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“Yv ycu uax vsoedoxkxd, dyy,” Abmdmva iqyt, fx li hvs rsor riilfhu, jf fwo kh wpsc’i unq hwas lg jcujwnjshj gfw cpdfaawj, qjm orra vkduhg if bmm.
Vjcv Vpletyr vorb’h nenw uxxg eppsaih av qiikcu iussgtj ev Ktzwym Bxmfaaz hld, dssduhqwob, yz mpohfs b sduw ar wkh lxvyjwh’b zaklgjq. Q ckd pbdcv jxu kegdvwjafy knbgl ri kyv sdwpun O’j lbyeqrd uvion if lzwxxqvo zuty pg hstep tlswtlsvyw nygx zlig ihy xgw bw xli vaoly. Wkh Qexxi yrue’k ygoj wdl nboz btc nv’u twab uz nby CKP ohhoqy, mfe W zctl lzw pwodgt mqi vwb owwl boe C hszv kyiwwih vjcv l bej ri jxu fxg kdg jokj qtrpjht rcc duwloohub gkc vaqvfpevzvangr grox wh fdph id ljmmjoh, qcnb vgf fulay pvisxq wbohem zq loaklwv nfubm. Kyv 105 ebhaqf rdjas omvmzibm xmwfusjq um icqbb kc ftq tqmp iz d evvucv boe ia ynetr fx ufodstfiwh. Vjg ozixmnzcqb-aqhml yzrgqnsl fayzlesjwk vhnew vtcxg…
Thanks for reading this short excerpt from the paid post! Fancy buying it to read all of it?
Jim, a couple typos. Sorry it takes so many reads to find these. Welcome Home. Glad you are doing this for us. Glad to help. Dave.
I’m also fully aware of why we don’t threaten each other out here in this nightmare world where none of us want to be and that’s why the Gunny’s here.(“)
Sugar Daddy and his two men looked at the Gunny, as did Fusner and I. => needs trailing double quote after Gunny’s here.
… thinking about the problems of getting a fully equipped Marine Company down the side of a cliff that only possessed one narrow path, and that path (run) right below a fully known and measured enemy registration point … => perhaps (run) should be either (ran) or (runs) or maybe replace (and that path run) with (with that path running).
Thanks for the help in being part of the editing team on here…my only editing team!
Semper fi, and sincerest thanks…
Jim
I noted on the book, before I started reading that it said “fiction”. After reading it while baby sitting with my oldest son(47 yrs old) in the hospital, and I was explaining to him, and said “Maybe a little fiction, but not much. He knew too much for it to be fiction”. Anyone who was there could see right through the “fiction” crap. As an old Corpsman who did about 8 yrs with the Corps and my own time in the Nam, I have to say thanks–not only to you, but to all the Marines who tried their damndest to take care of me, even when I could be so damned stupid at times.
It is my hope that vets like you, the real deal, get it. Writing some of this stuff is hard enough
without a full time worry that my conduct back then will come into review by some authorities somewhere.
Thanks for the compliment and the support…
Semper fi,
Jim
The saying of it don’t mean nuthing and better him than me got most of us through at that time. But like everything else over there those words will always haunt us. Can’t quit reading,thanks James. John
Please go to Amazon and write a review of Thirty Days Has September, as it means a whole lot to have
a significant number to be noticed at all…
Thanks John, for the comment on Amazon in advance.
It’s hard to get comments on there. Jeez!
Anyway, obviously you are one of us…those that were out there.
Yes, it is haunting.
Semper fi, and thank you,
Jim
I have been reading each segment with great anticipation. I keep wondering if I would have had your patience at the opposition from my fellow officers. In the peacetime post Vietnam era we had noncombat leadership challenges with our soldiers, which thanks to a core of very experienced NCO’s allowed us to overcome some of the more dicey situations. I did have the advantage of being prior enlisted and knew to listen to my NCO’s and men, although in doing so, one had to tread a very fine line and it did not always endear me to my peers. I have always and will always wonder how I would have reacted in actual combat, having never been tested like you were. You Sir, are an outstanding writer. Semper Fi.
There were extreme problems for the guys coming home.
They were forced back into a system they had passed by and knew
better. Thank you for waiting for the coming segments and liking the story, and
also for caring enough to write about those experiences on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Corrections for Tenth Night Third Part:
Paragraph: “Turn off the light,”…Correction:…choppers roll in at dawn.
Paragraph and Correction: Stevens leaned down
Paragraph: Captain Casey and Billing went back Correction: …put the Marine’s boots back on.
Paragraph: I walked around what had been the kill zone. Correction: The ones who’s
Paragraph: Twenty-nine KIA in this…” Correction: …Satisfactory score none of the rest of us…
Paragraph: “You’re as much a platoon commander…Correction: Gunny’s here.”
Got it! Thanks so much for the help.
Semper fi,
Jim
I am wondering why earlier you were calling the radio man “Fessner” and now you are calling him “Fusner”?
The difficulties of putting things up on the Internet and then getting to final print in print
and the areas in between. It is awful hard to publish books all on your own out here and therefore
the editing gets damned infernally difficult. My apologies.
Semper fi,
Jim
Prick 25 batteries were a bitch to carry! Not to mention the radio itself. Easy to “fix” if the bullet holes were in the right place…or wrong place. Thanks for the stories…I think. Brings back things better not relived.
Carried a few of those myself and yes, they were ungainly and heavy.
The batteries, I mean. Fusner had a way with that damned radio and it seemed
like a feather the way he treated it. He also knew what side of the hill it worked
best on and how to put up a temporary aerial if we could not get commo.
thanks for writing in about this and carrying one of those rigs.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was at con tien dec. 67 with 1/1 the nva had 190’s they would hit us with from north of the z, you never really get use to heavy incoming, no matter how long you take it.
semper fi
No, Tony, artillery is horrid to receive. In movies it’s kind of cool or even awful but only in combat when
it is coming in is it driven right into your core that those rounds are huge and
they can land absolutely anywhere and there is no safe hiding place.
Terrifying does not quite describe it.
Thanks for that knowledgable note.
You almost have to have been through it at least once to really know.
Semper fi,
Jim
I served in an Army artillery unit in the Central Highlands that provided 105mm support for an infantry battalion…We were always ready to provide timely and accurate fire for these units especially in close contact missions…We were highly successful in accomplishing our mission because of the professionalism of the F.O team,(forward observer), FDC,(fire direction control) and the guns…I am proud to say that we never had a “friendly fire” incident during my time in country and hopefully we helped save a few American lives…Thanks for the stories Jim
There is no question that one of the silently amazing things about
the Vietnam war was the performance of the artillery. Astounding is
the only word that comes to mind. With these new wars all being fought on
wide ranging desert sands the supporting fires of air power have been lauded
above all. Good luck in a jungle in bad weather!
Thanks for the support and for writing about it here,
Semper fi,
Jim
I was a forward observer for an infantry co. I never hit any friendly troops even though I called rounds in close at times. Being in artillery, I am not 100% sure I ever killed anyone, but I am 99% certain that I did. That one percent has kept me alive
Well, Terry, there was hitting friendlies and then being told you’d hit friendlies. The ‘reports’ from the field
were notoriously filled with deliberate holes. But thanks for that arty. Saved a lot of men and myself included.
Semper fi,
Jim
So afraid to say I am reading this unable to look away. I was having babies and no tv or outside communication to know of the horror.
At 63, I met a grumpy vet who talked as if his memories must be spilled from his mind. I listened for hours feeling guilty for not knowing or understanding what young men had faced.
I got this link from one of those Ft.Sill grads.He never talked.
I now thank every military person for giving service to their country but I can never give enough honor and thanks for all of you who came back.
Hi there, and welcome to this site. You are in pretty rare company here. Not many women read, or at least comment, on the site.
A whole lot of vets who served in combat though. So, your words will reach many ears and those ears will find pleasure in what you have
to say. Thank you from myself and all those guys reading out there…
Semper fi,
Jim
The oiled boots, and not having to take them off for awhile. I see where that is going. Get them out of there alive, at least!
The advantage of having old salts around like you is the verification of authenticity the work carries.
You guys can spot bull shit a mile away. The bad part is that you can also spot developments in the story coming
before they happen! You’ve seen this shit before! Damn! Thanks for you comment. I’ll just be quiet about
it so those not so astute will enjoy some element of surprise.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m hangin’ on every word,Lieutenant! Can you write any faster?God bless, and I’m so glad you made it home, however, to see that wife and baby daughter!
I did indeed Bill. The surgeries and hospitals were another adventure but I got through
with help, and with a ton of work on the part of the Navy Medical Corps I might add.
I should not have made it a couple of times but they would not quit.
thanks for the comment and reminding me…
Semper fi,
Jim
Evening Jim, I was reading the last installment of your story, Having been in aviation I transported more than my share of FNG to the bush, and carried out more than my fair share of FNG nagged and tagged, It was my experience that the first 2 weeks were the most deadly, The learning curve was like a atlas missile launch, and from what I see you were ahead of the curve, Yes, If you made the first 2 weeks you had a good chance of making it out, Unless Murphy the Mother Fucker decided to intervene, From some of the other post you have made, sound like you had it going forward until Murphy stuck his ugly hand into the deal, But then Murphy was always a mother fucker…..Lost friend when because of Murphy and HUAS …. Bob.
Hey Robert! Thank your for that rather accurate assessment. Yes, you had to learn very quickly indeed, and also have some luck.
Maybe a bit better if not in a command position but not necessarily because of the point.
Anyway, thanks for the experience and application of true intellect.
Semper fi,
Jim
N. Koreans and Chinese would tightly wrap their torsos with silk.
I had never heard about the silk thing. Was it for the same effect because
I don’t know much about the ballistics of the weapons of that day.
Thanks for bringing that up though. And making a comment here…
Semper fi,
Jim
I have read stories from writers of the Mongols of the Khan dynasty telling of warriors wrapping their torso with silk. It said the tightly woven silk was strong enough to prevent many arrows from penetrating deeply into the body.If true, it made removal of the arrow much easier since all they had to do was to pull the embedded silk, along with the arrow, out of the wound.
That sounds interesting. I’ve never read to it but it also sounds somehow
rational, although I’m not sure about the properties of silk used for that purpose.
Some of those old records are quite something.
Thanks for bringing it to everyone’s attention here, including my own.
Semper fi,
Jim
Just a comment about silk. Many layers of silk were known to stop a bullet sometimes back in the old cap and ball days and a bit later, black powder era. There have been some rumors and speculation that Wyatt Earp wore a crude bulletproof vest of the many layers of silk, some others definitely did.
I have heard comments over time about the use of silk for stopping bullets.
Of course, the old black powder balls were big and much much slower than high velocity bullets.
A 16 bullet will go through a telephone pole at close range!
Thanks for the comment and the interesting nature and material of it.
Semper fi,
Jim
The Captain had a flashlight? Never saw one in the Bush my entire tour. To cut one on in the jungle at night would have caused people to die.
A lot of my people had flashlights in combat. And, if security was
a measure of being careful, then the stupid transistor radio would never
been out there, much less in total proliferation. The enemy had flashlights
too and used them around our positions at night. I loved the enemy lights because
I could call in artillery on them, although always having to adjust too close because
the enemy was never far. I don’t understand your experience but then there were a lot of wars
fought in that theater. Thanks for your own insight in commenting and the reading of the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
Was a member of bravo co 3rd recon team 2b2
in 68 our six man team carried a flashlight with an infrared lens it was great at night
Yes, I heard about those flashlights but never saw one.
You guys in Force Recon were something and so many paid the ultimate
price. Thanks for reading the stuff here and liking it enough to comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
“Run Through The Jungle”.
Did Fusner’s transistor survive? Don’t think this one was on Brother John’s playlist yet.
Never had to run through the jungle. Always rode atop a tractor on the bed of a ten ton low boy. Stupid, I thought. But that’s the way we did it. They all waved and smiled as you approached and saluted with their middle finger as you passed.
My deepest respect to those that did.
I&O
I think that song came through later. But then, there were a lot of songs I don’t remember.
Some stuck in my mind and others just faded away. Thanks for the usual deep-thinking comment Steve…
Semper fi,
Jim
Sir,
I was up to be drafted in 71. In the lotto for the draft my birthday was one number shy of making me go, which I would have done if drafted. I thank All Mighty God that I was not sent to that green hell that must have been Viet Nam!!! I admire anyone who was brave enough to go and thank God that there are those that carried the load. God Bless you Sir!!!!
Well, J.E., a lot of us went without really having a clue about what was therefor we
would find there. Unless you had a vet in the family who’d already been there was little
reality dribbling back home. Thanks for writing here.
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
I have read every one of your chapters and it scares me to death! Man you put me in the mud and leeches right there with you and your men! You Sir are a natural born writer of much talent! I hear the small arms fire, I hear the Artillery Rounds coming in and exploding. How did you keep your shit so tight and hold on to your sanity? I know that being young you can take a lot of punishment, but that constant fear eating at your guts must have been hell!!! I thank God all the time for not putting me in that awful place!
You carry me with you into every chapter and I read and re read every line! Peace to your soul is my prayer for you. … Jim
Well, thank you most kindly James. Fun to read a critique like that one!
And motivating, of course. I am not sure I’d have gone on so far without the comments here.
Some wonder at my answering them at all, but actually that’s my favorite break when not
working on the story. No matter what kind of comment it is. Most have been pretty fantastic, like
your own but some are more analytical, like missing some analytical part or describing something
not quite correctly. But great, nevertheless.
Thank you James for making my morning.
Semper fi,
Jim
I read every comment. One above mentioned Ben Het. In 69 I was at the B-24 SF team in Kontum, I was supposed to fly up to Ben Het to deliver an intel report to the team. Another Sergeant who had never been there took my place on the bird. As it was landing, it took a mortar round, my replacement on the flight ended up evacuated to Japan.
Thank you T.L. for commenting and liking the story. Sounds like
you had a good day when that chopper got hit. Funny, how the vagaries of
life and death played out over there. So much less our own action or thought.
It just was.
Semper fi,
jim
Was in the highlands with 173rd Airborne in 69 to 70. Remember being terrified when first arrived. Reading these stories really brings back how it was, so thankful to have gotten home mostly in one piece. Hope all of our young in this country can read your stories and learn to be grateful for our warriors.
Not just grateful Bill, but wary of they themselves going on some wild adventure
spun from the lips of a recruiter or taken from the reels of some old war movie.
If you are going to war then you need to read work like this to get a good idea
of what you are likely walking into…or not…
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks L T. Always a treat to see a trainer from Vallejo arrive in country for PBR duty. Same “deer in the headlights” look we had months before. can read each chapter a dozen times and get something different each time. Too much to absorb in one read. Respect to you.
Thank you Bill for that comment. The real world over there was so difficult to grasp
because of just how imbued we were with the one we’d just left. That is where I faulted
training the most. Those guys who came back from the Nam at the Basic School and didn’t tell
us shit.
Thanks for the support, too.
Semper fi,
Jim
Bill,
I was in the 4th ID from 67-68. The 173rd was involved in quite a few heavyweight fights during that time, hill 875 is forever burned in my brain. I understand it was well before your time but my hats off to all you 173rd guys.
You know then Al. There were some very stunning and hard fought battles in that
war, especially back in the hills and mountains at night. The A Shau was particularly
bad because of the resupply the NVA could pack into the end of it up near the DMZ.
Thanks for your comments.
Semper fi,
Jim
I really enjoy your writing and look forward to the next chapter. I was there the whole yr of 1968 and then again in 69-70 in the army but had served under some good officers but saw a lot of stupid ones also.I would have liked serving under you sir because you listened and learned and that is how good combat officers are made. I salute you you and keep up the good work.looking forward to the continuing story.
Thanks for that compliment Robert! It was either learn or die in that situation,
and the situation went on for some time, as you will read. Thanks for saying your serve with
me. That means a lot to an old vet.
Semper fi,
Jim
Young guy here , born during this war.
I always wondered why my family or family of friends, who had been involved in this conflict, never wanted to tell “War Stories”.
Now I can see why.
I’d try to forget also.
Can’t wait for the next installment.
Great read
Thank you
different take on reading the work. I never expected that non-veterans
could read the work and then possibly figure out why combat veterans
seldom want to talk about the experiences.
Thanks for sharing
that here and thank for liking the work.
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
Humbling story to me and I was on the line for a year in the 11th Armored Cavalry. When you talk of leeches I get the shivers I hated them; you couldn’t go out to set trip flares or claymores without getting at least one or more. It seemed the country was as much against us as the enemy and just as implacable. It amazed me the punishment those little guys could take and keep coming. Learned wounded and down was never good enough… I’m rambling. Do we start the second part now? Can’t wait.
this is the second part. The first book ended after the first part of the Tenth Day. Tomorrow’s segment
will be the Eleventh Day and it will follow Tenth Night Third Part. Thanks for following and liking the story…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, I was not in field combat as you were. I was a machinist with the 67th Maint Co in Camp Eagle and later, Dong Ha in 1970-71. I only went into the field 5 or 6 times, for various reasons. Guard duty and those trips in the field scared the h___ out of me. Rocket attacks nearly every night in Dong Ha and out to reinforce the bunker line. Sleep deprivation to the max! And yet, my primary job was to keep the 1st Cav tanks operating by making parts they couldn’t get in I Corp. I can’t imagine the fear and sleep deprivation you and your company experienced. When we came home, you either went to the bottle, the needle, or your faith to survive. No help for PTSD. As a result, I never uttered a word of my experience for over 35 years. Now, the older I get, the more proud I am of my service. You have my utmost respect, and I look forward to your writing, while sharing your website with my Vietnam brothers and sisters. Pastor Tom
Pastor Tom! Thanks for the glowing compliment about the work. I never expected compliments.
To me it just comes out every night and then I put it together and throw it up on this site.
thanks for reading deeply and caring even more deeply.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim as you know I am a fan of yours. my complements on anther good segment. Id like to ask is Down in the Valley also about your experience in country. Don
Down in the Valley is a fictionalized version of a story that has been put together
based upon a mission gone off the rails in Hawaii. All the Arch Patton series novels are based
on missions I was on in one form or another. Fiction must be used because it remains very dangerous and risky
to write anything agency related that has a whiff of classified documentation or revelation of current or past working
in the field. The Bering Sea is coming and that is set up between Alaska and Russia on that sea when I was ostensibly
aboard an expedition ship as an anthropology lecturer (and other things). It was 1993 is set on the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai, Maui
and Oahu after i’d been fired from the agency but could not escape being ‘touched’ by results of earlier work.
Semper fi,
Jim
Strauss you poor poor bastard. I cannot imagine the weight that you carried and carry on your shoulders. On point I knew being on point, one fuck up on my part & 2 maybe 5 maybe 10 guys were fucked. You, on the other hand had a whole company, including FNG Lts. Nothing dumber than a new Lt. I cannot imagine the responsibility. I cannot imagine the weight. It is too much to contemplate. Please allow me sir, to express my gratitude & sympathy ( although I know you don’t want it ) for the responsibility that you must feel. One grunt to another, Don’t mean nothin’ Bro. Don’t mean nothin’.
It was a difficult time and an impossible patch of life to try to get through.
It was amazing to be so frustrated by FNG behavior after being exactly the same way
only a few days before! Intimidating is a word that does not do that justice!
Thanks for the comment and your liking the writing and the story…
Semper fi,
Jim
Intense SH£# LT. Oiled the jungle boots…those pesky boots…he he he…my Gunny is subtle. Y’all are confablating Charlie. Suspect they will be waiting outside your cover. Hope the zoomies bridge that CAS gap.
The intensity can be cut with a knife. Sugar Daddy is on notice.
Chk 6 LT,
Doc
The Gunny is one of the most subtly slippery characters I ever ran
across in life. Kind of like the sergeant in Stalag 17 but with a better
heart and intent. Thanks for the compliment and the comment…
Semper fi,
Jim
James hope you have a good night. I put salt on then sucker and they would fall off all of the blood looked like you had been shot. You could hear a lot of rounds not go off when they came when I was pinned down for three days. Our KIAs were all black and looking like roadkill after the three day and night. seep will my brother. Fred
Thanks for those hard forced out revelations here. Yes, the jungle had a way of making death
even uglier than it is back here. People say the word war and then discuss it as being hell but they
don’t really have a clue that you get up and bring the hell home with you….it’s just that nobody else can see it
and won’t really believe it.
Thanks for being here, my friend.
Semper fi,
Jim
Do you get the night sweats