The three of us sat on the bench, our backs to Cobb’s smaller, but expensive yacht, and facing Richard’s larger and much more expensive yacht. It was readily apparent that the two boats were so closely slipped near one another out of deliberation rather than ignorance or the luck of the draw. Both smoked while, except for a very few exceptions when down in the Valley with the Gunny, I did not. The smoke wafted over me, as the usual northeastern breeze roiled gently around us. Nobody said anything for several uncomfortable moments. The question asked of me moments before resounded through my mind, bouncing from place to place but finding no purchase anywhere.
Tom Thorkelson had driven into me the sales technique of using silence as a power tool. The first person to speak in almost any sales situation, following either introductions or a presentation, was usually the one who would give in or surrender and buy the product being sold. Waiting for the silence to end had to be made, or allowed to be made, more difficult for the other person than the presenter, although such silences are always hard for both parties. This technique, I discovered as I dealt with all manner of other ‘sales’ situations, was extremely effective in all of them. Chuck Bartok was also a master of Tom’s application of the Xerox sales process. Except he’d added the Marine Corps variant to the technique, which I found brilliant and also most useful.
It is interesting that this chapter brings together real historic participants into a memoir that is claimed “fiction” to protect and allow the publishing!!!
Most war and recovery stories are questioned on the sheer reasoning that “all that stuff must be a meld long periods of action. This week we have pictures with real people, real accepted medals and actual participant stories that fit very close to the fiction……
Thank you Colonel! What a neat observation. Not one I made at all. But looking back at it I see your point. It’s kind of argue with
old newspaper clippings, Polaroid shots and some of the players piping in, none of them doing so with any denial or criticism whatever.
I am so happy that I made the difficult decision to use people’s real names. That’s a risk thing to do in this day and age.
Thanks for the usual high level of support and brilliant observation.
Semper fi,
My friend,
Jim
Instead of being relegated to the background, I see myself with a lot of other readers on the sideline, cheering you on! The way you write makes it easy to see myself in the story as a participant. Only good writers can accomplish that exceptional experience. I am just glad that your stories have not brought back the nightmares I had from my time in Vietnam. I also enjoy reading all the comments (maybe not all the needed text corrections though). I applaud the people you can count on to proof read for you. I wait impatiently for the next chapter and hope to add this series next to my Thirty Days has September.
Thanks Daniel, as this kind of in depth series of compliments touch me deeply. Sometimes I get stuck, not exactly writer’s block, but more a confounded thing, particularly when I
realize I’ve juxtaposed some circumstances and have them out of order. Then I have to go backwards and fix the mistake. I hate that. So, I read some comments, like your very
own, and then dig right in, re-energized by the readers. Most authors have silent readers but I would not hate that.
I must live up to your expectations, even though I only think about that when I’m reading answering the comments (of which I answer them all personally!) and not doing the writing.
I am on chapter XLIX right this minute so I will take up the pen
once again and get to it…ready to go…and thanking you.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow just Wow, Situational awareness in overdrive, your mind working in the background knowing that marine was in danger he wasn’t aware of. Acting intensly even if it ends up in a hatless dance.
The dramatic events around the characters and the porsche sleeping with the fishes, are just distractions about what really matters , that young marine’s life!
A mans character is judged by his actions, not his words. BZ James ! the world tested you that day and you rose up to the chalange rather than just watch it happen. The toughest part of my training was the life saving swimming, I didn’t know that you could sweat so much in the water! I am forever grateful I wasn’t put to such a test as you jumped into. B.Z. !!
Thanks for the most generous interpretation of what happened. You well written analysis is so complimentary. Larry Young wrote in the comments and that was uexpected
and wonderful, as did Bob Elwell, one of the guards. Great to relive this time with so much support.
Seper fi,
Jim
I thought I would share this. Here’s a shot of the Marines with 2nd Battalion 13th Marines, the unit which Larry Young belonged to. They are throwing me into a huge vat of ice upon hearing of the awarding of the Navy Marine Corps Medal…which was equivalent to winning coaches being showered with Gatorade. Wonderful!!!
I only saw this Polaroid today. My wife had it in an album, from th9se days, i never really looked in or paid much attention to.
She remembers the incident better than I because it was very uncommon for the Marines of the time to invite wives to anything.
Neat time. Larry Young is the 4th from the left Marine, icing me down because I was now supposedly too hot.
Semper fi,
Jim
Neat! Looks like a Jeep trailer filled with ice and “beverages”. The perfect way to keep things cold for a unit party. Apparently you also survived that experience.
Thanks DanC.
I was pretty much able to keep the wounds in check, at least from being viewed by others,
although the enlisted Marines I served with and was among viewed the scars more as badges of honor than anything else.
Civilians were another thing altogether so I always wore a shirt going to pools or at the beach…
and still do.
Thanks for the usual intelligent and caring DanC comment.
Semper fi, my friend
Jim
Intense chapter. I took BSA Lifesaving 60 years ago and it’s still imprinted in the recesses of my brain. That funky jump into deep water scissoring your arms and legs to keep your head above water and your eyes on the target. Tremendous courage on your part for what you did. Kudos!
Thanks a lot James, much appreciate your understanding and compliment. And the compliment of your own intense interest too and writing about it
on hrre.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, Is Julie hugging a cat ‘toy’ in the picture? I’ll have more later – Been off-line for a bit. Regards, Doug
Now that’s being observant! Yes, that was one of her favorite stuffed animals of the time, according to Mary, as I do not recall it. Mrs. Beasley was that one
that impacted me.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, No “tome”, simply about the cat Bozo. As soon as you introduced him, my mind (Such as it is.) went to “The Cat”. His decision to make your family part of his “pride” struck me. His ‘presence’ & his attitude around Julie – The fact that Julie ‘felt’ his care, his protection & being part of her family, resulted in (It seems to me.) making him “one of her favorite stuffed animals”. How long was Bozo part of your pride? Regards, Doug
Thanks for your recognition and care about Bozo. He was the first cat to impact my, and out, life. He made it almost ten years before passing one night sitting on the
floor late, right next to me watching lake night television. That he came from such a bitter and battered past, and then transitioned so quickly to what he became,
as basically the head of our ‘pride,’ taught me a lot about the animals around us that we take to be sub creatures but are really not…or don’t have to be. Thanks for
your wonderful comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was a guard on the beaches in and around San Clemente at the time Jim was head of the beach patrol. The event at Trestles Beach was only one of several I worked with him on, although the most treacherous, by far.
He, and the other officers who worked the beaches at that time got along great with Steve Bro and I and it was as fun as it was wildly strange.
Thanks Jim for putting this all in writing and making Steve and I look a little better than we actually were! I left the guard force in 1975 to becoming an insurance agent, taking over Jim’s business as he moved on to other things.
Thanks Bob, for coming on here and giving a bit of a description about our time together. Wild times
and your part in all of it was most admirable and filled with bits and pieces of courage, trust and honor.
Thank you for putting this up on the site for all to read.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
I so vividly remember those days.
Bob. I am honored to have had the opportunity to be your friend.
You were and are a stand-up Guy!
You are spot on, Chuck!
Intense chapter. I took BSA lifesaving 60 years ago and it’s still imprinted in the recesses of my brain. That funky jump into deep water scissoring your arms and legs to keep your head above water and your eyes on the target. Tremendous courage on your part for what you did. Kudos!
Thank you James, for that was one of my better days, and as much as some people think I was wrong to risk it, I didn’t and don’t think so. Larry Young proved well worth the effort
and the risk. One of the strange things about the mystique and social structure of the Marine Corps is that all Marines are your Marines…as you are their very own.
Thanks for the compliment and the support…
Semper fi,
Jim
Absolutely amazing, as always!
I think many veterans are being helped by your writing. Semper Fi!
Thanks so much Steve. I am really buoyed up by your comment and can only hope that this monumental effort in writing
is having a decent effect on those vets who may be able to use it and gain something from it.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT if it wasn’t for your awareness of your surroundings your ability to see things before they unfold that Marine would have surely drowned. That goes all the way back to the Valley
Thanks Tony for the great compliment in your writing, and for putting it up on here.
Really makes me feel great!!!
Semper fi,
Jim
One of the most amazing episodes in the series so far.
I eagerly await the next chapter you are so kindly sharing.
It has been so long since I read your “Thirty Days hasSeptember”.
I did not remember General Dwyer was the officer who sent you into the Ashau valley.
Thanks so much for the great comment John, and also, in the past few days, buying my whole set of 30 Days. The USPS tracking number is:9549012776835271767718And your
should receive the books next Thursday, according to the local office here. I make about three bucks a book on the sales so I much appreciate the purchase, as it all helps significantly
to keep this ‘ship of state’ on an even keel and sailing along, chapter after chapter.
Semper fi, and much appreciate he depth of your compliments too.
Jim
Oh what a tangled web you weave!! Great James! Hope telling it helps you? HAROLD
It is, indeed, a bit cathartic to lay it all out and even now, sometimes figure out stuff I really didn’t understand at the time.
It was hard to believe the Kennedy assassination stuff I was being handed but much much easier today. Nowadays only the mass media nand
government bother to say that the lone assassin up in the book depository did it. Thanks for the comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Once again, this edit is about the forward to the chapter, and not the chapter itself. I leave that to your blue pencil posse, who do such a great job.
Sails are normally struck or reefed in preparation for weather. Hatches are battened. The battens are the strips of wood that stiffen the edges of the canvas covers of the hatches.
As a life long sailor, and a bit of a pedant, I notice minutiae like that. Having a career as an aviation QC inspector probably helped as well.
Another great chapter I might add.
I take umbrage at those that say you did a stupid thing. When you have been swimming all your life, at the age you were, you dive in. I too was a water dog, and would have done the same at that age.
Simper fi Jim
Thanks for the support on the swimming thing Tim. Most of the population loves pools, water and beaches but not many are truly
‘water dogs’ as you term us. You are no doubt right about the sailing jargon as I, although an able bodied seaman in the Merchant Marine during
college years, was never much of a real sailor. Almost all my experience through life has been aboard powered craft, and not wind powered.
Thanks for the support.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow you sure are an amazing man !!!
That’s one incredible life you lead
Happy you survived to tell this amazing life story !!!
Can’t wait to see what’s next !! Thank you
Thanks so much Tim for your expression of opinion about me on here. My opinion isn’t quite so high but I smile at your very own.
I will certainly accept the obvious fact that my life has been incredible and remains so. I wonder about God, serendipity and
sometimes just being placed here and there where certain visible crossroads exist. Thanks for the compliment too…
Semper fi,
Jim
Very incriminating evidence hidden in the “frunk” not to Sonny Boy but to Daddy and his cronies ? It couldn’t be retrieved before you were detailed with making the Porsche disappear and now they want you to get whatever it is back ? The irony of this chapter is your saving of the Marine who you later befriend and he responds to this chapter but it’s the awarding of the Navy Marine Corps Medal by that asswipe General who sent you deliberately into that Hell called the A Shau Valley . Nuff said .
The strange irony of Dwyer coming back to the command the base were I was assigned to was shocking, just as my old rotten C.O. in Treasure Island ended up too. Life can
be so surprising. I never charged Dwyer a price for what he did, as I think he barely noticed. It was his Chief os Staff that was royally pissed at my most
appropriate but out of place comment upon arriving in country. Thanks for your usual intelligently thought out comment and thanks for being here all along the way.
Semper fi,
Jim
“Top Medal”?
The Navy Marine Corps Medal is the top medal the naval military awards for non-combat valor. It’s rather uncommon and is sometimes confused
by viewers to the Combat Action ribbon which has the same colors but referred in order and two little vertical line in the center.
The newspaper article made it sound like I’d been awarded the Medal of Honor which bothered me at the time.
Thanks for the inquiry
Great read as usual. Anticipating the next installment. One proofread aster the Saran-Wrap note “ I prepared for what had to come nest”.
Thanks Jim, for the help and the great compliment.
Sempe fi,
Jim
Jim,
It is heart warming seeing you reconnect with another Marine.
The memory of those comrades whom you faced imminent harm or death will stick with you forever.
Semper Fi,
Troy
Yes, and writing of ‘connecting,’ I must admit that I would never have expected or believed the connection that has occurred with readers and vets like you. It has been overwhelmingly relieving and relaxing to experience the kind of commentary you are reading right now on this sight. I have been able to go at the work now with a chapter a week, a track record I could never have equalled before all this came alive and happened. I cannot thank you enough for the support and writing about it all on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
I swear, this is one of the best chapters yet. The imagery is so vivid I feel I’m living it myself. Wow.
Just a couple edit comments:
and never would likely be again – likely never
when he came fully functional – when he became
what had to come nest – next
without beating both of hard – both of us hard
and I thanked god. All my lifesaving training with he scouts – God … the scouts
Oh, and great photo of the newspaper clipping.
Wow, just wow.
Thanks Matt. That was a clipping from the San Clemente Sun Post, as daily of that time. It kind of gave me fits at the time because the headline
made it seem like I was awarded the Medal of Honor, which I was not. Many people don’t read the articles but just look at the headlines. Thanks for the editing help too…and the compliments!
Semper fi,
Jim
My minds picture of that Porche in the basin has had me thinking bad thoughts for the past two chapters that you have finally borne out. Looking forward to seeing how you resolved this not inconsiderable problem. Cobb seems to have been quite the character to have involved in your life. Quite the ballsy move you made to jump in and save that Marines life, especially after Gularte pointed out your condition. Great chapter, Lt.
Thanks Rick. Some vets have written in and kind of castigated me for being stupid. I really did underestimate just how much recovery I had ahead of me with respect to getting over the enormity of the wounds I’d suffered. The “Hawaii” surf kid rose up in me and once you are really a ‘water dog’ like that you see the sea, any sea state, as easily able to work with and through. Only out there, until I spotted Elwell and Bro on the beach diving in, did I think Young and I might make it. I wasn’t sorry at that point. Afraid but but not sorry. I like to think any Marine officer with my swimming, lifesaving training and surf background would have done exactly the same thing. Later, I was quietly surprised that among the entire battalion-sized party on the beach, the Marines there mostly stood looking out to sea instead of diving in. FNG syndrome, once again. It was a rough high surf condition but it wasn’t THAT bad. My opinion only. Top Galant, the 1st Sergeant of the outfit, later contacted me in San Clemente. He was a wonderful man.
Semper fi,
Jim
Helluva great chapter for my birthday present, Jim – many thanks!
Your character, Cobb, intrigues me as much as she did you. What could be her goal, her assignment, and from whom? The woman with a secret, to be sure.
Great work on that water rescue, and the writing of it. Being on the Florida Atlantic coast, I never experienced swimming in such a tough surf. Saw it plenty while at the Point Mugu Missile Test Center, but never tried surfing – that Pacific along there is COLD! Thanks for yet another great reading experience. Semper Fi, my friend.
The water was cold, but back then, I was taking about an hour every morning to run as far as I could on the beach (slow, because of my recovery) and then swim out and mess around beyond the break to cool down before going home, so I was kind of conditioned and ready for the weakening power of colder water on the body. Thanks for the interest and just how close your are following the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
A couple of typos found :
lifesaving training with *he scouts had been done (*the)
to come nest*. Our only hope would (*next)
Helluva job on the rescue, I remember being slammed to the bottom by those waves myself, not only hurting but causing me to lose my breath as well…
Once again it seems as though Cobb knows “things” !!! Hmmm…
What secrets are to be found in the yellow submarine and just how are you going to access the frunk without surfacing it, thus the scuba gear and a plan is forming !!! 😉
Great chapter James,
Semper Fi
Thanks for the help, as usual, SgtBob. Also, the compliments you always give me.
You are among the best and most regular readers I have and it’s such a pleasure to open this site up in the morning and see
your name right there.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Well done Sir, well done! As for the Porsche????? can’t wait for the next chapter. I have heard the a good leader leads his troops into battle, you sure do fit that to a “T”. Semper fi Lt!!
Much appreciate your evaluation of me as a leader. I haven’t always agreed with that but have tried to live it.
Your kind of comment helps keep me going!
Semper fi,
Jim
Ah..the Navy Marine Corps Medal; Ballsy move and luckily the professionals arrive before the rest of those Marine decided to help.
Also very intriguing what Dad would hide in his son’s car and not tell him? Sounds like you are not finding the answer without recovery the car!!
Yes, the medal I might have deserved the most! Highest non-combat decoration for valor, but one almost nobody knows about and among the rarest of all those presented.
So, I was and remain happy about that one and the recontact with Larry Young, the guy I was able to save…eventually with some help.
Thanks for the great comment, as usual.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
My cousin David S. Keith, who was Army Special Forces, received the Soldiers Medal in 1969 for hauling a paratrooper who had fouled his static line back into the C47 transport. He had two tours in Vietnam and like you, felt that the Soldiers Medal was the only one he really deserved. Acts of personal bravery such as those are examples of humanity of the highest order.
Thanks James. I’m not sure how such actions ae generated at the moment for men like your cousin. such actions would not be my last,
as you will read, with plenty of proof. But I never performed them with aforethought. They just seemed to happen. I followed a path, like
with Larry Young, that seemed to be Larry getting further and further into real trouble, then, when I was proven correct, I simply followed the
rest of what seemed so natural.Afterwards, I was as amazed as everyone around me.
Thanks for that great writeup as I work ever deeper into the next chapter this night.
Semper fi,
Jim
All these events occured when I was the same age as the LT. I know this is just a story but it has been woven with threads of historical fact. I have friends who worked in the WH at this time and from the stories I have been told I can imagine that it could all be real.
Thanks Dan, for the comment and I understand your doubts about the veracity of it all.
I am pulling this all from diary entries and memory, not to mention some papers I was able to abscond with.
You have to decide. I write it all as fiction, like my combat series, simply because I want to
be able to live the rest of my life on the outside.
Glad you liked the ‘story’ though.
Semper fi,
Jim
One more thing, Dan. Only last night, coming home from dinner, my wife, who had just read the last two chapters (she seldom reads any of my work), turned and asked: “Did you really sink Mardian’s Porsche?” She was there, at home, at the time. I didn’t answer, not knowing whether to admit or deny the occurrence. I just kept driving and turned the radio on. She turned it off, and then commented: “That was a really shitty thing to do, even if he was crude and a spoiled brat.” I am admitting nothing. My wife has not always approved of my conduct.
Semper fi,
Jim
Perhaps I missed it, but after you left the Ashau, did you ever see the gunny again? Seems like he must have contributed much of what went into your records. Was curious about whether he survived as well.