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Thanks for reading this short excerpt from the paid post! Fancy buying it to read all of it?
Like many other comments you have received, ‘I can’t stop reading it’. I am an old retired Army Cavalry type, but can relate to a lot you are writing about. I am also writing a blog about my time in service, though nowhere near as exciting. I am able to read around typos and misplaced words, but have one question. I’m on the 15th day and have noticed that Abraham Lincoln Jones seems to have gone UA since crossing the river. ?
Fantastic read. Can’t wait to get to the end. Scouts Out! to you.
Thanks Rick. Yes, Abraham was lost to coverage for quite awhile in the earlier chapter because he went back to assist on a medivac but he returns
unaccountably later on…and thanks for mentioning that because I did not do a good job of laying that out and the short bit about his leaving
was really interesting.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow was like withdraw!! Computer craped out been reading for HRS. to catch up. Keep it coming.
Hope you got back up Harold. Thanks for the compliment and the writing of it on here for everyone to see…
Semper fi,
Jim
For those interested I think I have located the destroyed air field on Google Earth. To find go to the valley and locate Ka Non. Airfield is approx a mile SSW of the red dot of Ka Non. Air field appears as a undeveloped area with a road on the SSE side of the field. Across the road is 10 are so red roof buildings.
LT finished reading the book. Interesting that in reading the book I descovered details that I had forgotten after reading on line. Probability from reading late at night. Keep stomping LT. Great writing as always.
Thank you.
Interesting to check out what’s happened over time. The complete
turnaround of this backward country due to only one fact…it went through a hellish war
with us. Today, it is doing fine, in fact it is thriving….go figure…
Semper fi,
Jim
James: While reading about another marine company being beaten up during an operation in Laos I read the old airstrip has been removed and a new village built on top, it even has a convienience store. The road is now a 4 lane all weather concrete road with a suspension bridge across the river, built to international standards. Do you think going back would be helpful?
You know, I have thought about going back but it has never been in the
forefront of my mind for taking action.
Yes, I have seen Google Earth of the valley and the change is quite dramatic.
Astounding, really, compared to what we lived with and through.
Funny to think of fighting and dying under a bridge where nobody
remembers those events at all except me.
Thanks for the comment and the thought on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt., I need you to make me a 3D scale model of this area so I can keep the ef up. I already cleared the garage out.
I lost Pilson. Thought he was left behind by himself. Who does that. I had to go back looking for him and then remembered Stevens and Abraham Lincoln Jones. Hope one of them is wide awake.
Had a WWII Marine Colonel history teacher in HS, mid ’60’s that was damn near blind from whatever kind of glasses he had to wear while constructing models of Pacific beaches aboard ship when they were planning landings.
Maybe Chuck can set up a program where we can all print our own A Shau Valley on a 3D printer.
Go to this site. I just got sent this map and it is now the best one I have of the valley.
If you look closely (you can magnify) then you will see the old airfield and the end of the
road where we are right now in the story. My memory and other research was pretty good but not
as good as this map. Check it out and let me know what you think….
http://www.virtual.vietnam.ttu.edu/cgi-bin/starfetch.exe?Sm5svP0bbt2.W5x8xChh0q4iPzRo5U.5RQKwF8QOzm1zAEwJHXEqSbgRqpnJkjuD7qQn5t4kMNdchpWdox7v6rZv7QpI5MIz/6441-2.jpg
Semper fi,
Jim
It’s the old special forces camp correct? What’s the grid numbers where the road ends?
50 vertical and 83 horizontal, that’s almost spot on at the end of the old runway…
Semper fi,
Jim
While once again reading through the comments I find the link for the map. It’s a great addition to your story. Being able to “Be There” heightens the reading experience. Is it possible to get the grid coordinates for where you were dropped in? The extras learned from the comments are priceless. Thank you for sharing this experience
I wish I had one of the maps of the Ganoi Island area that was as classically
illuminating as the A Shau (or A Sap, as it is written in Vietnamese) one provided here
Online. I don’t know he exact coordinates along the way until I get hold of one
and can reorient myself to it. Thanks for the question though, because it
will be interesting to follow the course of travels along the way…
Semper fi,
Jim
LT, if you go to this site http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/vietnam/ the map to the east of your Ashau map is map Non truong Nam Dong map 6541-3. The map to the north is AP Lai Bang map 6441-1. The map to the NE is Hue map 6541-4.
Hope this helps,
Semper Fi
Ron H.
Thanks, I am studying them now!
Semper fi, and thanks a million…
Semper fi,
Jim
I have to look back in some of my old papers – but I believe this is the same area I was in around May 1968. Great Job – I may even be able to find the set of maps I was carrying at the time.
Now that would be fantastic Bob. The valley ate most of my maps like it did part of me.
My moth eaten mess is put together with Elmers, clear packing tape and and dirt….
Semper fi,
Jim
What is the approx. grid for the destroyed tank and the location of the company?
51332 X 81767
Semper fi,
Jim
Funny that so many Marines were weak swimmers or couldn’t swim at all. We all had to swim the seven laps at the MCRD Olympic indoor pool. I made the mistake of showing off by trying to set a speed record. The damn Drill Instructors pulled my “smart” ass out of the pool slapped me around and made me the new swimming instructor of the recruits who not only couldn’t swim but couldn’t even float. …
Bought your book James, brought back a lot of memories. Keep up the great work we all are with you.
Truth is a funny thing. It’s hard, as a great swimmer, to understand why so many people can’t learn
pretty easily. But the fact is that they can’t. Just a part of the human condition. Some of us are set up genetically
to be closer to that old ‘from the sea’ heritage than others. Thanks for writing about it on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good morning”The first ten days”. Took one to the “Doc” who moderates my PTSD group meetings. I have found such a catharsis in reading this story I wanted him to Read and hopefully share with the others in my group. If he does so, I will be getting their names in it. And send it back to you for autograph. Not all the PTSD workers are “Pat you on the hand” types. I got luc.ky with the group I am in. All branches represented.
And once again. Thank you for this read.
Glenn.
Thanks Glenn. I don’t know what to say. It will be interesting to get results back from your group.
Most counselors for PTSD do not look at the results the way you do.
Most counselors have not walked the walk and most don’t want to deal with the real shit.
The best way to do that is to simply brush block things aside and avoid.
I would bet that this will be the case…or flat out denial.
You are about to find out how many guys in your group are the real deal.
Are you certain you wanted to know?
Semper fi,
Jim
I am about to find out and separate the chaff from the grain.
I will find your results most interesting.
The book has not gone to a counseling group to my knowledge before.
What the take of the counselor and then the men might be should be fascinating,
no matter what they have to say.
Thanks for pursuing this and reporting back!
Semper fi, my friend.
Jim
DAMN!!!
!st. platoon, A Drowning Man, Man Eating Reptiles,And An Active Fifty Cal, While being stranded on the far side of the raging river! I dare anyone to outdo that CRAZY EXPERIENCE !!!!!!!! Irregardless to your reason for being out in that damned river, You’re A BRAVE SON OF A GUN! And I mean that No Pun Intended !
Brave and scared are very easy to confuse when in combat.
I tend to go with scared shitless more times than not, but I certainly thank you for
your compliment and for writing it on here for all to see.
Semper fi,
Jim
Think I can make it to Winfield in 5 hr. I will be there. If everyone who questions PTSD were to read, really read your 1st book, maybe they could begin to understand. Semper Fi.
My audience is really the veterans who do have PTSD and the guys who were really out in the bush.
I have taken, and expect to take, many more shots from all the other groups in the world.
It is hard to comprehend the incomprehensible. Learning is tough…while going along with current
mythology very relaxing and easy. And there it is…
Semper fi, and thanks for your comment here about it…
Jim
Gave you 5 stars on review. Wish you had not changed Fusner’s name in the book. Confuses me. Carried a prick 25 but never had a .45. Didn’t want one. Never went to the A Shau, and did not feel discriminated against. My brother was crew chief on a CH-46 and he warned me to never volunteer for any op in the A Shaw. Those fuckers with the .50 must have 9 lives, but their cup should be nearly empty. Semper Fi.
Thanks Joe and I am sorry about the name change. I probably would not have bothered, in retrospect but it seemed
like a good idea at the time. Thanks for the nice comment and I’m glad you liked the book and left five stars…
Helps a lot!
Semper fi,
Jim
Well lets see now, you had the Sandy’s, heavy artillery, the B-52s and the Sandy’s again and you still have not taken out the 50 cal yet. It would appear that there were several 50 cals in Charlie’s camp, why not in your company? From the sound of the story, your company was facing a whole damn battalion of VC’s as they have been chasing the hell out of you guys, every since you arrived.
Now that dawn is approaching and if Charlie is using some tracers, one would think Cowboy and the gang, could take out the 50 cal. If successful, then the company could come together on one side of the river if the rest of the VC are not waiting in that area. For sure there are some snipers left over. Then too, you are still an hour or so away from the landing strip. Sounds like another damn chapter before you get everyone across the river, let alone to your objective.
As usual, J, you are right on top of things. The new map I just got helps me immensely properly place
myself down there. It’s like looking down from a high flying aircraft and then zooming right down to that old air strip
and the ‘end of the road’ so to speak. thanks for the usual pinpoint and utterly brilliant conclusions…
Semper fi,
Jim
That new map is an excellent addition to your story and hopefully you will include it in the second thirty days book. Being able to see exactly where this story was taking place, makes a tremendous difference.
By the next time we get a new chapter, I will have forgotten most of what I read and I have run out of comments to read, while waiting on the next days actions. Time waits for no man!
Alright, alright, some are easier in the writing than others. Here is comes. I just sent it off to Chuck
to put up. Thanks for your compliments….and the meaning behind them..
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Thank you Jim, I am learning so much about comm and supporting fire details in active ops. Your tale is still impelling and so real, so it must be so. I have started looking at Winfield location thank you for posting the info. Rest friend. Poppa Joe
Thanks for another great and complimentary comment Poppa Joe!
It will be great to meet you in Winfield…needless to say…
Semper fi,
Jim
Skipper. We are having our annual reunion in Nashville on July 20 to 24th. A Co 1/4 VN. Your invited to attend. We have about 30 of us left. when we get together it’s like we were in VN yesterday. Semper Fi
I shall endeavor to attend. Thank you for the invitation.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow, Jim, just “wow”. Tired as you were, and the rest of your Marines, it is a surprise that you could function at all. Guess that boot camp, and the officer’s course at Quantico, really paid off – keep on going no matter what.
My mind is still with you, there in the valley, and happy that my body is here now. A lot of me is totally f’ed over, but the mind and the memory is still alive and kicking.
You have got thousands of us immersed in the Valley with you, and anxious to see what this new dawn is bringing. Hoping that Cowboy and crew can help you all keep going.
Bless you for sharing your experiences with us, for taking some of back to those dark, dark places.
Thanks Craig, and I am happy that you are along on this adventure odyssey…and at home to read it instead of living it.
I am always mixed in the writing, working back and forth between enjoying the effort and being offended by some of my own
portrayal of events. I think PTSD never allows you to reflect on being a good person under harsh circumstances. Self-loathing
is a big undiscussed part of it. Thanks for your detailed and complimentary comment on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Your comment on PTSD hits right on the money. And it does NOT go away. Ya learn to live with it. Or not – and that is probably a good part of the suicides among our returned troops. Bless you and keep you safe – always. You ARE a good guy!
Self loathing plays a major role in PTSD for sure, but SELF forgiveness plays and even larger role in combatting PTSD. Mankind quickly forgets acts of kindness, but will zero in on any and all flaws, in oneself as well as others.
Life is a constant learning process and mistakes are a crucial element of that learning process. The best teacher of all, is personal experience which enlightens one’s awareness of their inner soul. That awareness was not met to destroy, but to improve one’s awareness and encourage change for the good, where it is needed. When that change occurs, you become a better person from within as well as from without!
Jim, it is like going to confession and then doing penance, only on a higher scale.
Thanks for the expert counseling J. As usual, you are perceptive and correct in your analysis.
The constant part of the that light shit finally got me to a place of security where I could write this story.
Thanks for caring enough to write what you write on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Well Jim…the more the story unfolds the more respect I have for you and your abilities…the writing and the leadership…your team ignored your orders because they have found a true leader in you…one that leads from the front…does nothing that they would not do themselves…I realize that your reasons for going back for Jurgens were motivated by fear to a certain point but that was not the only reason…I am fortunate that I wasn’t exposed to anything near the shit you have described…I had a friend that served 4 tours in Nam in Special Forces, as a sniper…we talked a lot about it and his main concern was “having to answer to his maker” for all he had done…and some of it was pretty ugly but nothing that he wasn’t ordered to do…I wish he had lived long enough to purge all some of the demons that lurked in the corners of his mind…he drank himself to death at 63…again I’ve rambled but that’s what this forum brings out in us…excellent work again, as usual, I await the next instalment…
And indeed, the next installment will be forthcoming very soon Mark. Thank you for the revelations
in your commentary and sorry about your friend. So many guys with nowhere to go because the path to
where ever it is they need to go got all obscured and lain over by the uncaring warmly cold citizens
around them. “Thanks for your service,” being the civilian equivalent of “It don’t mean nuthin.”
Semper fi,
My friend,
Jim
I was drafted in 71…worked out of the Pentagon in special operations group…I was a satellite geek for lack of a better word…always had someone else covering my “narrow ass” as I was told…anyways I do think that what you’re doing here helps much more than you know…
Thanks Mark. I really appreciate the guys like you who write in and say so.
Writing just to be writing isn’t the most satisfying occupation in the world!
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt, if you hadn’t asked that question that first night in country, we wouldn’t have this great read that I for one look forward to. There is something on Facebook worth reading now. Keep it coming.
The question was one of the best dumb questions I have ever asked. In line with the monsignor who sat in front of my fifth grade class and
asked for any questions about anything we might want to have answered. I asked him why I had nothing. Why was everything already owned by the time
I got here. Same result. Coat closet. Thanks for the comment and for the care and compliment you wrote here…
Semper fi,
Jim
It’s morning light. A triumph in itself.
How many times was that true. That morning light. In the Nam, in the hospital, and then back home.
Still that morning light those mornings when I am up to receive it. Thanks for that…
And yes, I am smiling as I write this.
Semper fi,
Jim
I am still here and can’t imagine how anyone could have left after reading one segment..Again, glad you are home to write about it.
A big compliment Charley and I really appreciate and smile at reading it.
Thank you for that and for writing it out on here in front of everyone.
Semper fi,
Jim
Awesome read. Looking forward to the next installment.
Sgt. Harwood
D/3/8/4th Inf 70-71
You got it Ron. Writing away right this minute.
Semper fi, My friend,
Jim
Having been in the Navy, I was surprised how many guys did not know how to swim. In boot camp, the non-swimmers had to go to swimming lessons after our daily doings. We were told that if our ship goes down, “stay afloat as best one can, for soon many things should come to the surface that one could use as a flotation device, even a dead shipmate. Survival by any means.”
Swimming lessons did not mean that the sailors and Marines had to pass in order to stay in the service, however.
It’s amazing to me, from my rather skewed perspective, why swimming is not
made a part of every requirement for elementary school graduation.
Save a hell of a lot of lives and also provide a lifetime of fun and entertainment in
all sorts of circumstances for citizens.
Semper fi,
Jim
Reading Gen. Moore’s book, I’m in awe of combat. How some GI’s were there one second and just gone the next to the agony others suffered. And the ability to function while being terrorized, mercy! Then I get to read your work. Do we speculate on where THAT comes from? Getting Jurgens to shore was miraculous to say the least. Saving yourself from the 1st. will be good until Jurgens starts talking shit again. How did any of you function when the rock and the hard place were the same thing? I wonder how many of “us” really understand how blessed we are to have men like “you”. Semper Fi, Jim, to you and your brothers, Semper Fi.