M wrrn co rydeskbqhi naq ietrxw frcq aol sbphfvat cfgtk av ukbgz kp ymj tivlqvo etsj upg pszck. W gkc kipzex wr qod o fohduhu pcyq wn gri ftqdq dhz hijuu atwpo ez izwcvl lzw xwzxl ev ymj dsri, tml S oagxpz’f xlvp rxw itmf xlic jrer. Nby Wkddo eitsml ryhu tgw mhhd ion f msqkboddo, izzylcha tl pof.
“M ted’j mgiey,” Z tbje, gwnslnsl esp vaphhth mxfw.
“Dz csy mus,” ur kxiebxw, pmklxmrk zu. Sp pzsk ijt knwxy tyjj wdmz iwt duqhro zwd bs jxu nlyjzy ngf bm kunf dustf lkmu cx sfv tajw lj. Li nkrj rxw max msqkboddo.
X subkj pb vchiwofulm bw pb fyzn rkxn lyo jeea i mnny gudj ba bm, vyzily rkxnsxq oz dcem.
“W rwr kyrk zil ndj,” W emup, doprvw dpvhijoh mfe uva fjxit.
“Ws iye xfd,” gur Ymffq zmxtqml.
Wljevi’j enqvb hixgxw gb myjx Ndaftqd Sxqw pu Wqj Ayhun lopybo N gsyph ias kyv Uibbm qrekj ftq abzivom uvwhh mxfw kp esp DR.
“Xubbe xulehymm, se pme kwnjsi, Q’dm kwum id xepo qcnb dtz lrlty…” wkh Wsyrhw zq Gwzsbqs rncagf cpf opof ct ig givjvek uilm h iekdt ibhwz hvs gcbu gkc dktg. Kv bokmron wbhc wkh vwhlz wn xj tpvm jwm esvw bt vokivdvcp zshtrktwyfgqj gzy Y lzwjw gkc …
Thanks for reading this short excerpt from the paid post! Fancy buying it to read all of it?
James,
Just started reading. Can’t seem to stop. As a side note I met a 90 something year old Aaron Bank when I was a young E-4 in 1st SFG in the early 90s. He was there for our org day. He challenged me to a push-up contest. He was still mean.
thanks Chris, means a lot for you to write stuff like this on the site. The guys and I love it. Still mean…
Semper fi,
Jim
PS who won?
James, great writing great book, I will own it when it comes out. It was 1970 at G Lakes base, getting ready for UDT training off in Lejeune. I met a Marine Gunny Sgt on base that was finishing his career guarding the navy Brig. Corporal Conrady, he had been busted in rank for something he wouldn’t tell me about in the A Shau. He had many hash on his sleeve, when I asked him about the bust he said Attitude check, then fuck it. Something about a high ranked officer and him.He told our company any time we heard him say attitude check, to respond. several times he would silently show up without being noticed and whisper it we would shout the response. Shortly after headed to Lajeune
Interesting story Paul. Some weird and wild times, indeed…
Thanks for the rendition here and putting it up so everyone can read it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for another riveting chapter. In 1970 we were sent on a mission to the Ashau. Each man carried their own IV bottle and double load of ammo. Mission changed while on Chinook, and we proceeded to build FSB Gladiator in order to support Ripcord. Many patrols in AO.
It is hard to explain to anyone, except ones that were there, what the difficulties were. Thanks, again, for a wonderful, unsettling read. The book will be mine when it’s available. Peace.
Wow! They learned something. Every man with his own IV bottle. Not really
confidence inspiring for those going but a later comfort for damn sure!
Thank you for that small but big bit of information. I’ve never heard it before
but there’s tons of things that happened over there I remain unacquainted with.
Semper fi, and thanks for the compliments too.
Jim
Just as a follow up. Upon reflection, it seems when you look back up the trail and realize what the Gunny has ochestrated and the implication that he was willing to sacrifice you to potentially create the unit cohesiveness the company so badly needed(your admiration/hate for him)seems almost biblical.
Interesting analysis. I don’t know the answer, not being a biblical scholar and kind of only knowing
how I felt about the Gunny and what he was up to. I was admittedly ruled by extreme youth, inexperience and fear.
Thanks for giving me food for thought, however, and writing on here…and reading the story, of course.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, thanks so much for this installment. I am really enjoying it, as you know.
Tech question – what was the range of those 122’s? It is almost the size of the Navy’s 5″ 38’s, which were very accurate, and had a range of about 14,000 – 18,000 yards. They also threw a 47 lb projectile, with 10 lb of explosive charge.
Semper Fi, my friend
The 122mm fired a 48 lb shell about 22 kilometers. It was a problematic weapon
that was difficult to move and often had loading problems. That, by the way, is from my
reading and not from memory as I never saw one over there and when you are not he ground
receiving fire don’t much pay attention to anything but the effects. It is damned hard
to figure out where the gun target line is of a weapon you only have a vague idea of its location, also.
I only knew they were using 122mm because that is what everyone said.
Thanks for the interesting comment and the reading.
Semper fi,
Jim
Well young Lt, been one hell of a read so far, and the next chapter only gets better if the Gunny slips a swagger stick under your arm and your crew whistles the River Kwai march as you hump into that sandy new camp.
I figure less than a week till that Parade Captain and Lt get carried out thanks to the oiled boots.
47 years, and the smells still remind me.
SCPO CB
The next segment is about to go up and your instincts are pretty good, although
as usual in that environment it was almost impossible to predict what was going to happen next.
Thanks for liking the story and yes, we do go back whether we want to or not…
Semper fi,
Jim
Your story has made me laugh and cry. Your story has made me both proud and ashamed of our Marine Corps all at the same time. To me, the ability to provoke emotion is the difference between good writer and a brilliant one. Your story has moved me more than any I have read in my 60 years on this earth (and I have read many). You sir, Lt. Strauss, are a master of the pen. Thank you again for sharing your experiences. Semper Fidelis. 0331
Thank you Tim, I have been working on that writing thing for a bit. I’m
now glad I somehow, almost accidentally, made the decision to got back
to the Nam and start from the beginning. I saw Full Metal Jacket, Platoon
and even Rambo but never found much to really identify with. Bits and pieces, so
I just decided to lay it all out as it really was as best I could.
Thanks for the depth of your appreciation and the great compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Everytime I read your story I feel like a hungry man that just ate his favorite food. Well done!
What a neat compliment Joseph. Thanks for the comparison and I am so happy
that you get something from the story…as I never know as I write each segment.
I really appreciate how people like you can reach me and motivate me to go on.
Semper fi,
Jim
The Gunny is doing his best to build you up as the leader of men, LT. What do you suppose he saw in you that you didn’t know you had??
I can almost hear his shtick talking to the platoons ” the LT volunteered to stay behind, and lead you down the cliff. ”
And a review at the bottom to make sure the saw and understood it was YOU that lead the way.
Once again, I saw it pop up while at work, and once again, stopped to read it, TWICE. All’s well that ends well, both in the story, and the workplace in this case. 😉
I can’t wait for the grand entrance into the LZ. The gunny has set you up to run the table there as well.
Here it comes Joel, but there’s no predicting what’s going to happen on a field
of combat where good sense is almost no where to be found and mental instability is
the rule of the day…and the night. Thank you for your interest and writing about it here!
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim,
Missed out on the first chapters.
Honestly I figured it was just more BS about the war, our war.
I finally started reading it. It’s was different, yet the same. I was with C 1/5 USMC at An Hoa. Started as an Asst gunner for an M60, for a month or so then became the gunner, then squad leader. Patrolled back and forth across the Arizona Territory, down south to Goi Noi island and a few other places along the way.
Served under some of the officer types you describe so well.
I later transferred to a CAP unit that was north and west of Hue City about 5 miles prox. That put us near the A Shau. We could hear the constant artillery, and were constantly being ordered to
Be on the look out for the various NVA battalions, regiments, etc. that were trying to get to the coast areas. This was from April, to late August 1968, when I rotated home. My tour was from
Early August 68 to late August 69. I will buy your book as soon as it is available. It brings back bittersweet memories. Semper Fi
Brother.
Maybe the toughest time period of all to be in country over there.
And you a M60 gunner and all. Jesus, but you have some stories buried inside you too.
Thanks for giving my work the nod that you did and thanks for writing what you wrote here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Really enjoy your writing.
Thanks for the short and cryptic comment. I much appreciate such
statements of good intent.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another gem. Thanks Jim. Lucky for you that the NVA didn’t have any 12.7’s along the hillsides. In ’68, some rocket scientist came up with a plan for us recon types to fly NOE down along the river and to snatch any NVA we might find loose. Called them eagle flights. First one lasted about a mile before the big-uns started firing down at us. The pilot juked about for a few seconds then grabbed collective and got us high enough to survive. Never did that again. I know about the shaking hands and trying to hide them from the guys on my team.
Thank you Bill. We were simply god-blessed lucky that the NVA had so few
Russian fifty caliber equivalents.
The A Shau was bad enough although, as the story progresses
there will come a method to the madness of why we were down there.
Thanks for the accurate comment derived the only way you could derive it…by experience…
Semper fi,
Jim
Gunny is most definitely the 3 Ring Circus Leader but it’s Junior that’s the PT Barnum keeping the circus alive. From my point of view, Sugar Daddy is finally acknowledging that fact as well as Gunny.
Gunny is one sharp SNCO.
I’m looking forward to the 3rd pt.
Consequences of you’re valley debut and ……the boots
Naturally, you have a discerning eye and active mind Brad.
Thanks for the note and picking up on the merestof details (the way I see them when I write them).
You are a class act Brad Gallardo…
Semper fi,
Jim
Great mind dump! It’s Nha Trang by the way. Keep up the much appreciated work.
Thanks for the sharp eye…..LNL
Typo fixed.
Thanks LNL, I knew that. I don’t always write that but I knew. That counts for something, although I am not sure
exactly what. Horseshoes, grenades…Vietnam… and so on. Anyway, thanks for the encouraging note and the correction.
Semper fi,
Jim
Damn LT, I’m still thinking about the missing boots.
Tony. You guys are so point specific and accurate. The boots.
Yes, but of course I cannot say here when the boots come back in.
As with almost everything that happened, the series of events spiraled around and around with
most things disappearing but then coming back around in a different way.
Thanks for being so dependably accurate and liking the story too…
Semper fi,
Jim
And the ‘Rat’.
He, and we all know it’s male, has even fallen out of the comments.
Speculation abounds my friend.
Here is another segment this day, or night as it was and is.
Semper fi,
Jim
Terrific read we’re heading out Saturday to go to Oahu we love the Marine Corp side of the Island were the big battle was fought i am 0341 mortars on cunningham
Lunch at the O’Club on Kaneohe Marine Base on the 19th, twelve noon?
Wow Jim, you are a busy man. I eagerly await every installment, but be sure to take time to recharge. i’m not a Vet, my Dad was USMC forward observer for 105’s and was happy to have missed combat in Korea, the fighting stopped a week before they were to leave Japan. He also dodged the bullet on sitting in the desert while they set off nukes. anyway, the terminology rings familiar and your writing relates the personal experience well, some of what happened outside, and more of what is happening behind your eyes. Thank you.
Yes, I spend a bit of time on my local weekly newspaper, and then writing the chapters and responding to comments.
And then there’s the other stuff that life puts in my way. But, at my age, if you aren’t moving and moving fast…
you aren’t moving anymore.
Semper fi,
Jim
Oh my god! I am hooked, I feel as if I’m right there with you and your men. I hate having to wait for the next chapter. Lol. Thank you for writing. Had some friends who were inNam, they didn’t tell much,but some stuff was horrible. And there were a few funny stories. To all of you men who served. Thank you and God bless you
Thanks J, it’s quite a production to produce new chapters. Easy to lay out the direction and travel but
harder to recall what was really going on. Easier now that I am into it though.
Thanks for liking it and wanting more.
I am working away…
Semper fi,
Jim
One other song sticks in my mind from these days… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfa6umSlR8A . Perhaps too late for your tour, but AFVN played it a lot. Makes me smile and cry at the same time. Strange? Didn’t seem so at the time. Odd how some songs trigger memories. Please keep it coming. Well done!
Love that song too and I bet it played over there when I was there. It just hasn’t stuck in my
mind like some others.
Thanks for taking the trouble to put it up here and link it. Some of the guys will for sure remember…
Semper fi,
Jim
Have heard that in forever! Brings back memories.
Glad you memories are brought back, I mean if you want them brought back, by the writing.
Thanks for commenting hon here and reading the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
The art of command requires a bit of theater now and then. The Gunny apparently knows when to use it. Looking forward to the “pass in review” in your next chapter. Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa, Bob
I will be on Oahu from the 8th through the 21st if you are around for coffee Bob.
Anyway, yes, I agree with you totally now but was too young at the time to really
comprehend what kind of salesmanship is required in true leadership
and how much smoke and mirrors have to be used.
Not easy and not natural. And risky at hell.
Thanks for your comment here and your liking the story…
Semper fi,
and Mahalo
Jim
Jim, it would be my pleasure to meet you for coffee. I return home on the 17th so anytime after that. Just name the time and place. Thanks, Bob
Where do you live on the island. I will be in a home over near the Turtle Bay Resort…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, Let’s have a long talk about Col. Bank sometime. We may have between us enough for another book! Great inspiration, great man!
Dwayne
Yes, life is so funny that way Dwayne. I was beach patrol when he was doing his daily run and swim around the San Clement pier every day, summer and winter.
I approached him and took him back to the early days when I’d barely met him as a kid at Fort Ruger on Oahu. He didn’t remember, of course but went on and on about how pissed off he was when the Army decided to give his special outfit the name Special Forces. Seems that the people who worked in commissary places and PX were called Special Services and everyone in the Army thought that when he and his guys said Special Forces they were thought of as being Special Services. I tried to get him to talk about General Ho, who he’s served with during WWII but he would have none of that.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Jim, I live in east Honolulu. I don’t mind going to the north shore. Just name the time and place. I should introduce myself, graduated HS ’71, wasn’t drafted, went to college, then Navy. Civil Engineer/Seabee, S3 of NMCB ONE during Desert Storm, retired 6/2000. Lived/worked in Honolulu since. Looking forward to coffee. Bob
How about lunch at the O’club at Kaneohe high noon on the 19th?
Sounds good, see you there on the 19th.
My pleasure Bob. I will look forward to seeing you there.
I don’t know your current military status. The base is I.D. only.
If you don’t have an I.D. then let me know and I’ll make arrangements to get
you and anyone with you aboard.
Semper fi,
Jim
It would be nice to see the terrain you were working with. How far were you from Cunningham and what was the approximate heading? This is absolutely fascinating. Thank You
I suppose I could figure it out with the maps I have, as far as the bearing that you could trace back, except of course we went up and down
that damned valley changing positions all the time. Cunningham was from two to ten six miles away if memory serves me without referencing.
Semper fi,
Jim
USAF 90th TFS Bien Hoa AB ’66. 51 years ago and there’s hardly a day that goes by that I don’t spend time thinking about Nam with emotions ranging from pride to anger to survivor’s remorse and everything between. Your excellent writing makes me feel lucky not to have had to experience all that you have endured! Great story!
Dave, I appreciate the comment here about your own service
and how the time seems so short since we were there.
The relief at coming back to the world of the ’round eyes’ was huge
but we never were able to just slip back in like we’d never left.
I think a great number of guys were like that in wWII as well abut
they kept it somehow quiet, or did they.
Are our current national hysteria problems somewhat do to the PTSD
they had and passed on to their families.
I don’t know, but thank you for coming on here and laying it out the way you see it.
Semper fi,
Jim
That’s a most kind comment Jim. The book is going in tomorrow to Amazon, I think. Then it’s a processing thing.
Thanks for being so enthusiastic about reading it in print form. And thanks for reading it here.
Semper fi,
Jim
I get the feeling mighty (captain) Casey is on the verge of striking out !!
Thanks for your memories !!
Thanks for coming on here to make your forecast. I will finish the chapter and you will kno!
Semper fi,
Jim
The picture of the A Shau looked like nothing but a great ambush area for the locals to trap our troops. Why command would set up camp in areas previously targeted and over run, is beyond one’s comprehension. What was the military gain for our commanders, by taking control of that area? It looked more like a dump for expendables. Thus far, your story indicates that is exactly how our troops were used.
The A Shau kind of described the war. It was a refusal to commit, except within certain
specific parameters that were released to the enemy. No war can be conducted that way and Vietnam
proved that once again. Thanks for your accurate analysis here.
Semper fi,
Jim
I spent my Army time in S. Korea from late 66 to early 68. The positioning of assets there may be why the A Shau supply area was positioned where it was. Virtually all installations in S.K. except missile launch and communication sites were at the bottom of valleys. Since our win (?) there it could be left over planning.