I walked outside the office and onto the gravel trail leading up to the parking lot I’d come down from earlier in the day. I heard a motorcycle start up behind me. I stopped and turned. The motorcycle drove slowly up to me on the gravel. I stepped off to one side. Then I saw it was the sergeant driving the cycle. I let out a sigh. It had never occurred to me that the sergeant would have anything other than a car.
“Want a lift?” he said, as the machine under the sergeant purred away.
Keep up the excellent work, Lt. As I have read the Cowardly Lion, I have formed some questions. Did you ever find out who was at Oakland before you and told people about you? Did you ever meet up with McMaster’s and/or Puller again or their father’s? Did you ever run across Chute or Peterman again?
I’ve always found it interesting how each hospital treats you. Some are old buildings with awesome medical staff or a new building with a crappy staff. Never knowing from one shift to the next how things were going to be like. Keep on trucking, Lt.
I later worked for the CIA in the field and would report back physically,
upon occasion to D.C. Every time I would ‘pop in’ on Puller, after I found out
he was heading up the VA and I identified who I was. He did not remember me
from the hospital but we became friends. I would do as much therapy as I could because
he suffered from bouts of severe depression and PTSD, of course. He also drank
terribly heavily, even his office and in the mornings. It was a deadly mixture
that would eventually prove fatal. Great guy, though. Never saw Masters again. or Chute or Peterman either. So many lost in time if not in life itself.
Semper fi,
Jim
Just tonight purchased the three book set of “30 days”. Thank you for sharing your story. Am following “The Cowardly Lion” and will purchase it too when it is completed. Marine, Danang 1965.
Thank you, James
LT…I just got to say you are one helluva man. I read your first books about your time in the A Shau Valley. You did what you had to do and did it well without a lot of help from your Battalion Command, Thank God for air power though. Any way reading this chapter I see you got the saran wrap trick over your bandages. Well I was never in combat but I am was and still am a coal miner and these days I work in the strippins repairing heavy equipment, mostly welding. About 12 years ago i got a very gash right below my elbow down to the bone and about 4 inches or so long. Now being out on the mountain in the middle of nowhere and such I had to do somethin to stop the bleeding so I heated up a chunk of steel red hot stuckit in the cut and burned the blood vessels shut. That night Got home and wrapped it all up after cleanin it up and wrapped it in saran wrap to keep the dirt out when i would go to work. It took about 2 month to heal up, but I didnt have to go to the doctor for stitches. Good thing I had no insurance bein self employed. Saran wrap works great for that stuff.
I often wondered after reading the 30 Days series and this one so far did Nguyen and Gunny live through the battle? I see in the one chapter you thought you saw Nguyen when you were bein loaded on to a plane but you werent sure if it was a dream or if it was real. Gunny and Nguyen both seem to be fellas that could lasso a tornado and ride it cross country and never even get a wrinkle in their clothes.
Thank you for what you done Sir. God Bless You
Popeye
You are one class, and tough, act my friend!
Thanks for writing about your own situation of trauma here for all of us to read.
Semper fi,
Jim
Oh hell it wasnt any trauma, nothin like what you been through, just another day at work, dumb shit happens all the time, I shoulda been watchin what I was doin a bit more. When I read about the saran wrap it just made me think of it
Another outstanding read James….and I liked you comment about the NCOs….they are who really ran the show….at least in the US Army. Most I knew would help any officer if the officer was a decent human being. Most lieutenants I met, while in service, were pricks. They were all bark and no bite….loved pushing people around….but that’s just the way it was….and I like your new “plan”…can’t wait to see what happens…
I knew some truly wonderful company grade officers, most dead now. Guys like Deathridge, Dan Smith and more are not, but they don’t comment much because that is what ‘real deal’ guys do, or don’t do. Just part of the thing about combat. It does not breed a lot of open conversation or communication. Part of what the VA has such trouble coming to understand that there’s a helluva difference between real combat vets and all the others.
Semper fi,
Jim
Interesting comments there. While I’m not a combat vet, or a veteran at all, I spent my whole adult life in Fire/EMS. We might talk crap to each other but almost never talk about the real ugly stuff. There is really no point in it since we all know what its about. Just an observation. Thanks for another great chapter!
I guess, after re-reading your comment, that I don’t get the point of what you are trying to say.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wowee Lieutenant, wowee.
Thanks for the short but so meaningful compliment, Stuart!
Semper fi,
Jim
Great CHapter. I remember my boys telling me that would much rather be on an in-coountry bacse than any Stateside. Guess times haven’t changed.
Stateside bases had less than a lack of understanding. They had a very healthy crew of men who had not gone to the war for real, but wanted so desperately to be known as having gone to war for real…and hence the maltreatment of those coming back from the real shit….
Semper fi,
Jim
I never knew about the Saran Wrap trick, Lieutenant. What other tricks did they have to unload on you? I’ve read a lot, but never came across that. Diabolical.
Today is Vietnam Veterans Day, sir. I just wanted to thank you again for your service and sharing your journey with us.
We’re burying my father in law Wednesday. He was 84, and a Navy Veteran, serving from 1955-1959. My flags are at half mast to honor him.
Yes, the low tech tricks that work. Saran Wrap, whom would have thought? Pungi sticks set down in little pits along the path. An empty beer can with a grenade inside, waiting to be pulled out by a string across the path being encountered. The spoon of the grenade coming free. You hear this click, then a fuse burning sound, and then you wake up back home with no legs, if you were lucky.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for another great chapter, James. Semper Fi! Also, tomorrow is Vietnam Veteran’s Day. Thank you for your service.
Got the thanks, and much appreciate it. Some vets don’t get that people saying ‘thanks for your service’ might really mean
exactly that. But I do, and I appreciate the comment and the heartfelt emotion that goes with it.
Semper fi,
Jim
Bucking the Tiger is always an adrenaline rush. I am sure you will be the winner. Go get ’em, Junior!
Define ‘winning.’ Tough one. I worked to beat that asshole and then encountered more.
The military at the time, back home, was not ready for returning vets, especially those from real combat.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great chapter. Heard you on a podcast interview this morning. Looks like I’ll be buying a couple more books. You sir, are an excellent writer. Wish it were easier for you to get your work out to the public. God Bless, Allen
Thanks Allen, as I did that podcast some time back. Much appreciate the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
You hit the jackpot with the Sergeant Major and much to your surprise, got some awesome advice!! Good job getting past the Saran Wrap, it’s gonna be a big help while you are in uniform and keeping your uniform from getting permenatly stained!!
Yes, blood is a problem for uniforms, although whom would be in such a position to even know that!
Mostly, the medical units of the military keep guys in my bad shape from being released on their own.
Not Oak Knoll at that time.
Semper fi,
Jim
Alrighty then, sounds like you have found your footing and are charging forward!! That’s what we like to hear LT!!
Home. The A Shau…it’s back there, pushed ever farther back there…even to this day…but the learning
from that pit of hell remains in my very fiber. I come back and man oh man do I come back…but like the Gunny,
and the Sergeant Major…using the system to beat the system.
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
Can’t wait to see what plays out next.
Keep firing off these chapters.
Right on it Duke, 18th half done and soon…
Thanks for everything.
Semper fi,
Jim
want to tead it all….
Thanks Steve, great compliment. I am working away
Semper fi,
Jim
Great chapter. Can’t wait for the next one.
Thanks Ron, some sparks in the next one, for sure.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you Jim I am very pleased with your writings. The depictions are so real, HM2 K. Cooke.
Thanks mightily HM2 K. Much appreciated compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you Jim.
You are most welcome Kenny and I will keep going…
Semper fi,
Jim
good read sir, good read
thanks for the compliment
Guy.
Semper fi,
Jim
I can hardly wait for the next installment. (I’m really pissed.) Listening to the non-coms pays dividends.
Thanks for the understanding and the following of my writing Robert!
Semper fi,
Jim
Junior, somehow I missed your list of ribbons/decorations. I’ve got Purple Heart, Vietnam Service and Campaign, and National Defense (fire watch). What else?
Oops, and Combat Action Ribbon.
Yes, there was and remains that pesky little thing. No medal. No combat badge, like the army. The Marine Corps was finally responding to the army’s badge.
Today’s ribbons are so funny. They’ve jammed the top end with awards to high officers. Legion of Merit…give me a fucking break. All those ‘distinguished service’ medals above e the silver star in
rank. Shit bird ribbons every one.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow! You were blessed by those two sergeants!
I was indeed, and they were not the last.
Semper fi,
Jim
Get em JAMES , we had that saying too but a bit different “If you can’t impress them BRILLIANCE then DAZZLE them with BULLSHIT ” !!! Have a good EASTER FRIEND .
Great sayings we took away from your intense service. Never forget that stuff, and the lessons buried deep inside them.
Semper fi,
Jim
Great read! Can’t wait for the next chapter. You have survived hell on earth. My dad was a Marine. Fought on Iwo Jima. He had a couple of stories but didn’t talk about the war. Have a good Easter.
Thanks Tom, for the stuff about your dad too.
I hope more guys will talk because of my work.
Semper fi,
Jim
…..
Seems like you have gained support from surprised sources within the ranks , which is a good thing . Now you need to focus on gaining back the confidence you had in the Valley . You can survive this battle also. I will follow your story to the end , Sir !
Another truth revealed
The NCO navigated the bullshit of the Corps brilliantly and in my experience loved to help a young officer
Hi LT, very interesting chapter. Never heard about Saran Wrap being used by the North Vietnamese before. Can’t wait to hear about the events following you next work visit.
Yes, the Saran Wrap was real and those NVA were tough cookies to use, knowing what was likely coming next. It’s in the 30 Days series of books I have written.
I have a mind shot of one NVA soldier laying spread out before me on his back. He was wrapped when they pulled his shirt open to see where he was hit. He was
hit any about a hundred or more of the Ontos flechettes. They made little bitty ‘x’ shapes in red on his torso but not too much, because the wrap worked to hold him
all together.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great chapter LT!
As a 2LT in an Armor unit,I learned to ask my Plt Sgt and 1st Sgt for guiedance when I had a problem. They always kept me focused and out of trouble.
I owe them alot for taking the time training me to have a successfull career in the army.
Like you, I found a special bond with NCOs that would help.
Thanks David. I much appreciate you writing about your own experience here.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, You question, “Why could I not get along with other officers almost not
at all but enlisted NCOs were almost, one and all, wonderful to me?” It has
everything to do with how you treat others. You treated the NCOs with respect
and they reciprocated. Many young officers are like chihuahuas. They bark a lot
and threaten … and they receive no respect. Now a German Shepard only has to
say “woof” once.
Some minor editing suggestions follow:
looked like a grounded and dug in a one-by-six wooden board.
Seems the “a” is extra.
looked like a grounded and dug in one-by-six wooden board.
I wonder if there really twenty-nine palms are there.”
Maybe switch word order
I wonder if there really are twenty-nine palms there.”
Doors closed but that shouldn’t matter to you.”
“Doors” = door is, so “Door’s”
Door’s closed but that shouldn’t matter to you.”
The sergeant-major came quickly to his feet
sergeant-major hyphenated here and some other locations but not all locations.
Hyphen seems unneeded.
The sergeant major came quickly to his feet
The Rock Pile in South Vietnam was located close to Khe Shan, only a few thousand meters from the A Shau, toward the sea,
Khe Sanh rather than Khe Shan
I’m having trouble picturing this. Yes, the Rock Pile was close to the DMZ and east of Khe Sanh. However, I believe the A Shau is west of Hue – so further south of the DMZ.
https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20in%20Vietnam
%20Fighting%20the%20North%20Vietnamese%201967%20%20PCN%2019000309000_1.pdf
Page 19 for DMZ map.
https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~tpilsch/AirOps/AShau-2.html
Maybe?? The Rock Pile in South Vietnam was located close to Khe Sanh, toward the sea, and only a few thousand meters from the DMZ
“What about Vince Lombardi time,” the sergeant asked
Maybe substitute a “?” for the comma
“What about Vince Lombardi time?” the sergeant asked
simply a short period to lay down
the grammar police prefer lie to lay
simply a short period to lie down
Saran Wrap, had, after all, had been invented right after WWII,
Extra “had” and extra comma after “Wrap”
Either
Saran Wrap had, after all, been invented right after WWII,
OR
Saran Wrap, after all, had been invented right after WWII,
The NVA had prepared for combat in exactly the same that way I was preparing for it.
Maybe move “that” to after “way”
The NVA had prepared for combat in exactly the same way that I was preparing for it.
I await hearing how the plan unfolds.
Blessings & Be Well
Yes, the Rock Pile issue. I am not going to go in and surgically change the script here. I remember where the Rock Pile was in my mind but my mind is apparently wrong. It was a good deal further away
than I thought. But what the hell…I have to go with what I am recalling and then apologize for not knowing more at the time. Back then we did not have the Internet, GPS or any of that.
A Prick 25 that mostly worked. Mostly.
Semper fi,
Jim