. It was like trying to herd cats to organize the hodgepodge of a fighting unit until the NVA got to us. Then we came together like we had been together all our life. Those two Marine spotters could drop ordinance on a pungi stick from a ship sitting in the Tonkin. The dudes were good. I hated that they were spit shined and polished and my uniform was falling off me, not to mention jungle rot and boots that weren’t much more than soles and laces. I’m loving your book. I only looked over the A Shau Valley from Firebase Bastogne I think?? Don’t remember. We were rogues and thieves. Had to be to get what we need. In 72, that far north, resupply was just a word.
SSgt Mike Thomas, SF Detachment/1 (Da Nang), USAF Vietnam 1971-72.
I am not alone. Once more proven by the writing of vets like you Mike. I’m not alone now, proven by the comments of vets like you Mike.
There was so much of this rag tag stuff going on in the bush, a place where nobody wanted to go once they got a whiff of the mortality and
the continuing misery. We were all like Kelly’s Heroes without the gold at the end of the rainbow….
Semper fi, and thanks so much for you oh so supporting story…
Jim
Did the Gunny make it out?
You mentioned, in answer to one reader’s question, the the Battalion CO was courtmartialed. In reading the comments, I have yet to read one from a person that was in your unit. I certainly haven’t read them all, but many, most.
In my training, Army 71, 2, 3, we were admonished to pay attention, because people who didn’t pay attention didn’t live. And many were the stories of only one or two guys making it back from patrol.
I’ll keep reading to see how it shakes out. Hooked, addicted, whatever word you want to use.
There heave been three, all one liners and they are published on here and they supported me and what I’ve written….
Semper fi, and thanks for your support, concern and that compliment at the end.
Semper fi,
Jim
Hated, hated, hated those frogging leeches.
Ron (Okie) Harwood
Yes, I am still reminded, graphically, ever time I shave and those white scars appear all over my neck under my chin.
For some reason, the other scars on other body parts disappeared over time.
I still never go to the beach or a pool without wearing a shirt.
The scars all over my torso…
well, there is no compensation for the social aspect of that.
Semper fi,
Jim
Such was the battle in the A Shau…down and dirty infantry ops that school curriculum never chronicle. ,I CORPS was a living hell for any Marine unit along RT 9 let alone a protracted fight against a well organized NVA
You had to have been there to write about it like this, Tony.
Thanks for being one of us still living out here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Just finished reading and had to sit a little while. I was thinking where would we be if there were no Gunnys’, Fusners’ or Nguyens’ in our life? The picture I see is the Marine lying on his back and his eyes looking at something he can’t see! God bless you, Lt!
Yes, the real people. Not the leaders front or rear but the real people living it out and
making life where none could survive at all….
Semper fi,
Jim
“flash the light Junior…and make sure you point it in the right direction”…..it’s amazing the “little’ things that you bring home with you..small memories of humor amidst everything else..finding a can of peaches you didn’t remember in the bottom of your pack…your buddy handing you his last pair of dry socks because he remembered it was your birthday…and the brand new Second Lt…an FNG Arty FO that is walking in trail behind you on top of a muddy paddy dike at O dark thirty…with his head down, his red light from his crook neck flashlight shining down on his open map…trying to walk and figure out where the hell he (and we) were at….and walking straight off the 90 degree turn in the dike…landing face down….and for 50 yards front and back..you could hear the quiet chuckles…and the whispered “welcome to the Nam”…. sucks don’t it ?? so yeah…turning that red flashlight in the right direction was always a good thing…. Semper Fi LT….
I would have loved to have one of those red lights but mine were all yellow, and dim yellow at that.
And yes, those were funny times too when you could laugh at all…which back here would always be called gallows humor.
Thanks Larry, for the excellent comment, as usual.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Having read the last portion again….and then again…sitting here now 50 years later…It only takes the closing of the eyes and you feel that clutching mud..the vivid smell of it…and wondering about how to move to the Ontos. Do I crawl, slowly, without sound, slinking in the hopes of not being seen. but will I get there in time? without the Ontos and it’s flechette rounds…we all die….or maybe it will just be me..I don’t want to …. but I know I have to go….. already planning on how to load it…prepared to take on the heavy 51…a couple rounds of the killer darts and then get a fix on it when they respond back…that never ending game of chess that you play against yourself…it drives the fear to the bleachers…always there, but now just an onlooker….Get up Lt…and remember how that mud sounds as you run through it… that slapping, sucking sound that follows you as you race for the checkered flag…..that’s when that ‘fear’ jumps back out on the track and runs right behind you….it’s carried on the nose of those bullets that you just ‘know’ are trying to find you….oh yeah….such sweet adrenalin…if I had any hair left….it would be standing up……Get Some!!
I have never read a better chronicle of an action sequence, laid in with the fear and mystery poured over like as bloody gravy.
Neat job here Larry, and you are a master at doing these fantastic descriptions of what I write….almost like dioramas in verbiage.
Thank you for this wonderful writeup.
Semper fi,
Jim
Larry is one of your readers who takes your story and enhances it by filling in the surroundings. A different point of view that changes your story to stereo, and then the next voices that turn the story into a full orchestra.
As compelling as your story is, this is what I most enjoy.
There is no question that Larry is special, as are so many of you. I like the way your wrote that about Larry and the work.
I can see it and feel it too. This is not just my story. I thought it was just my story when I started but it really isn’t. A lot of men
walked in my boots. Some lived and some died but I was not as alone out there or after as I presumed myself to be. This site has proven that,
in spades.What a pleasure it has been to read and enjoy so many of the guys who were there and the ones who were not and all they have to say about it.
Semper fi, and thanks Rob!
Jim
I so much agree with Jim on his comment about your vivid and well-written Comment. Thank for sharing
Ditto Chuck!
Well, hell, J, where have you been? I know you are under the weather and I miss your comments, however designed after a razor blade they can sometimes
be! Hope you are what you are, as I know it’s not well…
Semper fi, brother,
JIm
Still hanging in there and waiting on the Father to do His thing. Things have been a bit rough, but still able to get by each day, one step at a time.
Am still wondering if I will be around long enough to see the end of TDHS? It is a great story that will be talked about long after you are gone, as lessons are learned, if they ever are.
You have done well in recreating the experiences of war and perhaps those experiences will eventually lead to peace on earth, let us all hope and pray for that.
Push on my friend and damn the torpedoes.
Thanks be to God…he lives. So far. I don’t know what your prognosis is for time on this earth J, but I expect that if you can make it to Thanksgiving then I’ll be done with the hard copy out well before Christmas. Life has come at me too in many ways I don’t mention here. Thanks for sticking with me and thanks for the grand compliments…
Semper fi, and the peace on earth part was really really neat to read…
Jim
Very good. Thank you Sir.
You are most welcome David!!!
Semper fi,
Jim
When ever I see, and I do “See” because the writing is damn vivid, Gunny, I always remember that this was his 3rd war. In one of your first installments, perhaps after you ran, the Gunny laid out your progression from useless to useful, provided that you could stay alive. The last thing he said was (paraphrasing)…that at some point you would begin to look forward to the contact and once you went there, there was no coming back. Do you think the Gunny got to that point in his first or second war and now just kept coming back? Another great chapter.
I don’t think the Gunny ever saw combat like we did in the A Shau. If he had he would have left the Corps. You don’t re-up for that, unless you
left the A Shau with no brain power left.
Semper fi,
Jim
Great read, Still hanging in, reader your book been here since the beginning will be here till the end. TY Don
Thank you, Don.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT: I was a blue water Sailor onboard USS Midway late in the war and spent time on Yankee and Dixie Stations. I now work with cadet/students who will be attending or seek to attend one of our service academies. Absolutely riveting read and I plan to suggest any of these kids take the time to read this. So many have there opinion of what you and others experienced from movies and they need a jolt of reality. Look forward to your next chapter!
Your comment is so very appreciated, Chuck.
Remind them the saga is available to read for Free 24/7/365.
Autographed copies are available from this site and Digital Kindle and NOOK also.
Thirty Days Has September autographed
Booka re also on Amazon and Barnes&Noble
LT, do plan to purchase a copy for my school shelf. Some of the scenes/experiences you paint need to be shared with these kids that desire to become warriors. BZ Sir!
Thanks Chuck, part of what has become my intent. If you want to go into combat then you better know what you are facing and what things you might
want to think about before you demand respect, to be called sir or you insult a teenager with a gun out there in the field….
Semper fi,
Jim
Also, it really helps to pay very very close attention about what they teach of pyrotechnics and weaponry before you get out of training…
There you go again, leaving us on the edge of a precipice. Then I think, here I am, sitting in the air conditioned comfort of my office at home, reading this and complaining about where you have decided to pause the story. But you didn’t have a pause button out there on the flats. And again I am thankful that I was not there with you. When I was a very young teenager, I read a book called Lorna Doone. To this day, I remember the vivid descriptions in that book that put me in the middle of the drama, and made that one of my most favorite books ever. Your book is the first that I have read subsequently to so realistically put me in the middle of the action. Excellent writing. I look forward with bated breath for the continuation…
Thank you most sincerely for that kind of straight from the heart kind of compliment. Like James Sheridan’s comment a few back. About life changing and effecting stuff.
I never expected the reaction I have received from so many wonderful people…like you. Lorna Doone. I have a copy in my downstairs library. What a neat thing to say.
Thanks for this and more…
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt. you said earlier “I’ve set it up with six machine gun teams to open up when I give the signal, or if you start taking heavy fire out there.” Question, why did the six machine guns not respond to fire from “The fifty would simply stitch the entire area of the registered zone, back and forth, up and down, until it stitched us.” Am I jumping the gun here, and its coming next segment ??? Would they be in danger of receiving heavier fire from the fifty’s ???
The machine gun teams of M60s would be our own, to provide covering and suppressing fire. The .50 was theirs.
Semper fi, and thanks for the question and comment…
Jim
P.S. Consider checking out my newest edition to the Mastodon series now out on Amazon, called The Warrior….
Green tracers were the “gooks.”
Yes understood LT. was asking if they are or would respond to the Fifty NVA fire. Perhaps thats in the next section of writing ? Since it was pre-arranged…
Thanks for the speculation and the thought in this comment George…
Semper fi,
Jim
“Musty misery” nails it. It’s an all encompassing sensation that you can smell fifty years later like you are still in it.
Thanks a lot Dave. Yes, the smells are something else when you run into them again, anywhere and at any time.
A valley back on Kauai one day. My wife wanted to know what was wrong because I just wanted off that hike.
I couldn’t tell her. I made up a hip pain!
Semper fi,
Jim
Another fine read…Keeps me hanging !
Thanks for the comment and compliment written inside the wording…
Semper fi,
Jim
P.S. Consider checking out my newest edition to the Mastodon series now out on Amazon, called The Warrior….
Written “burning power” should be “burning powder”, I think.
Great writing, waiting for more.
Thanks for the help Robert and the compliment…
Semper fi,
Jim
Amazon has my latest novel from the Mastodon series if you want to check it out….
“Flash the light, Junior, and make sure it doesn’t point in the wrong direction,” the Gunny. Should this include, said?
Thanks again Sir for what you do. I hang on every chapter anxiously awaiting the next one. Semper Fi!
Thanks for the great compliment and the editing help Skeeter…
Semper fi,
Jim
The second book in my Mastodon series is now available on Amazon, so check it out if you want.
Fifth time reading this chapter since the first moment you hit the share, send, print, or whatever the heck the publish button may be!!! Never in my life would it take months long to read a book that has me. I would stay in it till done and life would have to wait for me to be done with the read. Sleep is never necessary when the read HAS YOU…. You sir, have thrown the brakes on my life’s way of being. EVERYBODY WAITS when James Strauss hits the next chapter publish button until I finish reading it. My way of life has been adjusted to read your life. I needed these months that it takes for you to complete. Life altering, for TO WAIT on a good thing is to develop a patience that cannot be taught. No more hurry for me. I want to write each day of life as lived, even if it takes 40 years to get to it…. I thank God for you sir and the way your life has affected me. Your life’s work is a mission in a field of many who you may never hear from. peace…..
I hope you don’t mind that I took this review and put it up on three of my seven Facebook sites. Not many authors ever get a review as deep and touching and meaningful at this one.
I will keep it forever. My wife was impressed too, and that is uncommon.
Semper fi,
Brother,
Jim
Not many authors write out of a gift like you. The gift of life. You lived through it and are willing to put into print real life. What is amazing is, Island in the Sand, a great fantasy fiction grabber I am hooked on also!!
Well, Mister Sheridan, you have made yourself a place on here and in my heart with your last comment. I went viral with it because it was so
touching I couldn’t just leave it lay there. So, I stuck it all over my Facebook sites. Thanks so much and for this too…
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
I side with Mr. Sheridan, but am probably not near as good with words as he is. James, you are bringing many old memories to the fore, and helping many of we Vets come to grips with experiences from half a century ago.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but we would all be better off if the politicians went to war!
Note how many politicians have been to war. They don’t even want real war vets around.
They want to play tough from the back of the school yard….not much changes over time…
Semper fi,
Jim
“Vivid”
Thanks Jack for the one word compliment. I didn’t miss it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Amazon has my latest novel from the Mastodon series if you want to check it out…
Well Sir. I have my copy of The Boy, along with all you have published. I won’t just check it out. I will own it, just as I own all of your books. First time in over 30 years I’ve found anything worthy of adding to my library.
Semper Fi
Thank you so much, Jack, for your continued support.
That kind of support keeps me on track to complete the works in progress.
There will be at least 2 more Arch Patton assignments.
And the Mastodons is 5 volumes.
Semper fi,
Jim
In the DEEP shit now for sure. Need to protect the Ontos quickly.
You are reading ahead somehow of stuff that is not written yet. Wow…
Semper fi and thanks for your support and the application of your high intellect…
Jim
Amazon has my latest novel from the Mastodon series if you want to check it out…
Thanks a lot! A new chapter & I have to drop everything to read it & the comments following. Another great read. The wife is not happy. Those who weren’t there will never get it. Just lost a childhood friend who spent a year there the same time I did. Unfortunately his Baptism as an E1 was the siege @ Khe Sanh. A month in & he was the squad leader & highest ranking member-the others were killed or casualties. He survived the full tour but paid the price w/shrapnel 1/2″ from his heart, recurring malaria, Parkinson disease(agent orange) & PTSD. Keep it up telling it like it was (and is).
Can’t thank you enough for the comment here Phil. Heavy duty stuff. I am glad I seem to be able and gifted enough to meet the substance of your meaning.
Thanks for this,
Semper fi,
Jim
Amazon has my latest novel from the Mastodon series if you want to check it out…
Thanks for a new segment…Friends and I impatiently await the release of the third book….
Thanks Jerry, I am working away as I read and answer these comment…
Semper fi,
Jim
Well James…another great read…I read it twice trying to make sure I didn’t miss any detail…met another vet today and put him on to your book…that’s over a dozen now that I have given your name and the book trilogy title to…we all are there with you…out on the edge of the “reality” that we can comprehend.
Now that’s a well worded and meaningful comment Mark. Thank you so much.
I am working away, knowing you are all out there….which is a bit of pressure but also a grand foundation of support…
Semper fi,
Jim
The second book in my Mastodon series is now available on Amazon, so check it out if you want.
From the date on the telegram looks like you have about a week left in the Nam… So whose bullets did you take..? AK..?16…? Was it Jurgens? Sugar Daddy or the NVA….Guess we stay tuned to find out…!
Sorry to make you wait Mike, but glad you are thinking about and also playing pretty good investigator too…
Semper fi,
Jim
Great segment James. Been here since the begining, but don’t comment often. It brings back lots of memories.
Thanks Bob, for commenting now! Appreciate the support and it means a lot more than some guys think…
Semper fi,
Jim
The second book in my Mastodon series is now available on Amazon, so check it out if you want.
The Warrior
What powerful writing! I can feel the slimy mud; can smell it; cringe at the blood sucking leeches. The roaring river is omnipresent.The tension, the fear is real. Just so powerful.
Thank you for your words. We all seem to live with memories good, bad and Ugly.
Semper fi
Jim,
As to gaining a civilian audience, I and my son qualify. We are both avid readers and devour Stephen King and Lee Child. I can’t praise your writing style enough. I’m about your age and was spared the hell you went through. Thank you for sharing this with me.
So happy you were ‘spared’. And reall appreciate your support.
Share the page with your friends.
Semper fi
Jim
Maybe ontos HE round could take out that 50 of crew can get a fix on his location. That would certainly help.
Interesting observation.
Thank Jb
Semper fi,
Jim
Fantastic, another great chapter. I’ll be anxiously awaiting the next chapter. Possibly a small edit, “Flash the light, Junior, and make sure it doesn’t point in the wrong direction,” the Gunny. Something seems to be missing.
Actually, that is what he said.
Thanks for your support, Chuck
Semper fi,
Jim
Great read Jim ah the mud wore it like a second skin all over everything,,Stay the course my friend
And to think kids think playing in the mud is fun!
Appreciate your support
Semper fi
Jim
Moving from position to position in that situation plan and execute on the fly, ain’t no easy task to keep sanity and body in tack. Still a great story being told with blazing furnace honesty. Thank you again, sir. Poppa J
So good to hear from you Poppa, and your support is so appreciated.
semper fi
Jim
“snapping it back into the sheaf (sheath) on my belt…”
Thanks for noting.
Now corrected
Semper fi
Jim
Wonderfully graphic and chilling, as usual. One unimportant thought but in my experience the NVA used 51 Cal.? Smart, as they could use our ammo but we could not use theirs. Funny the things one remembers
Their 12.7mm was the equivalent (although a bit less powerful) than our Browning .50.
Neither weapons could fire of the ammo of the other. Thanks for your comment and the support.
Semper fi,
Jim
The second book in my Mastodon series is now available on Amazon, so check it out if you want.
Mr. Strauss thank you so much for this story. I wasn’t even born during the Vietnam war. Your story has totally captivated me and I can’t wait for the next segment. Thank you and all the men who fight so we can be free. Your story and attention to detail are awesome. Once again thank you from a 38 year old that’s never really heard the truth. My step father lost his father over in Nam.
Wow, Cory!
Thank you.
Help us shared this reality with another of your generation.
Let’s be sure this fiasco doesn’t happen again.
Semper fi
Jim
👍 Sitting on the edge of my chair again LT, Fantastic, Exciting,when I am sitting in my chair at home, thank you ?
Thank you, Jim.
Your support is appreciated
Semper fi,
Jim
Charlie had a .51 caliber machine gun but did not usually use a .50 unless it was captured from us. Did you mean to say .51? Smart of them as they could fire ammunition captured from us but we could not use theirs…
We knew the millimeters of their guns, of course. We called there heavy MGs .50s too.
12.7 is correct, however. The Browning had more power and range than the Russian.
Semper fi
Jim
Another exceptional chapter. Keeps me on the edge of my easy chair anticipating the next one. Airborne,
“…and it wouldn’t take the NVA long to go back to playing cleanup, with our lives being what were going to be cleaned up.” Should change were to was. Another riveting segment.
Thanks for the help and the compliment Terry!
Semper fi,
Jim
Mr Strauss! Another exciting edge of the seat tale… Waiting to see where it will take Junior, Hunny and the boys! Thank you!… I’ll be impatiently waiting!
Thanks David, means a lot to have so many guys hanging on to the story..
Semper fi,
Jim
Still amazed how accurate you are with your experience from so long ago . Makes me feel better knowing other vet’s beside me , remember their experience in vivid detail, just like it was yesterday .
Some things get burned in. Remember the black rubber floor in exact detail when I was a kid in fourth grade attending
an elementary school in downtown Waikiki. Why does that floor, with it’s little indentations and dirt spots remain in my mind?
I don’t know. Thanks for the comment and your own opinion…
Semper fi,
Jim
Keep it Coming 🇺🇸
I intend to do exactly that. My second book of the Mastodon series is now out on Amazon. The Warrior, it is called and if you want to check it out.
Semper fi,
Jim
Riveting comentary riveting, being an airwing jock, never experiencing thanks for sharing semper fi
You got it, Tom and thank you…
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you Sir. I look forward to each and every new chapter. Grateful for you and others like you who have served. Glad you made it home.
Thanks for the nice compliment Chris and I will keep them coming…
Semmper fi,
Jim
No, No, No….
Not time for this chapter to end. Now I have to start waiting again.
Good chapter.
Ken
Ah, a three work, with commas, compliment. No,no,no…and I am so happy that you want more…
Semper fi,
Jim
A hard time in one life that you have to stay on your belly to stay alive. No one will ever know until they have been there. Semper Fi!
Yes, it is hard to grow a civilian audience with a story like this. Regular people are so far from it that they just can’t believe, no matter what,
and it’s also more comfortable for them not to believe they sent us into that…
Semper fi,
Jim
Don’t worry Jim, I take your word to heart and I believe whole heartedly. Very grateful for you guys.
Thanks Rick, means more than you might think. Appreciate the support and care…
Semper fi,
Jim
Amazon has my latest novel from the Mastodon series if you want to check it out…
Great write LT. You have us crawling through the mud with you and then leave us waiting for more. Keep up they great work. Know that at times it has to be rough for you. Thanks LT
Thanks for the loyalty in following and the great compliment Richard….much appreciated.
Semper fi,
Jim
I can feel those dang leeches.I was never there but this story puts me right next to you.
the many leech scars have stayed with me through the years.
A woman at a party many years ago made a snotty comment when the long scars on my neck and throat were white.
She wanted to know, in a group of people, if I’d had acne and picked the zits when I was younger.
I told her I’d got them in Vietnam from the leeches. She just stood there as if I’d hit her with an ax handle.
I’d be kinder now. I got old.
Semper fi,
Jim
Amazon has my latest novel from the Mastodon series if you want to check it out…
The Warrior
it should be Composition 4 (C-4) not Composition B. C4 was wrapped in plastic and easy to break a small piece off to burn. Everyone carried some or got it from the engineers.
We didn’t have Comp 4 yet. We had comp 3, also called B.
Thanks for the comment, though….
Semper fi,
Jim
Comp B was used as an explosive filler, like TNT in WW II, Comp B was hard and used in most Army rounds. They poured it in liquid form. Comp B, for example, was used in the M33 Grenade you speak of. I doubt very much you had the Comp 3, which was yellow and not good in heat if I remember – I think I saw it one time in 71. C-4, as far as I know, was prevalent throughout RVN and the other service areas during the time you were in, I am fairly certain from other accounts and word of mouth. The Marines though, were used to using the Army’s rejects and broken gear (as one OIF/OEF vet reminded me recently)so I guess the Marines in 69 could very well be using old C3. Honest, look Comp B up. Sorry to be such a pain in the ass, but the .51/12.7mm was something that stuck out at me, also. My 47-year-old EOD training I had in 71 at 19 sticks in some of my crevices although my old Army buddy reminded me of how much I had forgotten. If I dealt with it after training and it could kill me, I remember it, usually in detail.
Many of us knew the difference between the 12.7 and our Browning. We called them both .50s and that’s my point, not what they were or what the ballistics were or even
how they sounded a bit different. We got Comp B because that’s what it said on the packages, and no, it wasn’t soft like putty. Your detail is excellent but the reality of
combat is simply the reality of dealing with what you have…
Semper fi, and thanks,
Jim
The second book in my Mastodon series is now available on Amazon, so check it out if you want.
While waiting for this chapter, I went back and reread book 1 and 2. A great read both times. Been following this since you started posting. You keep getting better.
Your comment is so appreciated, Tom.
Share this story with friends.
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt. for the longest time I’ve wondered if there were any Corpsmen in your unit. Then the previous edition mention was made of one doing his job. Gladdened this old docs heart. In country 69-70 with MILPHAP N-8, in Soc Trang. You really have a wonderful gift for making us remf ‘s hang onto every word! Thanks!
Appreciate you and so many others, Michael.
Semper fi,
jim
Can’t wait for the,next chapter.
LT:
One very minor correction: Paragraph 2, sentence 2: I plunged forward and then dived over the lip head first.”
Should read: “I plunged forward and then dove over the lip head first.”
Hooah
Thanks Craig, much appreciate the help…
Semper fi,
Jim
I think dived is a viable word. “Dove” invokes visions of the gracefulness of 10 meter platform divers…and I have an idea that paticular maneuver had little to none of that.
Dived or dove…and I’m mixed about that usage. Thanks for brining it up…
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great chapter thanks James. You sure know how to end leaving is anxiously waiting for the next chapter
Thanks for the great compliment Bud and sticking with me through all of this…
Semper fi,
Jim
Read this, read it again, thought about it and thought some more. Jim, I don’t think I want to understand how you all functioned. To do that I would have had to be there. Thank you.
Yes, Walt. I agree with you. I don’t know how we functioned through it either but there it was…
Semper fi,
and thanks for being Walt McKinley!
Jim
Great stuff, as always! A small copy edit: the two instances of “laying” should be “lying.”
Thanks for the help Doug!
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow! I have to smile at the Gunny’s ability to put the war on hold for a few minutes while he brews some coffee.
Following are some small editing suggestions. I am amazed by your ability to recount these events in a manner that pulls us all into the story.
But those of us down in the supply area was in a previously registered position,
Suggest substitute “were” for “was”
But those of us down in the supply area were in a previously registered position,
As I’m reading this installment my understanding now is that Bates did not accompany you back to the company with the major but instead stayed out on the mud flats and found the spider hole??
Again, Thank you. Blessings & Be Well
Thanks again for your sharp eyes, Dan.
Semper fi,
Jim