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Thanks for reading this short excerpt from the paid post! Fancy buying it to read all of it?
LT,
If all the “actual” combat vets could sit down for a discussion of what they saw and what they did, there would be a lot of common denominators. What would also happen is that there would be a lot of never heard of that!no S)&it!! I’ll be damned!
We all fought a nasty, brutal war that we never had a chance at winning. Some incredibly inept officers, and some out to make a name for themselves.
I think those of us who made it home, left part of our selves there. I live under the flight path National Guard helicopters, invariably as they pass over and I suddenly hear them, I’ll have a flash back. Instantly I’m back in
Vietnam. Your writing does the same thing, keep it up. Slowly but surely I will be able to have a day or two when I don’t think about the war or the horror.
Funny, I spent 13 months at war
46 years ago, and it’s affect has never left, I am still learning how to deal with it.
Ps, don’t worry about the editing,
We know what you meant!!
Dave, you will always be at war, in one way or another because of your nature.
This is a hard planet to make it on. What with the three and a half million years it’s taken
humans to just get this far, you get an idea. You are genetically set up to fight the hard fight and
there’s no quit in you. I’m sorry for you and happy for you. You are a real mover and shaker or you
would not feel the way you do. And telling you that isn’t going to bring you closer to acceptance
and peace either because there’s neither of those things inside you. But there is intellect, understanding,
knowledge and humor about the whole fucking rolling thing of this life. Glad you are on my bus….
Semper fi,
Jim
MORNING SIR, As a VIET NAM ARMY r.t.o. 1965-66 i have a nagging question. Was the fear of your own troops real or imagined? ALSO,did your thinking on that change after leaving the bush?
Any leader who is not afraid of what his or her troops might do to them, for them, and
wth then in combat, is going to get exactly what he or she deserves, or inexperience serves up.
And all units are different, from one another in many respects. When I got home I was still afraid, and that was after damn near a year in
the hospitals, away from them. I had to return to command while awaiting a disability board, and my fear of
my own men back in barracks caused me to treat them in ways that were not good for any of us in the real world.
My 1st Sergant took me aside one day and said: “You’re not in Vietnam anymore, sir.” Only after I got out did what he said really
sink in. Thanks for the sincere comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Outstanding.. A great help to better understand my younger friends whose experiences have formed who they are today.. As a “peacetime” sailor of the 50s, I have nothing to draw on when trying to understand . Your writing lends a basis for the conversations we have had regarding their time in country..
It took me awhile to understand that ” it dont mean nuthin’ “
Thanks for the big compliment and also for gaining an understanding of what it was and is really like.
Hard to bring people in on that unless you tell the whole story with all the nits, pits and details, which is what I
am trying to do. thanks for the encouragement and writing this apropos comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
USMC. 0311. Of 39 months in country, I found myself staying one day for over a years at a place they said God had forgotten about, Few clicks south of the DMZ. Khe Sanh Fire Base…7 Feb. 67 /March 68 The red clay dust just couldn’t be, believed. It seem to get in everthing we had. Even threw our screw on lids of our canteens… Been threw the A Shau Valley a few times on my first two sleep overs in RVN. LOL.. Love your story,, A belated Welcome Home, Brother As Alway; Just Sgt.
Thank you most kindly James. It is certainly good to be living in the land of the round eyes, as we used
to refer to it before more politically correct language was called for. Thanks for liking the story
and for making that known on this comment section….
Semper fi,
Jim
When I was young a few vets I knew came home and now I understand what the little sticker on his window meant , it read ” yea,though I walk through the valley of death I shall fear no evil because I’m the meanest muther fucked in the valley ” and I guess you had to be to survive.
You had to be lucky Scott. And you had to be very very intensively aware of the
slightest nuance or change. Paying attention was so hard what with the insects, the weather,
the mud, and so much more.
Thanks for the comment,
Semper fi,
Jim
I really like your writing style James it’s like two old buddies sitting down and talking about the shit
Nice compliment Donnie. Much appreciated. I guess it is me telling the tale to you guys every night.
Thanks for reading me and taking the time and trouble to say something.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, is this book for sale? I didn’t see a place to purchase it from your website. I’m currently writing a gritty young adult fiction novel. One of the main characters is a retired Marine Master Sergeant who refers to his time in Vietnam often. I’m looking for resources to help me tell his story accurately. Thank you.
We will be publishing “First 10 Days” within the week (hopefully) In Kindle and Paperback.
Always FREE to to read on-line.
I was a part of the very first evac of A SHAU vally air strip air field in 1965. It was HELL flying in there on HUEY’S M-60 running so hard the barrel’s began to bend. It is still all in the back of my mind where I hope it stays!!! (VMO-2 MAG 16 USMC Air wing)
Changing barrels on that M-60 after the glove has been lost was a bitch!
Thanks for your report on your 1965 entry into that place.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, I enjoyed your publication. I was in Vietnam from August of 68 to Jan 70. I was not a grunt on the ground where the hell truly was. I served in MAG-16, Marine Air Group 16, with several squadrons in, around, & out of Marble Mountain. I won’t discount my efforts or actions. But I knew for the most part if we could survive the insertions & extractions supporting these guys. We felt like we were lucky, because we weren’t going to be there in that hell on the ground. I’m not saying there weren’t many anxious, scared as all hell, heroing, moments of hell. It was the going into & picking up the aftermath & remenets of an operation.
I couldn’t agree more about the beauty of the country from the scenic view of a helicopter.
The photo with your article is a Marine CH-46 Sea Knight. I think it may be from squadron HMN-263 Purple FOX’s
Keep up your good work. It is one way this “Old Vietnam Vet” can reflect on mine & others participation & part of a “Brotherhood”
th wore world has told us about the CH-46 confusion. One of my people was not a veteran and
took that photo off the Internet to illustrate a chapter. Wow. Do the guys on here know their shit? Yes!
Anyway, thanks for commenting and liking the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
Am enjoying your writing. Spent my time in II Corp 1967-1969. U.S. Army. Keep writing, it has the making of a good book.
Thanks Terry, I am all over it, putting up another segment right now and then
getting back to it as I spend this weekend getting the first novel “The First Ten Days,”
ready for publishing. Thanks for your interest and the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
The “Captain” in your story very much reminds me of a story I heard many years ago….
I’m not a vet, however I was taught my trade by a vet, a tough vet who fought his way across Europe in the second world war.
He was a sergeant.
During the few years I spent with him (40 years after the war when he taught me my trade), I heard a lot of “War stories.”
Sometimes after a story or two, he’d say “Can’t talk about this anymore, still get nightmares.”
Once, driving to one job or another, we saw a torn-up rabbit with it’s guts strewn along the road. I said “Ugh,” he said, “Imagine seeing a man looking like that.”
He talked of snipers and shelling and utter exhaustion; I got the picture.
When the war in Europe ended, he was at one base or another with rumors that plans were underway for redeployment of troops for the coming invasion of Japan, but we know how that ended (Some people today question the morality for using “The bomb.” I remember asking him what he thought when news came that the bomb was dropped. He was elated, he said fighting the “Nazi” was enough. He used that word, “Nazi.” He said the German was “Friendly,” the Nazi, “Fanatic”).
Back at the at the one base or another at the end of the war, he was approached by a snot-nosed Lieutenant, the smart-ass with polished boots and a starched uniform who hadn’t seen combat, the one who carried an attitude like some sort of medal he’d earned. The lieutenant said something a smart-ass would say, and since there wasn’t a nearby cliff to push him off, the sergeant crushed the lieutenant’s face with his fist.
After surviving the battlefield of Europe, the sergeant now feared court-martial by his own government. The way I remember the story, nothing became of it, he mustered out, returned home, married, had kids and taught myself and a few others “Tricks of the trade….”
Sergeant Martin F. Bohla, WW2, United States Army
He was buried with full military honors, he is not forgotten, he was my friend and I was his student.
As I continue to repeat, Macsone, the non-coms were and are the backbone and very fiber of the corps.
Putting up with new officers can be a most trying thing to go through as so many times in life experience
triumphs over textbook learning in spades. Thanks for the lenthy and meaningful comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was in the A Shaw 1969 with the 101st Airborne. Your accounts of the war experience are right on. After awhile with fear and exhaustion, and not knowing if you where going to make it through the day, seeing death all around, the only thing you can say is, “it don’t mean nothing” It was a way to deal with the insanity of it.
That is a very true comment, Gene. I remember that phrase well.
Of course it all had meaning and that meaning moves with everyone who lived right through
the core of their lives. Thank you for taking the time and trouble to comment and for reading the work,
Semper fi,
Jim
For you, LT… It Takes strength to remember
it takes a different kind of strength to forget,
It requires heroism to do both.
To remember is to court the madness
of too much pain;
to forget is to court the madness
of the denial of pain.
The world is full of madmen
who remember too much…
and madmen who forget too much.
Heroes are rare.
You again. Hmmmm. With a touching and thematic poem, no less. A brilliant short piece
but then you had to be that to come out of that program and vault to the heights of intellectual achievement.
Now you sit, retired, and write poetry…and what else. Those with PTSD never know true rest, like the remainder of
unbloodied humanity. Thanks for the writing on here as it makes more than just my day. A lot of the guys read these
comments along with me. These comments have more credibility than my story by far and I do not deny any of them because of
what they might say.
Semper fi
Again,
Jim
It’s difficult to explain what’s in my mind now, but I’ll try…
It’s shocking how the brass knew (or must have known) what kind of mess you were ordered into, yet they assigned you the blame anyway. Sad to say, same thing happens today as well.
Thank you for sharing the history with us. My wish is that future generations know if what happens in the event of command failure (you were not that failure of course), and the importance of the higher ups taking responsibility for their actions.
SEMPER FI
Not so shocking, as you see from the comments how many other men who served in that
war suffered at the hands of terrible management and command. Catch 22 caught me in
years later when I read it and saw the movie. It was so spot on but different because
most of that took place in the rear area. Thanks for your comment and the reading.
Semper fi,
Jim
Spent 68-70 with the 173 rd. Lz English and other places. Tough shit. Reading this and the problems encountered almost makes me chuckle. I know, it was no joke but, shit, there were days that if we didn’t laugh we’d cry. I mean. The “c” , camels. I use to hide just hearing a chopper. Knowing it would draw fire. Your writing is good and knowing.
You could not be more correct Jorgen. Now, in writing it I get the gallows humor in the experience
too although I have to admit I could find little humor in it at the time. Thanks for writing what you think
here and also in hanging around to see how the story is playing out.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jorgen, the 61st Assault Helicopter Company has built a Library in Bong Son. We have visited the LZ English Airstrip a couple times—-a still in tact and well-built landing strip by American Engineers.
I have a couple pictures (1967-68 & 2015 and 2016) to send you if you are interested. Thanks John for this monument to the guys of the Ashau Valley. We have made 23 “Returns to Bong Son” on the Library Project funded by Vets, family & friends of the 61st. The 173rd is well known and appreciated, sited as a supported unit of the 61st in a small self-published book, 2nd Edition recounting the Citizen Soldiers of Vietnam and LZ English, of which you are one. We will publish this 2nd Edition in the next few weeks. If you have a few pictures of the 173rd ‘back in the day’ we sure would appreciate being able to incorporate a few in the subsequent Editions, with the name of the person who took them recognized of course.
Thank you for the compliment and I would love to have whatever you send but I have
not photos from the time. I had no camera during that time, but I really appreciate seeing
the work of others from then in that place. Thank you and I look forward to hearing more from you.
And thanks for reading my story and commenting here.
Semper fi
Jim
When I was in the Air Force I met some good officers and I met some bad. The Lt. Col. of my supply squadron was a good officer. He put me on the snow removal team because that entitled me to a superb cold weather parka and he must’ve looked at my skinny self and figured I could use a warm coat. The captain of the company, on the other hand, was a jerk. We used to call him “Roger Ramjet”. He never lifted a finger to help any of his enlisted men, but was always quick to give us grief when he had the chance. From you writing I figure you were like the Lt. Col.
James: please keep telling the entire story and don’t pull any punches. Americans need to hear things like this.
A typo? “The Gunny was herding his chicks along, I knew, which just added to the feeling, or lack of one, that I’d ever (should it be “never”?) command anything..”
Actually, both of those uses would be acceptable, I think. Both speak to the issue
of never commanding anything, although using ‘never’ might be more definitive.
Thanks for taking the time to bring it up and I will be sure to be reminded when
I go through for the final edit for Amazon. Anyway, thanks a ton for the encouragement.
If it was not for guys like you writing in I am not sure I would be where I am in the story.
The next segment is a particularly difficult one and those take extra effort emotionally.
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
I was there in 69 and part of 70 with the 3rd Marines up around the DMZ and later when they were pulled out in September/October, I was transfer to the 1st Marine Division south of Da Nang. My purpose in writing is to let you know that the units I was in was much different that what you were dropped into. All platoons were integrated and we did not have any problem in the field. We knew we needed each other to survive. I do no recall any problems with race. It was different when we got back to the rear. The RFMs had the time on their hands to engage in this type of activities. Back in the rear I did hear rumors of fragging, but not in the field.
I did not enjoy my time in Nam but did love my brothers who helped get me back. I am sorry that you got dropped into a bad situation with such a dysfunctional unit. I’m glad I did not. By the way I was an 0311.
Thanks so much for sharing your story and glad you made it back. Semper Fi
I do not expect that it was the same everywhere. It was so vital as to what unit you pulled, where and what was
going on at the time. So many little wars inside the big one. Fragging in the field was almost never listed as that because who was going to list it?
In the field it was all KIA, WIA, or nothing. No daily report discussed friendly fire because no clerk wanted to die over the data transmission.
Not that I knew, anyway. Rittenhouse wrote shitty enough stuff without that. I can’t presume that things were the same everywhere though.
Thanks for the straight shot across the bows. And thanks for liking what I am trying to write.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was a Cavalry rotor head, I flew slicks, B-227AHB 1st Cav. Div. 70-72 I flew some support for you Jarheads, Some very good people, some not so good, Flying gave me a very broad sample of the war, and yes, There were some units that had some very serious trouble, Both Army and Marines, Some outstanding officers, and some who needed a course in the real deal, Yes, There were always some rumors, With some actual experiences…. But not so much in the field, But if some one was really stupid, it seemed accidents happened.
You guys in those Huey choppers, especially the slow slicks, were something else.
I so remember how the pilots could make those things jink, jerk and dive at will.
Astounding skills demonstrated under the most dangerous of circumstance. Thank you,for myself
and all the guys who you resupplied and then pulled their bacon out of the fire.
Semper fi,
Jim
We took great pride in supporting you guys on the ground no finer men than you grunts in the dirt, Semper Fi!
Love your story, I can vouch for everything you have described, I saw the results, To many were carried out in the back of my slick.
Bob
Thanks Robert. It was a meat and mind grinder and I thank you for your support.
The way it is going in the story’s development it would be hard not to buy into it, I think.
Too many details to be fictional but who knows once the trolls get a hold of it.
Thank you for being true blue, now and back then when it really counted.
Semper fi,
Jim
They promised us that the best flight in the world was ‘leaving the jungle with a door seat while flying ‘NOE’ on the way back’. Never got my promised ride…
Roy. I got your ride. Nap of the earth doesn’t even cover it. We had the hydraulics shot out
of our Huey and they could not get any altitude. We chopped jungle shit all the way down the mountain until
the clearing before An Hoa. I, of course, was way screwed up so didn’t enjoy the ride like you might have.
Thanks for missing out on that ride. The other guys “saved” that day didn’t make it.
Semper fi, and thanks for the sharing….
Jim
Check, “Creature from Blue Lagoon”, should be “Black Lagoon”. Brooke Shields never did Mud, just sandy beaches. Enjoying your book, endeavor to persevere.
Yeah, it should have been black lagoon but my brain changed it because of the passage of time.
Man, just using a photo of a CH-47 instead of a 46 caused a lot of guys to short out. The friend of mine
who did that was not in the military or the Nam. Oh well, you can only check so much. Hell, I have the guys to keep me straight!
Semper fi,
Jim
James, I think the comments you get on your story speaks volumes and your answers are as great as the story. I am craving more. I must be one sick sob. For your record and for your readers there is a great website for info on Marine Helos in Vietnam, http://www.popasmoke.com
The squadrons are broke down by Aircraft type, typical missions, designation, and call signs. ie, CH 45, HMM-364, Purple Foxes, call sign “Swift”. H means Helicopter, M means Marine, M means Medium.
HML, Hueys and Cobras…Helicopter Marine Light. CH 53’s Helicopter Marine Heavy or HMH.
When I came back from my Vietnam Tour, I was assigned to 1st Bat, 1st Marines, 1st Mar Div at Pendleton, Camp Horno. This was my only time in 6 yrs that I would actually be with a Marine Infantry Unit. Since the 1st just returned from Danang itself, we had a year of Court Martials, almost all drug related, race related, and some frag related. I saw the way things were. I am sorry you had to endure what you did. I know we all had higher ideals coming out of Quantico.
I was with 2/13 while I was processing out. I too sat on court martial after court martial
for the same problems coming home. I would not vote for conviction on any case. Period.
So I got transferred to a Civil Affairs unit where nobody could find my office until they dumped me
finally at the Nixon Compound in San Clement to be Marine liaison. They didn’t need any Marine contact
really though so I began my odyssey there working beach patrol…
Training was wonderful at Quantico and Fort Sill but the real world we entered into afterwards
only had a place for some of the analytical skills we learned and polished. There was zero preparation
for the rest of it.
Semper fi, and thanks Pat…
Jim
snafu fubar shit rolls downhill..etc etc etc….never ceased to amaze me that some dick in starched clean clothes and shined boots struts up..points a finger and tells you everything you have done wrong…having never put his shit in the wind….imagine it still is the same today..
Much more common over there then I expected and not too uncommon back in the states
either. I wonder if they should not do away with enlisted and officer being separate corps some day.
Just a smooth transition or branching off into specialties. I don’t know. I don’t know about today
because I am so long out. Thanks for bringing up the subject so well and so succinctly.
Semper fi,
Jim
You can get a lot of help from the old guys that have been there they know what’s going on . It’s hard for a new guy cameing in .
Try impossible for new guys to know anything. New guys are pre-set up not to be aware. Even guys coming in from the
rear area who might know some of it, can’t know until they are in it. And then it is too late. They get lucky or they get
dead. Simple. Thanks for your spot on comment. And the support and reading, of course.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT,
I’ve written to you before, I am the submarine sailor (ex) whose Dad was a platoon leader Marine 2LT on Guadalcanal. My purpose in writing isn’t for a published comment on your writing, which, by the way, is mesmerizing. If this were in a book, I would read it straight through without putting it down.
The dysfunction you write about keeps making me wonder if this can possibly be true. I know it is presented as an accurate portrayal of your service but it is so far out from any kind of normal military operation it beggars the imagination…
My father eventually got around to telling me some of his war stories – I am now certain he was very selective about what he told me – and they included some rough events, but nothing like your experience.
When Dad got into his 70s he attended a reunion of the 1st Marine Division Guadalcanal veterans with my mother. Mom told me that his sergeant sought her out to tell her how much the men respected Dad and that “he got us safely through” their 5 months of combat on the canal.
Dad was 24 years old and had been through Platoon Leaders training during his college years at Ohio University before going through OCS after graduation. That was in the 1930s and he was a PFC in the USMCR so he proudly claimed he was part of “the old breed” prior to being commissioned.
After the war he stayed in the Reserves, made Major and finally resigned his commission just prior to the Korean war – he by then had three boys and figured he had done enough.
Dad won one of the first Navy and Marine Corps Medals for saving a downed F4 Wildcat fighter pilot who was shot down off Guadalcanal and unconscious, floating beside his plane. Dad rowed a rubber life raft 4 miles out under Jap machine gun fire to save the pilot.
I appreciate what you are writing both for the quality of the writing as well as the content.
Bob
Bob. Hey, I got one of those very rare Navy and Marine Corps Medals too! In fact, it is the one I am most
proud of. I actually deserved that one. Too bad they made the colors the same as the Combat Action Ribbon
and the medal is so rare (and the CAR so prevalent after Vietnam) that I could not wear the ribbon without
officers back in the states accuse me of having my ribbons in the wrong order! I finally gave up wearing
any ribbons at all. Can this story possibly be true? That you have to decide. It is probably best that I
waited so long to write it. Now, well, I just don’t care anymore. I just write the damned thing. Let God
sort out the rest. Thanks for the history of your Dad and writing so intimately. Means a lot.
Semper fi,
Jim
thanks, glad I found this site. Semper Fi
Thanks for finding this site Andrus. It is hard to get something out here and find anybody
to read it. Most people come over from my Facebook page and that is okay too.
Thanks for the read and the comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
Thanks for writing this down for us. I served in the Air Force during your time in Viet Nam, but was in Italy, doing intelligence work. This was actually in support of you guys, but the two experiences certainly do not equate. I was not in danger. You have confirmed a lot of rumors I heard. Thank you for your service.
Bob