I stood in shock, unable to say a word, my unblinking eyes staring up into glittering dark pupils in eyes that had never glittered before. He was too tall, and he was vaguely smiling as he held the door half open. People passed on both sides of us, using the other doors opened and closed by the other doorman.
“Not you,” I breathed out, finally able to move my legs enough to enter the door and wait while he closed it behind me.
In the top 3, at the very least, of all the chapters since the beginning of Thirty Days.
Well done again Jim. Thank you.
I’m all eyes and ears.
Thanks so very much Tim, as the next chapter goes to print. Hope you
likt it too.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim,
Ok – Wow! And I realize that I’ve probably used that, ‘Wow!’, more than once, maybe twice. Regardless, another ‘word’ I don’t plan on using anymore – Just ‘assume’ it for every chapter & you’ll be fine.
Ref Nguyen – Don’t believe that ‘coincidence’ fits here & then him waiting for you in the como room – Probably thinking what most people are – Somehow attached to MI after the 30 days, perhaps even before, to give MI another view/perspective of units, both friend & foe, in the Valley. You just happened to draw the short or long, lucky straw. Can only wonder how many ‘tours’ of the Valley he had during that time period. As to how he was ‘assigned’ (If that’s the case.) to you & waiting for you at the Embassy? Well, no more guessing/fantasizing. As with everyone else, waiting for that “As The Day Turns” episode.
From the ‘comments’ – So the ‘valleys’ change & yet, in varying respects, stay the same. I suspect it is the same for the majority of humanity, but in much different ways. Though they aren’t trying to kill us, capture us, torture us, etc, in their own ways, are trying to capture us & ‘kill’ our souls. That is a constant battle, with various levels of severity.
The “vicious tornado” of evil has been building for a number of years (Another ‘valley’.) & the nation has indeed been pulled in to it while it continues to increase in size & strength. Assuming we push thru to the eye, that calmness will be short lived. It will take the courage of men & women to weather this, to stand & fight this fear, to make it fall apart. We’ve done it before & must do it again. Off topic of the chapter, but nevertheless true.
More on the chapter later.
As always, sincere regards my friend.
Doug
You re never ‘off topic’ here Doug. I understand and fully agree with your entire comment.
We did not create this current circumstance, just as we did not create a Vietnam. We did however
fight like hell once it all went down. And here we are again, as Barry sang in that song “On the Eve of Destruction.”
Thanks so much for being so complimentary and so bitterly real. I am with you all the way brother.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Are you sure you’r not in Boston Where everyone knows your Name.
Cheers!
Now that’s a great metaphorical comment Gordon. I sure as hell felt
like it while also feeling like I had to be the worst covered agent
to ever hit the field. More I’m the next chapter. Thanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Shocking, absolutely shocking. Of course everyone knows who you are.
Great spy, eh? Thank God it would not always remain that way but to be introduced
as a known entity out in the world was indeed shocking, although not paralyzing.
Thanks for the funny and accurate comment JT.
Semper fi,
Jim
Intriguing and addictive to say the least, WOW.
Thanks a lot S.K. and you can expect the next few chapters to be of similar ilk as I try to learn to be
something that’s a whole lot more poorly defined than anyone might expect. Thanks for the compliment and the
comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was wondering, if you would ever run into anyone, from your past! The story you are revealing has captivated me!!
Jose, what a neat compliment. Captivatws ua a great word and I most appreciate it being used
to describe the work. Thanks so much.
Semper fi,
Jim
Mr. Strauss, Sir,
At the beginning of this chapter when you revealed that the doorman was Nguyen, I got goose bumps up and down my arms and legs. I was SO disappointed when you turned to find him and he was gone. Then, at the end when told us he was at the table, I caught myself doing a fist pump and a whispered cheer “YES”.
I worry about the mysterious men in black, and what notes they may have written while looking at your passport.
Thank you for a great read.
PS. I had lunch today with an old friend who recently was in Lake Geneva and had breakfast at Egg Harbor – I thought of you.
Egg Harbor is a local hangout for breakfast in downtown Lake Geneva, but us locals only go there during the winter months
as he wait can be forever in the summer. Thanks Keith for following the story so closely and with such attention to detail and
emotion. Semper fi, and I hope to meet you one day at the Eggo, as we call the place.
Semper fi,
Jim
Once again , Shock and Awe as unending mysteries reappear!!
My favorite saying is Patience is a Virtue but boy do you make it tuff 🙂 , waiting 🙂
Thank you especially for a look back at the times.
Thanks so very much for the compliment and I offer little apology for the way the story wends its way into other
readers minds and hearts. I’m thankful that you and others on here appear to really like it and the way I write it.
Thanks again,
Semper fi,
Jim
Nguyen? That’s a twist I didn’t expect. How does he fit in in all of this? & what to make of the men in black. Each chapter brings more questions than answers. Keep them coming
Phil, it was my opinion that the men in black were not hotel sercuty, comfirmed by the hotel.
What to do with that at the time? Watch and read. Nguyen? Again, watch and read as this chapter
reveals. Probably not what most people might think. Real life is like that all the time.
Semper fi,
Jim
Oh my! Curiouser and curiouser! I feel I’m in a web, being pulled in by the spider! Batman
Batman, I presume the spider has something to do with me but I will put that aside for the moment.
The story, of course, is written and remembered by me but not really written and remembered just for you, or even the other
readers. I too am taking in what I’m putting out as the memories are not truly surface all the time. They are deep and come
up as other memories help to pry them loose. Thanks for being the Batman and my friend for life.
Semper fi,
Jim
Reflecting back to the days…
Being involved in the Financial Services Industry (especially employee benefits) did allow almost seamless mobility globally.
Of course that was almost 50 years ago.
I wonder if that is true in today’s business environment?
Thanks, Chuck, for coming in on that. Funny how porous things were for certain occupations, insurance being one of them.
Being a priest was another protected identity. I was one twice although it’s strictly forbidden by Agency orders.
Teachers get some, or used to get some, immunity from close examination too.
It was also against the rules to impersonate them. I’m sure it was giant the rules to impersonating an American ambassador including stealing and using his I.D. but I did that too.
Semper fi, and thanks for the associative and credibility building comment, my friend, and mentor.
Jim
Oh so GOOD 👍💯.
Great short compliment, Robert and much appreciated as I head into the next chapter.
Semper fi,
Jim
That is one intense chapter going to be a wild ride
The change in careers caught me totally by surprise. I knew nothing of field people aside form OO7
who I always thought of as cartoonish…which he turned out to be…an Aston Martin but I got Trebats and Ladas.
Reality bites. I thought I was getting on a slow merry go round not a giant roaring roller coaster.
Semper fi, and thanks for the accurately described coming ride.
Jim
What an amazing story! Enjoying every chapter!
Thanks so much Fred, means a lot to me as I’m half way through the next chapter.
Much appreciate the motivation and support.
Semper fi,
Jim
Dang! The pace never slows. I am becoming exhausted just trying to keep up! Hello Nguyen! Whew!!
Chris, living it was something else again, as one shock seemed to follow another as I tried to
start with the Agency, but there’s really no start. You just go at it or you’re out of there.
Thanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
What a great chapter! I’m happy you connected with Nguyen. This will be interesting.
thanks so much for the compliment and following so closely.
Semper fi,
Jim
Haha I wouldn’t doubt that Huang knew about the “artifact object”
Antonio, I can’t comment, unfortunately about what’s coming but much enjoy your supposition.
Stranger things have happened.
Semper fi,
Jim
The new war begins, in a different time and place with no lines and completely unknown actors that may be either enemies, friends, or a combination. It is the secret war fought out of embassies worldwide, with an occasional assistance from the MSGs.
War is ever with us, whether fought out in the open or ‘coldly’ as was the case, or at least termed so, with the U.S. and Soviet Union.
There is a form of developing war going on right now inside the U.S. and neither side of the leadership seems at all truly distressed
but one simply ignition point could lead to disaster in a country that has three weapons for each citizen, where auto weapons are not legal.
Wow. Hate the thought of all that but here we are. As 30 Days pointed out so terminally and graphically, people want to go fight in a war very badly, until they
are fighting, being maimed of life and dying doing so. It’s always too late and my books are not believed by those wanting to into combat.
I wish those people who get ‘down in the valley’ well, in the next world where most of them will be going.
Semper fi,
Jim
You must be a mind reader After reading the the last chapter I wonder if we’d ever find out what happen to the res of the company Good timing Seems to be time gap between Nam and now only a couple of years not ten
There will be more appearances made as these chapters progress. I have to write them chronologically as they occurred, however,
as I do not want to ruin the fabric of the ‘cloth’ ahead.
Semper fi,
Jim
So nice to get back with your most important person from the valley!!!!
Well, the most important after me, I would presume you mean. We’ll see how that turns out.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great read! I’ve been waiting for Nguyen to reappear since he dropped off the Nativity set. You’re a gifted storyteller.
Thanks so much for the compliments Bill, really read those with enthusiasm to continue.
Sometimes authors of the modern era, self publishing, wonder if it’s all worth it. You prove that it is,
you and my other wonderful readers.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another fantastic read and what a way to leave it! Can’t wait for the next Chapter.
Keep ’em coming
Great compliment Bob, and there’s plenty more coming. I’m half way through the next chapter as I read these comments.
Keeps me going for certain.
Semper fi,
Jim
This is going to be very interesting.
Good start to another chapter keep it going LT.
Keeps me guessing what is next.
I am glad you are guessing Pat, as I was when faced with all of it.
My brain working on all twelve cylinders but many times spot on.
What a run was that first part of my service in the CIA.
Semper fi, and thanks
Jim
Damn Lt, Nguyen!!! What next?
Damn is a compliment, I presume, Bruce…so, I thanks you.
What next? Well, chapter XXIII is coming next week.
Thanks for appearing to want it. I will deliver and thanks for commenting in
such a laconic but effective manner.
Semper fi,
Jim
When I came home from Korea, half the country didn’t even know that we had a war.
That’s true Charles. That also proves how the media was transforming itself from an instructive and reporting function
to using fictional creations to change behavior and beliefs.
There’s trillions of dollars floating around in war and the mass media wants it’s full share.
There seemed to be no money on the line in Korea and so little coverage.
Thanks for the great thoughtful comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow! Simply Wow!
So what in the H is going on with Nguyen? I would think the brief cameo at the hotel would and did startle you. And then to appear in the SCIF! What have you gotten into, James?
Great organizational thoughts on the school and the problems of the teachers. 90% of my foreign travel was courtesy of the military; no worries about health care, etc. And the one time visit to a hospital – Brazil, broken wrist – was at no charge at all.
Nguyen was a great friend, helper, protector in the Valley. Knew his way around the jungle. And now to do the same in the jungle that is Seoul.
Jim, only you and God know what’s in your brain. But a few thousand of us really, really want you to unlock it faster. Chapter a day will bring in the pay…
Craig, all the countries of the world are different, as well you know. Some will treat visiting American’s for free, but not Americans’s who live and work there.
Finding out about all those countries medical systems and how they operated would never have been possible expense-wise without the money the CIA was paying.
Today, that system I invented is still working out there in many countries. You can even buy a travel policy from my old travel evacuation company!
I can’t write any faster, and then edit, and then have it edited and then get it up and then get it edited and announced by email and on Facebook.
Whew! Thanks for the depth of your care, which I know is great.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Whoa…how awesome..you have some catching up to do Jim…I will be waiting..lol
I am working to bring the next chapter to life as I write these responses to comments, your own included.
Thanks for chiming in and giving me that compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow Lt, all I can say is stunning! Meeting again the all grown up Nguyen! This whole story is fantastic, even by Hollywood standards. Would definitely make an excellent Netflix series!
The problem with Hollywood has to do not only with having the right contacts, usually by birth, but in needing military equipment.
The military lends or rents its equipment for nothing or almost nothing, as long as they are the court of last resort for the telling of the story.
Hence, all military stories are pretty much the same.
My story is anti-mythological in that context. It is not slanted to sending young people of to war to come back just like they left except beloved as warriors and heroes.
Nope.
The reality is much different than that, but the true story will not encourage young people to go to war…ergo no move or television series.
Thanks for thinking those thoughts though.
Semper fi,
Jim
It was Huang Nguyen !!
Ok, I will promise to not ever be shocked again !! Well maybe 😉
Once again more questions than answers, great chapter James.
Semper Fi
Thanks Sgt Bob, as usual. More compliments from you on the story and its writing.
Well received on this afternoon of more writing, I might add.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
My head is spinning, as I’m sure yours was. This chapter gave more clues and answers than I can understand! It seems the whole story is revolving around Huang. This was very intense, and quite a change from the story so far, keep it up sir and Semper fi!
The story revolves around me because I am the storyteller in the first person.
Plenty of others played very key roles as you have read and guessed, although probably minimized a bit because our own egos are mostly invisible to us.
Thanks for the great comment, as usual Bob.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT:
I am so happy about your encounter with Nguyen. I hope you go into detail about your conversation with him.
Alan
Nguyen made it back but it wasn’t an easy path for him, or for any of those who were indigenous but got out to the USA.
As you will see, there’s a lot to that story and my involvement, as well.
Thanks for the comment and being happy that he’s back.
Semper fi,
Jim
What an amazing chapter. Having been to Korea and stayed in several 5 stars I know they are very nice. Your sounds over the top from my experiences. No tipping in that country for anything. Left a $5 for our waitress for a pizza and she chased us down to give it back. The look on her face when I told her to keep it was priceless. With Huang Nguyen being the last statement of this chapter, I really can’t wait for the next one. The ultimate cliff hanger! The look on your face entering that room had to be priceless too. Thank you for sharing all of this with us all.
There was only Nguyen to see the expression on my face. I’m sure it was something to behold, although the shock ws less than it was at first seeing him
at the hotel. Everything seemed out of place. The next chapter is definitive but then so’s the one after that. A first mission of such import and context,
as things developed had to be uncommon in the Agency, although in working with them you seldom work in the field with the same people assets informants or whomever.
The rumor mill is a product of the home office at Langley. I was a disconnect as I was to discover was true of almost all field people.
Semper fi,
Jim
And just like in the Valley- there he was!
Certainly, not the context. There was no jungle, no rain, no insects, no Bong Song River, no crocodiles, no Agent Orange or the rest of it. Just me and Huang in a room by ourselves, probably with some very interested others listening in.
But things were about to more resemble that valley, as they have all the rest of my years.
There was awful, horrible, terrible, unbelievable and unavoidable truth down in that valley….
Semper fi,
Jim
Your stories take me back in time. I always reflect on my travels from back in the day.
You were correct in your story, Jet lag was one of the curses of travel. When I traveled in the airplane, I always could not wait till I could take a long hot shower. When coming in country, you had to be ready for anything. Seoul seemed to be an easy one for you since they gave you an attache, a car and a driver. So many times after going through customs and the hassle of that, I would have to find a taxi, car or transportation to my hotel. Plus you had to be awake, and as I called it have my Spidey sense going.
Even going to your room and meeting “security” you have to be on your toes. I was taught to never give your passport to an unknown. Though a hotel sometimes made a copy of it.
One time in Russia they tried to do a “turkey drop” on me. A turkey drop was when one of their crew would drop a bit of money in front of you as you were walking. Then if you picked it up they would accuse you of taking it. then another would walk up and in this case be a “KGB” agent with a badge. They were trying to get your wallet more then your passport. They had me cornered when all of a sudden one of them said we got to go and they all ran off. Luckily the real KGB agent following me showed his badge.
Medical care was very bad or non existent in some countries. When I was in Ulaanbatar, Mongolia I broke my shoulder, five ribs and punctured a lung. The only place to go was a clinic run by a Russian doctor or to the old Russian hospital. I was in the hospital for a short time and it was dingy, dirty and only had wards for people. Luckily I was kept in the clinic to recover enough to be medevacked.
During my time they were just beginning to do telehealth.
We always assumed that our hotel rooms were bugged. I visited China 5 times. I always tried to get past the Chinese firewall. My test was to get to facebook. One time I did it and I said to the person that was with me in the room how I did it. The next day my route to facebook was shut down.
You mentioned you opened the door a crack, we never did that. We would ask who it was and verify with the front desk they were the person sent. I always carried a door stop that I would shove under the door to keep anyone from coming in.
I was amazed that you were able to get into the embassy so easily. You must of been expected otherwise there is a whole procedure you need to go through. Nowadays our embassies and consulates are fortresses.
I figure the agency would consider the whole setup for the schools as a low cost to get the agents into the country without being discovered. We always had one undercover agent traveling with us into the country. They would help us but they had their own business to attend to.
The elevator dings are unique to the far east. In Japan they have toilets with bidets that play a little music while you relieve yourself and they also talk to you in a pretty womans voice.
Enough for now. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
Michael
Did I mention Mike that it was my first mission and I had no training whatever. I cracked the door. Mistake, yes but I didn’t know any better.
I responded to security in the hall by handing over my passport having no idea I could say no in such a foreign and unknown place.
I tipped when I should not have and then didn’t tip when I should.
Cultural mistakes can still be made even when training is intense but not for the circumstances you find yourself in.
You, of course, know all of that.
Music from the bidet is a new one. I never heard that.
My wife meeting me in London and in the tub naked and a guy comes in and changes the towels and leaves. Now that was a night to remember.
Your own life experience is vast, and your criticism are all valid.
I got better as time when by, of course, but these are not those times in the story.
Semper fi, my friend, and thanks for all you are doing.
Jim
Did not mean to make it a criticism. We all learn on the fly in these situations. Training is great but nothing like real life…lol. Please accept my apology. S/F Michael
This is where criticisms are fully accepted because other people may be thinking the same as you!
I get a chance to respond instead of never knowing there were any criticisms at all.
Thanks for being so straight with me. I had a lot to learn…still do really.
Semper fi,
Jim
I sighed, in audibly, and took the man’s extended hand.
* inaudibly
two experienced and well-credentialed me would be there to
* credentialed men
hurt. How do I get back to the U.S.?”
* I get them back
time zone change, no or little sleep and being handed more
* little or no sleep
Seems to flow better
as long it wasn’t revealed in any what that the companies had such
* revealed in any way
Thank you again Don for your sharp eyes and support!
Thanks so much Don for the help. What with you and Mike Kirby I think we can get by.
Very important to have readers and vets like you who are willing to step forward and help like this.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Thanks so much Don for the help. What with you and Mike Kirby I think we can get by.
Very important to have readers and vets like you who are willing to step forward and help like this.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Jim,
NICE!
Can’t wait to read about what you will learn from Nguyen.
And he will probably surprise you that he (like about everyone else you run across) also knows a lot about what you have been up to since you left the valley and left Japan.
Looks like he works for the agency…
THE WALTER DUKE. Thanks for the great comment, not at all uncommon for you!
The mystery will be taken up in the next chapter…and don’t forget that you actuallly suspected he was the doorman!!!
Thanks for the writeup and the speculation here…and the compliment of your friendship, of course.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
You had no idea that you were in a second Valley of no Return. But return you did or else I would nor be reading this.I,for one would not wanted for so many people knowing everything about me.
Thanks Carroll, but ‘wanting’ is not exactly something that means anything out there in the world.
Maybe it means more to an Elon Musk because of his billions but that might also lead to his early termination too.
I had to adjust to the fact that so many people know so much more than you give them any credit or understanding.
Thanks for the interesting comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, Another great chapter! I will write more about it later but for now here is some grammar corrections.
“Neither Porter nor Jefferson had an answer as to why that oddness was present but it was that way in all Seoul buildings. Another mildly discomforting oddness. ”
Need a comma after present
“I also was driven to track Nguyen down just as quickly as I could. What could his story possibly be and how is it that even given how wild coincidences can be, how could both of us end up in a lobby of a Seoul hotel ten years after coming out of the valley? ”
You might want to put “the lobby” instead of “a lobby”
“He asked me if I was staying with the two gentlemen he’d seen me with and I said yes, even though I wasn’t really.”
put a comma after gentlemen
“Somehow and in some way, that was all covered.”
You might want to change that to which
“I thanked him and then wondered, walking into the opened door in front of me”
You might want to change into to through
“The room was a space of splendor, like the inside of the Jaguar”
change “the Jaguar” to “a Jaguar”
“I went to the house phone and called down”
Might want to change “called down” to “called the front desk”.
“Part of the problem, that feeling running up and down my very center”
Change “that feeling” to “which was”
“but since I’d been down on the bed, traffic had burgeoned and everything was a mess. ”
Need a comma after burgeoned
“The sergeant seemed to know a bit about me but I didn’t question him as to how that would be possible.”
Need a comma after me
“I turned around to face Nguyen but he was gone. ”
Need a comma after Nguyen
“I sighed, in audibly, and took the man’s extended hand”
Change in audibly to inaudibly
“I was running on autopilot and near empty so I did not attempt to answer his question”
Need a comma after empty
“list of troubles that seemed mountainous overwhelmingly complex, and expensive.”
Need a comma after mountainous
“instead of a meeting room remained an unasked and unanswered question”
Need a comma after room
Michael
Mike, you are making great strides in helping us along after DanC retired.
Thanks so much for pitching in and making the work both cleaner and more accurate without changing the style of wring or the meaning.
Means the world.
Thanks so much my friend,
Jim
I am learning to always expect the unexpected when reading the chapters. Nguyen was a shocker.
It’s impossible to expect the unexpected, of course, but I’ve always liked the expression.
I’ll take it as a compliment here and much appreciated one at that.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m interested already!!
And I’m complimented, already, by your demand for more.
Thanks for the brief but meaningful compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Interesting that of the 2 of you, Nguyen and you, he is the hardest one to place in Korea! Also your comment about how you the “ locals” were when you arrived. I look at all of the players I have associated with ; now when Facebook tells me their age my estimation is off by decades! That is Russia, Czech Republic, Iraq, Asia! Also I felt the same disorientation as I venture amongst the locals in each environment! We have spoken about the Guardaworld merger with the International MedicaL in India with what you started!
WOW
Most people would never put together what we did back then with what is here today.
American’s can be pretty much protected aboard and then get hoe expensively without paying a big tab in cash up front.
Thanks to a CIA backed an effort they believed in and that worked…but who knew how it would last and be so wonderful for so many?
Thanks for bringing this up and, of course, having your background abroad to know it.
Semper fi, my great friend,
Jim
I’ve been wanting to ask if Nguyen would ever turn back up in your travels. Look forward to the next report…
Thanks Johnny, and you get your wish and expectation. Keep on reading and you will not be disappointed.
Semper fi, and thanks for the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
I don’t understand where 10 years went…..or is this a typo?
Joe, the valley in 1968, the move to the CIA, after watergate in 1978.
Ten years. Time flies, does it not?
Semper fi,
Jim
James my friend you’re at the top of your game! Just a beautifully written piece of work. Riveting! A beautiful distraction in these troubled times!
A wonderfully written compliment, as well, Jack, my old friend.
Thanks, and yes, it’s also a great project to be writing while the country is at the center of a vicious tornado of whirling evil and high finance.
Lived out there.
Never expected it to come home. We were too principled, too true, and too caring…but I guess we weren’t when it finally came down to money.
Thanks for the great compliment.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
M-fer! Ain’t life grand!
Indeed, it’s sure interesting when it’s not downright scary! Thanks for the comment and the support of your making it.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was smiling from ear to ear when I read the last sentence of this outstanding chapter and as always none of your chapters disappoint. Waiting for the next chapter. Trying to remember when the last time was you saw Nguyen . I know you mentioned it I one of the chapters.
Thanks ever so much, as usual, my friend Chuck. Yes, it’d been awhile and i’ll get back to that.
Some of the old characters, not so old the survivors, come out of the woodwork as the years go by.
Thanks for the apropos comment and your continued support.
Semper fi,
Jim