THE COWARDLY LION
Chapter VI
Shoot appeared from seeming nowhere. I hadn’t noticed the doors swinging at all.
He helped my brother back to a vertical position and gave him a towel, and then went to work cleaning up the mess on the floor.
THE COWARDLY LION, Chapter VI
Dear Uncle Jim,
I got choked up over the news from your father and your grace in handling the negativity from others both in your story and in your responses to the posts here. I shared with my father how well you have used several literary devices to foreshadow events and tie up lines in the story that other authors might have missed or forgotten.
This chapter takes the cake. You have written Fusner / Fessman so well in the previous three books and conveyed so clearly that Junior was preoccupied with trying to stay alive in the hospital that he consciously was not thinking about the loss of him. Then Shoot triggers juniors subconscious just by being so close in the moment I couldn’t help but cry for his death, Junior’s loss and as I wiped away my tears to try and finish reading, the fact that Shoot picked up on the honor Junior bestowed upon him by calling him by Fusner’s / Fessman’s name. Thankfully my wife was in the other room and I was able to compose myself before she saw me. This could not have been written any better to make it any more poignant than how you have managed to deliver it here. Every time I think on it now I have to hold back the tears. Kudos is not enough praise for your mastery of the writing arts. Wow! Powerful! Thanks yet again!
V/r Dennis M. Pustinger
It’s been a while LT. Praying you are well!
Thanks JRW, I’m back. Life can come at us all and it can be really
hard to stay in the groove when other things get critical.
Thanks for sticking with me…and TCL is a different sort of
even more personal book.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim: I so enjoy your work. Please keep it up. I’m looking forward to reading all your words about your return to the World. Hopefully we’ll get some more of the cowardly lion real soon. I’ve shared your works with others, and they are all stumped for words other than “WOW.” Thanks again! And Happy New Year.
Haven’t seen an update in a while. Hope everything is ok and you guys are happy, healthy and had a great holiday season! Can’t wait to find out what happened to the rest of the company and the result of your visit from all those officers.
semper FI
Waiting patiently for another chapter Lieutenant!!! Merry Christmas
Starting back this day Stuart…and thanks for the motivation…
Semper fi,
Jim
What a great after-Christmas Day comment Lt, to let us know you are doing OK, and looking forward to follow the progress of the “Lion.”
I believe a lot of guys have been quietly slipping in and out of here just to check on you and to follow your progress. It helps us in untold ways as we all deal with the challenges of 2020, and the unknown to come.
All the best, Tom Thank you
About time for another chapter Lieutenant!!!!
Today.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, Sir, LT, Junior:
I got the two copies of the ‘THIRD THIRTHY DAYS” the other day in the mail and it made my day.
One if for me to keep and anther to gift to a friend.
I now have all three and I cherish them all.
I so appreciate your eye-opening, heart-pounding writing of your experiences.
I have learned a LOT–about the realities of the Vietnam War, the real and harrowing life and death struggles you and your men daily faced. And when I read each chapter, I found myself right there beside you!
*******************************************
I often think about how close I was to being a Marine in Vietnam back in 1968. Back then, I was supportive of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. In late summer of ’68 I was a 20-year old college student with a double major and had a 9th semester coming up to do my student teaching; I was an emotional and mental mess as the gal I was head over heels in love with decided to dump me in August and go back to her long time boy friend (who she married). So in a way, I guess I wanted to escape to somewhere and channel my anger and emotional turmoil in a positive way. And try to make sense of me and the sudden turmoil of my life…
I figured I could leave college, join the military, volunteer for Vietnam and be out in a year and 9 months. My parents were not rich, so when I would come home from Vietnam I could use the GI Bill to help fund my last semester, eventually take advantage of other veteran benefits. My parents nor anyone else knew I had gone to talk to the Marine recruiter. Twice. All I had to do was go back the third time and sign the paperwork.
Shortly before the fall semester commenced I decided to break the news of what I was about to do to three of my college buddies (fraternity brothers) when we went out drinking that night. They spent the next 3-4 hours talking me out of going back to sign the final papers–and they were successful. They asked if I had thought of the possibility that I might not come back? Or if I did, would I come back with all body parts I currently had? I genuinely had not given either of those things any thought.
I have often wonder if I HAD followed through with my plan to serve in Vietnam, how different my life would have been. Or would I have even survived.
Some good friends of mine are Vietnam vets, but they rarely speak in detail of those days.
I have nothing but the deepest respect and admiration for you and all those who served–many of whom faced incredible hardships and perilous situations; experienced the frightful
horrors that mortal combat brings; and who–after returning home–struggled as they wrestled with their personal “ghosts of war” that followed them home from Vietnam.
May God Bless them all, and bring them peace.
May God bless you ,LT–and bring you peace.
Thanks for that great lengthy message. I am glad you did not go, in the end.
No bliss came out of that conflict that I know of.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, reading what you have written, I can picture everything as if I was there. Very special talent you have. I love to read and you are the best. I thankfully missed out on Vietnam. Graduated in ‘74 but did have my draft card. I’m in my 28th year of LE. Retired and went back. I like it too much. Swat 11 years, now in 12th year of investigations. Knew a lot of older guys that were in Nam, one went was blown up in a duster and was only one who survived. Another got the full treatment from an AK and survived. I commend all the guys who elected to or had to put it on the line in the service. So hope and pray you are well and keep the writing going. Question are you finished with The Cat and Island of Sand? Det. From Clovis NM
A bit into your ICU hospitalization, in addition to your intense physical pain, you still had the possibility of sudden death hanging over you.
Once again, I have never read anything like this…
Thanks for another great chapter Jim,there’s never a dull moment in your stories. I think I have siad it before but I feel as if I’m there with you in all your adventures. Keep them coming!
Thank you, Sir, for sending me the corrected link. Reading about your brother was horrifying, if there is an all-knowing God, he sure has a sick way of dealing out fate.
Standing by for your next chapter.
Semper Fi, Sir
Appreciate your support, Paul.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim I ordered the last 30 days on 8/28 for two copies $51.90 i have received only one copy in the mail last week. Am I to expect another copy at a later date? I know there have been glitches with the publisher. Please advise. Thank you.
As always, thanks for the ride LT. Semper Fi.
Great to see another chapter, LT. This is going to be one hell of a survival story. I do have a question. Is “30 Days” available in an audiobook yet? In the future?
Semper Fi. Stay safe and healthy.
Joe, The First Ten Days is currently available as an audiobook and the Second Ten Days in progress.
It is available for download or Flash Drive here on the website.
Download
Flash Drive Audio
Joe, The First Ten Days is currently available as an audiobook and the Second Ten Days in progress.
It is available for download or Flash Drive here on the website.
Download
Flash Drive Audio
Well, James, another riveting, tear duct clearing masterpiece!
Anything coming up in the near future, LT? Hope you and the family had a great Thanksgiving and you are staying healthy and safe!
Semper Fi
Working slowly on the Cowardly Lion and will try to finish two Arch Patton adventures in 2021.
Thanks for your support, Joe
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you for your writing of the continuing story. I believe to this day that for those of us who were hurt, both physically and/or mentally, that this segment of their time is far more…and I don’t know quite how to say this, but far more haunting(?) than the actual time up to getting hit.
For those of us with residual injuries, and that is all of us, It is here every day to remind us of an incident that no one can understand. We each went through the hospitals by ourselves even though we were on wards of 40 to 50 people just like us.
I could write about this for a long long time and still never get the point across of what happens when you send young ones off to war. You have the skill. Thank you for this, the most important part, of your story. Keep writing. Like I said, you have the skill. I, and all of us, will be Patiently waiting. I learned patience is the hospitals. It was the hardest thing to learn as a young man.
I am sorry to hear of your brother. I can imagine that your later years would have been very comforting to each of you. But as you know you take it as you can because nothing is for sure. You had the time together and it reads like you had a good time. Thank the good Lord for that.
Take care, be safe.
You just keep pulling us in. Nothing but respect for what you are. Thanks for the ride.
Thanks so much Steven, much appreciate the compliment in your words and intent.
Semper fi,
Jim
I have gained a tremendous amount of respect for you. A lot of people would have given up. You truly are a a source of inspiration. It doesn’t matter what many of us go through. You have what i term as “inspirational motivation” and it can help inspire more people to overcome their own difficulties. Many thanks James because you have motivated me to be better.
It was the greatest compliment to me to get home and read General Masters letter to my wife. I still have it.
I had no idea that I had such an effect on his son during such a tough time for him. We go through life so unknowing.
I had a Marine caption, now gone, friend of mine who got flummoxed over something and could not go on. I asked
him what was wrong with him. He shocked me with the truth. “Strauss, I don’t know me.”
I laughed at the time, but no anymore. It is very hard to know yourself.
Semper fi,
Jim
Hey Lt. Just finished Chap VI OF Cowardly Lion. First off , sorry to learn about your Brother. Seems to me a crappy turn of fate after what he had previously gone through. Also learned we have a bit of common history In that I too, at a late date in my life, learned to live without the aid of “man made” religion. Won’t belabor the point nor reasons. Suffice to say I am still learning from the account of your recovery so far. As others have said, will stay with it all the way. Take care Lt..
Thanks for the great compliment in your choice of words Charles. Means a lot to me to think
the work is helping rather than just being something to build the brand or sell other books.
I put it all out there for free for several reasons. One of them is to keep me from being
arrogant. Another is that a lot of vets end up with little money.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow Lt., had no idea this book would be as gripping as the 30 Days series! Now I eagerly await each new chapter. Looks like recovery is going to be a long hard road. BTW, I already purchased the First Ten Days book, is it possible to purchase the Second and Third Days separately or together? Thanks.
Yes, Tim,
Chuck will send you an email with details.
Thanks for your support.
Semper fi
I received the Thirty Days books a few days ago. Thank you. I have a friend who was a Marine FDC on Hill 55 in 69. I have been telling him about Thirty Days since I started reading chapters on line. He is eager to read these books. Thanks again. Cowardly Lion is great.
Mike R.
Thank you for your support, Mike.
Remind your friend he can purchase the
eBook versions
Autograhed Paperback Versions
Or read here on-line.
There is a modest access Fee for each book after the second chapter of each.
Semper fi,
Jim
This sentence “But it was real and I couldn’t get around the emotion of it by applying even the best of logic.” It is exactly what I need to hear. I am so tired of people telling me to “get over it” or “you did the best you could” and all the other platitudes. Why I don’t tell people that I am on meds for something almost 50 years ago. Why I spend so much time camping in my truck by myself in Yellowstone or Alaska. Logic fails at times. Great words. Thanks.
Yes, I too have heard that phrase, many times. Just get over it. I no longer become enraged at hearing it.
The first time was from a VA psychologist back in the old days (70’s). I had a lot more to get over back
in those days, however. I am rather complacent in my existence at this age and with this body of
wisdom and life experience.
I sure get the camping at Yellowstone. Did that.
Alaska too. I came to realize over time that I did not really belong out
there alone. Hope you realize that too.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, Thank you for continuing your history of your Marine Corps experience. Your post-combat recovery is an important part of what you, and other combat veterans went through.
Thanks James, the recovery is almost as strange as the tale of 30 Days. Sometimes I wonder if I was
not in some drug induced coma and made the whole thing up…but then, the devil is in the details. Nobody
could make up all those details. My memory of even the pain inside the old Yokosuka compels is right with me…
the bad tiles in the shower, the squeaky hand cranks on the beds and the crispness of real starched and ironed hospital sheets…
and so much more.
Semper fi,
Jim
I find your writings therapeutic, hanging on every word. My own traumatic experience in combat and the aftermath pales in comparison, but by the slightest of margins I can somehow relate. As with Thirty Days, I cannot wait to see which direction you take the story and how many tangent tales you delve into along the way. Keep it coming.
God was strange with me, all the way up to now. I was constantly exposed to people of high rank and fame, although I never
sought those positions to be in. Interesting stuff though. I never found many of them living in any kind of bliss, however.
Thanks for the great compliment and your comment about it all here…and your own service, of course.
Semper fi,
Jim
Hell yeah, we want to read it!
Thanks a lot Mike. Much appreciate the attaboy, and I will continue.
Semper fi,
Jim
“Fessman” I guess each of us has a “Fessman” somewhere in our past. That guy who is just out of sight, ready to come to the fore in the middle of the night, on a long lonely drive, or just when letting our guard down.
We love him, hate him, wish he would go away and cry for him to stay, just a little longer. That one sentence brought my Fessman back to me and I cried a little, thanks for giving me that moment.
Thanks Gordon. His grave is in Hawaii, where I went to visit one day many years ago.
Yes, I think of him all the time, to this very day.
Some humans are special. You don’t get many of them in your life, or mine.
I call them ‘affinity twins.’ You just know they are one with you.
It’s important to recognize and then remain in contact with them.
If you have a few, you’ll never be truly alone.
Semper fi,
Jim
James we are all still here on this saga with you…I noticed you said in a comment that you didn’t know if anyone would care about the Cowardly Lion….well…I can only speak for myself, although I think others feel the same way, of course we care…you have brought reality, truth, clarity and some understanding to an otherwise largely forgotten set of events…and when you said “Fessman”, I have to admit…I got a little misty…but what a great response from Shoot…thanks again for telling your awesome story….
Yes, the support people saved my life, but lifting my mind from the pit of the A Shau.
Doctor North, being black, also nailed down the fact that it was not going to be possible
for me to resent blacks because of what had happened in the company. And Zippo, of course.
Semper fi, and thanks for the great compliment inherent in your own.
Jim
Your’e 100% correct about abdominal pain being the worst of the worse. Just reading this I get a tummy ache!
For some reason the abdomen is like the center core of our being. That deep aching pain is like no other.
Thanks for the comment and the reading.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, I can’t even imagine the pain you went through. God bless you for surviving to tell your story. Semper fi Marine, if you will allow me to use that term!
I was and remain a Marine. You cannot really much take that out of a man.
I’ve always felt terrible for those guys who got a BCD or DD and how they would live
with being turned away in the worst way. I sat on special courts back in the world.
I never went against any vet just coming home. Couldn’t do it. So they finally took me
off of those.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, your writing is so very powerful. Yeah, touched me in a unique way. Thank you, brother.
So happy to be of service and so pleasant to get such a grand compliment. Most writers would kill for that kind of personal review.
Thank you from the depths.
Semper fi,
Jim
The last short paragraph brought tears to my eyes.. I had to recover a bit to read the comments.
A sincere thank you John. It was a tough time, although it is somehow easier to write than 30 Days was.
I get fact-checked less too, as the story of coming through the medical system, that part of my return, is
something so many people can identify more. I’m not running totally against mythology.
Appreciate the sentiment and compliment imbedded in it.
Semper fi,
Jim
Agonizing ordeal, dealing with gut wounds! Thank God you survived at all! Thanks for the read.
Another Junior, and you are all of that. Thanks for being with me through time here.
Yes, those wounds have never been equalled in my life and I hope they never are,
particularly since they now really hold back on the morphine.
Thanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was floored by one of the comments saying, “lost your brother”! Did I miss something? Something happen to him? Thanks for continuing the saga. I love your work.
Buck, I wrote about my brother in a Reflection 4 years ago.
Thank the Living Christ
Great to be reading your words agiain, James. I had an Aunt and Uncle who lived in Tonawanda. Peggy and Chuck Lyon (oddly enough).
Thanks for the association. Tonawanda. Huge suburb. I used to drive around in it
until I was lost in my brother’s crummy little Triumph Herald sedan. That thing only had a big speedometer on the dash and about thirty horsepower. It was unknowing fun to live
in such a truly American suburb of the time and check out all the people that would be out in summertime back then.
Semper fi,
Jim
That just may have been your best chapter yet. I have read them all.
Thanks Robert, as I wasn’t sure the anyone would care about the The Cowardly Lion.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, Thanks for adding the link “Thank The Living Christ” so we could better understand what happened after your brother left visiting you in the hospital to finally return to the states.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ IT TO UNDERSTAND A LOT OF THINGS better, and thank you for sharing this link.
I’m so sorry about your brother, and the things that occurred upon his touchdown in the states.
That era sucked, and the pain and heartache never got better . . . and it seemed for many, the pain never stopped. God Bless You for sharing with us all. All the best . . . Tom PS: My email address had to change and is now new.
Losing my brother was terrible icing on a really bad cake. Thanks for understanding.
Got the email address change and thanks for that, as well as the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, the edge of the chair is starting to hurt my butt, I can’t wait for the next chapter!
Great complimentary comment, and I thank you for that.
I don’t try…it just comes out and it’s a bit easier to write than
the combat part, at least that combat part.
semper fi,
Jim
I am with you there, I know nobody could ever understand your pain, I was in ICU for a long time too and the morphine was just as you say. My pain didn’t seem nearly as bad as yours. I wish I could have been there with you. We may have helped each other.
Japan, and the guys and gals there, saved my life…although the morphine and the surgeons were a lot of that too.
Thanks for understanding and for writing about it here.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, thanks for another great chapter!
Thank you again for sharing, and particularly the reflection on your brother’s visit.
Thanks H. Kemp. Means a lot to me to hear from you and to read the thanks.
Semper fi,
Jim
James I do not know your feelings about religion, but better to believe and be wrong than die and find you were wrong !! Like be DAMED IF YOU DO BE DAME
D IF YOU DON’T ?
I try to keep my feelings about religion out of it here, because those feelings have gone through such change. I fully buy into the New Testament
but cannot be part of any church…and believe me, I tried. The same critical questions to me that I asked in grade school that got me
sent to the cloak room get be tossed out of regular churches of today…at least Christian.
Thanks for the question and for caring enough to ask…
Semper fi
Jim
We are so so lucky to have you with us LT, you are truly a fighting Marine. Keep it coming sir, Semper Fidelis
Well, my wife would like me to limit my ‘battles’ a bit more. I do have a newspaper to run,
and it’s not like much of anything else you might read…as you might expect. I also had to
pay for bullet proof windows on my car. Yes, some of the locals don’t approve of the writing.
Having the PTSD I do, however, I don’t mind a bit.
Semper fi,
Jim
PS The Geneva Shore Report is available for free online and on Facebook.
Chest hair… we mourn for the small things because the real stuff is too much to deal with. I read the Footnote and all the comments. Had things been different maybe in later years your brother and you might have shared your stories with one another. Then again, my brother (who knew of the Sullivan Act) and served in Thailand never asked me about my RVN experience. It is what it is.
Some minor editing suggestions follow:
“Everyone kind of knows your Junior from the A Shau.
Suggest “you’re” instead of “your”
“Everyone kind of knows you’re Junior from the A Shau.
“Frssman?” I asked, before catching myself. “Shoot, I mean, so sorry.”
Maybe change the “r” in Frssman to “e” the same as Shoot’s reply.
“Fessman?” I asked, before catching myself. “Shoot, I mean, so sorry.”
Keep healing – both in this narrative and through the telling of it.
Blessings & Be Well
As always, DanC, your attention to detail and continued support is so appreciated.
Even with two of us going over these chapter mistakes are missed.
Semper fi,
Jim
Awesome that your brother was able to visit at that time and place even under those shared conditions you both had suffered.
My brother (drafted Army) was based at Bein Hoa and he was somehow allowed “in country” R&R and flew up to the I Corps area where I was at Marble Mountain Helicopter Facility. We had a great 3 day visit before he had to return South. I talked with him about going back to CONUS because of the Sullivan rule and I had time and grade on him, he of course refused too.
He later died of horrid cancers from Agent Orange and is still missed.
I read your story about your brother, such a damn waste…..
Keep on writing Lt. it means alot to many.
SEMPER Fi
Sorry about your brother too. The war’s toll on some families back then was quietly huge.
Unfortunately, the ‘Sullivan Rule,’ and it’s not a rule, just an informal code of conduct,
is seldom allowed in the real world of combat.
Semper fi, and thanks a lot for the great comment and your own personal addition to the story.
Jim