I could not talk to Paul, nor my wife, nor anyone else I could think of except one. Richard. He, Cobb, and Hunt had been intertwined in some fashion I didn’t understand, but intertwined they were, at least in my analysis of their proximity at the harbor, their special attachment, but at some sort of distance, from the White House staff and seemingly everyone else. My combined fear and grief over the passing of Hunt was haunting me. Her husband was being pursued by the legal authorities in D.C. for his role in the Watergate break-in and now coverup. There seemed no stopping any of that, and certainly no expressed sympathy for the man who’d just lost his wife. What kind of cold-blooded system was I dealing with, where I, at my great distance from it and unimportance to it all, was the only person who seemed to be hurt and giving a damn? I knew I wasn’t quite right. Lt. Jim Webb, the company commander of Echo Company, on my distant flank in Vietnam, had so accurately pointed that out one afternoon. Was my reaction to all I’d been through so far off that I couldn’t even understand the emotions of the people around me anymore?
I pulled into the harbor area. It was midday, so the workers were everywhere and work vehicles, as well. It was all I could do to guide my now dust-covered Volkswagen onto the part of the dirt road leading to where Richard’s and Cobb’s boats sat bobbing in their slips. Just before I made the turn to veer in that direction a figure appeared, waving me over. It was Butch. I didn’t have anything to say to him but couldn’t ignore his appearance before me.
Another great chapter LT. Have a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year. Semper Fi!
Thanks so much Terry. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season this year and on into the next. Appreciate the motivation to continue. That really does help.
Semper fi,
Jim
The “unseeable” , we presume our inner self is unseeable to others as we stumble through this world, develope a poker face and hold the cards close. But the cat, Butch and to a minor degree the therapist have all guessed more or less accurately about what is swirling within. Richard and Cobb have seen the patina you presented to them, they are wrapped in thier own intracacies. I am exhilarated to see the transition in both your character and the primary investigation, keep it coming! You create much self examination as you lead us through your world, and that is a good thing!
I hope the cartharsis of your writing brings you a peaceful and blissful Christmas, we will be enjoying a busy house full of grand kids in ours… much to the delight and torture of my long suffering cat!
Well James, you certainly are a writer and you sure accurately portrayed your ‘take’ on what is going on and what is behind my presentation of it. The ‘catharsis,’ as you term it is fully underway. My PTSD has so diminished screwing up my life since this site was created and the special nature of the readers and particularly those who write on here have helped me (ad I presume a lot of other vets) with my own feelings of self. Thanks for that and I sure do hope your Christmas is a great one on into this New Year.
Semper fi,
Jim
Yes that multi-faceted demon we call PTSD. How it influences our interactions and choices. After 35 yrs of on call, violence, and working forensically within the worst of what humanity can do, I can now look back from more than just a survival perspective. One does learn to compartmentalize to survive. Your writing provides the opportunity to review much in my own mostly repressed memory and evaluate the influence in later life.
These are all good things! I appreciate you bringing us along for the ride! JR. was not a bad guy, just a guy he needed to be at that time. Just like Beachball and Snow white and the dwarfs.
Once we can harness all those components then hopefully we will once again enjoy life like a kid on summer holidays, swimming and fishing and not concerned about the rest of the world’s woes around us. I take my grand kids fishing on our dock and simply love to hear thier squeals of laughter when they catch a fish. I wish that innocent joy for you in this new year! I will be anxiously waiting each installment!
Can’t thank you enough for the presentation of your wisdom, no doubt gained by vast accumulation of your own life experience.
Thanks so much, not only from me but for all the readers on here who are getting the benefit of what you are concluding and then providing analysis of and great good sense.
Semper fi, my friend and brother,
Jim
“Go forth and do great works,” he said. These are great works. Thanks so much for letting us be part of your journey.
Thanks a lot, expecially at this time of year and Merry Christmas.
The compliment, like your own, do keep me going, as I write on into my Christmas
Day deadline for the next chapter.
Semper fi,
Jim
Loved this chapter and can never stop getting a kick out of the Doors tape “Yellow Submarine”. That was classic!!!
Thanks so much and Merry Christmas. So many wonderful people writing on this site, and probably reading without writing too. Thank you so ver much for liking the work and all its little offshoots.
Semper fi,
Jim
Always a pleasure,,reading your account of the events of that time! Strange but not surprising! Merry Christmas to you and your family LT!
Thanks Junior, good to hear from you after you being away for quite awhile.
Thanks for the compliment and Merry Christmas…
Semper fi,
Jim
My God LT, I am beyond shocked! I believe that you fully grasp the devastation a nuclear strike could cause and here we have a sitting president threatening to do exactly that to save his own conniving assÂż? Surely there is a fail safe procedure to prevent a single person from executing a launch! Wow! Barn burner of a chapter!
Merry Christmas to family and you, and many thanks for these books!
Thanks Joe, and no, to this day, there is no way to stop a President from launching for any reason he so chooses. They need to change that.
Thanks for the compliments and the Merry Christmas!
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow, I recall being transfixed by the watergate hearings & all the subplots @ the time but this shines a whole new light on it. What else will come out on these tapes. Still unresolved for me is what’s behind the deaths of the 3 marines & what they observed (the unseeable?). Keep them coming.
Thank you & Merry Xmas
The three Marines dying started my whole pursuit of trying to solve the mystery
and hold those responsible accountable once I figured out they’d not died by accident. Or so it seemed.
thanks for pointing that out as well as the ‘unseeable’ which is not a real word, as I discovered.
Semper fi, and Merry Christmas.
Jim
Wow amazing chapter
Thanks so very much at this emotional time of the year Robert. I respond to all comments personally on here and my relationships established on here have helped me so much with my own PTSD. Merry Christmas and thanks for being not of those guys and gals.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you once again and Merry Christmas Jim.
You are most welcome Ted, and Merry Christmas as well as my thanks for your comment.
SEmper fi,
Jim
Unbelievable, this continues to get more and more scary and confusing. Evidently it was more than just a break in that was going on back then, or developed into a more dangerous and sinister incident. Hopefully the end is reached before some of us reach out end!
Pete, Merry Christmas, my friend! I sure as hell hope we get a lot closer to ‘the end’ than the readers get to their ends.
Thanks for the compliment buried inside your comment too.
Semper fi,
Jim
Please dont stop writing. I suspect there will be more untold information coming. Cant wait.
You are correct Chris, my revelations will continue, as the secrecy back then appears to have been about
as tight as it was with all the stuff coming out of the top leader’s offices and homes today!
Thanks for the comment and Merry Christmas.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow this is getting really deep how did you keep from throwing your hands in the air and calling it quits?
Merry Christmas Jim
There was no quitting at the time, not the way my view had become shaped.
I was trying to do the right thing and I had some pretty good reasons to be
following Paul’s advice to ‘redeem’ myself on a daily basis.
Thanks and Merry Christmas.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m not sure re-reading the last few chapters is going to cut it. I may have to make an outline and start a spreadsheet to keep it all straight in my head.
Just keeps getting better. Can’t wait for the next chapter.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Clay
Thanks for the compliment Clay. My memory is both a gift and a curse. It’d be easier if I could blank out
stuff along the way, but it doesn’t work that way, although if I concentrate on parts of the past they come
alive once again and more comes forth as i write. I don’t use notes, a spread sheet and I don’t check things
on the Internet. I don’t have time!
Merry Christmas and Semper fi,
Jim
The air is starting to clear.
I can see clearly now is the name of a great old song. Yes, things are becoming clearer as to how all of the behind the
scenes stuff went and continues as I reveal more. Thanks for the comment and Merry Christmas JT.
Semper fi,
Jim
Merry Christmas LT.
Thanks JT, the Merry Christmas wishes I get on here are some of the most meaningful in my life!
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow Jim, I was trying to put a description of what you were doing, together, but Butch nailed it. My feeble dumb mechanic mind said that there is something I am missing, but now I’ve read it. Keep up the writing.
Thanks for the great complimenting words Leo, much appreciated and Hav ea wonderful Christmas!
Semper fi, and I will indeed continue on…
Jim
Welcome to the club my friend. A club like no other I’m sure. Nixon talking about blowing the lid off the whole world? Holy smokes Jim! What have you got yourself into! Another great read my friend! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and all your loved ones! Semper Fi James!
It is true Jack, although I didn’t see it at the time. I just thought life was dishing it out and I was trying to fancy dance my
way through. Now, so much later, I see that I had every bit of getting myself involved and continuing on a path that had only
trouble for a companion. I also understand that after viewing my conduct in the A Shau so poorly (my view) I wanted to do the
right thing back here. Thanks for the great comment and Merry Christmas to you, as well…
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Wow, what a complex and riveting chapter I’m going to have to re-read it.Looks like Butch is not the size 1 hat construction worker he gave an impression of being. Quite the Christmas gift you gave us loyal readers James. Christmas blessings to you, your family and your many readers.
Thank you ever so much, and for the really nice Christmas card too. The compliment is right there with your sentiments for
the season…and I share you love of Christmas and the pleasantries that come with it.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Man, I have got to say Lt Stauss or Junior if I may; that I can barely handle waiting week to week for the next chapter! The excitement and intrigue … fascinating Life you’ve Lived Sir!
Thank you for sharing with us!
I do have one question that I would like to ask did any of your men survive the Ashau Valley?
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Nguyen and the Gunny survived, as did about a dozen others. No word from the Gunny, as he wanted to be left alone when I ran
across him, and some of the others have commented on here but none in any kind of length. Mostly they are amazed that I have
remembered all of this and can write it down.
Merry Christmas!
Semper fi,
Jim
Oh, how could you stop the chapter there? We will all be turning blue till the next chapter, and it sounds like you have a job offer from “the company”. I have a family member who was recruited by them. Never would admit it but you don’t normally take a ride in a sub as a civilian. You seem to have reached the bottom of the rabbit hole, but what way to go, ask the cat… Semper fi sir and Merry Christmas to you all!!
Thanks Bob, the discussions at that point, and with Mardian earlier, were tangental and brushing, but
of iron in their way. The Agency does not recruit field agents. It selects them and there’s not much
choice when they do…on the part of the selectee. Thanks for the Merry Christmas and the usual compliment
in your writing on here this day.
Semper fi,
Jim
Merry Christmas to you as well Lt. Strauss. You mentioned Lt. Jim Webb. Is that the same Jim Webb who became Secretary of the Navy? I read his book, “Fields of Fire”. Very good read. You sure are in the thick of things now with the tapes. Very suspenseful!! Excellent writing!
Yes, Tom, that Jim Webb is the very same. He was company commander of Echo Company in the valley. When he became SecNav I went to D.C. fo this coronation, or installation or whatever they called it at the time.
Great man and good guy all around. Thanks for the comment and the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, you’ve been through some incredible stuff. First, in the A Shau, but then your recovery and rehab. That alone made me admire your character and courage! But this Watergate stuff was on the Armed Forces Radio broadcasts when I was in Panama.
My question is How am I supposed to sleep tonight as this totally floors me! I can’t wait for the next chapter.
Yes, Steve, it has indeed been quite a run, and the run was a long way from over as you read on into the future…or the past for all o fps now. ‘m glad you are
enjoying the story as it developed and develops to this day. Thanks for the great compliment…
Semper fi,
Jim
BTW, the conformation link seems to be broken !!
Accurate observation SgtBob, and thanks…
Semper fi,
Jim
All through my life my reading and comprehension level were always 2-3 grades above my actual grade. Its not often that I read things more than once in a given setting.
A masterful bit of writing I must say. From the previous chapters leading up and then this one.
Three proverbial bombshells in one chapter! Brilliant!
Now that’s a great comment for any author to get…and I just love what you wrote and how straight from the heart
you placed the words here on this site. Merry Christmas and I will keep on writing…
Semper fi,
Jim
Deeper into the abyss !!!
Great Chapter James, keep ’em coming.
Merry Christmas to you and yours 🙂
Semper Fi
Thanks so much SgtBob and I will endeavor to make this Christmas a great one, but meanwhile
I will stay at the writing and hope to get as great a set of comments next week as I’m getting for this chapter.
Semper fi, and Merry Christmas.
Jim
You have to get your next issue out quickly.
My curiosity is barely contained. This is tortuous!
Thanks for allowing me to opportunity to ‘torture’ you in the writing delivery.
Such a great compliment to read as I work on the next chapter.
Semper fi, and Merry Christmas!
Jim
STill here , as if anyone who has followed along would even think of missing a single word
Thanks Charley…and I have come to believe that there is a whole slew of readers who never write on here but
continue to follow the story and the writing very closely. Makes me feel warm and all the more motivated.
Merry Christmas and Semper fi,
Jim
Whatever was going on at San Onofre was the Admirals baby , lock stock and barrel . I can easily plot out a couple of scenarios as to the fate of the Marines , and their fates lay in the hands of one man plain and simple . Your buddy Butch isn’t cut from the same cloth as Richard or June but he seems to be approaching everything that you are looking into from a different angle and knows way more than he is willing to let on at the moment , my guess is he is from another three letter organization that could legally operate inside the States unlike the CIA . And now your two pals who have revealed themselves to be “club members” and want information from those tapes which they know that you don’t but do have . They should call themselves the Mickey Mouse Club , it would be a great cover name .
It is true that ‘the admiral,’ as you refer to Hyman Rickover, had his hand unopposed in all things unclear back in that time.
Whether he was involved at all with what was going on inside that dome is another thing entirely.
Thanks for he depth of your comment, which is as usual and so welcome to me and the readers.
Semper fi, Merry Christmas and thanks so much for the phone call!
Jim
Very political chapter, and your “introduction” to the Company. Perilous times then. Secrets upon secrets, like a reef only exposed at a very low tide. Difficult sailing, to be sure!
James, you have a way of completely holding your reader’s attention, as few other writers do. Even “The Boy and the Elephant” was like that. And you couple that with real-life scenes from our past.
I am old, and on the way out – Agent Orange taking care of that. I thank you for the diversions of my mind and body; a welcome, though brief diversion.
Semper Fi, my friend.
My pleasure to be able to entertain you a bit as you go through a tough time Craig.
Strange ‘introduction’ to the Agency that I didn’t really believe was that at all
but came to fully understand later on how the real world of espionage works, which is
nothing at all like the make believe in books, television and the movies.
Thanks for your support and I hope you can enjoy a bit of a Merry Christmas.
Your friend Jim…and semper fi, of course.
Holy S***! The longest and most heart-stopping of all chapters Jim. My heart is still in my throat.
Thanks for the great compliment Christopher although I con’t notice myself the difference between chapters from a
reader’s viewpoint. Merry Christmas and thanks for the great compliment too.
Semper fi,
Jim
Chapter say multiple issues, more than usual: Butch, Cobb & Nixon negotiations!
While the last 2 reveal historic reality, Butch’s analysis is fascinating to me…it describes, I think, a congruence is how we view life at least as “Cowardly Lions”. The impact of RVN and our resultant view of dangerous or live changing events as humorous or at least low risk! This also impacted by close personal imperatives ( wife and kids) that have also been changed!
Seems we are almost in a similar situation again!
Yes, similar to one like you who knows, Colonel Homan. Another of your deep and pithy comments that could only
be made by a fellow traveler.
Semper fi and Merry Christmas!
Jim
Jim, I feel a little like Alice as she arrived in wonderland. My head is on a swivel and there are more things happening at once than I can hope to keep up with. It feels like I am reading a Techno thriller novel, but deep down the tale has the feel of an autobiography.
The games that were going on while I lived those times unaware is frightening to me, just like today.
Thanks Robert for the great compliment, written in your own way. Wild times back then and I believe, today is no different if we
were privy to what was really going on behind the scenes displayed.
Merry Christmas…
and Semper fi,
Jim
Riveting as usual!
One edit in the next to last paragraph — “The ‘unseeable thing or even …” should be”The ‘unseeable thing’ or event …”
Thanks for the help Gary, as well as the compliment…and Merry Christmas to you and your clan there…
Semper fi,
Jim
LT
As usual the suspense is building to a fever pitch. I remember the Watergate fiasco and tricky Dick exiting, never suspecting anything of the sorts you are speaking of.
The general public was pretty deadened by the mass media back then, not like now. It was not all hysteria all the time.
I wonder how the mass media will treat what I’ve been writing if the sources there ever see it. Not so far, thank God, as I get
to continue getting these comments and responding to them, which I much enjoy.
Semper fi and Merry Christmas!
Jim
June sat complacent while Richard stood with his but pushed into the edge of his electronics
*butt
Thanks Don, for the editing help. You guys are such a great help to me.
Semper fi and Merry Christmas.
Jim