I had the place and the time but I could not sleep. The NVA had brought its .50 caliber equivalent heavy machine gun up on line. The gun laced our position up and down every twenty minutes or so. I couldn’t figure it out, laying curled up in my cleft. What was their point? Keep us pinned down until the morning, and then what? They didn’t have supporting fires capable of reaching our position, and they didn’t have any air support at all. Why get to the morning? I had instructed the Gunny earlier to stop firing back at them. It was a waste of ammunition and it gave their leadership power in being able to conclude that they were actually getting a response. The Ontos, with one of its high explosive rounds, could have reached out and taken the .50 down, except for the fact that the gun fired, and was then quickly moved to a different location. The night was remaining active and I couldn’t sleep through it.
They were going to attack before dawn, I knew. How much before dawn is what caused me to be unable to sleep. The Gunny was right. The NVA was an angry force now, after being bloodied so many times, and they were still very powerful in position and troop strength. That they had no clue as to what and why we were still sitting in front of them, a great immobile target, was apparent, but meant little or nothing. They were where they were and we were where we were and that was it.
The Gunny came into the cleft with Jurgens and Sugar Daddy, as I had requested earlier. The fact that the night was half gone, that Carruthers had taken his two platoons down valley to form an effective firebase, was beside the point. The firebase the NVA had set up across the river remained strangely silent. And why was their .50 caliber set into the main portion of the jungle opposite the Marine positions?
“This is a strange night,” Sugar Daddy said, stripping off his wet poncho cover.
The other two men did the same, and I realized my dry sand bottom cleft wasn’t going to stay dry for much longer.
Nobody said anything in response to Sugar Daddy’s comment, although it had shown that he, and probably the rest of the Marines up and down the cliff base, didn’t know what to think either, and that could be very dangerous in a defensive position like the one we’d backed ourselves into.
The Gunny ignited a small chunk of Composition B. The cold white light from it radiated around inside the cleft. I looked at the faces of the men inside with me. Sugar Daddy looked tired, Jurgens looked pissed off about something, and the Gunny was impassive, his facial features impossible to read. Fusner, just above and behind the Gunny, stared over his right shoulder at me, his eyes seeming big and round in the wavering strange light reflections. Nguyen was out protecting Macho Man if such a thing was possible. I hadn’t sent Kilo’s Marines, along with the captain, to form the firebase, in order to send them on a suicide mission. There were plenty of very protected clefts along the base of the cliff where they had taken up position, and they could fairly easily move back to the main element of Marines up valley, even under fire. That he was so terribly inexperienced bothered me. He had his own NCOs however, and I wasn’t about to send Sugar Daddy or Jurgens to be his advisor. My trust in Carruther’s experience was near zero, but my confidence that Sugar Daddy or Jurgens would take the captain out if they thought it would improve their own survival potential was nearly at one hundred percent. I thought about the two sergeants, and that I had gone for days and nights not thinking about seriously killing one or the other of them, and that thought surprised me.
The Gunny lit up a cigarette, as he heated his canteen holder of water over the small brilliant fire. I laid on my side, facing the men, my helmet propped up under my ribs instead of letting my elbow and shoulder bear most of the weight of my elevated torso. I kept the sharp chunk of artillery metal still embedded into the steel cover out from me, wondering if, like my Uncle Jim from years ago in the attic, I’d be showing it one day to my nephews like he had shown his war souvenirs to me. I almost smiled at the sudden knowledge that my nephews wouldn’t believe any of my war stories any more than I had believed Uncle Jim’s. I thought about the company’s predicament. Whatever was happening in the night just outside had gone from being under some kind of reactionary control, using my plan, to something that was a complete unknown. Suddenly, the enemy’s Planet Mongo Plan seemed to be overcoming my Planet Mars Defense.
“What are they doing?” the Gunny asked, exhaling a long heavy stream of smoke.
The smoke ran down to the very bottom edge of the cleft and formed a small cloud all of its own and floated there. It seemed unnatural, as I considered the Gunny’s question. The question had been directed at me, even though the Gunny hadn’t looked in my direction. Unconventional. The smoke was acting unconventionally. My own unconventional moves and reactions to the NVA forces opposing us had been the same way. And then it came to me. The NVA leaders were learning. From us. From me.
“Their firebase has never fired a round,” I whispered more to myself than to the Marines assembled around me. “The .50 caliber is facing the open area like it’s there to support some kind of attack from dug in troops in caves, tunnels, and holes.”
I stopped for a few seconds, before going on. “How did the NVA firebase get across the river. They can’t do that any more easily than we can. And since they did, why didn’t they cross a whole lot more troops than a single firebase would require?”
“And then?” the Gunny asked as if he already had guessed the answer.
“And then, to cross them back,” I breathed out. “The .50 isn’t there to cover an attack coming at us from across the open mud flat, even if coming up out of holes and tunnels might make it appear that way. “The .50 is set there to pin us down as best it can and draw our attention to it, and having us expend time and ammo taking it out.”
“They re-cross the river further up, and then come attacking down through the jungle along the very edge of the cliff we are occupying,” the Gunny went on.
“The Ontos is pointed in the wrong direction and becomes useless,” I said. “Their firebase opens up on us if we attempt to escape down south along the cliff, like Carruthers and Kilo, or attack back across the mud flat as we did before. They take us on the flank. They’re deliberately leaving Carruthers and his Marines be.”
“They are getting all set to attack right now?” Jurgens asked.
“No kidding, I have to get with my platoon,” Sugar Daddy replied, starting to rise to his knees in order to crawl out of the cleft.
“Stand fast,” the Gunny ordered, his voice going low and filled with solid timber.
“What’s the plan?” he asked, turning his head to face me for the first time.
“The Planet Mars attack,” I replied, almost instantly, my mind racing at near light speed. “There’s no place to cross that river except the one place, and we made that crossing possible. We know it. It’s our ground. The Clay People attacked out of their caves eventually and Queen Azura was vanquished. Get everyone ready. We’re moving out. Call in Carruthers. The Ontos will have to follow us up the path here between us and the berm along the cliff. His two platoons have to provide rear protection. Once we’re on the move, the NVA will figure it out but hopefully be committed to crossing that horrid killing river while their jungle emplacements will be to set in to allow them to quickly vacate and come after us.”
There was a complete silence inside the cleft for several seconds. I wanted to ask the single word question: “well?” but remained silent, waiting.
“Who are the Clay People?” Sugar Daddy asked, finally.
The Gunny laughed out loud, only the second time since I’d known him that I heard the brief barking sound.
“We are,” he said, after a few seconds.
“Jurgens, you have the southern platoon. Move out as fast as you can. They’ll be thinking of coming at us not us coming at them. Move light, fast and hard, leaving your packs and gear back in the clefts. Open up a base of fire on the river area where the tank remains, as well as the bridge, as soon as you get to the upper edge of the jungle. There is no other place for them to cross. It’s dark and raining like hell.”
“I think we got this one covered, Junior,” Jurgens shot back, grabbing his poncho and crawling quickly up toward the cleft opening. “That’s Indian country and we know it well,” he whispered over his shoulder. “We’ll use the Clay People attack plan.”
In seconds the cleft was almost empty.
The Gunny extinguished his fire, never having heated his water enough to make coffee. The light fell off, with only the weak yellow glow of Jurgens flashlight dully shining against the wall behind me.
“You know,” he said, slowly turning to leave, leaving his unfinished cigarette still glowing from the side of his mouth. “If you get this wrong, then Carruthers and his men will be attacked from the rear and left flank by overwhelming force. The Ontos will be moving and pointing in the wrong direction with no ability to help them.”
I didn’t miss the fact that the Gunny, who’d helped me figure out the likely logic of what the enemy had to be doing, was assigning the entire responsibility for the plan’s result to me but using the words ‘if you get this wrong’. I was relieved that he’d waited for the others to leave before he’d made the directed comment, however. The Gunny said nothing more before leaving.
“Fusner,” I said, deciding to pull all the .45 ammo I had from my pack, while I talked.
“Find Macho Man and get the scout team together. I want him right next to me and Nguyen even closer. We’re moving out now, headed north. I need to talk to Carruthers on the combat net and let him know what we’re doing.”
“He already knows,” Fusner replied, “Captain Carruthers, I mean. Everyone knows, even battalion.”
Once again, I was stunned at how fast news could travel through Marine units under the most trying of conditions. I pulled my extra box of Colt ammo from my pack.
The cardboard box was falling apart but it would do. It said ‘Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation’ on its gray cardboard surface, barely readable, but it might do to help Macho Man stay in ammunition. He hadn’t been but a few hours on the ground in the A Shau Valley and he was about to go into direct enemy contact.
I put my poncho on, made sure my own .45 was solidly where it was supposed to be, adjusted my damaged helmet, and came up from my knees to stand in the dense falling rain just outside the cleft. Water glittered everywhere from puddles and jungle debris. I wondered where the light came from to make it visible. I’d remembered to turn the flashlight off. I had my letter home, half-finished as it was, in one thigh pocket and my supply of morphine in the other. I didn’t need any maps. The entire area was burned into my brain, from geographic features and distances to the grid coordinates of every registration point I might want to adjust fire from. The 175 mm support was all that we could get and I knew I was going to be very reticent to call that in again unless our attack went badly, or I was wrong about the whole thing. And I would never call the big guns into the area again without both companies being buried deep inside the clefts. I wondered if I was wrong about the plan. Maybe the 175 zone fire effects and terror had been too much for those NVA soldiers exposed near or on the surface. Maybe the enemy was hunkered down and simply glad to be alive and waiting for us to move on. But, I knew I couldn’t take the chance. I did not want to die, and have my Marines die, shot to death like rats in caves while we holed up inside the clefts.
The company was moving fast, all of it. I was not so surprised as much as I was pleased. The Ontos was running and working to churn its way along. I knew Carruthers was probably very close behind, coming up from the south, having abandoned his firebase. He had taken my orders more than once without comment, and I thought about the likelihood of that continuing until I considered our real mission. Staying alive until the next dawn.
Macho Man blended in out of the jungle to join me, as I began walking fast up the path, hoping that the space between the cliff and the heavy jungle was enough to allow the Ontos to drive its way through, as the area down further south had allowed for earlier.
“Sergeant Waldo,” Macho Man said as if reporting into a training command.
I pushed the box of Olin Mathieson at him but kept walking fast.
“Good stuff, sir,” Waldo said, taking the box and putting it away somewhere up under his poncho. I noted that he carried his pack up under the poncho, as well.
“You were supposed to leave the pack back in the cleft,” I said, over to him. “We’re moving fast and hard and you’ll have to maneuver when we get there.”
“I’m your scout leader,” Macho Man replied. “You’re going to need some stuff once we get there, I think.”
The Thompson dropped out from under his soaking poncho cover, as we walked, swinging in his hands. I wondered how it would do in the rain and mud. I liked the gleaming little reflections that came off its highly machined surfaces. I was glad I’d given him my extra ammunition as if I needed more than the few bullets I carried in my own Colt. It was probably not going to matter, one way or the other.
The move through the wet night was somehow more invigorating than laying inside a dry sand-bottomed cleft. The cleft offered safety, but at the price of near total blindness to what might be coming at any time. And the jungle air inside the folded under mountain caves was hot, fetid and filled with insect life and floating sediment. The rain was cooler and seemingly cleansing. The poncho covers shed the rain almost completely, but the blowing moving rainproof material could not cover everything. Lower trousers, boots, face, hands and so much else became sopping wet over time, and the move consumed some time, although a whole lot less on my watch then it seemed to.
There was no signal when it came time to stop, or rather the signal was open gunfire ahead. Heavy small arms fire and small explosions filled the air around us, although nothing was close enough to allow flares of muzzle blasts or the actual fire from explosives going off to be seen. I knew the good news is that there had been no fire from our rear.
There was no full-frontal attack that had been sprung on our rear when the NVA had realized we’d up and left. That spoke more about the fact that the NVA was committed to having its main body of troops heading to make the upriver crossing rather than having it sit in the jungle or buried in the mud flats waiting to pounce. If my plan had not been right then there would be nobody at the river for Jurgens men to have opened up on, and that fire was heavy.
The Gunny and Sugar Daddy were suddenly there beside us, down on the packed jungle floor, while Marines in slithering noisy poncho covers flowed by on both sides.
“Looks like you were right,” the Gunny said. “Everyone’s got to get in and down to the edge of the jungle that approaches the river below the tank. I don’t know how fast the NVA are coming but they’re probably in such numbers that we don’t want to face them in the open.”
I heard the sound of the Ontos grinding away, coming up behind us.
“I don’t want them to face the NVA at all,” I said. “The Ontos can face them. The NVA won’t have time to bring the .50 all the way through the jungle and get it to the other side. Under direct fire, the .50 is no match for the 106 rounds, explosive or otherwise.”
“Alright, I’m going down with Jurgens to occupy the riverside,” the Gunny said.
“Okay,” I replied, “I’ll head back a little and wait for the Ontos and Carruthers.
“Let’s move out,” the Gunny said, jumping to his feet and running forward. Suddenly everyone was moving except me. In seconds I was alone, except for Fusner.
“What the hell?” I asked. Where’s our scout team?”
“Looks like they went with the Gunny, maybe to scout, sir?”
“To the front line in direct contact?” I said, not stating the sentence as a question. “Get the Gunny’s radio operator on the net and get them back here.”
I moved slowly back toward the approaching Ontos, with Fusner at my side talking on the radio handset.
“Well?” I yelled at Fusner when he lowered the microphone.
“He’s not with the Gunny, just yet, sir,” Fusner said, speaking more loudly, as the sound of the approaching armored vehicle began to drown out all other sounds.
“What are you talking about, he’s always supposed to be with his principal,” I said, anger beginning to force its way into my tone.
Carruthers appeared out of the rain, his own radio operator close by, with several of his Marines surrounding the slow-moving Ontos.
“It would appear that your plan is working really well, Junior,” the bigger man said, leaning forward, his poncho cascading and throwing great rivulets of water my way. “The Clay People Attack. Now that’s something. Who are the Clay People?”
“Let’s get this thing into position,” I said, taking him by one arm and directing him back to the machine. “We can’t just fire across the mud flat here because we can’t see where anyone is.”
Just then two huge fusillades of fire opened up, one from across the river and further north, and then the response from closer on our side and lower down. I realized that we didn’t have to see very well, the AK 47 pops were as distinct in their way as the sharp barking of the M-16s and then the deeper timbre of the 7.62 machine guns.
<<<<<< The Beginning | Next Chapter >>>>>>
I’m glad to see the pace of your writing pick up as you get closer to the end of the story. I hope this means that the writing is therapeutic. Although this means the end of our reading the story is getting closer. I have been, and still do enjoy this story.
I have no grammar or spelling corrections. The story flows, that’s enough for me.
Thank you, Rick
I ended up a little behind on answering the comments.
Semper fi,
Jim
I have been looking for your third book of the series, is it published?
Not yet, Roger.
Thank you for your support
Jim
Hey Lt. Reference your reply to Mike, 2/19/19. Haven’t thought about it even at this late date, but my wife never asked about what really went on over there either. Guess that after her experience with the two guys coming up the driveway to conduct a background check on someone she didn’t want to know any too much about it. Take. Care Lt.
Yes, the wives fought their worry wars back here and it was might tough.
And then for those of us hit it was much much more challenging. Without her I would not have made it to write the story.
Semper fi, and thanks for that reference…
Jim
Cheat ’em and beat ’em one more day, I’d bet that by now the NVA would have a bounty on your head LT.!!!
Can’t wait for the Captain and his newbies to hear the drums start up again.
Once again on the edge of my seat, keep it going James.
SEMPER Fi
Stand by, the NVA were never quitters when it came to contact or a fight…
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt.I read the story so fast that I just pass over grammar. Your writing is superb.
Thanks Jim, for the great compliment, as I finish the next segment this day…motivation…
Semper fi,
Jim
LT
I FEEL LIKE I’M RIGHT THERE WITH YOU, THE NVA WERE NO DUMMIES AND KNEW THE JUNGLE BUT THE MARINE CORPS CAN ADAPT
SEMPER FI
We did indeed adapt and never ever quit…
although we did ‘attack in a different direction’ from time to time!
Semper fi,
Jim
Retired Navy BTCM here. Just wondering, do you still have those letters you sent home, or the helmet? You’ve had me all the way in this story, and like mail call, I always await the next one.
The only thing that survived the medical ordeal and transfer at the end was my small tattered diary. .45, helmet, watch…never made it through.
I do have every letter I sent home to my wife. Thanks for the asking.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, some people have the ability to “see” a situation and the response in the same flash. It’s not something that can be taught, it’s part experience but also a mental gift. You sir, have that gift.
As far as I’m concerned, write when you can and want to, and don’t whiny don’t. Grammar and spelling be damed. Samuel Clements once remarked that he didn’t give a damn about a man who could spell a word only one way.
Take care.
Scott
I love that editing comment Scott. Yes, it is hard to be live on the creative side and then plunge back into the analytical.
And then to actually spot the errors. A writer becomes blind to errors.
Thanks for the help about that…
Semper fi,
Jim
As an attorney for the Nevada Legislature I proof read my work and the work of others all the time. The rough nature of your work seems appropriate under the circumstances you are describing.
I used to work with a former Army intelligence officer who spent his time in the Mekong Delta. He had a reputation among the rear echelon types for correcting typos on read backs of his radio/landline reports while under fire.
Well, SGT ,I didn’t really the comment but I somehow get the idea that my work in writing isn’t ‘pure’ enough in
quality when it comes to grammar and such. It’s all about time and assistance, of course. To make a truly professionally
proofed work takes time and money. I do my best.
Semper fi,
Jim
Can you give the part where the drums are played during the night?
Gosh there were three sequence and about five parts, not that this odyssey is done yet either.
You’ll just have to review because I do not have the people to do that.
Thanks for the comment, though,
Semper fi,
Jim
Is this the segment you are refrring to, Max?
https://jamesstrauss.com/thirty-days-september-twentieth-day-third-part/
Out standing LT. Read segment over…
Thanks Mike S, as usual….
Semper fi,
Jim
James, you question how you made those decisions then at 23 and weren’t ask to make decisions when you came home. You made those decisions as a result of your Marine Corps training and natural leadership abilities. Many of us perform at a much higher level under pressure than in more normal, routine, …. and daily dull decisions. I think you have been very modest in describing your leadership abilities and practical intellect under extreme conditions. As far as coming home and never being asked to lead for several years? I would say you’ve worked under the management of people who were horrible judges of the capabilities of their subordinates. Trust me, it happens all the time. I look forward to every new piece of your story and continue to share it with my friends. Thank you.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t asked to make decisions when I got home. I was not allowed to make any decisions and I was not allowed
access to quality positions that might have allowed for that. I resent that to this day. I was not mistreated in any way like being
spit upon or ridiculed…but I was not allowed to enjoy respect and quality employment. That is still the case with returning
vets today.
Semper fi,
Jim
Morning, Early morning, Dam, You just described my life after Nam,
“not allowed to make any decisions and I was not allowed
access to quality positions that might have allowed for that”
” I was not allowed to enjoy respect and quality employment”
And yes, It is a sad and nasty fact that it is taking place still today for those returning from the forward edge ……
Semper fi/This We Defend Your friend Bob.
Thanks for the support on that issue Robert. I have no clue as to why part of the giant VA budget is not
dedicated to making sure that returning vets get a great job. And I’m not talking about getting them set up to go out and interview.
How about paying their salary or wage for a couple of years as inducement to hire them?
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great read! A little editing help;
I’ll head back and little and wait …replace first and with an a.
I’ll head back a little and wait for the Ontos and Carruthers
Thank you, Don.
Appreciate the sharp eyes.
Corrected.
Semper fi, Jim
Keep it coming! I will always remember the green tracer incoming and the red outbound!
Semper Fi!
Yes, the strange fact that different cultures and military outfits used such different materials to accomplish the same mission,
and effectively, no less.
Semper fi,
Jim
I am speaking for myself, but most here would probably say to not worry about the length of time it is taking to put this down and post it. My situation wasn’t any near yours, but we all had our conditions to overcome while there!
I worry about getting the sequences out as fast as I can, which is sometimes easier than others. It’s important to have some
kind of continuity, in my own mind, as well. Thanks for caring and writing about that on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
James, This is a chapter I wrote about my story, as a letter home. Key is the phase , “They don’t let one-eyed guys carry guns in the Army.” I became a civilian in that moment. It’s my way home and my future. Good luck with your story. You make us Vet’s proud.–Marlin
November 1, 1967
Dear Mom and Dad,
I’m sorry to put you through this worry. I’m OK; I should make it back home all right. I am sure you’ve gotten the telegram already that I was shot in the face. Dad, tell mom not to cry because I’ll be okay.
The bullet tore through my nose and shattered my right eye and face, but when my left eye heals, I’ll be OK. The lenses of my glasses shattered and peppered my good eye pretty good, but the doctors said it will heal, and I’ll be able to see. It was quite a ride feeling the AK-47 bullet slam into my face and being flipped over backwards onto the ground. As I picked myself up, I touched my face to find most of it torn open. You can’t imagine the intense burning sensation on my face. I pried my left eye open just long enough to detect light and locate a gun. But I realized it was my buddy’s gun, and was horrified to discover that he, Sergeant, was dead and his body had shielded me from death. That is a debt I can never repay.
As I prepared to retreat back to the main column, I remember thinking, , “They don’t let one-eyed guys carry guns in the Army.” That was the last time I held a gun as a warrior. I’m glad God chose to protect me at that time. I knew my wartime was done. Now I just needed to get out alive.
A firefight raged for the next half hour. After that, the medic felt it was safe to bring in a Dust-Off helicopter to lift me out. Unfortunately, while I was being lifted out, the chopper received hostile gunfire and was extensively damaged. The pilot was able to land it away from the firefight, and I was later transferred to the 24th Medevac Hospital outside Saigon.
I received my Purple Heart from the Army Surgeon General. Boy was I surprised when I awoke to find him and his staff reading my name and a citation for the Purple Heart. He reached down and pinned it to my pillow.
The USO sure has been busy supporting the troops. They had a tour of baseball players visiting the wounded at the hospital. I was thrilled to have Joe DeMaggio and Pete Rose present me with an autographed baseball. These are two symbols that I’ll cherish for a long time.
I’ll be home soon. So, don’t worry, I’m safe now. Thank-you for your prayers.
What can I possibly add to such an intense and emotional comment? Nothing, except to say I am honored that you took the time and effort to put it up on this
page for all of us to read….and to also honor you….
Semper fi,
Jim
Beer’s on me…
You got it brother!
Semper fi,
Jim
Another compelling chapter. I think you were born to lead these men. As in the Book of Esther, “for such a time as this.”
Thanks Cathy, but I am still trying to figure out what in hell it is that I was born to do.
Maybe write about the experience as much as having lived them.
Thanks for thinking the way you do about it and me, and for putting your thoughts up on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
ARe you familiar with the phrase, “Born out of season?” I feel that way a lot, and I think other guys do, too. What the hell are we supposed to do now? Fortunately, I have found a calling that suits me, and for the first time in nearly 50 years I’ve felt like part of a machine, instead of a screw that got dropped on the floor.
As for your editing and proof reading, I’ve only noticed one chapter that was kind of rough, and it was obvious that you were stretched tighter than a rubber band when you wrote it. Get this stuff on paper, Man. Anybody can edit. Damn few can write like you do.
Thanks Wes, for the uplifting comment.
I am feeling more necessary and vital than ever before in my life and want to get this as right as I can.
I will endeavor to persevere….
Thank you!
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank You Sir!
You are most welcome David!!!
Semper fi,
Jim
LT,
Great story! I can’t wait for the R&R and “short time” chapter. 30 Days October should be great too.
Thanks Jim, I am on it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Good morning LT. Just have to say that if this Clay People plan goes as I expect it will, you should never doubt your battlefield awareness again. A most excellent analysis and counter offensive tactic. As has been said many many times, “The best defense is a good offense” You executed “mission, threat situation, terrain, time, and troops or assets available” Which is the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield, to a “T”. I think that NVA commander has met his match.
I love Flash Gordon to this day.
I must admit that trying to outthink the enemy was one of the very few displacement activities I was able to enjoy,
even through the misery and terror of the elements, fauna, flora and more.
I could kind of remove myself and think fictionally toward real results.
Like calling artillery sometimes took me away from the situation because of the concentration it took.
Thanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great installment! It seems like years ago since that great machine, the Ontos, came rumbling into your world. Was that Tex who brought it?
The Ontos was a game changer for survival down in that valley and I fought every way I could to
keep it running and active. Thanks for pointing that out…
Semper fi,
Jim
wow, DanC covered about every thing. didn’t waste any time about it either. maybe you should hire him. Did I miss a chapter? how did Macho Man get there? fall off a helicopter?
Thanks for your input, Tom.
Check into the previous two chapters
Twenty-Fith Night Second Part
and
Twenty-Fifth Night
Semper fi,
Jim
This episode makes me want to smoke a cigarette. Deep drags all the way to my fingers, and I quit smoking over 20 years ago.
Thanks for the great compliment Rob. Means a lot to me…
Semper fi,
Jim
All the while those 175 gunners and FDC waiting on your fire for effect command. We were with you grunts, just not in the jungle. We heard the bullshit net and we knew what y’all were going through down there.
The batteries were wonderful and was never denied. I knew they knew and they knew I knew that they knew the real situation.
Thank you most deeply and sincerely…
Semper fi,
Jim
The miracle of a quick thinking combat mind, with no former education to support it than the very hard earned experience. Your men are good, very good, and the Capt is smart enough to hitch his wagon to the thinker. The outcome of this night’s fight may be history, but in most men’s minds still a very real experience. Pray for all you Marines to sleep well very soon. Poppa
Wow, Poppa, but you can lay a few words down and say a lot of stuff with true meaning. Accurate as hell and most complimentary.
Thank you so much…and you help me write on into this dark winter night..
Semper fi,
Jim
I flew out of Tan Su Nhut & Bien Hoa.I wished I could have been with you guys and thanked God I wasn’t.
Great book
I wish you could have been there too…and am damned glad you were not! Funny how that oxymoronic thought process occurs to us
combat vets…
Semper fi,
Jim
I was so sick of all the rain and being wetfor about 70 days. Your story Brings back lots of memories great job james
Thanks Fred. I don’t dwell on the physical misery overmuch. It can get too dark
and upsetting all the way around. I write enough to give anyone reading the idea…not the experience itself.
Thanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
James all I can say is WOW WTF great plan great thinking as well. !!!!!!!
Now, so many years later, I wonder where some of the insight came from. I was 23. And then I came home.
I came home to be a nobody making decisions for on one. That was so very hard, but maybe also so very
necessary. I would not admit to being a Vietnam Veteran for so many years. Maybe that was necessary too.
Funny, kind of, to write about and think about where some of the decisions came from. Music of the time,
pulp fiction and the Saturday matinees were so important to my survival. How is that possible?
Semper fi, and thanks for the great comment.
Jim
Like you I never talked about Nam after discharge even with my family. The only exception being other vets and even then the conversations were guarded to avoid bringing up (explitive) that might trigger Long buried experiences.
But following this saga has prodded me into reactivating my VA account and avail myself of those services.
Thank you sir.
WOW, I am humbled that the story prompted you in that direction.
Keep us updated on your progress, Yankee.
Semper fi,
Jim
Gripping as usual. The hair stands ip on the back of my neck.
One edit … Gunny made you solely responsible “but using the words,” should be “by” rather than “but”
Thanks for the grand compliment and the help with the editing.
Semper fi,
Jim
You be put us right in the thick of it sir. Riveting. Thanks. Great story.
Thanks Mike, and maybe the toughest part is being right back in the thick of it myself right now.
My wife does not want me to talk about it at all and can’t read it. I know she secretly feels pretty great about
how I wrote her all the time…but she’s been along for quite a ride on this post Vietnam odyssey…that isn’t so
post just now. I can’t stop. I have to go on, like back then… I have to make it until tonight…
Semper fi,
Jim
Great writing , so glad you are finishing, this 30 day experience needs to be told, and finished, looking forward to the last days, thanks from another with survivors guilt.
Thanks Paul, writhing the 26th day just now…and motivated…
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow..ur reliving it..prayers to u
Thanks a lot Justin, from your lips to God’s ear….and with a great deal of feeling.
Thanks for the help at this bit of time…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, I would weigh in on the editing but for the fact that the prose is so compelling I don’t even notice the typos.
Now that’s a really neat comment. I really smiled at the reading of it and must thank you…
great compliment…and also appreciate totally the guys and gals who do make corrections.
Semper fi,
Jim
Really good seeing how Sugar Daddy, Jurgens, and the Gunny are all working together with you. It seems they now realize you are keeping them alive with your plans.
I’m surprised you did not insist that Macho Man carry a M-16. That Thompson would certainly sound strange (and therefore maybe threatening) to the Marines. However, I have to accept the story as it plays out.
Some editing suggestions follow:
“Their firebase opens up on us. If we attempt to escape down south along the cliff, like Carruthers and Kilo, or attack back across the mud flat as we did before.
Suggest drop the period after “us.”
“Their firebase opens up on us if we attempt to escape down south along the cliff, like Carruthers and Kilo, or attack back across the mud flat as we did before.
andQueen Azura was vanquished
Add a space after “and”
Open up a base of fire on the river area where the tank remains,
I had to recall what the tank was. Maybe qualify tank with “wrecked Soviet tank” or “T-54 tank.”
using the words ‘if you got this wrong.)
Substitute a ‘ for )
using the words ‘if you got this wrong.’
The 175 mm support was all that we could get and I knew I was going to very reticent
Suggest add “be” before “reticent”
ammunition as if I needed more than the few bullets I carried in my own Colt it was probably
Suggest add a period after “colt” and capitalize “it”
ammunition as if I needed more than the few bullets I carried in my own Colt. It was probably
Lower trousers, boots face, hands and
Add comma after “boots”
Lower trousers, boots, face, hands and
there would be nobody at the river for Jurgens men to have opened upon, and that fire was
Maybe change “upon” to “up on”
there would be nobody at the river for Jurgens men to have opened up on, and that fire was
won’t have time to bring the .50 all the way through the jungle and get it to the other side, and under direct fire, the .50 is no match for the 106 rounds, explosive or otherwise.”
Suggest period after “other side.” then drop “and” and capitalize “Under”
won’t have time to bring the .50 all the way through the jungle and get it to the other side. Under direct fire, the .50 is no match for the 106 rounds, explosive or otherwise.”
Many thanks for continuing to share your story. It is gripping. Blessings & Be Well
As usual, Dan, your help is so much appreciated.
I go over this and then also Chuck does.
We do miss things for sure.
Thank you again.
Semper fi
Jim
Out standing Jim…
Thanks Mike, for the timely motivation!
Semper fi,
Jim
The move through the wet night was somehow more invigorating then
Maybe should be “more invigorating than layin”. Just saying!
Still have me hooked.
Thank you, Rodney.
Noted and corrected and I am glad you are “hooked”
Appreciate your sharing this with your friends.
Semper fi,
Jim
While you may never have “took to it”, it seems to me that your other skills allowed you to ‘become it’ – A unit commander who could think on his feet, make a decision & then act on it. You say you weren’t “good at handling the men” while earlier saying you “just wanted the hell out of there in the worst way”. I imagine most of the men had that same “want” & quickly saw that you were they best chance of that happening – Them getting out alive. There are many ways to ‘handle’ men – One way is for the men to understand that their chances at survival had strongly increased with you as their commander. You knew yourself & had a knowledge of your men. As important, you were continuing to get a better understanding & knowledge of the enemy. You used that knowledge, whether actual, perceived or just guesses/luck, resulting in more success than not. Again, a great read.
Thanks for that wonderful analysis. I am rereading it.
Maybe to better understand myself and results of my actions so many years into the future.
I always want to think I could have been more caring and more Marine-like than I feel I was.
I have come to believe, over time, that I was a good Marine but I know I was almost totally without
real care for anything but survival in that situation too…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, More caring? “I don’t want them to face the NVA at all,” I said. “The Ontos can face them.” I remember – Mission First, Men Always. From you readings, seems to me like the Valley would always have plenty of NVA in it, always primed to kill as many soldiers/Marines as possible. So maybe the ‘mission’ actually was to get through the 30 day rotation/ops. losing as few men as possible? More “Marine-like than I feel I was.”? I’ve lost count of how many “Marine-like” officers who walked in to the Valley over the last 25 days, only to be carried out in bags. Seems to me that you were plenty “Marine-like”. And reference to your being “almost totally without real care for anything but survival in that situation”, even if you only ‘cared’ for your own survival (Which you’ve demonstrated countless times that that was not the case.), that “care” covered everyone in your unit & every other unit you came in contact with. Just sayin’.
Thanks a lot Doug. Perspective is a tough thing to look at through perspective, is it not?
Thanks for your kindly and complimentary view of the experiences as I write them.
Keeps me going..
Semper fi,
Jim
James (LT) I was not in your unit, but my gut knots and my breathing goes shallow. My eyes strain to see back in the dark. The trip flares go off and it begins. You put me back where I was before, but where I don’t want to be. We made it home, but a large part of me is still there. God Bless You Sir, and The Work of Your Hands.
Man, but that’s a pretty damned neat comment George. Yes, we came back but left so much there, and then brought so much back with us….
Semper fi,
Jim
Ah
There’s nothing like teamwork
Especially in combat
Good to see that it is working for you now
Hope it continues
You’ve pulled so much unconventional stuff on them that they’re trying to do the same to you. What’s the old adage, imitation is the best form of flattery? Way to keep ‘em guessing Sir. Semper Fi.
Thanks again for the support and comment, Mike,
Semper fi
Sure glad I was too old to be there. Lots of tough guys and heroes.
Another great read James…your men all are in sync on this one…and you are becoming more adept at figuring out what Charlie is up to…and you have become a great combat leader…you were good at your job whether you realized it or not…sometimes the greatest leadership comes out of the necessity to survive…and that’s what you were doing…trying to make decisions so that you and your men could survive…and again you took us to the edge of the cliff without allowing us to jump…or even look over.
Thanks Mark, what a great complimentary comment. I much appreciate and will be writing with
ammo like that in my pack tonight…
Semper fi,
Jim
Outstanding read Lt you have us hanging by a thread on this chapter. Again I salute you sir!
Although the ending is inevitable and known, I hate that it will be over soon. This is one helluva journey! Thanks! I will order all three, signed, when it is over.
Thank you, Martin.
We are also working on producing an audio version of all three.
Semper fi,
Jim
Man oh man this is such a great story. Thank you for getting out new segments so quickly! I’m dreading the next few days of this history report because we all know some bad stuff is going to happen but I can’t wait to learn the conclusion.
Planet Mars Defense. Clay People. Planet Mongo Defense.
Looks like I gotta watch that movie again.
Another outstanding installment, Sir.
Flash Gordon was a real favorite of mine.
Thanks for your support and remember to share with friends, Michael.
Semper fi,
Jim
Looks like your beginning to think you might make it out of the valley alive Jim.
Anxiously awaiting your third book. Thanks for your service LT
The final book will be completed.
Appreciate your support, Paul
Semper fi,
Jim
Riveting chapter after riveting chapter.Thinking outside the box is keeping the enemy off balance and the Ontos is like garlic to Dracula.
Thanks again for all of your support, Chuck
Semper fi,
Jim
The word “buy” is in there somewhere and should be “by” I think. Enjoying reading this very much!
Great job as usual! Excellent read. A minor note: “will be to set in to allow them to quickly vacate”….first “to” should be too.
Thanks for the help Paul and the great compliment…
Semper fi
Jim
Great read as usual. Battle is a chess game full of moves and counter moves where there are no winners, only soldiers trying to stay alive as best they can.
An addition to the sentence about 175 support in the paragraph when you were checking and adjusting your .45.
The 175mm support was all we could get and I would BE very reticent. Need to add the “be” I think.
Yes, better and thanks for the great help on editing, as well as thanks for the compliment…
Semper fi,
Jim
Hell of a writing job LT
Thanks Willis, means a lot to me…
Semper fi,
Jim
Once again this your work is a fantastic read. A minor correction: “Okay,” I replied, “I’ll head back and little and wait for the Ontos and Carruthers. ….and little should be changed to …a little and wait….
Thanks William, for the help and the compliment…
Semper fi,
Jim
Great read….great planning…great execution to be continued….glad I flew 46s and wasn’t on the ground very much….heroes on the ground all around…you were amazing Jim.
Okay,” I replied, “I’ll head back and little and wait for the Ontos and Carruthers. Maybe should be “I’ll head back a little ….vice and little..
I eagerly await next 5+ days…keep on hitting those keys!
Thanks for the editing help. You guys and gals are wonders at editing and I owe you all.
And the compliments have not gone unnoticed, as well….
Semper fi,
Jim
Another excellent chapter!
Thanks a lot Jerry, for hearing from you in such a positive way…
Semper fi,
Jim
You’re getting better every time Lt.
You know, Jim, except for what I read on here I’d have no clue.
It just comes out. Fast and furious of late. Thanks for the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
An account that stirs the heart
For every man that may know…
Wide eyes…Low lights,
No calvary a comin’
To make things right…
Makin’ their way on down that road,
Again….
There in a night, the rain falls long…
Memories rise and fall…for every song,
Still pushin’ us on against,
A cold, hard wind…
NO LIGHTNIN’ FLASHIN’…
NO THUNDER ROLLIN’…
Uh-Uh,
COULD EVER CAUSE ‘EM DELAY…
GOTTA BE BEYOND, ONE LAST HOR-IZON…
Uh-Huh!
COME THE BREAK o’ DAY…
AIN’T NO SHELTERING SKY…
WHAT’S OURS IS THEIRS, THAT MAYBE…
Drives…
The night away,
No sweeter face than the dawn…
That Drives,
The night away…
Away…
As that river,
Rolls on…
Roll on, Lieutenant!
Semper fi,
ddh
Wow D.D., you’ve outdone yourself…once again. What a brilliant and touchingly deep poem and using me and my
stuff interlaced is such a tremendous compliment, especially in the way tyou have executed the work here.
Thank you so much,
You friend,
Jim
“Okay,” I replied, “I’ll head back and little and wait for the Ontos and Carruthers. perhaps “…back a little..”
Semper Fidelis
Thanks for the editing help Mark!
Semper fi,
Jim
An amazing story. Always keeps me on the edge of my seat
Thanks Don, and I really appreciate the kind words you’ve written on here about the story and my
rendition of it…
Semper fi,
Jim
On the edge of my seat LT!
Thanks for the great compliment Richard…
Semper fi,
Jim
Out of the frying pan into the fire. Those 106 rounds will be worth their weight in gold.
The Ontos saved all of our lives time after time. Pocket armor when the enemy had no real armor of its own.
Thanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Well done big guy!
You are most welcome Dick. It’s my pleasure, mostly, to lay the story down and then deliver it to such a great audience.
Semper fi,
Jim
WOW! The companies launch into moving and attacking very fast, with everyone on the same page. Could it be that Jurgens and Sugar Daddy are finally working on the same page that you are?
And no dissension from the Gunny or Carruthers.
For an artillery dude, you have morphed into a great combat leader.
Your writing flows evenly, and makes almost all things very clear.
I never ‘took to it,’ Craig. I never felt one whit of being good at the job or liking it in any way. I just wanted the hell out of there
in the worst way imaginable. Maybe that’s most counter mythological part of the story. In retrospect, I was good at the job in many ways, and
I realize that now. I was not good at handling the men. I know that because the Gunny was gifted in that area and I got to watch him do it.
I was truly gifted in map reading and orientation and artillery calling. THanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Again, outstanding! And thank you for matching the building quickening pace with the faster release of the story that we are all on the edge of our seats waiting for! And thank you and all others that served that we are able to from the comfort of this beautiful country!
Your comment means a lot, Brian,
Thank you.
Semper fi,
Jim
Ratcheting up our anticipation for the next chapter. Good job!
One edit – “I’ll head back and little and wait for the Ontos and Carruthers.” (a little) or simply delete the “and little” would work.