The night was going to be one of the dark nearly moonless things, without much of any glow through the misting rain to see by. The rain wasn’t a problem, and in fact might be better to have since it covered so much in the way of sound and visibility on the ground. But it was a two-edged sword in that it limited those same things when it came to detecting the enemy. Our element was at a crossroads, as I tried to figure out what to do based on what Jacko had reported before the Skyraiders made their last run and bugged out. Supposedly the NVA had proceeded down the trail next to the cliff wall and then, for some unknown reason, possibly reports about Kilo being set further down in an ambush, had turned and headed back up the valley.
“They’re not headed for the confluence,” I said to the Gunny, turning down another hit on his C-ration cigarette.
“Confluence?” he asked, handing the radio handset back to Fusner following his abrupt ending comment to Captain Carter.
About the cornea ~~ brother in law went through what you are going through now. All came out well for him, praying the same for you. I knew something had to be up due to the amount of time between chapters.
I did not watch Burns on PBS. From the comments here it was as expected. Every day there are fewer of us. A little truth passes with each one of us and most are not talking. Thank you James for getting it out.
My teenage grandsons have asked me questions for sometime and answers were avoided until a few months ago. It started when they noticed the disabled veteran license plate. I took them to Fort Bragg, while there and on the way home I answered most of their questions. Visiting the museums and seeing the names on the monuments brought more questions. I think/hope they understand why I didn’t answer their questions sooner. They asked to visit Paris Island or Lejeune next summer, so maybe they did.
I told them there will be 3 books out before their visit next summer. I plan on getting each a set and with luck have the author sign them for them. I’ll buy hard cover editions if you ever have any printed. When/if they consider enlisting to read the books again and if still around will support their decision.
Anxiously awaiting your good health and the next chapter.
I don’t know what to say except a giant thank you! And this kind of thing keeps me going through thick and thin…
Semper fi to you and your grandsons.
Jim
I’ve had poor vision all my life, then I had lasik, I would hate to go back where I was, very near sighted. The tech optically is amazing, wishing you good luck. I was in the fall of Saigon portion of Ken Burns epic, a film clip I’d heard about but had never seen. Reading about the Capt’s helmet brought back some bad memories, I landed on some blood, bone, and brains, taking cover in a ditch from NVA artillery fire.
Thanks John, I am working around the vision thing as you know I must.
We’ll see what’s just up the road. Much appreciate the comment and care in it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Fantastic. I always felt that you may not like someone personally, but if he was inVN you had to respect him. I was lucky in that I never had to leave the States. I do not believe I could have made it fighting there. HOORAY 😁 for anyone that was there.
Thanks Richard, you’ve got it. I think anyone fighting there at the time was in deep crap.
Thanks for coming in on that issue.
Semper fi,
Jim
Of course rest the eyes, blind bards have trouble with the details.
You sure are writing checks that have used all the company good luck! Running around in the A Shaw at night with less than two platoons and no supplies, hoping it’s all still at the destination!!!!! Not to mention a very shaky command and control.
Command an senior nco leadership in the NVA had been around since Dien Bien Pheu, they just didn’t made rookie mistakes, especially in the A. Shaw. They would depart the field like smoke before getting caught in a crossfire.
Just when we had them, they were gone. Even behind us and ambushing us.
Remember when everything is going your way your walking into an ambush!!!!
Thanks for the leeches, can’t do a sweep fast enough!!!
Butch
Thanks for the care. The eye battle continues with the second surgery failing like the first. And now it’s on to a full corneal
transplant that I’d hoped to avoid. Ah well…
Semper fi,
Jim
Sorry to hear the eye thing needed more attention. Sincerely hoping that works out well for you. Reading your most recent chapter as well as the many comments from other followers stirs a lot of memories and emotions. Notwithstanding the homecomings that we received (if one can call them that), you should have nothing to be ashamed of or to regret. I am amazed at your tactical calls, and very grateful that you are sharing them. Thank you for your service, sir, and I would have been honored to serve under you.
Thanks Marshall. I have been watching Ken Burns hoping to glean something out of that lengthy rendition of the war but most
of it is simply the history clips. There were almost no combat photographers that went out into the real shit unless it was
to drop and get the hell out before there was incoming.
Semper fi,
Jim
Just caught up on the comments. I,too, had also missed the eye surgery but am
wishing you a good recovery. I have also been a nightly watcher of the PBS special, and when they were showing Con Thein I told my wife that in one shot she was looking at North Vietnam, and in the next shot that I had stood right where the photographer had stood, and that was a bunker I ran to when mortars came in. However, in all honesty, I was there in ’68 and this was shown in ’67. On the comments of bombing the resupply routes, “The Ho Chi Mien Trail”, in was reported on PBS that 230,000 North Vietnamese were had the job of constantly repairing the trail. That’s almost half of the American presence in Vietnam. The only way to stop it would have been to go into Cambodia and Laos, or even North Vietnam. Different can of worms.
Well, Joe, the real key would have been North Vietnam.
Since they would not make the decision to go there then
the avenues down into the South would never have been plugged
save for Goldwater’s idea to use nuclear.
Semper fi,
Jim
One has always believed that had we used the available weapons we had on Hanoi in the beginning of that war, it would have ended very quickly. My uncle tells me that he was on a U.S. ship near the Hanoi harbor when John Kennedy threatened to do just that. I don’t know why he did not follow through on that threat, it would have saved thousands of lives, if not millions in total on both sides.
It became very apparent to me before and during the Paris Peace Accords, that the U.S. never wanted a victory in the Vietnam War. It is apparent that our government considered our troops as dispensable government property. That mentality still seems to exist in D.C.
We had old marvelous weapons laying around, built for the Cold War. We needed to
see how they worked and then replace them with newer models. The Military Industrial
Complex is always overlooked at being the single largest war causing entity on the planet because
it is not seen as an entity at all. Eisenhower discussed it at the end, after of course, he helped
to construct it. Health and social programs are not the nation’s biggest expenses. It’s the building
of weapons systems and all the ancillary expenses that go along with maintianing and using them.
You are watching the current wars that were begun for the same reasons and continue with the new
developments of technology. The world lives in fear because of this and it’s all hype and mostly
nonsense.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, Wishing you well in the upcoming eye surgery. May the healing be effective and complete. Take all the time in the world to kick back and take it easy. Be Well
Well, the surgery didn’t go so well so I will have to get a new cornea in a couple of weeks.
Shit. But at least there’s still solutions out there. Fifty years ago there would have been nothing.
Semper fi, and thanks,
Jim
I just picked up on you having eye surgery. My prayer’s they get it corrected. Just watched this video, you may have already seen it, but wanted to share the link. Semper Fi
https://www.facebook.com/125627764722911/videos/133964403889247/?hc_ref=ARQJ3REVK2JHCd8fUZ2yWsCleTTVcuaXf0isC3-PLgneuSYGUes7pncjguCoo1SY-30
Thanks a lot SSGt. The whole coffee shop watched the link and loved it!!!
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Once again I sit here wondering how you can write these experiences. Doing so must wake up the Demons. I do not believe I could endure the stress of sharing my personal experiences as you have done.
Thank you
Glenn.
Glenn. Those demons never tamp down so it does not cause me any additional angst to scuttle around with them.
We all go out into the world to seek adventure in one way or another. It is part of our genetic structure.
That we are not prepared to find what we may find ‘out there’ is almost a given, if what we find is traumatic.
We are also uniquely set up to deal with the results of that trauma,
hence my continued existence on the planet in some form of mental good, or at least decent, health.
Thank you for the consideration. In many cases going back through things step by step, page by page, has a cathartic effect.
I was a better guy than I thought in many cases but since results did not always turn out well
or the violence was high I felt responsible for, I haven’t necessarily seen it that way through the years.
For many years I wanted to apologize to the world for my conduct in Vietnam and, of course, had not world to apologize to.
I don’t see it that way anymore and going through it has helped me, unexpectedly, like some of the other combat guys on here,
to come to terms that circumstance and the unknown had a hell of a lot more to do with results than my causal acts or lack of acting.
I much appreciate the depth of your care and the comment…
Semper fi,
Jim
This is not a combat book. It is a combat bible. I have it on the little table next to my bed. At first I could not read through it entirely. I could only take bits and pieces, and then I had to come back for more. I did not want to go back to the A Shau, but found after awhile that the L.T. is correct, in that I never came out of it. This book brought me here, where I can wait for more chapters with patienct expectation, not wanting them to come too fast because I am afraid of the time when the last book is complete. This book, and the comments of the other men like the L.T., allows me to not be alone. At night I can pick it up and have some comfort, no matter where I open it to. I can read more new comments and know I’m okay because it wasn’t just me. I’m not a coward and I’m not mentally ill, it’s just that the ‘home’ I returned to isn’t what I thought…but it’s the place I want to be no matter what I learned in that other world. The comments make this book, which has almost no fiction in it that I can see, something living…and helps me to understand, night by night, that I want to live…The book is right here. The L.T. is right here. You guys and gals are right here too….and I thank you.
Well X.O. I keep rereading this comment. What author would not. You’ve reached me with this and I guess I’ve reached you with the story. The thing about
being afraid when the book is over, or the series. I have so many others that are coming out on Amazon, although none on Vietnam. On after. On that other service I joined afterwards. Thank you for this. Many of your words and sentences will not leave my thinking for some time to come. Unexpected and a bit
daunting too. I did’t mean to, comes to mind. I write on and part of the reason is men like you. I am right here and the guys and gals who will read this are right here with you… and the there in those nights. Thank you from the depths of a writer’s soul.
Semper fi,
Jim
It was great to get back into the story again. I could see this happening just like I was there. I am glad that I didn’t have to set out in the rain like we did fifty years ago.Thanks for your service! Semper Fi
Thanks Walter, I am working away to portray it the way it really was in the bush.
I hope I am laying it down the best I can. Comments like your own on here help me a lot…
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great segment Jim, heal quickly. Thanks you for taking the time to answer all the comments. I am spend more and more time reading all of them, they bring the story together even more!
Yes, you guys yourselves have made such a contribution to the story.
I never would have thought. Thanks for being a part of all this…
Semper fi,
Jim
Been there done that. Believe me or don’t. Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn. I must of missed you were having eye surgery. Glad it is coming along and you are back at it. I have been watching some of the PBS special and makes me more pissed off when I relive the lying ass politicians.You tell your story the way it was. Us old grunts that were there don’t have a problem with what you say. Another great episode. Can’t wait for the next one. Try to take care of that eye.
Thank you Gordon. Yes, we do get older and more frail. The eye didn’t do well this last time so back into surgery on Tuesday.
This being a tough Marine thing sometimes sucks. But I shall persevere…
Semper fi,
Jim
James: Take it easy this time. We can wait. Hell we’ve waited nigh on 50 years, a couple weeks won’t matter. Just post a hiatus. We’ll stick around.
Ain’t nobody shootin’ at us. Yet! And then it won’t be NVA.
OooooRah. Semper Fi.
I don’t want to lose it Thomas so I must pursue a steady continuance.
I know that does not sound rational but then am I really?
You?
Semper fi, and thank you…
Jim
Yeah, James your rational, me too (mostly). I understand fearing losing the scent. Posted under my name rather the pseudo Tomas’. Paranoia on public sites. And Gordon, we all been lied to so much that It don’t mean nuthin’. And that ain’t gonna change.
James just get that eye healed. Semper Fi!
Hey thanks Thomas. Yes, I am not afraid of losing the story, it’s burned in, but the details that have come to be along with the
repition of it are like some sort of mysterious miracle. Not on purpose. I just sit down and they come back.
Thanks for liking the work and commenting on that here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Good luck with our next surgery Jim, will be rooting for a quick recovery.
Thanks J. The surgery failed. Shit. Now it’s on to a new cornea in a few weeks.
But thanks for the prayers.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, have you ever considered voice recording your story and have someone else typing it for you? Perhaps that would keep you from having so much eye strain. Since you are typing one chapter at a time, it is a good way to insure that the book gets finished should you have future problems. We are getting old my friends and taking life one day at a time now.
Not there yet J.
I am still hammering away, slowed not so much by the vision as by the depression that
comes along with the struggle to somehow get through on a long term basis.
And whom am I writing this to? You understand…
Semper fi,
Jim
Son of a bitch J. You asshole. You prayed and now I am up this morning seeing out of the bad eye. The second epithelium is taking. How is that possible? It’s not. The opthalmologist said it would take a miracle. But I can read this with my bad eye, as I type. Barely, but it’s all here. Do I have to take down my bible and actually read it? What is going on in my life and how can it take so many weird twists and turns at this point? I dont’ know what direction to turn or move in.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, why are you so angry with God? Why do you feel that you must rebel against Him all of the time?
When the sun shines, it shines on everyone and when it rains, we all get wet. He does not pick a random person to torment while blessing all others. His blessings are for everyone who loves and acknowledges Him and He even blesses those who deny Him, up to a point. That point comes with the denial of our Creator. The denial of the Holy Spirit whom He will send to you to speak the truth of His existence.
My prayers have been for the healing of your eye, but also for the Holy Spirit to make himself known to you, so that you might know the truth about your spiritual Creator. As Jesus stated to the Apostles, “I will not leave you alone, for I will send you the Comforter (Holy Spirit), who will teach you all things.” You will need to open your bible to prove what I have just said and you will find it so written.
Keep in mind Jim, God is spirit, not flesh. However, He has given you a spirit to relate to Him with. When your flesh dies, your spirit lives on in God’s spiritual realm. Sooner or later you are going to have to meet Him and acknowledge Him. If you wish His presence now to meet your fleshly needs, then you must communicate with Him and ask Him for His help! It is a simple matter of acknowledging your Creator and then having faith in Him.
I speak from personal experience not from reading a book or listening to a preacher, although reading and hearing the Word, also helps one’s spirit throughout our fleshly life. I know for sure that God is real and that He does indeed relate to His creation in many different ways, but He first must get your attention to do so as it is a two way street.
Thus far, it would seem like you are headed down a one way street, going in the wrong direction. This I gleaned from your recent comment about so many things going the wrong way. You are free to continue in that direction, as your Creator has given you the free will to choose your desired direction. However, you are also free to turn around and start heading back in the right direction and toward the one who truly loves you and is trying to get your attention. It is up to you, to make the right choice.
Thank you J. I am thinking….
Semper fi,
Jim
Evening James, Tunnels, Yep, Charlie and the NVA were a gophers, I remember one time having a discussion with my CO, We were sitting up on LZ Snuffy waiting on lifts, out on the Cambodia boarder talking history, He was a ring knocker, Dam good one though, I queried Him about the problem of VC and tunnels and posseted a solution, Back in WWII they had some big assed bombs, 10,000 to 22,000 pounders, Tall Boy and Grand Slam, They were designed to go deep into the earth, explode creating a cavitation that would collapse underground factories, tunnels, military complexes, So why not use something like these against those tunnel complexes, The Major thought it would be a good idea, said He would forward it, But I never saw anything happen, Yes what would a set air strikes, with those type bombs have done to Charlie/NVA and his tunnel systems? But then the strategy of McNamara was “Attrition” Not “Annihilation” Bringing only as much force against the enemy as He was bringing against us, Yes, as it always happened, When we would be beating the North, They would go to the peace table, and we would cut operation until the North was ready to resume the fight again, But that is a what if that will never be answered…… Musings in the night…… Semper Fi/This We Defend…. As always Check 6 and drive on muther fucker…… Bob.
There was no inventory of huge conventional bombs in Vietnam.
It was thought to build some and a few were constructed
in order to clear landing zones in the jungle.
Those had limited success since the read jungle is one deep soggy mess
of twisted foliage and tough vegetation.
There is only so much shock a conventional bomb can transmit and then there is
the spy/counter spy thing. You probe deeper and they dig deeper.
You armor your vehicles against roadside bombs and they make bigger bombs.
And so on.
Thanks for the usual depth of your reply here. Fighting insurgencies using outside forces has never been much of a success.
That’s because you, in this case, we, fight inside an area where all the inhabitants are the enemy, one way or the other.
Thanks and
Semper fi,
Jim
Morning Jim, Yep, I saw the dazy cutters in action, Cut a 4 ship LZ in trip canopy jungle, The shock effect depending on terrain could be 4 clicks, and in the air we were instructed to keep a minimum 10 klick safety avoidance.
The difference between the dazy cutter and Tall Boy or Grand Slam, Was Tall Boy and Grand Slam were designed to go deep and collapse underground structure, Even standard arc lights would cause collapse of the shallow tunnels down to 20-30 feet, and being caught in a cave in was one of the NVA’s worst nightmares….. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened with an operation like that, It was very successful in WWII and those underground structures were built to a much higher standard, But as I said, late night musings of conversations long ago that never went anywhere, and Murphy’s Rule #31. If it’s stupid and it works, it ain’t stupid.
So anyway, Speedy recovery and have a great day, I am off to a weekend of shooting a 3 inch ordinance rifle, eating hardtack and drinking campfire boiled coffee…..
Semper Fi/This We Defend Bob.
Wow, and thanks. You’re knowledge on this issue is stunning. I knew about the daisy cutter but not the others and I’f forgotten the
name. But here it is. Guys like you. Lived it. I know you did. Thanks so much for adding to all of our knowledge on here time after time.
Semper fi, and keep it coming please!
Jim
I hope the skies are clear in the morning when you write your next episode so the air boys can help deliver a whooping to the external enemy.
And hope that your eyes are clear from surgery as well.
Thanks for your writing–and your service.
Yes, it just takes time Walt.
I have a follow up appointment in the morning to make sure all is okay,
which I presume it is….
Thanks for the care…
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for another great chapter. I hope your eye improves. “In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.”
I’m walking the walk with this eye thing. I am about six inches from the screen, which allows me to write. I can type, mostly, without
looking directly at the keys. What a bitch! But I am on it. The one-eyed man. All I have to do is blind the rest of the world!
Thanks for that,
Semper fi,
Jim
That’s the spirit! A sharp stick and you’re in business.
Thanks Kirby. Working away…
Semper fi,
Jim
“come not to mind the rain’…so very true…there was a point when you just gave up and became a part of it…that ‘sticky rain, first thing in the morning if you attempted to stay dry by wrapping up in the rubber poncho…and realized you just baked in your own sweat..more wet and miserable than if you had just laid out on the bare ground…and then coming to accept the warm rain that you just sat in…and let it ‘cleanse’ you..some times more than you realized as it ran in rivulets down your body and sometimes through your soul…and you really didn’ mind it at all… it was comforting at times to just sit there knowing that Charley didn’t like getting wet if he could help it….it was never a truce…but sometimes you felt like it was ok just to let the rain do it’s thing….. “Didn’t belong in the A Shau’….How could any instructor in your PLC even begin to try and describe or prepare you for the A Shau?…I don’t think it was possible…If “Officers” went in…they usually didn’t come out…the Recon teams moved in and out..but they were always run by non-coms and the brass never believed what they told them anyway…so how do you prepare for it…….Nobody “”belonged”” there…….Nobody lived there, nobody had ever lived there before..it was a natural beauty from the air…a tourist flying over would look down and shudder while inwardly thinking “hope we don’t crash into that shit’….the thought of willingly going down into that jungle would never cross a raional mans mind..never…and yet, here you are, playing Cowboys and Indians in it…. and that was what we called it…”Indian Territory”…. Jurgens…You have thrown the Gauntlet to the ground in Charley’s face…and Jurgens and the Gunny have watched you do it..and they like it…Gunny because he’s an old Pro and he will do what it takes to survive if possible…Jurgens doesn’t care..he figures he is going to die out there, but he’s starting to like how you think…and he wants to be there when Charley picks up the Gauntlet….cuz it’s going to be a donnebrooke of a fight….He is testing you…and so far, you have passed each level..doesn’t like you, doesn’t trust you, but he will stand with you……as long as you can keep up… Semper Fi Lt..