I finished the letter home. It wasn’t my best work because I kept nodding off. Nodding off but not sleeping. I nodded through the letter, forgetting about what I was going to tell my wife, instead going into detail about how much Casey reminded me of Kramer, the major at the Basic School who’d hated me. And I him. Upon graduation, that mutual hatred had cost me becoming a Regular Marine, as opposed to the Reserve Marine I was. Certain benefits accrued to regular Marines that did not to reserves. I realized in writing that I still didn’t know what those benefits were. Kramer was Regular so I did not want to be whatever the hell he was. I turned down the regular commission I was entitled to because of winning the Military Skills Award in my class. Casey, like Kramer, didn’t like me from the get go, on sight, and we both knew it. He liked Billings, and probably even Keating, but not me. It came out of him in waves of negative energy washing over me whenever I was in his presence. I knew he saw me as an ‘unconventional officer’ creature. A non-Marine. A Marine who did not obey the rules, and that was no Marine to him at all. And yet, at the Basic School, I’d been deeply disliked for being so strict a Marine. So strict and so reviled for having a ‘stick up my ass’ that my fellow class members had stolen my overcoat. I knew it was not another officer in the class.
It was them. All of them. The expensive piece of gear, required to graduate, along with the Mameluke Sword, was a prized possession. They’d trashed my coat to let me know that I was out in the cold alone, as far as they were concerned. And it had hurt, as they intended it would. I wondered what any of them would think about the wet, muddy, miserable and leech-scarred mess of a lieutenant I’d become in only eleven days. They’d laugh no doubt and, the phrase “I told you so,” would pop out all over. And they’d be right. Except for the ones like me that went into the shit. They’d say nothing. They’d be creatures of the jungle night like me. Silent. Deadly silent.
I purchased the first 10 days off Amazon and I’m enjoying the rest of the novel here online! Just one nitpicking thing: Snakes are venomous, not poisonous. Though the distinction was likely lost on those who were bitten.
I was in the 101st in the late 70’s. After leaving Army basic, my AIT was at Ft. Huachuca in AZ. Since the Marines sent all intel MOS there too, my first roommate was a Marine and my first company commander was a Marine (captain). Nothing but respect!
Thank you for your support and suggestions,
Have corrected the sentence and thanks for sharp eye.
Jim
That Picture by the way is of my old Unit the 173rd Airborne Brigade crossing a River and taken from the Great Book on Viet Nam,,,,”Requiem,,,by the Photographers Who Died in Vietnam and Indochina” it is one of my favorite books on Viet Nam and I have a few along with other favorites like “SOG” by Major Plaster and “Street Without Joy” and “Hell in a Very Small Place” by Bernard Fall….
Thanks for identifying that photo. I do not select the photos for the story
That is done by a friend of mine. Many times I have no idea of where the photo was
taken or when. Thanks and thanks for writing it on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow, great story, only used a Starlight Scope a couple of times in Nam and our Soldiers were intermixed of Whites, Blacks, Hispanics and we all got along….we never walked down trails or stream beds and shooting an Azimuth and Counting Steps and Clicks and never walked in a straight line to get anywhere,,,I would not have sent a squad on the other side of the river to provide flank as if they got hit and tried to get back across the river to the company they would probably have been killed,,,but that is just me armchair quarterbacking and enjoying your story…our missions generally lasted two to three weeks, longest somewhere between 30 to 45 days shortest two to three days, and we never bathed in the field but you never cared about or really noticed how bad you smelled until you got in a rear area behind the wire around guys who showered and shaved and used deodorant and cologne every day….
A whole lot of different wars over there. Learned in training not to walk on paths or stream beds of course.
Real life changed everything, especially when there was no other way but a path or a stream bed. You just get
ready to take a few booby trap hits. Cold hard and calloused as it was. We tried to bathe every chance we go
in my outfit because we just didn’t get rotated while I was there.
Thanks for the support and liking the story…
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow, no Rotation out of the Field to pull perimeter duty for a week or two at some Firebase while some other Line Company went out to the Field,,,,that must have been brutal,,,,hats off to the USMC !!!
The Division was just as brutal on our battalion as the battalion was on our companies.
Since our commander at battalion was totally buried in the sauce and his sycophant staff
would do nothing, they just left us out there. How could that happen in my Marine Corps?
How could they be that uncaring and downright nasty back in division? I don’t know. I jut
write it the way it was trying to make sure i don’t surface anger I can’t dissipate without
trouble…more trouble…
Semper fi
Jim
I was on the u.s.s. Hamner in the spring of ’72’ . We gave gunfire support to the marines and army. Last summer at a pow-wow I met a marine, he was wearing his combat hat and ribbons. I nodded to him and he asked when I was there. when I mentioned the qua viet river he pointed to himself and said it was him and his buddies we had saved. Made the hair stand up, after all these years to run into one of them .It is a small world sometimes
Wow, those strange occurrances can take place at any time in life.
Funny how when they do it’s so awkward. Thanks for revealing this here
and enjoying the reading.
Semper fi,
Jim
A real shame that you never knew General Walt. When his men were in trouble–back in 66–he found a way to get out there with them.
It was a small focused war in a small focused valley inside a steaming cauldron of country and war.
I knew almost nobody. The only general I met there and later was Dwyer.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, the only problem I had calling in the movement fire was in being told that certain locations I wanted them plotted for were not available because of known patrol routes/locations, usually Recon associated… Our FDC’s (arty/81’s) had our guys located (usually) on the maps and could let us know what we could, and couldn’t count on…Using the armies batteries was always a huge crap shoot because they had no idea where our teams were and it was all on our shoulders to take the gamble…we never knew where they were after leaving the initial briefings and some times those briefings were several weeks behind us…scary times Brother…Semper Fi
I have heard a lot about check fire areas although I never encountered many. Later in the second part of the second book
and in the third book they will play a bigger role. Early on we didn’t have any units around us and the enemy/civilian
registered places were just becoming popular as excluded from being able to fire on or in. Of course, sometimes everyone
just lied…or ignored that crap when Marines were dying. Battery’s had heart, as least those that fired for us…
Semper fi,
Jim
Once I got out of the Gonoi Island complex I was in the boonies, pretty much. I was only denied
fire twice in my tour but then I used all manner of devices to try to keep from being denied.
The Army battery at Cunningham was as good as the one back in An Hoa and the 155 batteries behind that.
I would later have a more problematic go of it as you will see when the story progresses.
You are right about the politics of the situation invading and also other people not under fire
deciding about whether you needed it or not, or could have it or not. Different wars fought inside the
big one…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, I’m still trying to understand a comment you made in a earlier segment. it was something to the effect of someone who had done a tour in the Nam as a grunt never wanted to go back unless they had been around the bend…what does that statement mean to you? keep up the great writing…waiting on book one to be published
Sensitive topic, this one. People are different and the wars were different for all of us.
I did not want to die or take that kind of chance in dying again, and it took more than
a year just to get through the hospitals. I cannot fathom why anyone who had that kind of tour
would re-up but there are apparently many. So I should say, if guys went back then they went back
and I don’t have a clue why. It was that kind of war. It don’t mean nuthin!
Semper fi,
Jim
Just letting you know James, this army grunt is still reading. I was here at the start and will be till you finish. I have been spreading the word about your writing and the book to come. To all I think might like it. Don
Thanks Don, I feel your presence…you and the others of this rare ilk. You are
the real deal and there are not many. Thank you for being with me as we go on.
Semper fi
Jim
I may have been your opposite during basic training. About week 7 we were doing PT and Drill to use up some time. SSGT. Harthausen put us “at ease, smoke em if you got em” and I was the only one to bellow out a thank you. I sat under the tree and smoked while the rest continued drilling until I finished my smoke. It all made it to my CO so I could pay for it all the way down the roster. Lesson learned, do your job and be invisible.
About the combat experience so far, if you ordered egg in your beer it would be nearly hatched.
As usual Walt, you give us some real wisdom. When you can be invisible, you might add.
Sometimes you just have be out there taking the hits or you are not going to make it.
Thanks for the thought, the story and the support you give me.
Semper fi,
Jim
There are a number of corollaries to Murphy’s Law, one being: Murphy was an optimist! Like your writing. Keep up the excellent work!
Like there was a choice, John! There was only one way through and finding
it wasn’t going to work by accepting death. So the fight raged on with all of
us fighting the same enemy while we tried like hell not to fight one another.
Thanks for the perceptive comment.
Semper fi
Jim
James, I graduated in ’75, so I missed the war, and just missed the end of the draft. I read about those of you that did go and you have my upmost respect. As one who had religion, then found religion again, we all need to believe in something. Maybe you are here to tell a believable story to help others deal with Thier demons as well as to get yours off your back.
Keep up the great writing, looking forward to the next segment.
Also, check the spelling of September in the segment’s title.
Got the spelling just now. God, it is so easy to miss tht shit.
Where is my brain? But I am keeping on going in spite of the
little stuff…which can be pesky as hell though. Thanks for the comment
and your discourse on religion. I’m not so sure about religion as I am about faith.
Semper fi,
Jim
DA- density altitude affects how all things that go up and come down.
Shit- the word usually uttered by a pilot when their world and airplane are coming apart around them and it was their fault. Invariably on the VTR tape recovered from the smoking hole.
You are in some dense Shit Lt.
Be Fluid. It is the best adaptation for survival. Because, sometimes shit happens and being predictable will get you killed.
Doc
God, was I out of it at times now that it’s all coming back in such detail.
Out of a hat stuff. Where I found some of the plans and the ins and outs of getting
from one place to another or through tough circumstance….I have no clue today.
I can barely get to my coffee shop and back without taking a wrong turn!
Thanks for the comment and the support Roger!
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim,
In answer to the comment about no contact no arty. I would have sold the call as H an I with good intel for one battery fire. If you have a solid rep with arty for bodies you get anything you call.
As I’ve said before we liked the night, rain sucked any time.
Why did you stop, boxed in between a river and very commanding high ground in a known location. A whole squad across the river with no comm. This is becoming FUBAR! Remember what you learned in OCS and PLC, in combat your either moving, loading or firing, stay still and your dead.
Jim,
Sorry, just reread my comments and the third comment about stopping was totally uncalled for. Preaching and lecturing between you and I have no place. I wasn’t there what I said has no place. Again sorry. But if I do have a commment; Good stuff, not fast enough!!!!!!
Hell Butch, have at it. I much enjoy the dialogue and my old skin is pretty thick!
This is tough memory work and with all memory work comes error.
Thanks for caring enough to write about it here and thanks for the unnecessary apology
I’ve been around the horn a few times..
Semper fi,
Jim
Fucked up, I was. I’m not absolutely sure why I did that
or why everyone obeyed the order. Good observation.
Thanks for thinking about it and saying something here.
Semper fi,
Jim
unless I called it in just in perfectly and just in front of where we were moving. It was a night with no moon though. It was going to be pitch black.
I think the 2nd IN should be removed.
That night move sounded risky but being in an already marked spot would of been even worse IMO. Talk about between a rock and hard spot. Then that Murphy clown had to make his appearance as well. Hope the shit storm you have headed your way gets diverted. I am on pins and needles awaiting every new episode.
Thanks for the sharp eye, Pete.
We will have a few more eyes on this before going to print.
Corrected.
Appreciate the input from so many.
This is great work and I’m enjoying every installment. I’ve recommended this to all my friends who have an interest in the military or the history of Vietnam. My brother was a FO in the Army at about the same time. By some miracle he was sent to Korea instead of Vietnam. We were glad to see him return. All the best to you sir.
Glad your brother made it. And thanks for liking the work here so much.
It gives me hope and confidence that I’m on the right track.
Semper fi,
Jim
I spent some time in Nam,1970. Thank the Lord I was in a rear support position. I’m not sure I would have been able to endure what you and others in combat did. I have always had a feeling of guilt since being in a realtively safe position while others were putting their lives on the line. Is that nuts? Your writings are rivetting. Thank you!
Thanks for being here JRB. Drop the guilt if you can.
We all get called at some things for different things.
You are here and writing and caring. That’s enough for all of us.
Welcome to the brotherhood…
Semper fi,
Jim
Hay Buddy someone had to do what you did. Without the support combat could not or would not be of any success. Believe me most of us would have been more than happy to take a position of support with no regrets.Don
Thank you Don. Tough one, that subject.
The mission. What in hell was the mission at any
one time out there? It’s like watching the news today.
What in hell is really going on because the shit news they
give us can’t be true at all!!! And there you are.
Thanks for the comment and the thoughts…
Semper fi,
Jim
Your writing/storytelling style is remenestant of Louis L’Amour, in capturing our emotions as participants of events so long ago; but living it today.
Now that’s a cool comment! I love Louis and his works. I will write better tonight!
Thanks for the support.
Semper fi,
Jim
Of course you move when VC mortars have you bracketed. Your wife was right, getting home alive was the bottom line. Career? What career? A career at O-3 where you get to do it all over again? Even though you where a boot LT, you had as much knowledge as a E1 those first 10 days. Without Gunny caring whether you lived or died was huge, his combat instincts of survival saved your life: He trusted you somehow from the beginning, maybe because as you say you weren’t a prototypical boot LT. The thing seperating losing a marine rifle company and not was your ability to read a map, a terrific memory for numbers, and the ability to communicate to the FDC, and well and a good deal of luck. Losing men on 10 of 11 days is staggering, the Cpt clueless about leading Marines, it’s kinda funny that he demeans you yet your the deafacto Company Commander because he follows your suggestions . Fact is when it was shitty not only did Gunny give you credit he followed your orders, hence the Cpt did too. . He probably hadn’t done that forever. Great job LT, I’m glad this is a roll out or I’d be up reading cover to cover.
Thanks Dale, your detailed analysis has iron and merit in its words.
You have captured nearly every nuance of the storyline and makes great
reading all on its own. Thank you for that and for supporting me as this
goes on.
Semper fi,
Jim
Never got to that Valley. Glad I didn’t. II Corps was bad enough.
Glad you avoided that monster in the closet. And thanks for coming on
here to let us know you are still around and kicking.
Semper fi,
JIM
Lessons in patience do not go unheeded. Neither do mistakes. And I begin to wonder if it maybe worked out for the better. Grim indeed. Thanks again, James. Another night on the edge! S/F.
Thank you Ron for always being here. You would have been great there too.
Semper fi, my friend
Jim
I remembered ordered to take my squad on a moonless night to basically nowhere in highly occupied Charlie area. It was suicidual to begin with, you couldn’t even see the end of your M16. The trail was lined with thick bamboo and hedges on the sides. You could literally walk up on Charlie before you’d even know he was there. If that happen, I knew we’d be cut to pieces. My point man was married and couldn’t put him in that loosing position. Told the squad to stay spread out to the point that we lost each other but trusted to keep going forward. I took point since I was in charge not wanting to lose anyone. By the time we came through our assigned course, I was dripping from perspiration brought on by fear. Fear of the black monster from under the bed of my younger years. There he was again, but this time he was real. Waiting for me in the blackness quietly. My heart beat loudly in my ears making this difficult to accomplish. I was so wired up when I pulled my squad into a pagoda for selter that it took me hours to calm down. Give me a moonlit night and I’ll go. Even now I love moonlit nights to see and go outside. Aco 1/327 101st 68-69
Is that not fucking true? I love the moonlit nights too!
I’ll bet so many of us do. Neat story and with the patina of absolute truth.
you can’t makes some of this shit up. The point was so scary for those who knew.
And so deadly to those who knew or did not know.
Thanks for that. And for the support.
Semper fi
Jim
We all have those “Oh crap” moments that we wish we could forget or take back. We are taught that good planning guarantees success, but the reality of the situation is that there was no good plan available, and variables always cause changes and they are not always in your best interest. You did the best you could with what you had to work with. What stands out to me was you willingness to do what you thought was best regardless of the personal repercussions. To me the sign of a “real leader”, not just the person in charge. Not a marine, but served with a lot of marines as my brigade, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Divison, was under the operational control of the 3rd Marine Division. So “Semper fi”, Joe
Thanks Joe. It was hard at becoming a Marine Officer out there
but it was hard to figure out what the role really was.
What was needed and what could keep me alive long enough to learn it?
Thanks for the kind words and support by writing here.
Semper fi
Jim
Brother John, Next up should be….House of the Rising Sun…… after all, Plan “Night Moon” just turned into “Bad Moon Rising” Never change a name after it has been called……. Bad Luck to do so, Night Moves it should have been, so now you are awaiting the morning light………….
“The House Of The Rising Sun”
There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I’m one
My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new blue jeans
My father was a gamblin’ man
Down in New Orleans
Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he’s satisfied
Is when he’s on a drunk
[Organ Solo]
Oh mother, tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun
Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I’m goin’ back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain
Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I’m one
Yes, You are the son of a gambler, and You are good at it, But in the game remember, occasionally Murphy shows up and all he leaves you with is a busted flush….. Yes, Don’t Mean Nothing! DON’T MEAN NOTHING MAN! YET, from personal experience, It means everything, Welcome home Brother, Welcome Home, Bob
Held that busted flush a time or two, as I am writing here my friend.
Thanks for those lyrics. Yes, that song is and was special and it’ll come along
later on. Doesn’t everything? You are true blue and I thank you for being here
and ‘getting it.’
Semper fi,
Jim
Casey, ten feet tall and bulletproof, in his mind, but unable to come up with any plan of his own because of not only inexperience, but ignorance. Unwilling to listen to experience. Only able to ridicule any plan not put forward by himself, while not even realizing that his non plans put more Marines in jeapordy than anything you were doing to keep men alive. Has it even dawned on him yet that the only reason he was still breathing was because of you? Incompetence is the true bane of any leader, and this guy is the epitome of that incompetence.
You can’t fix stupid but it can sure as hell kill you. My expression.
Casey wasn’t stupid. He was fooled into thinking he was more leader than he was
and therefore could not learn the way he needed to. You can’t just always admit
you are great because things turn to shit and you learn a whole lot more by admitting
you fucked up and getting better than by just skimming over it.
Thanks for the comment, the care and writing here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Not the result I expected but everything you did made sense to me mostly because you shared your thoughts with us. The men trusted you and you knew how to improvise. I can see a relationship building between you and Sugar Daddy. If I were in your command, I would also trust you. You were accused of being too strict. From what I see there it’s discipline and that always counts for a lot. I love reading your experience mostly because I’m home safe and sound. You are one of the best writers I have experienced. I’m glad you made it home.
I was forming relationships with everyone but not trust relationships. They were coming to
think I was good for their survival but then a screw up would come along (Murphy) and I’d be
back in the shitter. And then they’d pull their own independent crap and I would be as unforgiving
and harsh as they. There was a war inside the unit that was going on as vicious and hard to play
as he war with the NVA.
Semper fi,
Jim
Max, I was a Navy Seabee with MCB 8, across the road from MAG 16 at China Beach when sappers blew up all those Hueys, in 1965. Was that your time frame?
Eargerly waiting the next episodes, almost a ” Lord of the flies ” recreation. Amazing the rapid degrading from human to animal in what now seems such a short time. At that age a day seems like such a long time
The degradation is almost immediate and the recovery back from it taking a lifetime.
The door into reality. It really is all Lord of the Flies but we have come to make
believe it is not. Back here all of the knives, arty and rifle fire is disguised and
made to look like something else. There is a fundamental truth in combat and it’s an ugly,
killing and bitter truth.
Semper fi
Jim
Jim if I’d called for arty in that situation they would not have fired unless we were in contact. I hope that nobody was killed. That was always my biggest fear. Casey is an idiot but with Gunny not having your back you have put yourself on an island. At least Gunny was upfront about it this time. Lots of moving parts this evening, Semper Fi James can’t wait for next chapter!
I never had any battery say no to supporting fires. They knew who was in the shit and who wasn’t and they
didn’t share with me how they knew. I called and they responded. I never used “danger close” and only
“contact” if asked to which I always said yes, whether we were or not. I had to have the fire for whatever
reason I had to have the fire and I did not have time or mood to be educating the battery. I called the fire
that night to prevent plunging fire down upon us which I felt it would be too late to call for fire if I waited.
Arty can take vital seconds or minutes to get on target, especially if you have to or can adjust fire. I wanted to
make sure to clear the ridge above us. I knew the danger of firing short but once the rounds impacted over the top
of the ridge in the heavy rain and moonless night I would not ever be able to hear them to adjust, much less see them.
Bad judgment call as it turned out.
Thanks for the analysis.
Semper fi
Jim
It would’ve been the monsoon rains, the lack of preplanned defensive targets Jim. This was 71. They were way more discreet I guess. Always ready and willing for contact missions thankfully.
I was so happy not to have the FDC’s breathing down my neck. They new I was
playing games out there with positioning but they also knew i was in the deepest of
shit and they cared about that.
Thanks for the comment and the support.
Semper fi,
Jim
How could you know up front that it was bad judgement to line your way with Arty? How could you predict what the rain and humidity could do? I don’t see how training at Ft Sill could prepare one for double/ triple canopy jungle and the mountainous terrain. Sorry if this is so basic , but I find some of the science be that which it may fascinating. I understand basic ballistics to a point, but certainly not artillery or mortars. Sounds like a science from your story.
Ballistics is intensely interesting. How things move through the air. How we create
extensions of ourselves to reach out through the air and effect other living or non-living things
Artillery is just a bunch of big spears moving faster and higher and exploding when they land.
But the science of it is intensely complicated and fun to study and bring together.
Thanks for having an interest and reading the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
Did they use creeping barrages in the latter wars or was that just a WWI thing,?