My scout team took apart my hooch and packed me out while I went forward to the perimeter to lay in the defensive fire up and down the area of our travel. By the time I laid down on a poncho cover provided by one of the Marines on the line, the sun was fast rising over the jungle.
“Do your thing, Junior,” the Marine said. I saw Fusner wince and frown at the man, but I did not react at all.
A Shau Valley, Vietnam
I laid down and brought the binoculars from their case. The path leading up into the A Shau Valley was thousands of meters long and, the start of it hidden in the jungle brush and low-lying trees. The cleft between the peaks leading up to the ridge that stood up over the valley could be viewed for almost half its distance. I focused in and studied the terrain. Even though the glasses didn’t give me much more to work with in terms of adjusting fire, having them made me feel better. With range always the hardest thing, by far, to attempt to gauge, not having to adjust the glasses on a single point made things easier. In single target firing, over and under fire had to be used to ‘home in’ on the target. Creeping up on the target shot by shot had been the norm in early artillery, but range had proven so difficult to judge that the French were the first to dump the creeping system, followed by everyone else prior to WWII.
Happy veteran’s day. Love the story. I can almost smell the mud and rotting vegetation.
Thank you Harry. Yes, that smell leaves you but then returns at the strangest of times.
it was always permeated in the lowlands with the smell of the fish sauce and other stuff, of course.
Semper fi,
Jim
Great piece as always. Happy Birthday Marines!
Cheers,
Red Marker 18
Happy Birthday yourself and thanks for the kind words. They kind of keep me going.
Semper fi,
Jim
i’am with you I wish I had you in 66@67 I had to call it my self semper fi. get some
Thank you Bryson. The calling of artillery, once the lessons of Sill were burned deep into me,
we actually the easiest and most life taking and savings of life that I did. All of it is still inside me.
I even found some of the old giant slide rules we used in the FDC before FADAC and the computers came in.
They’re in the basement waiting in case things go really backwards one day!
Semper fi,
Jim
Like Jack, I anticipated a new segment today. I’ve got you on “speed dial” on my bookmarks line, and check in first thing every morning anyway. Several of my TBS mates took off for Fort Sill after graduation. I kept track of them for several years, but it takes effort from both directions to keep those threads going. Life gets in the way.
Semper Fi, and Happy Birthday Marine. You’ll always be one.
PFJ
John. Yes, I went to a Basic Class reunion but I didn’t fit anymore than
I did when I was in Basic School. Although I won the Military Skills Award and the
.45 Cold everyone wanted as the prize, I was 234 out of 247 on Peer Evaluations in
the end. I was too gung ho and too rigid Major Kramer said. I guess they were right.
I sure got a lot more ‘flexible’ in the Nam. I appreciate some of the Marines who have
come to be my friends on here because of reading the story. Unintended consequences permeate
my life.
Happy Birthday Marine.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, absolutely thrilling! I felt like I was there! You create a vivid environment which is believable and lifelike! I want to be you when I grow up! Semper Fidelis my friend. Dwayne
No bigger compliment. Thank you Dwayne. You are such a character in your own right,
just as I predicted that quiet kid was under the surface so long ago.
Takes one to know one. Thanks for the compliment, the reading and being my friend
from a distance out there.
I wish I was on stakeout with you and that says a lot simply because being on stakeout with
most any of the rest of the population, well, you know.
Semper fi,
Jim
I had a feeling you would post another today… Happy Birthday and Semper Fi Brother! I called in artillery a few times although I was just a grunt. Most of the time it was 105’s. Rumor for us unknowing, was that they were more accurate. We did use the 155’s some and once had the pleasure of 175’s. We also used “thrust points” at times which made it easier. Arty always scared me when it was close and thrilled me at the same time. I loved it at night after a successful ambush for checking out bodies but after it burned out the night was so much darker than before..
Thank you Jack. Yes, a lot going on in the world just now and Veteran’s Day tomorrow.
Maybe the news will return to some sanity and I can get over the rock and roll emotional stuff.
You got it exactly right with the different pieces of artillery. A whole lot depended, of course,
on where you were and what the topography was like. The A Shau was mess of different supporting
fires most of which didn’t work real well with the cliffs and channels in the valley floor.
Thanks for the reading and waiting and your comments.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks man. Good story.
You are most welcome sir. Thank you for liking the story and commenting.
Ooooooorah!
Semper fi,
Jim