I tried to sleep in the morning following my meeting with first Haldeman and Ehrlichman, and then Chief Cliff Murray. I was troubled, yet it was too early to get up because my getting up would awaken my wife, and then Julie, both of whom deserved to sleep in because of the worry I usually brought home with me, like a visiting salesman carrying an old tattered and smelly suitcase.
I very gently slipped my right hand under my wife’s left shoulder, as she slept flat on her back. I simply lay there, drawing strength, the way I imagined it, from the tower of reason and power the woman next to me seemed to exude in the face of all threats and danger. I was long-weathered, although my twenty-four years might belie that. I’d been through hell, back again, and then through more hell. It was easy to imagine, as my undetected parasitic hand remained undiscovered, that the mission-driven woman’s power, although not based fully on anything other than my related and transferred experiences, plus the strength of her solid foundations, was re-energizing my own ability to deal with the multi-phased and complicated universe I somehow had something to do with creating.
Great Chapter, but I seem to not have a link to Chapter xxii. Have all the earlier and now the xxiii, and xiv, but no xii. Please provide me with the link. In past I’ve managed to maneuver by changing the chapter number in the address at the top of the page, but this repeatedly just takes be to xxiii rather than xxii.
Thanks,
Jerry
Hope you got the chapter I sent by email Jerry. Let me know.
Semper fi,
Jim
Dang LT, you seem to have had a penchant for getting yourself into”ticklish” situations, someone who I believe would have been a great friend in my more adventurous younger days! Also I know the difficult feeling you described when being separated from the corps. I anxiously await the next chapter, semper fi
It was tough to leave the Corps, and that part is really true.
That I would return to it over the years was very satisfying, and, in fact,
I still consider myself a Marine first, over all the other careers I’ve had.
Thanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another exciting chapter LT.
Thanks Jim, your laconic compliment is anything but laconic to me.
Semper fi,
Jim
After reading this chapter several expletives come to mind but I’ll refrain. What kind of mess have you gotten into? Your more than knee deep in it now.
Eagerly awaiting the next chapter to see where you are taking us.
Too true Phil. Knee-deep or neck deep, maybe. Thanks for the supportive comment
and the compliment of your writing it on this site.
Semper fi,
Jim
Did you two have swords in you teeth as you boarded the yacht? Man you come up against some of the most intriguing situations. Can’t wait for the next chapter, keep up the awesome pace LT. On a side note I can sense a touch of sadness in your leaving the Corp. I faced a somewhat but different time when I was drummed out of the FAA in 1981, yep I was one of those Air Traffic Controller who stood up for what we believed was right. A large number of our group where Viet Nam era vets. We all had a mistrust of Uncle Sam! Semper Fi Sir!!
Thanks for this great lengthy but worth it comment.
Much appreciate you adding your own experiences and how you felt and feel about all of it.
Semper fi,
Jim
“Hard hitting” is a great description for this chapter.
Separation from the Navy was hard for me – as a Navy Junior, plus my four years, made 20 years of Navy life. Really enjoyed much of it, but “the World” had made some major changes there in the late ’60’s, for which I was unprepared. Became a tumbleweed for about 5 years before starting college. That turned out well, as it gave me some direction and purpose. The GI Bill helped me a great deal.
You seem to have weathered that storm, which speaks strongly for your character.
Write faster, my friend – you’ve got me ensnared!
Thanks Craig, for the lengthy compliment, and also sharing some of your own life and experience.
I find so many comments on this site…so straight from the shoulder oper and filled with reality and integrity.
I cannot thank you enough for adding to this whole unusual experience and experiment!
Semper fi,
Jim
Two stories, what a day !!!
I once saw a Tee shirt printed with – I may not have a PHD, but I do have a DD-214 😉
Love that “T” shirt you mention here SgtBob. So many people don’t really get the kind of depth that military service gives almost everyone
who serves, in on way or another. Thanks for pointing that out in your own special way,..
Semper fi,
Jim
I found both this and the previous chapter wait in my email today, so will comment on both here. First off, both of these chapters seem to be a much easier read than most of the others in any of the series. Either you are taking more time in the writing, or you are having them proofread prior to publishing. I do notice some of the things DanC mentions, but I don’t try to be your proofreader. Your mustering out was no doubt a bit of a traumatic experience for you since you have mentioned several times how you loved the Corps. I retired from the Army as a senior NCO and though I loved what I did, for me it was more of ‘time for me to go’. No regrets, just good memories along with a few not so good. I have (and had) a few friends who were lost in the civilian world after getting out. I’m hoping that your comments about taking off one uniform and replacing it with another means you had an easier transition. I’m sure that future chapters will tell us. I got the feeling that maybe the Warrant who completed your discharge was a bit of an ass. I also got the feeling that you recognized that as a ‘Senior’ Warrant, there was no use in you bring that to his attention. I’m still baffled as to how you were able to cope with having to work with Haldeman and Ehrlichman. As to these two chapters, things get mysteriouser and mysteriouser. Keep them coming Lt.
Thank you Rick. What for? For trying to clarify and comprehend the output of my writing and the interior thought process i may go through
to produce it. In truth, I don’t know, myself. I just write away and then don’t look back. Intelligent readers, which you obviously are from
your writing here, help me to better understand me. Much appreciate the compliment you pay me in writing something so comprehensive and substantive
on the site. Thanks so much.
Semper fi,
Jim
Really enjoying your style of sharing your experiences. I was disappointed that I left before making Captain only because it had been a goal from childhood. But now it’s not important at all. But hanging up our uniforms is something only veterans can appreciate.
Looking forward to the next issue and appreciate them coming more often now. Best wishes!!
Thanks Gary for understanding the torn feeling of leaving the Corps, even though I understood that I wasn’t really qualified to remain.
I would serve again, however, as you will see in the novels ahead. Thanks for the liking the work and then writing about it on here
in public.
Semper fi,
Jim
I would hazard a guess that you wrote or thought out, at least part, of this chapter at a much earlier time. It seems like two different perspectives from the first part to the second part. (Both are very good!)
The perspective, Steve, did change, as I relive it to the best of the knowledge I have been able to recall as much as possible.
I didn’t keep a journal back then or notes on anything. It’s just that kind of strange memory…not that I’m always entirely accurate.
Thanks fo thinking I’m smarter than I probably am…although I am admittedly, a bit complex in presentation.
Semper fi,
Jim
I believe you might like to see this:
The Give – Army to Marine:
Yesterday I had my annual visit with my guy at the local VA Clinic. After I sat down in the waiting room an old Marine walked in and sat near me. He immediately started up a conversation asking me what town I lived in and needed some information on where the VA Office was. I told him and also said that the woman that worked there was almost impossible to see because she was rarely at her office. He noticed my metal Huey on my DUSTOFF cap and said that he really liked it. He said that he was in Vietnam 67-68 and had flown in Hueys and some other helicopter but couldn’t remember the name of it. I said that it was probably that funny looking Marine CH-53 but it actually was the UH-34, ugly as hell. He was called for his appointment and when he returned a few minutes later he continued with our conversation. He told me that he was recently diagnosed with cancer and wondered if the VA would increase his compensation. I said that they probably would and told him that he could apply online. He said that his wife did the computer stuff and that he didn’t. He said he was 82 and she was 28. My eyes must’ve opened big time! He laughed and said that he often told that to people to see the reaction. It wasn’t true but I told him that I had wanted to shake his hand when he said that. We enjoyed the laugh even though I had told him that I wouldn’t hold it against him that he was a Marine and I was Army. His doctor had told him that the cancer was not aggressive and that he would probably live to be 90. I told him that he should get that in writing. Again he said how much he liked the pin on my cap. I took it off and gave it to him. It made his day and then he made mine when he said that he was going to tell his wife that when he died that he wanted her to pin it on him so that he could be buried with it. For a moment I was stunned and then said well maybe that helicopter might help him go up instead of down. I can’t recall his name but will pray for him.
Thanks fo much, Gary! Your rendition of your own experience is invaluable and dovetails neatly into what’s become, basically, the story of my now life.
These run-ins between service veterans ae of import and need to be shared as much as possible. I found almost no inter service rivalry back in my time of active
servie, or even after. Once again, movies are not accurate eat all about such things.
Semper fi, and keep on writing.
Jim
“Tom Thorkelson, my boss at Mass Mutual, needed me. I knew his own Marine combat experience, or lack of it, bothered him to his core. There was no way to ever make him understand that he would have been a fine leader in combat…until it”
I had to stop reading at the end of this paragraph . I found it important while still fresh to let you know that in a very similar fashion you have pinpointed something that has effected me personally and maybe a few others . I have realized that as a peacetime Navy vet , I have been seeking the approval of those, who like your self , gave tremendously while serving . Your story helps me to understand myself a bit better . Thank you seems inadequate
That comment means a lot to me, Charley, as the detail written into my works is all about the credibility of those works. Tom’s
communications with me, because he’s reading the works along with you, are also of inestimable value to me…and hopefully to him
as well. He’s ninety now but as clear as can be. His memory of those days isn’t as detailed as my own, but then, that’s just me.
Thanks for the great comment about your own identifcation with what I’m writing about.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good one LT. The plot thickens!
thanks a lot Tony. Short support comment, but it got through to me…
Semper fi,
Jim
WOW ,that hits hard !
Thanks for the really great compliment Bill. That comment ‘hits hard,’ as you put it and I could not appreciate it enough.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow I can’t wait to read the next chapter
Thanks Donald, I’m writing it just as I am writing this…well, in between, I mean.
Thanks for the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good morning, I eagerly await your emails alerting of a new chapter and have to immediately find I place to stop what I’m doing and read. I’ve read everything from the beginning of the first 10 days and have a question, I’ve looked everywhere and was wanting to make sure I wasn’t missing something, is the end of the 30 days and what happened on the hill prior to waking up in the clinic still forthcoming or did I miss something? Thank you for your excellent descriptive writing and your service. God bless you.
Thanks so much Joshua, for this deep and heartwarming comment. Any writer would be honored and so happy to get this kind of support,
and I am so honored and happy, let me tell you! I will continue on, it would just be too hard to quit the people like you who have
come to expect more of the continuing adventure of my life…
Semper fi,
Jim
We know there are no coincidences. The boat came ashore at that particular spot for a reason ! Can’t wait to find out why. Another great chapter James! The plot thickens! Semper Fi!
Life is, indeed, filled with coincidence, but there are such things and then there are those events that give the
impression they are conincidences antil you start to look at the probability of the occurences happening. Thanks for pointing
this ‘coincidence’ out and the questionable nature of it.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for the great continuing story. I rank the first three books in my top five ever books. Semper Fi, Rick
Can’t thank you enough for that telling and deeply felt compliment, felt when you wrote it and definitely felt when I received it.
Thanks so much on this windy night…
Semper fi,
Jim
On 8/31/2020 I posted a picture on my my FB page of a sunrise, but it could have easily been a sunset, as I saw that day as such. I was leaving a practice that had been my life, and I had no idea of what was ahead for me. Kind of like you mustering out. You were young with years ahead, and they seem to have been filled with all kinds of experiences. My professional career did not end that day as I expected, but it is not near what it was, Even though it is more limited, I wonder how much longer I can continue as I find my mental acuity and tolerance for bullshit seems to be sliding away. Perhaps it is just falling into my role of being an old man, and not enjoying it too much. That said, I enjoyed the symbolism of leaving a life as a Marine behind, and it struck a chord with me.
Please keep it up.
Wow, H.Kemp. Thanks so much for revealing so much about yourself and your own vitally interesting background and motivations.
I am alway surprised by some reader’s comments, and how much wonderful people like you are willing to take a change on here
and say things that others might find fault with. We are twins in many of the things we have been through. I call the reactionship
and affinity twin. Others who comment on this site I also share such a relation with. Most pleasing and satisfying, I might add.
Much enjoyed your comment and totally identify with it.
Semper fi,
Jim
something very early in your magnificent tail struck me, especially when you talked about the Mass Mutual, man and his relationship with the Corps yours and I realized something I had realized a good 25 or 30 years after I left the Corps
The essence of any good leader is honesty, integrity, empathy, compassion, and bravery, both physical and spiritual
very few people will understand what I’m going to say next, but I know it to be true and that is these are also the traits of a great warrior you cannot be a warrior or a hero without these traits
The difference between being a leader in business or in combat, is not that is similar
The difference is combat leaders warriors are participating in a greater good, and their training enables them to act in ways that would go against their spiritual compass, but you react in a situation, and then later it bothers you, but you ultimately come to realize that you did what you had to do for the greater good you cannot be a great warrior without compassion without integrity and that’s what people don’t understand people that know you will look at you Jim, and think he could’ve never done those things. He’s too nice a guy however you did what you had to do for the greater good at the time doesn’t mean you enjoyed. It doesn’t mean it didn’t weigh heavily on you doesn’t mean that it still doesn’t bother you, but it’s also part of what makes you the great man that you are I know and I know from experience my own experience.
What can I say to my great friend Rich? Other than thank you, of course.
Your opinion of me could not be appreciated more, and I feel the depth of it because we meet on regular occasions for
lunch or Marine celebration activities.
Thanks so much for this great tome about the writing and me.
Your friend,
Semper fi,
Jim
WTF James
Nice three letter compliment my friend. Got it. Love it.
Semper fi,
Jim
Your story is really getting intriguing, your descriptive writing is mond boggling for an old EM. Still trying to guess what’s coming.
I am so happy that the rather convoluted mixture of plots and sub plots is continuing to interest you to
the point of actually writing on here about it. So many people never write and I think it’s because so many of
them think their comments will not be read or responded to. Over the last five years I’ve gotten almost 30,000 and answered just about every
last one myself. Thanks for being one of those, well, both of those if you calculate your comment and my response here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Seeing a new chapter just made my good day even better.
Daily searching for yet another episode paid off.
Yet another James Strauss cliff hanger ending that will lure every reader back.
Mystery and intrigue abound.
Actually, I think each of your chapters brings more new mysteries than the solving of past mysteries from previous chapters.
This chapter is another 10 out of 10.
Keep ’em coming, LT.
So much we all need to find out…
As you know, whether you believe it or not, the events I’m writing about all happened almost exactly as I’m writing them.
I’m even using people’s real names and hearing from some of them about my renditions of their part in things. Entertaining
as hell for me as, so far, none of them have been outraged about my revealing stuff that’l lain their undiscussed for many
years. Thanks once more for you friendship and very cogent and timely comments.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, Yes, separation from the service is a huge change.
What will happen on the beach and what it might mean will be revealed – maybe. Joking thinking if you and Gularte could claim salvage rights to the yacht.
Some minor editing suggestions follow:
I tried to sleep-in the morning
Better to drop the hyphen. Sleep-in is a kid’s gathering.
I tried to sleep in the morning
I was troubled, and it was too early
Maybe “yet” instead of “and”
I was troubled, yet it was too early
I simply laid there, drawing strength
“lay” rather than “laid”
I simply lay there, drawing strength
undetected parasitic hand remain undiscovered
Better “remained” instead of “remain”
undetected parasitic hand remained undiscovered
I had somehow had something to do with creating.
Two “had” drop one.
I had somehow something to do with creating.
OR
I somehow had something to do with creating.
traveling a path that his traumatic past, a course of travel that would eventually kill him.
Redundant. maybe shorten.
traveling a path shaped by his traumatic past that would eventually kill him.
was an arms-length therapy
No hyphen. Add apostrophe.
was an arm’s length therapy
psychologist or psychiatrist back in our ‘real’ world. I knew, and I was the tacit Marine Corps hero.
Maybe drop period after “world”
Period after “knew”
Start new sentence with “And”
psychologist or psychiatrist back in our ‘real’ world I knew. And I was the tacit Marine Corps hero.
from his training, No, it was a man-to-man thing
Substitute comma after “training” with period. End of sentence.
from his training. No, it was a man-to-man thing
I loved so much about the Crops
“Corps” instead of “Crops”
I loved so much about the Corps
my budding insurance career in life insurance that was paying
Two “insurance” Maybe drop the first.
my budding career in life insurance that was paying
do what I hadn’t yet fully grasped yet.
Two “yet” Drop either.
do what I hadn’t yet fully grasped.
OR
do what I hadn’t fully grasped yet.
Finally, if there was to be any finally, I was moving
“Finally twice. Maybe drop parenthetical
Finally I was moving
Marine Corps issue rubber-topped desk.
Hyphen seems extra.
Marine Corps issue rubber topped desk.
/Probably gray in color with rounded corners./
/I have a story involving a 2nd Lt, a loaded shotgun, and what happened to a similar desk plus the remains of a report that had taken hours to type./
In three days, you’d have gotten out as a captain
OK for story. Google says 4 years in service to become a captain.
I was to be given whatever permissions needed to be given in order to pursue looking into and observing any operations I might deem to find I was entitled to.
Maybe change “needed to be given” to “were required”
Maybe drop “to find”
I was to be given whatever permissions were required in order to pursue looking into and observing any operations I might deem I was entitled to.
“One thousand eight hundred and forty-five dollars,” the warrant officer included.
I’m not sure about “included”. Maybe “concluded”?
“One thousand eight hundred and forty-five dollars,” the warrant officer concluded.
busied work with papers and a pencil
Maybe trim to
busied work with paper and pencil
if I hadn’t spoken up I’d have deliberately been denied the payoff I was not going to get a check for.
“payoff” and “check” seem redundant. Maybe trim.
if I hadn’t spoken up I’d have deliberately been denied the payoff I was due.
information would have to be typed in and the warrant officer’s signature would then have to appear above my own.
/On my DD 214 my signature is above whoever signed off on it./
Change “above” to “below”
information would have to be typed in and the warrant officer’s signature would then have to appear below my own.
I turned on the Blaupunct radio
“Blaupunkt” instead of “Blaupunct”
I turned on the Blaupunkt radio
If he hadn’t been then I knew I’d have gone to the beach on my own.
Maybe change “then” to “there”
If he hadn’t been there I knew I’d have gone to the beach on my own.
where the waves actually stuck the sand and flattened it
Maybe “struck” instead of “stuck”
where the waves actually struck the sand and flattened it
he was talking to himself and considering what I’d told him than responding to me, so I said nothing.
Maybe change “and” after “himself” to “rather than”
Change “than” after “him” to “and”
he was talking to himself rather than considering what I’d told him and responding to me, so I said nothing.
that neither side it’s hull was visible
Add “of” after “side”
that neither side of it’s hull was visible
full speed, any second now,”
Period instead of comma after “now”
full speed, any second now.”
I replied, not thinking what I was saying fully through.
Maybe drop “through” and move “fully” behind “thinking”
Could add “about” after “thinking”
I replied, not fully thinking about what I was saying.
stab right into the sand
bottom before it
Backspace to connect sentence fragments.
stab right into the sand bottom before it
almost in a controlled guide
Maybe “glide” instead of “guide”
almost in a controlled glide
boat bouncing up and down on the hard stand
“stand” could be either “sand” or “strand”
boat bouncing up and down on the hard sand
OR
boat bouncing up and down on the hard strand
Blessings & Be Well
Again,
Many, many thanks,
Dan
This journey is easier with you on board.
Jim