Chapter IV
I pulled away from home in the Volks, only wanting to escape back onto the stretches of beach I realized I was finding some solace driving, if not doing anything else productive. Vietnam had come again out of nowhere. Nguyen, reaching forward from the past, and so emotionally effective that I was smitten into silence over receiving the Christmas Nativity set. The wind blew through the open windows. It was neither too cold nor too warm, in other words; very Southern California.
I parked the Volks in the rear parking lot of the station and switched over to the nearby Bronco. I carried the keys with me, although at some point I knew those would have to be held somewhere inside the station. I drove to the beach, heading down Del Mar until I got to the sharp turn that led to the double electric gates that protected the railroad tracks. I hadn’t made it through those gates, with the lifeguard headquarters sitting on the other side when the radio call came through.
Dear Uncle Jim,
As a pharmacist I’ve been busy with Covid-19, immunizing and treating. Sorry to hear you contracted it, but glad to know like everything else in your life you survived it. Finally had some vacation time and enjoyed getting caught up with Junior. Your story telling is second to none, keep going.
Dan C has a handle on editing but as a Christian and a student of scripture I wanted to point out the following edit suggestion:
The sergeant turned his head to look over at me, standing about four rows back in the middle of other seated candidates. We stood that way for what seemed to be seconds until the students located between us parted like the proverbial Sea of Galilee.
This should be:
The sergeant turned his head to look over at me, standing about four rows back in the middle of other seated candidates. We stood that way for what seemed to be seconds until the students located between us parted like the “Red Sea”. Or the Red sea before Moses.
1. The two bodies of water that were parted in the Bible are the Red Sea under Moses and lesser know and referenced River Jordan under Joshua.
2. As a Christian we believe these to be actual historical events, therefore “proverbial” should be left out, unless the protagonist believed the parting to be proverbial.
Keep up the good work and be well.
V/r,
Dennis
Thank you Dennis, for the contemplative and very sincere comment on here. Your knowledge of Biblical lore is well beyond my own and I appreciate the nature of your comment and I will reflect on it.
Most Sincerely, your friend,
and Semper fi,
Jim
Good to read your work once more.
Ironically I was involved in a conversation with several of my buddies and another gentleman w dark horn rimmed glasses once at Nixons’s San Clemente home where we were to perform an arrival ceremony for the President of South Vietnam. I knew I had seen or heard this guy before but had to ask my buddies when left, “who the hell was that?”. They looked at me astonished and said ” you dumb**s that was Henry Kissinger!” Oh well.
Thanks Laddie, for adding to the story. Kissinger was quite something.
Very bright, very well-spoken, especially in German, and possessing absolutely no heart or soul.
Thanks for the comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, I’m on the edge of my seat as I read! Welcome back and I can’t wait for further installments! Semper Fi. Batman
Finishing another chapter tonight. Should be up tomorrow, Tom. As I recall, during that Nixon period, didn’t one of your other agents
write a Mass policy on the President’s secretary?
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow, Tom…
Good to hear from you again. This book covers some of the good times we all shared together
Glad you were able to defeat the Covid. Like you 2 shots, 2 boosters, however lucky to not have fallen ill, – yet.
More great read. Strange, strange, return to the world. Like you, was directed to the VA on discharge – after one visit – said would never ever go back, because of good work health insurance, never did. But after retirement my wife and her “gang” “encouraged” me to try the local VA – glad I did they have been fantastic in every way.
Thank you Bob for the well thought out comment. I wish the Covid on no man. Period. What a shit couple of weeks that was, but I’m fine now.
I’ve got more antibodies than I have cells in my body now, I think. Yes, the times back then could not stop coming at me, like set waves in surfing.
One wave after another, and me wounded and mentally damaged during it all.
Thanks for the great compliment in the writing…
Sempe fi,
Jim
One of the most intriguing stories I have ever read. A true page turner .
Thanks Don. At the time all that stuff went down I wasn’t thinking anything of it. I was living history in the big time but had no real clue.
Funny how that works sometimes. Thanks for the great compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
just re-read
you touch a heart and make me pause
knowing you is a gift
Rich
You are one of the truly most credible and sincere men I know…not to mention made out of solid titanium integrity.
Knowing you, well, it’s all my pleasure.
Most Sincerely,
Your friend,
and Semper fi,
Jim
Jim I get a separate email link notice for every message in the responses. Is there any way to stop that?
I’ll have Chuck look into it as I have no idea….
Semper fi,
Jim
Hello James,
Glad you are back in action and past the worst of it.
If I may, ‘I drove down to the beach, heading down Del Mar’ would flow better with ‘I drove to the beach; heading down Del Mar’.
Looking forward to the next installment.
Corrected and Thanks!
Glad your back among the living Again. I’ll be sending the money’s for two copies. Thanks
Thanks RT. Helps a whole lot, more than most people might think. It is expensive to be a self-published author
on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. They are set up to make money not pay it out.
Semper fi,
Jim
Just a note for editing, – All three were attentive to a fourth mean I did not recognize. (man) ??
What a long strange trip it’s been for you James!! 😉
Keep ’em coming..
SEMPER FI
Thanks for your sharp eyes.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good to read a new chapter, especially considering the COVID spell. We’ve managed to avoid it, so far. Been vaxed and boosted, masked and washed a layer or two of skin in the past couple of years. But you’re not the only one I know of hear about who’ve done all that and still been clobbered with it. Hope it lets you be and you can keep writing.
Thanks for the comment Neil. Yes, I got hit pretty hard, but no clots, brain fog, lung stuff or other serious crap. Just felt like total shit
for ten days. Didn’t eat for five of those days.
Semper fi,
Jim
Odd job you had. Great lack of clarity in your responsibilities which had to be intensional for whatever reason. Judging your response I guess. Allowing you to go through basic training tear gas you had already went though and so soon after hospital stay was stupid unless they were calibrating your willingness †ø follow their orders. Unneeded bodily stress for sure. Need to keep the job I’m sure guided much.
glad you survived your bout with covid. At our age the shots and booster are a needed shield for a positive outcome. Keep writing and thanks for your updates.
Thanks Ed. Unfortunately, the gas and much of the training wasn’t about training at all. It was about cronyism, phony macho, and in my case some
getting even too. Just the way men in groups can occasionally be. Thanks for the intelligent comment and the understanding and the welcome back.
Semper fi,
Jim
Peace…..
Ah yes, James. Peace…and how that can be arrived at for each and every one of us who has not lived such a wild life.
I am working on that, and will continue to do so on into what is left of my future.
Thanks for the one word of wisdom and recommendation.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back sir. Very glad you are feeling better. Great read as usual!
Thanks for the compliment Eric and also the welcome home…
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back James. Glad you survived Covid.
Thanks Ron, it was some go. So happy I chose to get vaccinated twice and boosted twice, as well. And then, when I got it they gave me the
anti-viral package instantly. Saved my life, all of that. I hope everyone reads this so they can be saved too. This was a really tough go, about
twice as miserable and tough to get through as the worst flu. I lost seven pounds in seven days, and didn’t eat anything at all for five. Could not keep water down, until it
finally relented. Two weeks a day ago. I am still having periods but am through. Thanks for caring and reading the stories.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back Sir, you had us worried for sure. My wife sent you a check on 12/1/21 for $35.00 and it cleared the bank. We can send you another check if it will help you to get the book published.
Thank you most sincerely, Paul. Yes, we’ve had to turn to a professional editor to finish with any timeliness.
Thanks for the offer and whatever you think you might be able to do. I will make a special ‘talented’ comment in the book
you receive! Semper fi, and God bless you.
Jim
Interesting chapter with it’s usual twist and turns into unknown directions.
Thank you for another chapter.
Wrote this same message last night and posted. Checked today and message was not there for some reason. Have had several texts disappear.
I got this message, as you will know from the response. Thanks for the compliment and enjoying this rendition of that strange part of my life.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back, you’ve been missed…
Thanks Darren, means a lot to me to have you guys out there, waiting and evaluating what I’m doing and writing,
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back !! I dodged the Covid but it was all around me. Thanks !!
Thanks Roger, thanks for being here!
Semper fi,
Jim
Been awhile since I had read the last chapter. Now I know why. Last Sept I contracted COVID myself. Almost 50 days in hospital and rehab and 30 lbs and a lot weaker now, I am back in my life. Hard to do things I used to do and enjoy. But reading your chapters certainly entertain me and also give a small glimpse into the processes of your life.
Keep writing, I’ll keep reading.
Wow, Steve, the virus sure took you for a wild, and I’m sure a miserable ride.
Mine has been a walk in the park in comparison. Thank God you made it, and me too.
Semper fi, and thanks for sticking with me.
Jim
Another excellent chapter. Suspense builds. One comment- should it be massaged my eyes instead of messaged?
Thanks for the editorial help and also the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad you’re back in good health. You have been sorely missed.
Thanks Tom, it is good to be missed upon occasion. Now, I’m back. The fifth chapter is
already roughed out as I write this, as long as nothing else bizarre comes along. What a couple of years! The pandemic waves
and now the war in Ukraine….no time to back off of PTSD!
Semper fi,
Jim
” All three were attentive to a fourth mean I did not recognize.” I think you meant to use the word “man” rather than “mean”.
” All I could read from his was deep suspicion.” Did you mean to say “his” and not “him”?
Glad you are recovered and back to writing.
thanks for the atta boy and also the corrections.
Semper fi,
Jim
Misspelling in the paragraph when you introduced the four men. You have “Mean” instead of man. Glad that you are back writing LT. I hope that your health continues to improve
Thanks Mark, you are exactly correct and I appreciate the help.
and thanks for the encouragement too.
Semper fi,
Jim
You keep sucking me deeper and deeper into this story.
In 1973 I had been transferred from an intelligence collection site in southern Germany, to NSA. I was a Russian interpreter and communications intelligence analyst. My specialty was Russian ground forces in Eastern Europe, including “that” country. I once received a question directly from Secretary of State Kissinger. My boss didn’t like my answer, so it got changed before it went out. Suffice to say, I knew exactly how Secretary Powell got caught up in the non-existent WMDs.
Hope you’re feeling better.
Funny how we can have contact with some of these characters who become almost large than life later on.
I didn’t think about it much back then, but I was just a kid.
Semper fi, and thanks for your contributions here.
Jim
Welcome back LT, sorry you had to go through the COVID illness and happy you have mended. Very interesting and welcome chapter. Your reaction to the instructor was perfect! God bless!
Thanks Joe, and appreciate the support about what I did. I was so damned close to the edge back then.
I could have shown my own life away in a heartbeat but God smiled down.
Semper fi, and thanks for the intelligent comment.
Jim
Your back! Thank you
You are most welcome Phil. Good to be back. Working on the next chapter tonight.
Semper fi,
Jim
Mr. Strauss, I’m sorry to hear that you contracted COVID despite you being fully vaccinated and boosted. I’m glad that you’re recovering. I hope you do not end up with any of the long haul effects. I have enjoyed reading your series 30 Days and The Cowardly Lion. You and along with the people commenting after each chapter have helped me understand the terrible effects of PTSD in my family. I’m sure your wife has helped you along the way. It is different and difficult being on the other side.
Thanks Mike G. Yes, my wife has been an unending source of sustenance and succor for and to me. To this very day, and on into this very night.
These comments have meant a ton to me, as well, and I answer each and every one personally because of that.
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt Junior James God Bless Glad You are back amongst the living, and have survived another of life’s tests. Your story continues to enthrall me. Trigger issues still plague our lives. I wish for You Peace. Having been a Drill Sergeant at FT Jackson, the CS chamber was a separator. Stripping the uniform off !!!! U of course were given special treatment. I cannot imagine what that stuff did to Your wounds. The survivor’s teach the history. God Bless Stay Safe
Thanks George. Yes, it is a shame that there is so much restrained but so deep macho built into so many men.
The A Shau had a way of taking that right out, but unfortunately those who survived it are very rare, although the artifice of
macho is gone. Real macho, the dangerous kind, however, has to be tamped down and stamped out at every opportunity.
The culture is unforgiving about such things, in spite of the mythology portrayed in movies and on television.
Thanks for the great supportive comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good to have you back.
Thanks Cary, it is good to be back among the living and here writing away.
Semper fi,
Jim
Enjoyed the new part of the story. Not an editor, just appreciate the story.
Glad you feel better after experiencing the COVID thing. Use to work with veterinarians to develop disease protocols. Glad you survived the illness and continue sharing your experiences.
Thanks Barry, much appreciate the care, attention and the reading of the work.
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
Glad you’re able to write again.
Dear Michael. Thanks for welcoming me back!
Semper fi,
Jim
Gald you are back LT. , and your life has turned into one huge mistery Looking forward to see what unravils in the near future .
Thanks Don. I’d like to write about how this was some sort of wild isolated adventure time but, in truth,
it was just the beginning of a run through time that even rocks me back as I sit and reflect all these years
later.
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad to see you back LT, it’s been too long.
Thanks Antonio. It’s good to be back and yes, it’s taken too long.
Thanks for the welcome,
Semper fi,
Jim
Worth the wait.
Thanks Harold, much appreciate the compliment. Good to be back among you.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back, James
A fine piece of writing.
Some editing suggestions follow:
Rio Hondo was supposedly going to be held to be entirely confidential.
Seems an extra “to be”
Rio Hondo was supposedly going to be held entirely confidential.
“One last thing,” the commander said before I could away.
Maybe add “step” before “away”
“One last thing,” the commander said before I could step away.
to be escorted by waiting for students
Maybe drop “for”
to be escorted by waiting students
It was almost like laying on the floor of the jungle
Better to use “lying” instead of “laying”
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/lay-vs-lie
It was almost like lying on the floor of the jungle
substantially different than my own.
Sister Grammar Nazi always told us “different from”
Interesting on the BBC they always write “different to”
substantially different from my own.
The Chief’s secretary waved me through the chief’s door
It would seem with Chief’s and chief’s both should be either upper case or lower case. Your choice.
occasionally rolling on the beaches of Northern Camp Pendleton or south, onto San Clemente State Park territory.
Isn’t Pendelton south of San Clemente? If so, it would seem that San Clemente State Park would be north?
occasionally rolling on the beaches of Northern Camp Pendleton or north, onto San Clemente State Park territory.
I had come to an accommodation with both the lovers and the border-crossers.
Other than the surfers, who comprised about three percent of the people I saw, and whom I had no interaction with.
These sentences make more sense when flipped.
Maybe move “with” to before “whom”
…and deafening on stormy days. Other than the surfers (who comprised about three percent of the people I saw, and with whom I had no interaction) I had come to an accommodation with both the lovers and the border-crossers.
/new paragraph/
The lovers…
I stared at the Bronco and then turned to move North.
Lower case for “North”
I stared at the Bronco and then turned to move north.
/ This and the following sentence seems to indicate the State Park was to the north./
A group of men in suits stood talking together.
Everyone in front of me turned at the same time, got up,
/ But they were standing. Drop the “got up” /
Everyone in front of me turned at the same time and then walked back
I looked into the rear-view mirror and met his cold staring gaze. I smiled, but he didn’t return the smile, instead of looking out his side window, like Haldeman was. All I could read from his was deep suspicion.
The above is understandable; but “instead of looking out his side window, like Haldeman was” seems extraneous
I looked into the rear-view mirror and met his cold staring gaze. I smiled, but he didn’t return the smile. All I could read from his was deep suspicion.
Blessings & Be Well
Thanks again, Dan.
You are amazing!
An interesting chapter. The story continues with the usual twist and turns with no warning of either.
Thanks JT. Yes, an interesting part of my life. The series on television right now (about the Mitchells) does not do it justice,
although I’m sure that the Hollywood people have taken a lot of liberties.
Semper fi,
Jim
watch the movie Gaslit about MRtha Mitchell
Watching the series. Knew Mitchell. Nice quiet guy. His wife never came to the Western White House so I never met her.
They go H.R. down, as the asshole he was. Looking forward to more as my own history back then is being laid out as the series goes
down. Sorry they have not done a better job with Dean (he was a neat guy and quiet too).
Semper fi,
Jim
L.T. …..Surpurb.. is all I can think of just now
Thanks Robert, and what you think so say means plenty. Appreciate the
approval and the welcome back.
Semper fi,
Jim
Amazing life you have lived my friend.
Still living it Chuck! My grandson is going to St. Norberts. I was able to meet the
president of the college, the former mayor of Green Bay and the Chairman of Nicolet Bank.
God’s strange ways. My grandson didn’t really have a hope of getting in but then it wall
changed. All three of those men have read the 30 Day series and it effected them.
I was totally surprised.
Amazing life.
Be up there to see you a bit.
Semper fi,
Jim
First, I gave a huge sigh of relief that the LT was writing again. Then I devoured the story, as always. Fascinating from start to finish.
“The sergeant is suspended” [add close quotation mark]
escorted by waiting for students [by waiting students]
staring up at me.
I brought my eyes down to look into his own. [space between paragraphs]
some air-circulation [dash not needed]
Possibly more corrections needed, just happened to spot these.
Thanks for the editorial help. I desperately need it and you guys are the editors.
Appreciate the welcome back and your relief too. Means a lot.
Semper fi,
Jim
It has been a long dry spell Lt. Glad to see you back at it.
Good to be back at it Dan. Thanks for the welcome, in your way…
Semper fi,
Jim
awesome lt thank you!
Awesome is a great word and I thank you for using it Jose.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow, wow, wow!! You never seem to run into a normal scene. Awesome chapter LT. Seems to me you have become a hired gun for the President of the USA, et Al…..Been waiting for this one, and well worth the wait!! A stiff salute to you sir!
Thanks for that salute Bob, and also for the comments about the writing. I do read such with interest and appreciation.
Semper fi,
Jim
So good to you back. Did your promotion ever catch up with you? Sadly, I believe what happened at the tear gas gun demonstration. I went through Law Enforcement training school after going to work as a deputy for the Sheriff’s Dept., after getting out the first time. Some of the trainees truly scared me, the instructors were great it was just a few of the trainees that you would wonder about. Keep up the good work, LT.
Ron, I was promoted to 1st Lieutenant three days before I was discharged. They were out of silver bars at the base, however, so I never wore them in uniform…at lest not at that time of active service.
Semper fi,
Jim
Enjoyed the story and the way you put it together. From reading the first paragraph I thought I had missed something in the other chapters. No, I had read them and then you led into the gas training incident. I had gone through the training with about a week before the end of basic training, and with in a week of transferring to Fr. Benning, I had to go through it again. As an interesting side, I had a patient who was sprayed directly in the eyes at a police academy and suffered permanent vision loss as a result.. Sounded a little like your experience of abusive instructors.
H. Kemp. You? Miss something? I kind of doubt it. Thanks for the detailed comment and your own experience with that awful gas.
Thanks for the intellect, as usual, exhibited in your writing.
Semper fi,
Jim
“From that Marine Outfit!”. Hmmm! Very interesting James! Always enjoy your stuff and I hope you’re well!
Thanks Jack, for checking in and thanks as well for the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Does the name Shellhammer, another retired Marine, on HAK’s detail, ring a bell?
Presume you are writing about Bill? He was part of Kissinger’s detail, although he was really op/con to the Marshalls because the Secret Service
did not at that time extend protection to a Secretary of State. Bill was reputed to be real class act, and I’d heard of him but never worked with him.
Semper fi,
Jim
Yes, Bill! He was an original. I rode with him to matches around the Eastern Seaboard for 3 years. Always shooting our beloved 1911s. I had quit smoking long before I met him. Had to stop riding with him, his Marlboros were killing me. The man knew how to shoot…and would.
He knew people everywhere. The stories, OMG the stories!
Yes, he was ‘old school’ and a class act all the way…
Semper fi, Michael
Jim