The third time, I thought. The third time in so few days that our company had been called in to be saved from an attacking enemy, but in every case having to save Kilo Company, while they were being sent to do the same for us. The helicopters had flown an unlikely resupply mission at night and dropped in observers who quickly became dead bodies, but the intent had been to try to do something about the terrible mess we were in. I could not fault the attempts on the part of the powers in the rear back at battalion, and maybe above that level. But the results were proving to be similar in every case. Our Marines and those of Kilo, and anybody else they sent into the A Shau Valley, were being decimated by an enemy force nobody would believe was really there.
I moved through the waist-high jungle debris. The rain had come back with a vengeance. Our attack, or push south through the enemy, since the occasionally smattering contacts on both sides could hardly be considered classically conducted attacks, continued. I moved slowly but determinedly in the path left by the still advancing Ontos. The flechette rounds found on the mud flats had been delivered to the guns and the Ontos was loaded to fire on anything while it moved.
LT, I just can’t believe that the NVA were firing the 50 cal. while on the move. The gun weighs in at about 84 pounds, empty. So this NVA the size of Rambo’s big brother is firing a 50 cal on the move with one hand gripping the barrel & the other the butterfly triggers. Nawww, no way. Even if the soldier fired the weapon (which I just can’t believe) the recoil would make him lose his grip on it. Not to mention how hot that barrel shroud is going to get on a “bare” hand.
The NVA did little ‘lone’ activity stuff, except to carry impossibly heavy loads. They manned the .50 like a bunch of ants, not individually like
our own Marines. And, where we had asbestos guards and pads they used tons of rags. They were masters of ground combat using whatever they could get\hold of
to fight us.
Semper fi,
Jim
The outcome of any situation of battle can be so unfair. For a man who has shown the selflessness by his actions to be taken by such an unlikely way certainly give proof of the unfairness. A man among men who would no doubt have given all to protect his brothers in arms. Sorry to hear of his loss. R.I.P Zippo
Semper Fi
Selflessness is in the eye of the beholder…and damned difficult to figure out when it is the perpetrator.
How selfless was I, or Fusner or Zippo or even Nguyen. I didn’t think the Gunny was selfless at the time but I sure do
now…thanks for the usual depth of your comment and implied compliment in your writing it.
Semper fi,
Jim
You have ensured that Zippo’s memory will stay alive with us.
Thanks Steve. It was not my intention in the writing but you guys on here have taught me so much…and I’m going with you on this one…
Semper fi,
Jim
That had to be a tough one to write, hang in there LT
Thanks Bob, yes it was and I appreciate a few people noticing that. It does help to have you guys out there waiting and
cheering from the sidelines…
Semper fi,
Jim
Loosing a Brother is never easy. You have done him a great honor to keep his memory alive. They never truly die, they are always with us.
You said in one of the earlier comments you wondered how many of the younger generation will read this. I have been here from close to the start, so much so I even bought the first two books as they were released. While I may not be as “younger generation” as some (I am 45, I was considered an “old man” in the Army when we went to Iraq in 2003) I can tell you that the younger generations of Soldiers and Marines have nothing but respect for you and yours.
I truly hope that your writing provides you with some solace and some healing Sir.
Thanks Andrew, I much appreciate the comment. One never knows, as a writer, what the audience out here will consist of or how big it will be.
Just getting the books in front of even the smallest audience (we reach on the Internet about 20,000 a week, but a lot are the same people) is a mind-boggling
task and requires a full time person and then some. Thanks for the adding yourself to that ‘collection’ and your words of encouragement.
Semper fi,
Jim
You had mentioned attending a reunion. We had a reunion of my outfit which I went to. All went well until an officer told me he remembered me.
I ask why, as I was one that tried not to be noticed by any officer.
It seems I was trying to save someone from having an arm ripped off from a 50 and he had helped me. I had buried that memory for many years. I don’t know if that Marine made it but we did get him on a medivac chopper. That night flash backs started again and I have not attended another reunion since. 50’s can do terrible damage. Be glad you didn’t go into the Ontos to see Zippo.
Yes, that remains a mixed review kind of decision.
The graphics of real combat are pretty awful stuff, what with the inability to clean up much of anything.
And also the gruesome wounds so many suffer.
Thanks for your comment and how great the officer remembered you for
something good!
Semper fi,
Jim
Great night of moving, so sorry for zippo, I know he was a good friend. Semper Fi Lt..
Thanks Walter. Yes, he was a great kid and really took to me at the time when most others were not.
That meant a lot to me and I was never able to express it.
Semper fi,
Jim
Breaks my heart for Zippo, as it does for all those men, those who made it and those who didn’t.
Not to be a dick, but,”about Zippo and make certain he was not forgotten in my or her memory.
Maybe should say , “my (mine) nor her, memory”.
Really trivial, forgive me.
Thanks Andy, it took a long time to get some balance when it came to losing some of these Marines.
Zippo was a special kid and I am always left with the wonder of what he would have become.
Semper fi,
Jim
Damn it…
Yes, that was a tough segment and I was hard put to write it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Just made my day with this new entry!
Well, Phil, this was a tough segment. Not to write but to reform in my mind and to do justice to.
Damned ignominious death was so common. A bullet slipped through armor. Please! Another coming silently out of
the night here and there. So damned dangerous to be on or around the field of real combat.
Semper fi,
Jim
I still call the 1911 an auto or automatic pistol. It’s period correct to do so and we were not worried about anti-gun folks confusing things years ago. It’s also what the 1911 was named. From Wikipedia: “The pistol’s formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam War era.”
Awesome book.
Thanks Dave, for that clarification and the research, which I did not do. I am just using stuff and nomenclature as we experienced it at the time.
Not always technically or analytically correct. thanks for helping out here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Trieu Hai Hoang is truly gifted. Check out his fb page. Scroll down to see the similar stuff.
Hoang is a great artis and I love seeing his stuff. That he is from the Nam somehow makes it even better.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m sure it’s extremely difficult to bring those events out of the depths of memory and even harder still, with tears flowing, to put them into words.
Yes, these guys back there have never gone away and it took me years to come to understand that they never would
but that it could become okay. The detail of the scenes is revealed to me intensely as it happens on paper so, yes, the
dredging up can be a bit emotionally upsetting. My wife wanted me to quit. But I can’t quit. I have to go on, just like in real life…
Semper fi,
Jim
paragraph 15 or so: “I was deaf and dumb and a Marine Company Commander in real combat in Vietnam.”
according to the content of the paragraph this could well be “I was deaf, dumb, blind and a Marine Company Commander in real combat in Vietnam.”
Yes, that is true. Thanks for the help.
Semper fi,
Jim
I know it’s hard to see your man Die and then write a book about it brings back a lot of memories we’ll always have the memories of their loss for the rest of our lives
Yes, we do have the memories and that can be both a great and a terrible thing,
depending upon a whole lot of variables.
Thanks for the comment,
Semper fi,
Jim
second sentence …”had been called in to be saved from an attacking enemy,” then ” but in every case having to save Kilo Company,” hard to understand. called in to be saved? not sure what you’re trying to get across here.
BTW, shirts came in, TYVM.
You are welcome very much. And thanks for the editing help…
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you sir for reminding the new generation of our war!!! I was not in Vietnam but a lot of my friends and family were!
Yes, there is that. I am not sure how many of this ‘new’ generation will read the work thought.
Television, movies and the mythology presented there are all too powerful.
Semper fi,
Jim
THAT WAS A INVIGORATING passage , it reminded me of a night along the DMZ in he rain in a all too familiar situation….a ferocious NVA battalion or more , 12.7’s and RPG’S being leveled at you, but through this fog of war and controlled chaos , you had moments of humanity ; humility and empathy during moments of suffering ….A MARINE CORPS INFANTRY OFFICER …the A Shau was a picnic …the terrain and weather didn’t help ….but you kept a patchwork of tactics and direction that MAKES THE CORPS STAND OUT !
I am never sure at all how anyone, or anything, is going to stand out when I write a segment. I am hoping the Corps stands out because
I have always loved the Marine Corps and almost all of what they try to do and how they go about it…
Semper fi,
Jim
James…..read as many of these that I can….was with the3rd Marine Division in 1969….I read some and frankly had to stop and regroup…You write the way that only a fellow combat vet can…you take me back to that place with each entry….Thank you…..Jim…Semper Fi
Quite amazingly to me at the beginning, real combat vets are among the highest incidence of readership!
I didn’t expect that. I expected a lot of criticism and derision….and came to discover through these comments
and laying myself naked in the field, that I wasn’t so bad. I much treasure that new feeling…
Semper fi,
Jim
Again great reading, I’d taken a break awhile back could not make a comment, or even acknowledge that I read the last story and I’ve missed some stories but hey it’s a heathy thing I think ,I hope so , memories are strange things know and again.
thanks Bill, for sticking with it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Another chunk of your life thrown out there with really no promise it will return with something to salve a wound or maybe rub it raw again. I am waiting anxiously as so many others for the next reveal. I am going to miss Zippo a lot. He is a huge loss in the story of your time in the pit. Also watching the rest of the work you are getting out and it is substantial, so wait is what I will do. Thank you very much LT. Poppa J