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Thanks for reading this short excerpt from the paid post! Fancy buying it to read all of it?
You readers should know the NVA took Firebase Ripcord.
Well, they do now from your entry here Jim. Ripcord fell later in the war, however, and it did not so much fall as it was
strategically abandoned because the NVA put such an emphasis on getting rid of it that casualties were constant. No artillery
field unit in Vietnam, or since, has been over run following the introduction of flechette rounds.
Semper fi, and thanks for the data…
Jim
Another chapter that ended too soon. I so wanted to pull the trigger on that Ontos. Thank you for you kind comments on the Army, my alma mater. I once flew commercial seated next to a Marine Colonel. We were both in uniform and of course couldn’t resist conversation. He totally surprised me with his comment about how tough the Army was an his respect for us. Now for a ranking Marine it was a complete shock. I expected the usual “friendly” banter. He explained that he was in the Pacific during WWII hoping islands. He said that the Marines hit the beaches and went through the island like “shit through a goose”, and out the other side. Then the Army had to come in and secure it. That was the hard part routing the Japs out of their strongholds and tunnels. It was a conversation that this old sergeant never forgot. We love to one up and put each other down but its done from a position of great respect. Semper Fi Marine!
Isn’t that the truth, although I don’t think the Marines of WWII went through the islands quite so easily as shit through a goose! At Iwo 70,000 went in and only
44,000 came out uninjured and about ten percent of everyone who stepped on that island died, not including Japanese. But the true feelings of those Marines and Army who’ve
served together is much more positive than the mythology or the peacetime rumor mill presents. Thanks for the comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
I am glad I started reading the accounts of your time in country. For many years I tried to bury my time there (still do). As Marines we were trained to move by instinct. Don’t stop to think just move.
PTSD is a serious problem for many. I have been told to stop living in the past. How do they know what you have seen and had to do.
I have started getting counseling thru the V/A.
Your stories led me to seek help. I THANK YOU! I will be buying your book, not to live it over, but to aid in my recovery.
Keep them coming! Semper Fi. Al
Some guys are making “T” shirts with ‘Strauss’s Army’ on them. I can’t believe it.
I don’t know whether to laugh or what.
I am writing this in regards to your
comment about my helping you and your seeking some therapeutic treatment with respect to PTSD.
Thank you for that humbling compliment. I am so happy that I might be of
help. I’m unsure how most things I write in the story will be taken so I try not to let that affect me.
Your story effects me. In a good way. I will keep on keeping on because of guys like you.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us all…
Semper fi,
Jim
PS. they are making some ‘T’ shirts in pink for women!!!!
Another great chapter LT. Met a guy who was doing those 175s at the Rockpile (I think) in 70-71. Thought of you and your guys. So glad my Army came through. Note…did not have time to read all the comments but you mention the Soviet supplied 106 MM guns on the cliff…
did you not mean 122 MM? That was the standard light artillery piece as I recall (along with the 122 Katuska rockets) and I know some were located along the DMZ and were even captured by Marines. Guess I could look it up but it looks like a mistake to me. I am awed that you are able to write like this and do such long convoluted answers to our convoluted posts.
Yes, I did mean 122. My mind was stuck in the 106 groove because of the Ontos weaponry. Thanks for that and I will edit that most haste.
Without you guys and your ‘convoluted’ posts this story would probably have ground to an agonizing halt sometime back….
I cannot thank you enough…and the Army was a wonderful to us at ever turn…
Semper fi,
Jim
And I forgot to mention the 122 mm heavy Soviet mortar rounds. Sorry, old EOD guy, who still has pictures of that stuff in my cored out old head. Can’t remember what the ol’ lady told me to do 5 minutes ago, but remember the internal diagram of a 524A1 fuse for an 81 mm mortar round. (Warning, watch out for and impinged striker working loose and ruining your day, like a buddy I know that was cleaning up an ammo dump after Tet 69.
I heard of the 122 howitzer they had from the Russians but I never heard of or experienced the 122mm mortar. But there was a lot of stuff sent to that
war that nobody seemed to know much about unless they were using it. I still get vets here who insist that the Army never had the Ontos, and I cannot prove
anything anymore except I know our Ontos was from the Army and not the other way around. I don’t know how that came to be or what happened to it.
Thanks for the information and sorry about your friend.
Semper fi,
Jim
I tried to enlist in the USN on 9/1/63 as I had been working for a newspaper in NYC and my union went on strike. After 3 months my money was gone and I was bored out of my skull. I failed my medical, something involving albumin in my urine and consequently my draft status changed from 1 A to 1 Y. I never got into the service. On 10/2/64 I was sworn into the Police Department of the City of New York as a Patrolman. For the next 20 years I would be working a crazy schedule around the clock and with few days off. I rose through the ranks to Lieutenant and I finally retired with 20 years service on 10/2/84. I had many situations over the years which involved the use of physical force and the use of deadly physical force. All I can say is that when you get into the serious shit you will revert to your training automatically and time will slow down to a crawl. Another thing; people do not generally fall right down when shot with a handgun. They might flinch, slow down or stagger some but most continue in their chosen behaviour for a time. There was real fear in policing a city like NY and we faced it every day. However when the situation goes South we performed our duty without fear and saved our shakes and sweating over the fear when the incident is over.
My wife who lived in our home in Massapequa, did not have a clue about my job than as a Sergeant in the 9th Precinct on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. One Christmas season we threw a party for the kids of the precinct and I invited my wife and daughter to come. After the party she and my daughter were sitting in the back seat of my cruiser and we are tooling along AVE B when a Molotov Cocktail smashes into the hood of the car and we endure the flames and smoke and heat. At least it was winter and the windows were closed so no danger to the occupants although the rear tires did burn out about 7 blocks later and the car was totally destroyed along with my attache case. My wife went ballistic and screamed at me for putting her and our daughter in such danger. I explained that we usually lost one cruiser a month to firebombing and we are used to it. She could not leave Manhattan fast enough. When I got home that night she came at me again and again about the experience. I explained to her that this was my job and that I worked in this crappy precinct so I could have a nice home and family away from this. She from that moment on thought I was crazy but that she now had a better understanding of me but that I was still crazy. Maybe I was? From that time on I stopped talking about my police experiences except to other cops who could understand.
It is difficult to bring those experiences home.
Wives are by and large totally built from the ground up to worry, work and think about the family.
They guard and protect, us as well as the rest of the family members.
This kind of experience has been happening to men ever since we went out to hunt and the women
stayed back at the fire to gather, tend and care for the family. There is no solution, as the problem is called life.
Thanks a lot for the portrayal of your life and experiences on here.
Your writing is very touching yet clear.
Semper fi,
Jim
As usual I got dust or something in both eyes thinking about the waste of life and limb, and the heroism of these guys; many of the comments from others add to my internal agony. No,I was not in direct combat like you guys, but I tried my level best to help protect you by turning aircraft as rapidly as possible, loaded with appropriate ordinance. I also saw the results of some of of the battles while a patient in a medivac hospital. Some of those kids visit me in the middle of the night to this day! I will never forget them! Semper fi Jim
Thanks Joe, for you and the guys and gals like you who did the unsung and often boring and hard-working jobs of
trying to take care of the rest of us out there in the shit. Most of us knew and those of us who survive understand that to this day.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
As a former Infantry guy in the Air Force, I spent a bit of time in’68/69 with the Marines and Army guys helping with communications. Saw just enough combat to appreciate your writing. I still sweat some of the stuff and am glad it was only a bit. Thanks LT.
I’m glad for you too Norm. I don’t begrudge the guy who missed most of the ‘action’ because the guys who did are mostly not among us anymore.
Thanks for laying it out straight and true and for writing it on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
My first read, a friend sent me the link. VN 68-69 Big Red One Quarter Cav. I had my first contact with the 175’s within days of arrival. Was fueling an ACAV. Heard fire mission, didn’t think much about it until I found myself spread eagle on the ground. Asked the short timer track commander weather it was incoming or out going. He and the tail gunner got a good laugh out of that. Thought it had rearranged my internal organs. Will be waiting for the next chapter. Great accounting, keep up the good work!
that is funny, about the outgoing or incoming thing.
First days in country could be filled with weird experiences for sure.
Thanks for that and thanks for the compliment of reading and then writing about that on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, Sir, have waited to comment. Wanted to see what the effect of powerful words would be on the hearts and minds of your true brothers. They are still responding to the chance to download more of that shitty baggage their service left them holding. Your selfless service to them continues. Thank you. I am little apprehensive about the next chapter. My friend, Buck once tried to explain what he saw when some of the gun crews were sent on patrol to see what might be beyond the wire after a full on rush by the enemy while they were in the middle of multiple fire support missions. Words like max depressed elevations and flechettes have stayed with me a lot since his passing. God bless you and all your brothers. Poppa J
Thank you Poppa J. You words are usually very well crafted and thought out. As they are here. Yes, the mess of the battlefield was so present all the time
out in the field, and when returning to the rear area it was amazing how ‘dirty’ everyone spick and span back there considered the real deal guys.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Awesome writing Lt.
As a USNR SeaBee I attended many USMC schools for training over the years(M-60, FO/FSC, Desert Warfare, etc.), but never had to use the knowledge in combat. Your writing brings to life what it must of been like for those of any branch who did. I had a friend in my unit who had an NEC as a gunner on the 16″ battleship guns from the Korean War. He accepted a recall to help off the coast of Lebanon. Ended up with a fire mission to suppress the Syrian artillery that was harassing the US “Peace Keepers”. He had before and after photos. Before was a valley packed with guns, trucks, etc. After was a moonscape of craters. CEC R.G. McDonald USNR-Ret
The effect of artillery must almost be witnessed to be understood.
Anyone who is not afraid of artillery in the field is either not in the field or is dead from the effect of it.
Terrifying to be under fire like that. Instantly, out there, you realize
through your whole being that you are only living because of total luck.
Semper fi,
Jim
each chapter is the highlight of my week—-my thoughts and prayers go out to the men who shared this experience with you—bravo Zulu from an OLD Navy 0-3 minesweeper veteran–1963–1969
Thanks a load for your well wishes Stanley. And the compliment did not just blow by me either.
It’s really much easier to work through this with guys like you at my back….
Semper fi,
Jim
Only question I have is: How in God’s name did you and your Marines make that crossing pushin’ wheel-barrows, Jim? “Cause y’all had to have some to carry Cojones that size…
I don’t think any of us, at the time, thought about in those terms.
We were mostly wet, tired and scared kids laboring under circumstances that caused as much shock
and unexpected decisions as it did any kind of bravery.
We were not ‘lean mean killing machines’, so often portrayed,
although there were a lethal killing nature and effect
to our work that cannot and could not be denied.
I was asked once by a publisher “how many men have you killed?”
How could I possibly answer such a question, given what you’ve read in this series?
“I have no clue?” sounds like a smart aleck or stupid answer, but it would have been the truth.
My real answer assured that I didn’t get published.
“Who in the hell do you think you are to sit there and ask such a question?”
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m sure y’all didn’t think about it at the time; you were/are United States Marines, but brother, that was impressive! Keep up the good work, You’re giving me a lot of insight into what it must have been like. Semper Fi!
You are right. We didn’t think much of it at the time, about being Marines and all. Every once and awhile, when life would let us or demanded it.
Thanks fo the comment Lance…
Semper fi,
Jim
Another outstanding, gripping chapter James!
thanks Dennis, you writing here is encouragement for me and I thank you for that….
Semper fi,
Jim
IMO, which is worth almost as much as you paid for it, you don’t need the word “and” in the sentence below.
They moved directly at the position where I sat and then began veering to one side before coming back ‘and’ to the other. They looked like giant centipedes.
Thanks for the editing help and being on that very vital editing team Tom…
Semper fi,
Jim
I was in the Colorado Army Guard and we were at Ft Carson in the mid 60’s and they would fire those 175’s. We were miles away and could feel the ground shake. By the way, to repeat what other’s have said. Wow.
Thanks for the compliment and also coming in on the credibility side.
Few people have any experience with the impact of large artillery rounds, and I am happy about that…
Semper fi,
Jim
Even more brillianter (!) than usual James. I’m 64 and been a heavy reader all my life but don’t remember ever reading anything quite as intense as this. Criminy.
Thanks Tom, comments like your own help keep me going.
I don’t think this series would still be continuing without the comment section here.
It has been a lot harder to write than I ever figured but easier because
of the company and support readers like you provide.
I cannot thank you enough.
Semper fi,
Jim
Damn, that chapter went fast. Really fast…was kinda pissed that it ended so quickly. It pains me to say how much I’ve enjoyed reading all these chapters because men died. American men lost parts of themselves and men lost some of what makes them human. I hate using the word “enjoy” because some of these stories made me sick to my stomach. I dunno if what I’ve said make sense, but I’m addicted to 30 Days.
Thank you Mr Strauss.