THE COWARDLY LION,
Chapter I
The words “stay with us” burned their way into my consciousness, as I fought to comprehend the awful condition of my body and even my state of existence on the planet. The words kept repeating, as I tried to see through a distorted return of fuzzy imagery hot poker penetrating pain that rifled into the very center of my being. The pain came in waves that I rode as an unwilling surfer, each wave coming at me intolerably and inexorably, my stuttering breaths fighting to somehow survive by willing the troughs of those brutal waves to be something less than outrageous unsurvivable pain.
“Look at me, Junior, and stay with us,” a face said, the being’s beady eyes trying to bore their way into and then right through my own.
The Wizard of Oz – Cowardly 🦁
How do I get a copy of The Cowardly Lion book 1
Coming soon. You can send me a check for 30 bucks to 507 Broad Street, Lake Geneva, WI, 53147 and I will send you one
of the first autographed 1st editions as soon as the printer is done.
Semper fi, and thanks for asking.
Jim
Lt , yours is the kind of writing that if I had the book in hand I could not put down until I was done or simply passed out from lack of sleep.
This first chapter of the Cowardly Lion is more riveting than all the chapters of your combat. And those were such that I couldn’t wait for the next chapter!
I’m glad you made it. Its heart wrenching to find out the others didn’t.
Looking forward to the next and the rest of the Cowardly Lion.
Semper fi.
Barry
USN 71-76
In 69 when I was there- though as a medic in Mech Infantry in II Corps, we seemed to all think, If we thought or discussed it at all, was a concept that guys who got hit early and were dusted off were luckier, than guys who made it longer times and then got hit. Sucked… but you were alive. Survival of self. Guess in the end its critical. Guys who didn’t make it- it was just bad luck. Very random. Lots of pieces of things and shrap and rounds fly everywhere. I had about a month left when I got dusted. Lasted 10 months in the field. Not bad in retrospect. It Takes a lot of spiritual energy to tell people what happened. Putting it into words that make any sense. Mostly you just tell people about something Funny about the military. Harder to explain what combat is, or what insanity we faced. So some stories have just never been told. Dark memories. How do you explain the involuntary but eternal brothers you were serving with. and yet you might not know anything about them except maybe what others say because mostly we talked about pussy and back in the world. Or the time something happened to one of the guys. There were a few good moments- even some laughs. But mostly not. How do we tell people about that? We usually didn’t. When it was really bad someone might say “Don’t mean nothing”- and I would hear several other guys say.” Don’t mean nothing.” like a shield to just block out the pain of that moment. Those times I liked to forget about. But they will always be there- just got to think kindly of them. It was a long time ago. We survived to say that.
I like the new Book. Thanks- Doc Mike
That’s the best description of pain that I’ve ever read. This will stay with me…
LT, Sir, Jim:
An incredible first chapter of TCL.
Your loyal readership cadre are still with you…even on the plane heading to Japan.
My 8-month old laptop froze a few weeks ago. Resurrected my old, crippled laptop to use mouse device in order to access Internet but can only click and read…however, unable to type on busted keyboard.
Am using wife’s device to type this message and also used it tonight to also order two copies of the Last 10 Days.
Keep the chapters coming, LT…we so look forward to finding that next chapter of your captivating, eye opening story and all that evolves. Like Red Green said on The Red Green Show–“remember, we’re pulling for ya!”
Lt. Thank you for another riveting chapter in your journey. Your descriptive accounts in the field brought me into your world as no other account could. The intensity of each chapter is captivating. The first chapter of Cowardly Lion is beyond anything I have ever read. Your fragmented recollection of your surroundings and medical attention as you struggled to survive is beyond powerful. Your account of receiving your last rights is terrifying. I wish my cousin who was a medic could have read this before his sudden death. Thank you Lt for sharing your story. I anxiously await the three volume hard cover set of your work.
Thanks so much for that terrific comment Andrew. I have copied and pasted it to all my sites where the Cowardly Lion appears on Facebook.
Means a lot to me and I think it will to anyone else who reads it. Nicely said and wonderfully complimentary…
Semper fi, my friend and brother
Jim
Glad to see you once again put pen to paper with a captivating chapter Lt. I recall the med evac hospital at Da Nang in ’67, great caring people there.
Once again I must complement you on your memory and ability to put those events into print, and for one am very glad you are able to do that and share with us your personal thoughts and fears.
Keep them coming !!
SEMPER Fi
My problems, over time,
SGtBob, have not been about forgetting.
They have been about not being able to forget…
Semper fi, and thanks for the comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Hey LT , been off the grid for a few, and just read chapter 1 of the Lion, wow , what a run you had going, please pass on the rest when you feel ready, sure it was not easy to write.My dad ,WWII USMC Guadalcanal spent 4 months state side in a VA hospital before he was discharged, his war was over too, and only lasted a short time, 3 days on the island before waking up totally deaf on a mercy ship in the Pacific
Welcome back, and with such power. Your dad at Guadalcanal. I wonder if he felt bad about going down on only the third day. It was tough for me for a long time to
know that I could only make it 30 days. Now, I understand so much better. No veteran has ever, on this site, held that short time against me and I have much enjoyed that fact.
Thanks for writing about your dad and yourself on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
I spent a year and a half in-country. Not infantry. I had a few close calls. That said, if I add up all my experiences they don’t come close to one day of yours. Time in country doesn’t count for much.
Two short tours:
An acquaintance, infantry Army 4th Div, spent one week in-country training before going to the field. Two weeks later after an assault a short round from one of our 155s took his leg.
Marine new in country and before being assigned to a unit is doing fatigue duty. The job entailed moving 55 gal fuel drums from a raised rack. The drums were stored on their sides. They were to be rolled off the rack down a ramp. One drum got away from them. His hand was crushed amputating the first digit of his right index finger – his trigger finger. Medevaced back to the States.
We just play the hand we are dealt.
His hand was crushed. You then stated that “we must play the hand we are dealt.” Which hand?
A gallows humor kind of thing, I know. Thanks for the great subjective and personal comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Awesome writing James…however you made it…we are all glad that you did…so you could tell your story, which is, in a way, the story of many vets on here. There is such intensity in your writing, such care, and just plain grit…to tell the truth of the matter. Like someone previously said, I am so caught up in the story I don’t even notice the typing errors. I have bought the first two books, but would like the three book set when available…and a hard cover version also…Thanks for getting this follow up out so quickly…
Your compliments and support are much appreciated on this end. The men and women who have written on this site over the past three
years (22,521) have provided me so much in life. It’s hard to describe and also it was impossible to predict when I began the
odyssey. I much enjoy reading and answering the comments myself. There’s some kind of therapy in that too.
Semper fi
Jim
Wowee James more good writing. I’m guessing from your time in combat you must be deaf as a stone lion?
Yes, my hearing is not the best, although I have not gotten the hearing aids yet. Soon. In combat, at least back then, there were no ear muffs or any of that.
I used to stuff my ears with stuff when I could but that was not always possible. The ringing would bother me more than the brief periods of total silence that
would come from being too close to an artillery round going off.
semper fi,
Jim
James, Thank you for writing this gripping account. I applaud your bravery and writing skill. I just purchased the three book set and will purchase this when done. Thank you for your service. I pray the rest of your years are lived in peace and comfort. God Bless, Allen
Thanks so much Allen. The purchase of the books means a whole lot to me, as you might imagine.
Working alone on this has not been a problem, because of the people like you on this site.
Thanks,
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for not leaving me hanging. I thought I would just make up my own ending.
Well, that’s not necessarily a bad idea, although I am trying here to get it the way it went down.
Semper fi,
Jim
Unbelievable work. So good one can see and feel what’s going on in each sentence.
Thanks most sincerely, Ed. I don’t think about sturcture or any of that when I write. It just comes.
Appreciate your compliment and that you are writing it in a public place…
Semper fi
Jim
Simply brilliant piece of writing. Thank you.
You are most welcome E!!! And thanks for writing that on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
The amazing writing and story continue. Amazing you can remember these details in the condition you were in .
That’s when memory is amazing. We lose so many great experiences in part or total but this kind of stuff….never.
Thanks for the comment on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim did you ever see Nguyen later in life? I know that it’s very personal to ask. But that guy meant a lot to you. Hell he means a lot to me and I’m just a reader living vicariously in your world through your words.
Please understand that I can’t write about future events until I unfold them in The Cowardly Lion, or it screws everything up.
Thanks for asking though.
Semper fi,
Jim
Fusner rest in peace good the gunny made it thr remaining young marines needed his leadership to survive.
Lt. your writing only gets better and better! I am so buried in the words that I never notice the typo’s. I am as in 30 days, hanging on to every word and waiting tensely on the next chapter! We’ve got your back LT!!!
Thanks Johnny. Yes, the compliments like your own do reach me and do effect me. Sometimes, without a ‘real’ publisher, it gets pretty lonely being the writer of such things.
Much appreciate the depth of your support too…and that helps me, as well.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m not sure how to start this comment. My first thought was “the saga continues” but that just seems to flippant, as that was before I read the whole chapter. Your new odyssey, starting with describing your physical pain, as well as your mental anguish, already seems it will be far worse than when you were in the A Shau (just guessing, as I have no military experience). I understand your pain and the (temporary) relief morphine brings when I was badly hurt in a truck wreck. But I cannot equate my experience with yours as my pain was just the body, not the body and soul as for you. I’ve been with you since the first chapter three or so years ago. You have really “open my eyes” to the reality of war as no other book has. I feel as if I am sitting on your shoulder, your writing is that good. Thank you and I will continue to wait for the next chapters.
Highly complimented Don, so much that I put your comment up on my other sites. Thank you so very much.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT all I can say, as a non combat Vet is once again WOW!
Great praise in that simple word Jim, and much appreciated on this end.
Semper fi,
Jim
I live with chronic pain but I could not image what you went through. Thank the Lord you survived to tell your story. Thank you Lt. and you sound like a leader that I would not have any problems following.
Thanks Doc, about the leader thing…I got better the longer I lived. Combat teaches by killing and I shall never ever forget that.
Yes, the survival was a trail of tears but also of discovery and bearing down to endure the seemingly unendurable…
Semper fi,
Jim
Hey Lt. I have been following you through your journey. “Thirty Days” was an unbelievable read. But I have to say, this first chapter tops everything so far. I was lucky to miss Vietnam, got stationed stateside for my entire 2 years (72-74). I salute you and all of the men and women that “did their duty” in that horrific conflict. I am glad you made it and can share those horrors with us that missed it. Thank you sir, just thank you. And God bless you.
So glad you stayed stateside, so we can have this dialogue. I never go after anyone who was not there, except for those who go after those who did go when they did not.
I’m glad to have communications with so many living survivors and those who did not go. It is a one way dialogue to communicate with the dead so I try not to do much of that.
Glad you alive and very happy you are enjoying the work.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow! Hard to imagine the sheer terror and pain as you are ambushed from within your perimeter and rendered incapable of functioning, but you have given a very articulate and clear picture of the horror that descended upon you and your men. You have given a very good description of your pain, your fears for yourself and your survivability odds, and also your concern and frustration for the fate of the men who fought alongside you. That obviously weighed heavily on you. Again, I finish another segment and find myself just sitting here, shaking my head, at a loss for words. Thank you, sir.
Thanks so much Marshall, and your comment does reach and effect me. Sometimes it is hard to go on, but I persevere and this comment section has been a lifeline to me.
Thanks to one and all who are reading this and making their own comments.
Semper fi,
Jim
You remember more than I, I’m thankful I recall very little. I recall getting put in the chopper. Told I was in Japan and Edwards AFB CA. I came around at Walter Reed and told the specialist needed was at Andrews. At Andrews they started rotating different pain meds as I had too much morphine, that was their opinion. I recall part Last Rights only once. That was as frightening as a FF with gooks in the wire at night. Like you it was months in hospitals. From the 1st corpsman to the last doctor and all in between I had great care and was patched better than can be expected. I trust your care was great too. We still live with the pain, I gave up Oxy after 22 years for non – narc drugs. We still live with the demons. There are many like us, but fewer every day. At this point, God bless the VA as they have kept me as healthy as possible for decades. Glad you came home to write about our war for us and future generations. I think God will look upon Nam vets as we served our time in Hell and deserve some dispensation.
Yes, long term morphine, administered frequently, creates a withdrawal that is hard to explain to anyone who has not gone through the four day, day and night, horror of it.
Thanks for bringing that up and you will read more of it as The Cowardly Lion progresses.
Semper fi,
Jim
Getting rapped up in your near or imminent death experience made me think of my own trip back to the world. There was not the physical horror but it seems like the mental fog was just as chaotic. One day we were watching tracers over the trail and then we were leaving all our brothers at war and going back to Kansas. I arrived home in NC and my daughter was now 2 1/2 and June reminded me we had a son Jimi who was 3mo….I wasn’t bleeding but I was in shock! Thank you S/F
The A-6 Intruder man. Whole Man. Thank you. For back then and for now. I like to imagine all the guys who so powerfully threw support to us back then, and lived, are like you.
Know that’s not true, but what the hell! You are a class act Colonel and I much appreciate your comments and you friendship. As you know, I don’t have many veteran friends, except on here, but then, I didn’t do very well
on the peer evaluations back at Quantico either!
Semper fi,
Jim
In so many ways I am glad you were there in the air helping Jim and his company.
Great to hear your side of the story
James, Thanks for your service, awesome writing skills and memories. My Dad 5th Division Marine fought at Iwo Jima . He had a couple of stories but didn’t like to talk about the war. Can’t wait for the next chapter.
As I laid in the hospital in Japan after 2 weeks in Chu Lai I was beginning to become human again and realized I was going to live. My second night I was awakened by someone going through the cabinets that were next to each patient that held their personal belongings. I watched groggily as he went through 3 and then I hoarsely yelled Hey what are you doing? He immediately ran out of the area. Don’t know if he came back again later but it was maddening to see some low life stealing from severely wounded patients. Everything I had was left in the field so I had nothing to lose at that point. I wonder how the marines that lifted your 45 and watch feel abut their actions now? Do they have any kind of guilty conscience or have they made up a cover story that they now believe.
I, too, am awaiting the release of all 3 books. If it would help matters I am more than happy to pay in advance for them.
Hope to have the third book in print by late next week. Chuck says that the three book set will go for 79.95 which seems about right for autographed and unscripted, as the time and postage and packaging (not to mention trips too and from the post office)
takes a lot more than most people might think. I am Jim Strauss, 507 Broad Street, Lake Geneva, WI. 53147. You will be one of the first to get the full series when the third finally gets here from the printer.
Thanks so very much. The guys who ‘stole’ the watch and the Colt didn’t really steal them, if you think about it. They needed that stuff a helluva lot more than I did and I was okay with it then and even more okay with it now.
Semper fi,
Jim
Happily my experience was much less dramatic than yours, but I was medevaced out of the Parrot’s Beak and woke up to someone saying “Come on, breathe, don’t quit on me now.” That part of your experience I can identify with. Very glad you survived to tell your remarkable story.
Yes, you had to go through something like this to hear words like that, or have people like us tell you.
Thanks for the support and for being a fellow combat brother in arms.
Semper fi,
Jim
Great writing, Jim. I could feel your pain. The cowardly lion is yet to show its face.
“I did multiple resections and knit the bone of your hip back together.” Perhaps “knitted”
I homed in on “pardner,” but think most likely that is exactly what you meant as you remembered hearing it.
Thanks, Waynor on the ‘Knit’ catch.
It is corrected
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow! That brought back vague and forgotten memories. I took the fast way down a 40 foot mountain side when I was stationed in Taiwan. They took out my spleen and sewed up my ruptured bladder. Sent me on to Yokosuka for further surgeries and broken bones. They didn’t expect me to live. None of my personal effects ever caught up with me. I went on to make 3 tours of Nam and am still hanging on at 75 years old.
That was one hell of a fall! Similar stuff though. I never went back, nor would have, for another tour, no matter who long or short.
You have more endurance than I had or do.
Thanks to adding to the developing story with stuff about you and what happened to you.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good to see you taking up the keyboard again and looking for the rest of the story. A man once told me “The Lord works in mysterious ways” and I have found that to be very true. There is healing going on through your story not with just you but some of your readers. Thank you for sharing your story LT.
There is God’s guidance in this whole thing, but, as you intimate, its almost impossible to consider what the meaning of all of it is.
Thanks for bringing that up. The healing of all this has to be His thing as I had no clue when I started. I have been guided over the past three years
to personally answer almost everyone of the 22,504 comments that have been made to date.
Semper fi, and God bless you…
Jim
I hate trying to type with tears in my eyes and white hot anger for those who stole your possessions. The one true God, the God of the Bible has blessed you with the courage and focus to continue on with your journey. Thanks for sharing. You James are no cowardly lion.