The day would not end. The hike to where the objective was supposed to be, that Sugar Daddy’s forward reconnaissance team said wasn’t there, was one of overwhelming fatigue and staggering inattentiveness. The first sign that something was wrong with the company came when the Gunny, moving just in front of me, pulled up a 60mm mortar base plate. The thing weighed about twenty pounds.
“What’s going on Gunny?” I asked him, as he set the round iron object back down on the path the company was making through the beaten bracken.
Thank you Lt. James, Im still here still reading.
Thanks Don. The next segment is going up right now. Sometimes the segments are easy and sometimes they
are not. The expectation by many is that each and every detail is accurate and analytically correct. That’s not the case
and when I am using fictional to segue or bridge conversational dialogue it’s almost impossible to remember exact lines
or even the substance of them through all these years. So there’s some imagination there and hence one of the reasons
the first book coming out next week is declared to be totally fiction. You can misrepresent all you want on a blog or a website but
when people are paying for your stuff they deserve straight shooting…so to speak.
Anyway, thanks Don…
Semper fi,
Jim
LT I hate taking attention away from the next chapter, there are now quite a few of us anxiously waiting for each installment, but one item keeps jumping out-
I scanned the bank on the other side. And then I saw it. There (w)? as a road. An honest to god improved road………..
Might even consider dropping ‘There (w)as’ to simply ‘A road’
As always you need not reply or publish as I’m just watching your six.
Thanks again, corrected.
Mr. Strauss :
I send you a comment/opinion a few days ago and I do not believe a received a reply or explanation. It concerned your comment about our “Honor Flights” for Veterans.. I believe you stated they are “phony” and “bullshit” if I remember correctly. I simply wanted to know why you had that opinion and gave such an abrasive comment concerning our giving our Veterans and “Honor Flight” to visit memorials .. I realize you only post all praising and highly complimentary comments , mine was of a different opinion and was discarded. You have commented on other comments before. I really enjoy reading this story of fiction from only your viewpoint and I think you should be professional enough to reply to all. I am not ignorant of that time, having graduated in 68 and my husband an Army draftee spent 13 months there, had nightmares til his death. I am extremely proud of him and his sacrifice. Why do you refer to “Honor Flights” as “bullshit” ? Again, my opinion of such crude language when we are simply trying to Honor Veterans as best we can, is out of line. I Honor all who serve and am a proud Patriot./ Jan
Here at the Maine Vets Home in Scarborough, ME we are proudly honoring two Veterans and they are on their way tomorrow to DC to visit the war memorials… we are all so excited and are giving them a proud send off … we hope for them to have an awesome time and a safe trip , they are extremely excited and all have their own “friend” to help them on their trip ..
Also we had a very happy Vietnam Veterans Day yesterday, honoring all who served . We have been celebrating and honoring all on March 29 now for quite a few years….
Enjoy your story Mr. Strauss.
Just because I find the idea of the ‘honor’ trips unpleasant does not mean everyone does.
Some of the vets must love it because they are not handcuffing anybody to the seats.
I apologize for saying something negative about the program just because it is not
something I would ever do.
The old vets deserve a bit better from me, as I work to become an old vet…
Semper fi,
Jim
Because I do not honor the ‘honor’ flights does not mean other veterans do not like them.
I should have kept that opinion to myself. The older vets on these honor flights deserve better.
So, I apologize for what I said. I would not like to participate in that kind of thing but then
I carry my own PTSD issues, and, as most of us know, those are particularly personal.
Sorry. I hope the vets on those planes have a wonderful time.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you for posting the above comment and your reply. We all respond in different ways to what helps us with our need to heal. Just telling your story will help heal so many. Praying for God’s grace on you as you continue writing your story.
Your friend,
Nancy
Thanks so much, as usual Nancy.
I am writing away…to what end I do not know.
The images are now more real than ever but it also appears
that I’m not nearly as bothered by them out here on top of the table as
I am when they are suppressed all the time…we shall see.
As usual, I thank you for your prayers and the compliment implied…
Semper fi,
Jim
Your comments seem a little harsh – and to be completed base less. This man has told a story, yes historical fiction, that many of us think is very good. So while it is very unusual, I believe, for a writer to run an ongoing dialogue with his readers sometimes no answer is the correct response. (did not mean to state what I think is the thought process here Jim) but no one stands alone among us. 101st Jan’68 to Mar ’70.
Thanks for this comment Bob.
I did apologize for my comment about the flights for old veterans headed
for D.C. and their visits to the memorials.
I admitted that I don’t like the idea but then that is just me.
Thanks for the defense. I am occasionally controversial in my beliefs
and I’m not what one might consider to be a ‘normal’ veteran, in almost any way…
Semper fi,
Jim
Just purchased the Kindle edition of this book. I keep having to remind myself this is all taking place in 13 days and nights. It’s a wonder any of you kept your sanity. Talk about growing up/maturing fast. Boggles my mind. Can’t wait for the next installment.
We did not keep our sanity. We were nuttier than fruitcakes and only recognized any
remaining sanity by being able to laugh at how whacked Casey was. When I came out I was
shipped to Japan where I had Japanese Television in my room, Japanese nurses and doctors that
spoke only broken English. I don’t speak Japanese. I had one corpsman assigned to my room
(Navy) and one American nurse. I was forced by that strange circumstance to deal with what
had happened and my own circumstance. My ‘counselor’ ended up being the old Red Cross worker (a woman
who probably no more than 50 years old) who listened and then came to tough conclusions about what
I had to do and the way I had to think to ‘qualify’ to go back home to my family. What humans
can be put into, in the way of difficult circumstance, is limitless in its potential ferocity.
Dealing with the aftermath is something else entirely.
Thanks for the observation and your willingness to make it in a comment on this site.
And thanks for wanting more…
Semper fi,
Jim
I don’t think Casey is as bad off as everyone thinks. It looks like he may be trying to survive till the chopper gets there to get him out. Great writing. Server in the Air Force during Vietnam. Thank you for your bravery service.
Bill, thank you for looking deep into the story, although I can’t really comment on how
things were if hey effect how things are going to be in the story. Your comment about Casey falls
into that category. I much enjoy the analysis you are doing of the story though and the way your mind works.
Thank you.
Semper fi
Jim
Yes we have scarred souls. I joined Strike Force of the 101st Airborne as a shake an bake E-6,in May of 1970,after what was left of them regrouped after the battle of hill 882 an 714. The highest ranking man in my platoon was a Spec 4. As Cherry I was terrified of these men, they were walking dead, with thousand click stares in their eyes. In August we came in stand down an I looked in the mirror to shave an I did not recognize my own face in the mirror. I had become one of them, hardcore, dead in side SSG. With the thousand click stars.
Thank you Jim, for coming on here to write that.
The stare is something that goes away over time, at least it did for me.
Having a penetrating look is something else again. You’ve been to the ‘outside.’
You’ve come back to live in the phenomenal world. You cannot help but have that
look when you have come to know what you know. The only ‘cure’ for PTSD is to
convince or drug a combat vet to the point that they forget what the real world taught them.
Semper fi,
Jim
Being Airborne or Airmoble with the 101st the one thing we could never understand about the Marines was all the heavy crap there line company’s had to jump or wear. Humping mortar base plates and the insane wearing of flack vest killed a lot of good Marines because of heat exhaustion and fatigue. Only the Crazy Recon Marines knew how to move in the jungle.
My company humped all right, but not wearing the vests. We discarded those
completely. Most of the men no longer wore the steel pot. We humped water and
ammo and then more ammo. And we used it all… but that was only us…
Semper fi,
Jim
Crazy Marine Recon were Swift, Silent and Deadly, true enough, but we humped a full ruck. No steel pot or flack jacket, nor anything for personal comfort. Not even room for a poncho. Cold, wet, rainy nights on the side of a mountain? Sometimes on three day excursions we only carried one or two cans of c/rats, hoping that we weren’t extended. There was never enough water. Or ammo. Twenty loaded M-14 mags, plus a bandoleer in the ruck. At least eight frags, three smoke, two CS, and one or two pop flares. One Claymore, sometimes two. A belt for the 60, and six or eight blooper rounds for our “heavy weapons.” Sometimes a block of C-4 and accessories. Pistol and several mags. And since I was primary RTO, a PRC-25, extra batteries and extra handset. Recon got no resupply. What we needed we carried. A ruck and ammo belt easily surpassed a hundred pounds? The only time we got pulled early was for wia’s or , as was sometimes our motto, we were “Swift, silent, surrounded.” But in all my time in the bush we were never detected by the NVA.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER, The First Ten Days, is out in paperback on Amazon.
Go online and leave a review of this first book if you will Tom. Anything helps at this point.
Hard to grow a big audience out there unless you are already famous.
Thanks for the in depth comment and I love how much you had to hump. The loads we hauled were insane
but somehow we did it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Vietnam Veterans Day March 29th. WELCOME HOME!! We are PROUD of YOU!!
Hey SSgt, the book is finally coming out on Amazon today for preorder. Next week for trade paper back.
Thanks for the alert on the day, funny they did not give anybody notice it was coming!
Semper fi,
Jim
Just heard about the “Day” on talk radio here, day late as usual. I think it was celebrated yesterday with a dinner held in a phone booth.
More bullshit and empty promises. Don’t mean nothin.
Thanks for the comment here.
Appreciate all opinions and I know the others reading do too.
That there is a day at all, kind of unannounced, is a surprise….
that it went rather unheralded is not surprising at all.
Vietnam Veterans are ascribed, without it being said, as having lost that war
and there’s really no coming back from that.
Rationality is perception and that perception is liked steeped in cement.
Thanks for you contemplative comment and coming on here to say it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Walt has a great comment there, scarred souls. James your story and your perspective are very healing to me, I’m sure to others as well, I do hope there is healing in it for you too! From one of the Army fly guys ’66-67. Here is looking back at you from the other side of that mirror.
Thanks Parker. I think the book helps take me back, recall and reconsider, and then reform some of the damaged thougts
and opinions I’ve sort of carried unwittingly through the years. Thank you for the compliment and thank you for commenting about
care for me on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Our Legion Post had a “Day” twice. Last year a light turnout. This year a lot more. I see it growing.
Yes, the older veterans are getting so old they con’t come to meetings and get togethers anymore.
About the only way that Korean and Vietnam vets would ever get popular!
By being the only ones left. Not too many Iraq and Afghanistan vets will attend or join at all.
Thanks for your words here and your reading the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
Guess it don’t mean nothing, but we’re your Sandys Marine aviators? And the latest installment has me looking forward to some effective close air to slow those peckerwoods down till you can get the company back to the rear. Damn long fight so far. Thank you for sharing this with people who do care and do not still understand. Poppa Joe
Thanks a lot Joe. We were getting Navy aviators in our Sandys. Cowboy, Jacko and Hobo were all Navy.
We had the big blue planes. I don’t know where the Marine Skyraiders operated or if they were in the same
area but we did not get them by luck of the draw.
Thanks for the comment and for the care and support here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you. I used to play golf. One friend was a former Navy Sandy operator from Korea, and one of the others was a fast mover on the Oriskiny. He was on the catapult when the flare locker blew. Survived that and a very big hole in his wing from a day mission over the Trail. Both guys very good men who knew their jobs well. Fred’s plane is hanging in the entrance of the Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola. And his plane is pictured there in some art work including flames from below decks. As an aside, Commander Mitchel was relieved by a guy named McCain. They are a true treasure to our country.
Cool, Joe, and thank you for writing what you know here.
Not always easy. Semper fi,
Jim
You, as usual, have another excellent chapter. The only problem I can see is that you need to write faster! Sky raiders were cool. Nice feeling of comfort when they were around. I was down in the paddies mainly, and to read your description of up north makes me glad I was where I was. Keep writing and I’ll keep reading!
The A Shau was like some hidden miserable valley of death all of its own. Like it was down below the radar of the regular
war, whatever the hell that was. And further north we went the worse it got.
Thanks for the comment and the reading of the story..
Semper fi,
Jim
Almost went into A Shaul valley in the fall of 1968 with the 1st Cav. Mission was called off due to heavy fog that would not lift. But did work the mountains around AShau valley, bad ass terrain to hump in with a full combat load.
Glad you missed that show Raul! The A Shau was special…like a diagnosis of terminal cancer is special.
The Marines going back were in the toughest shape because they knew and they could not tell the
rest of us FNGs. Thanks for the comment and the support.
Semper fi
Jim
Was the A Shau so deadly because it was next to the Ho Chi Min Trail? It would seem to me that was the case as the number of NVA after you is pretty well armed and constantly after you….
The A Shau was part of the complex that came to be known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. There was another route down through
Laos a couple of valleys west where heavier duty stuff came down. But the bottom of the valley was a constant
flowing part of the resupply effort down to the south…
Semper fi,
Jim
Morning Jim, Do you lose a Sandy shortly to the .51? If this is the incident I am thinking of one of the Sandies goes down and the pilot of one of the others gets a CMH when He lands on the old airstrip and recovers the crew?
Yes, The shit is deep, That old saying, “How do you drain the swamp? When you are up to your ass in alligators?” Well, You got to live the reality crocodiles and all……….. Thank god for Sandy, The next best thing in a heavy fire team of Snakes loaded heavy, 17 pounders HE and Nails …… Charlie really went deep when the red ribbons of smoke streaked the sky when the nails went off….
Semper fi/This We Defend Bob.
Can’t tell you what comes ahead Robert, and you know that.
But thanks for the asking and caring, as usual…
Semper fi,
Jim
That was USAF Major Bernard Fisher on 10 Mar 1966.
Yes, I know. And thank you for pointing it out..
Semper fi,
Jim
The NVA probably has a ferry system across that river, or some old sampans. They’ll give ya a ride. Then you gotta walk the toll road and the price is prolly gonna be very high.
Sounds like the good Capt. isn’t quite as out of it as it would have seemed.
Another rather mundane addition kept lively and humorous by your writing skills, and as always, that cliff hanger at the end. Nice.
Thanks Daniel. How in hell did they get back and forth across that river at that time?
Elephant! I love that. Never saw it and never thought about it but man is that a cool idea.
Elephants and more animals just up ahead though. Never for crossing swift moving rivers, though.
Semper fi,
Jim
This Sugar Daddy got to go period.
Yes, Sugar Daddy is problematic, but then whom in the situation was not?
Can’t tell you the future just yet Jack, but thanks for coming to that conclusion and for commenting
on it here.
Semper fi,
Jim
And the Capt. was boo-cou dinky-dau at times. Keep up the good work.
Casey was a bit ‘drift factor six’ I will admit. Thanks for the accurate comment
and reminding me of an old expression.
Semper fi,
Jim
Salt water crocs!
Actually, I think the ones we dealt with higher up in the Nam were fresh water estuary crocks.
Still dangerous as all get out.
Thanks for the comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Should there be an ‘Epiphany’ about Fusners comment in book one about not swimming/bathing in the river? Or does that come later?
Thanks SSgt. I’m on it and yes it does come back later…
Semper fi,
Jim
We covered the same ground, 2/205 pir…all so familiar, I patrolled out of firebase ripcord for a couple of months in 1970 before it was over run. Had to love Alpha one sr…nobody delivered ord like they could. I spent more than 1 ndp in pre dug holes. The story makes it all feel like yesterday.
Thanks for the comment and yes you are right about ordnance delivery.
The army fireballs were terrific…
Semper fi,
Jim
Excellent writing. Casey’s uninhibited moments have me deeply wondering if he had frontal lobe damage. Thinking he is an older warrior that can’t help reacting in combat but there is a slyness to him. Lots of questions here.
Casey was 26 at the time, or so I recall from somewhere.
Thanks for your analysis and it’s amazing what wisdom can come out
of humans under great pressure…and what idiocy!
Thanks for the comment, as usual.
Semper fi,
Jim
That was a mistake Gomers. No sparklers and strobes in this war to mark friendless and designate the enemy but a big 50 with green cigar tracers is a dead give away as to where the Gomers are laying. “Cleared hot Jacko”!
Doc
Also, I hope y’all cut that road into the valley., smells of Gomer resupply to me.
Doc
Interesting comment, my friend.
I can’t go into what’s coming in the story, as you probably guessed,
but really appreciate you paying attention close enough to guess on your own.
Thanks for everything….
Semper fi,
Jim
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER, The First Ten Days, is out in paperback on Amazon.
Thanks for the comment here Roger. If you get a chance go online and write a review of the book
at Amazon, since you’ve already read it here anyway…or so I think.
Thanks for the help.
Semper fi,
Jim
Why not enjoy the story line rather than becoming the editor? Very real, sounds like the tri-border area south of there.
There are many areas of a manuscript that cannot be edited by anyone other than the writer, or the nuance of
the story is lost. That is just the way it is. When the nuance get lost, well, note the difference that occurred in the
work of people like John Grisham and Tom Clancy when they got so famous that they had no time to edit anymore. The real ‘flavor’ of their
work went right into the shit can. As the writer you must stay involved through the whole process. That is one of the problems in Hollywood
and why most of what is coming out is crap. The screenwriter is dumped after submitting and then the producers come in and change the work
to put their own stamp on it. And they are not gifted…even to the point of knowing they are not gifted.
Hence staying along for the edit.
Editing is about a whole lot more than spelling and grammar. It’s about the refined life of the creation…
Semper fi,
Jim
“The good news was that he wouldn’t get in the way of the rest of the company trying to rationally survive while he wandered through whatever mental play land he was mentally caught up in.” Maybe just 1 mental wherever you like it best? Riveting as always. Even a cracked prism might work at times . Thanks.
Thanks again for the sharp etc.
So noted and corrected
Semper fi,
Jim
“High Yo, Silver, away!” Jacko yelled.
Sin loi, Charlie
I am not sure what the comment here means…but I kind of like it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Sin Loi SORRY BOUT THAT Charlie
Yes, exactly, or so I guess. Sorry about that sort of says it, but I think the phrase had deeper more
philosophical meaning. But that’s just me.
Still use it very occasionally. Use didi mao a lot more.
Semper fi,
Jim
It implies “Sorry Charlie, but you are going to die!”
It certainly can imply that, but it also was used much more generally,
at least by me and the guys around me….
Thanks for mentioning that here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Always a nail biter. Keep writing. Can’t wait for the entire book to be finished so I can share it.
Finally getting to the final, final, final on the book coming out of Amazon.
The complexities of the process are extraordinary, not to mention the costs!
Whom would have thought?
Thanks for caring and commenting about it here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Man Casey is confounding! Thank goodness he had a lucid moment or two! Charly pulled a few rabbits out of his hat during my tour as well Jim. Getting the 50 cal. across the river sounds about right. Hope cowboys on his game. Great stuff. Thanks and Semper Fi!
Those Skyraider guys were simply unbelievable, like the Seabees and the Army chopper pilots.
There was some stunningly effective and unheralded support for the poor ground pounders down there.
Thanks for the comment and for your support Jack.
Semper fi,
Jim
Yesterday I was telling a former OV-10 pilot about TDHS, the comments and your replies. I cautioned him to start with day one and work his way up. We were in a public area, so my descriptions were limited. He said “the Ashau was the center of our storm”, so I am betting you will have one more reader. Mel
OV-10 was a great bird unless you had to bail out into one of those propellers.
Planes without ejection seats…ugh! Thanks for recommending the work and for reading and
comment here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow. Another incredible episode and cliffhanger. You truly have a talent and thank you for sharing it with us and leaving us on the edge of our seats yet again. And to all those that serve and served, and especially those that made the ultimate sacrifice, Thank You.
Yes, those that did not come back…or came back but remain over there.
I wonder if it would not be more curative for these patriotic groups sending men back
to D.C. to memorials to send them back to where they fought. Might be a bit better,
and not for some rushed phony ‘honoring’ bullshit plane ride either.
Thinking. And thanking you for the neat compliment and your support on coming on here to write it, as well.
Semper fi,
Jim
Well said
Thanks Bob, although I am not exactly certain as to what you were referring to.
I’ll take it as a compliment!
Semper fi,
Jim
Here you go Sir. http://ericgkirsch.com/returning-vietnam-captain-dale-dye-usmc-ret/ . And thanks for another engrossing, mind blowing part of your story.
Going back to the Nam. Interesting. Thanks for the link and the comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Looking at map 6441-2, 1970, it appears that you are only a few clicks from the old destroyed Ashau A-team camp. Of course its on the other side of the river & is probably registered on every enemy gunners’ chart in the Valley.
Wow, Ron! I went back and checked my old arcane maps out and you could not be more correct.
Just how many defeats did we really suffer in that valley even thought we kicked NVA ass up and down
that place. One implacable enemy those hearty Vietnamese were…
Thanks for looking that up.
Semper fi,
Jim
When one saw the reference of a road in the jungle, one suspected that there had been an LZ camp there before, why else would there have been a road in that location? If the LZ was no longer present, it would indicate that it had been wiped out before, so then the question would be, why return to the same location?
Charlie was the pursuer, every since your company descended into the valley. From the way the story is headed, it looks like they were accomplishing the very same feat that had been accomplished in the past. One wonders if the previous company of troops, were ambushed in the same manner? In this case, history would be repeating itself.
Thanks J, for the usual brilliant detective work. Yes, you are right at home here
in this valley with us. Amazing, really!
Thanks for being here and writing what you write so well all the time.
Semper fi,
Jim
Luckily I have two computers – an old desktop (That wants to crash frequently) and a portable. At least every other chapter or so I find myself taking the portable to the desk and bringing up 6441-2 on the desktop to’watch your progress’ up the valley. If interested, fellow readers, the map is at http://www.33usmc.com/Maps/c6441-2.jpg (If you just go to http://www.33usmc.com there’s lots of good stuff – maps, command chronologies, operations…)
this is the best map available out on the Internet of the A Shau and I downloaded it myself
to go with my own. Thanks so much Chet…
Semper fi,
Jim
Would it be possible to include a map and maybe plot your course for us civilian types >?
I was 12 above the cutoff for the last draft and consider myself very fortunate…However watching that last draw with a cousin, he was further out, we sure did go through some beer…It is hard to see how anyone came out of that mess…Thank You for allowing us to read what truth you can of the cluster you were in…Shared many times, waiting and interested in a compiled book of all three sections…Again, Thanks…
Yes, I am working on making a map of my own for the whole valley, as I think
it would help. The maps of the time and even today are very difficult to understand.
thanks for the question and the comment…
Semper fi,
Jim
Love it and can’t get each chapter quick enough!!!
Thank you Cary. Nice to get these short compliments. Takes some effort to come on here and say something.
I much appreciate that.
Semper fi,
Jim
And we still don’t know whether the grenade tosser is walking or being carried.
And poker face Gunny Sorocco is still holding his Ace with a pair of Kings.
Only those who read the online serial version of the story will know the Gunny’s name was Tom Socorro.
It’s not in the first book coming out next week (how many times have I said ‘next week’ on here?).
Some of the names simply had to be changed and I’m not sure why but I do listen…unless you ask anybody
in my nuclear family. Thanks for the intense read and wanting more…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, I’m exhausted just reading this… despite physical adversity and being almost alone and confronted with enemies on both sides… you maintain your leadership perspective and situational awareness far beyond what most of us are capable of…thanks for putting us there with you…through your words we can feel something of what it was really like…keep the story coming…and thanks for sharing…Semper Fi
I didn’t know what else to do or be. I was lost in the jungle, like Tarzan as a young child.
All I had were those members of the great ape filled company who might let me live if they
saw a value in me. I was terrified and still wake up that way sometimes. I will end my days
attempting to be valuable and never really know whether I was or not…
Thanks for your deep comment and your support L.T.
Semper fi,
Jim
I have always had the knowledge that someone has to be in charge, and if my life depends on it, I had just as soon it be me. Not everyone has the ability to see the overall picture, and not just the next 10 feet in front of them. You are the same way. Whether it is a gift, or a curse…..depends on the time and situation. Where you are in the story, it needed to be you. I have stopped guessing about what the future actions of Gunny, Casey, and the rest are going to do next, and just reading and living it with you. In your situation, you had to be constantly accessing where everyone stood, and each day brought a new perspective that left you saying, WTF, this SNAFU and FUBAR all wrapped up together. I have started slowing my comments, as that detracts from you writing time. Semper fi, Joe
I answer all of the comments here because doing that is primary and the story secondary. I will get there.
But the vets who come on here to comment deserve full attention. They, and I as one of them, are what the story
is all about.
Semper fi,
Jim
Well Jim…another outstanding segment…funny how Casey is in and out of it…but managed to do something right for a change. And the NVA getting the 50 across the river into the exact right position…they were a resilient bunch…and after all you were fighting in their back yard…but the Gunny being behind the whole reconnoiter thing. He is covering his own ass all the time it looks like…and using Nguyen’s allegiance to you for his own gain…again, you keep us on the edge…you were in deep shit until the air support showed up…I anxiously await the next segment…and I have said this before, I think, but thanks for sharing your experience the way things really were…I know it must be difficult but it is somehow has a healing effect to put it all out there…
Luck. So many times I got by with luck or fortune smiling. From nowhere possible. Who thinks of ‘up’ anyway when in trouble
on the ground? The times I had air were blessed, each and every one, even when they blew some of us up by mistake. Air misses
a lot. Artillery, if not adjusted with a surgeon’s skill is much more deadly than anyone back in an armchair would ever figure
out from watching television (maybe the arty scenes in the woods of Band of Brothers give a good representation). Thanks for your
comment and for showing so much heart and care yourself.
Semper fi,
jim
I, like other vets I think, find myself reading all the comments along the way…and I agree with you about the luck thing…as the old saying goes “I’d rather be lucky than good”…I saw a saying written on a wall once that said “grunts have done so much for so long with so little that command expects you to do the impossible with nothing”. Forge ahead and keep up the good writings…
Thanks Mark, the comment section on here has become quite something.
Some people attribute that to me but, in truth, it’s the vets and the people
dealing with vets that make this site. I just somehow became the game show host
of the thing. Interesting because I never really know what’s going to come on here
until I open up and read like you.
Thanks for the comment and the depth of it…
Semper fi,
Jim
There is or was (as ) a road & just before writing A letter in the prior sentence —(changes) chances ! Elephant carried the .50 across the river !! What a screwed up deal this one is !! Keep on !!
Screwed up might better describe almost all encounters out there in the jungle.
It was a boloxed mess most of the time and good sense was almost always founded on
flawed foundations. I tried to understand all of it and the complexity of the stuff inside
and outside the company overwhelmed my young mind. And then I came home in total abysmal
shock so deep that when I shaved I could literally not see myself in the mirror. I’d stand
there and stare into the mirror into my own eyes and then I’d disappear. My wife would have to come
and get me. I still do that, just to make sure I’m okay now, although if you have to look every once
and awhile to make sure about that it might indicate continuing problems…
Thanks for the comment and making it on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
I remember the mirror effect when I lost my beloved grandmother. I was starring at myself in the mirror and lost track of the next three days, cannot account for anything until the funeral event. The mind has a strange power to block out the pain and will sometimes take you from complete consciousness. You function with the sub conscious mind until reality returns.
Yes, something else was and is it not? The human mind is a vast
unknown labyrinth although functioning along every day with no idea
of how it works at all. Thanks for the revealing comment and caring enough to write it.
Semper fi,
Jim
Seriously dig your signature opening mood indication, “The ____ would not end/come.”
Only two little typos that I can see:
Paragraph 7: wouldn’t lessen my own (changes) for survival
AND
Seconds later the Russian fifty caliber opened up, but (it) the tracers didn’t come in from across the river
Thanks SSgt. I am all over the edits. Thanks for pointing them out and liking the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
khe Sahn Was spelled wrong to Lt.sir I get so caught up in your stories I never pay attention to spelling lol I’m just a WV hillbilly so who knows I may be wrong nonetheless keep writing I’m still enjoying every bit thanks for your service!
Thanks Josh. I’m on it. Appreciate the help and the comment here…
Semper fi,
Jim
couple friendly suggestions for edit
not edible and, in fact “were” trying to eat me
there “w”as around
he could “run” back
but it”s” tracers
ever” ” hear of IFR
Looking to be interesting for everyone tonight
Thanks RB, and the rest of my team of editors out there. Makes it so much easier when
we get to publishing the second book. The first should be out sometime this week, they say.
Thanks for liking the story too…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim the last chapter froze me in place waiting for this one.You have brought back so many memories of me serving in units just as a support element then handling their get some times. Saw Sir Charles coming back on your six, the valley was unforgiving especially the northern reaches were their nose first logistics served them well S/F
Yes, we proceed north up the valley of death, and it’s descriptive name becomes all the more real and
cruel as we go. That valley was never pacified, never conquered and ever denied. Those in the rear
sent us into that and some of them had to know…but they never said a word. Every vet I meet, if he’s been
to the A Shau, I kind of know after only a few moments. He can’t say, of course…anymore than I can write this
story. It just keeps coming out and there it is…to be made of whatever it will be made of over time. Maybe it
will become like that German SS book I read in ROTC that helped me so much. It was about the Germans conscripted to
fight with the French in the Nam. Some dog eared copy of TDHS might help some young guy out there somewhere before
he goes off into something he cannot possibly have a clue about.
Semper fi,
Jim
Your comment about the Nazis conscripted into the French indochina experience could have been”The Devils Brigade” German SS in Viet Nam.?
Now back to Casey, I wonder if once again “Training always tells” is not happening there. It seems he has become childish in interpersonal contact, yet a seeming combat savant in tactical awareness and in that realm, training is taking over.? Do you think?
Yes, I do believe it was the ‘Devil’s Brigade’ that I read and still refer to to this day.
Thanks Glenn. Appreciate the reading and taking the time to write on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Do you remember what the name or author of that book was, I had a copy of one that was very good even though it got down and dirty with what happened. Loaned it to someone and never saw it again and that’s got to be 40 years ago or so.
And please don’t spend a lot of time editing when you are writing this book. Saw some errors but it din’t even slow me down…
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER, The First Ten Days, is out in paperback on Amazon.
The Devil’s Brigade, Roger, or so guys have told me. I haven’t gotten a copy
to make sure though. Thanks for the compliment. If you get the time and the care
please go online at Amazon and leave a review of the book.
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow! Just wow! Can’t wait for the next chapter!
Thank you most kindly John! Keeps me going at it here, when I’m not
editing or doing junk that simply must be done to make the whole thing work.
I can’t call in artillery down upon Amazon but sometimes….just sometimes…
Semper fi,
Jim
Well, here we “hang,” again!
Okay, Jacko needs to drop some HE down the barrel of that .50 and get it out of the picture for good.
Yeah, bring the quads down that road, Dusters and quads, right up my alley!
One typo: Seconds later the Russian fifty caliber opened up, but (it) the tracers didn’t come in from across the river.
Thanks for the help Richard and thanks for the comment on here.
Takes extra effort to do that and I much appreciate hearing from you, no matter what.
Semper fi,
Jim
Was getting a little edgy waiting for this installment.
Wondering how the battles were going against the environment, the topography, the relentless enemy, the fractures within your unit, and the devils within each man.
***************
Ha! God Bless the Air Angels coming to bring ‘gifts’ to the NVA.
Just in the nick of time.
Thanks Walt, for the usual brilliant and caring comments.
It’s a bit harder as I get older and battles rage less relentlessly and emotionally through my mind, to
truly wish more damage be done to those forces opposing us. It’s hard not to think of the NVA as being in
the same damned pickle we were in. It’s hard, in truth, to think about hurting anybody that way anymore.
I mean, if we are talking ‘truth’ here…
Semper fi,
Jim
LT Jim,
Your writing creates a very down to earth perspective of what all the guys were facing there during the war. Truly thank you for your vivid writing that exposes the deep emotional strife that was ever present during the realities of war. My respect for you and others who served only grows deeper, and I pray for everyone who came back with scarred souls.
Thanks Walt. Yes, the guys who came back came back with scarred souls.
That’s about he best praise that fits so well. Your comment in spot on, as usual.
Semper fi,
Jim
So a medium severity TBI turned an alcoholic ass into a very helpful idiot savant? Who put the burr under the Gunny’s saddle? I guess I’m getting used to the style, no, not bored. And for anyone else that needs more Strauss between chapters here, his website has several excellent reads. Keep it up Jim, can’t wait!
Thanks Walt, for the usual great comment and for letting people know there’s more on the website than
what I am writing on this Vietnam work.
Semper fi,
Jim
“Seconds later the Russian fifty caliber opened up,but it the tracers,”their , it needs to be delegated. You keep the suspense coming keeps me moving sometimes in the wrong direction. Have check the site for a week for the next release. Great read once again. Thanks.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. It’s now out on Amazon!
Please take a couple of moments and write a review. Anything at this point helps a lot so
I don’t get lost on that giant stage…
Thanks for the comment and for the support in reading William.
Semper fi,
Jim
Those Skyraiders were heavy hitters with all they could carry. Always glad to see/hear em coming.
Yes, the carried up to four tons it is said although three was more common.
And they could circle for seven hours, even more important…
Thanks for the comment and your support…
Semper fi,
Jim
When I read this chapter, my first thought was, what will Junior come up with to turn the tide? It occurred to me, that Charlie was on your six and was within range of Cunningham. Then there was Cowboy and Hobo above. Why not turn it all around with an onslaught by Cunningham and the boys in the air, and send your company back into the nest against a disturbed Charlie? Reverse the tide so to speak. Had there been coordination from the rear, that would have been a very surprising turn of events for Charlie.
You are an amazing man J.
I cannot say right now what happened as the segment is about done
and ready to go up.
You are simply amazing in how your mind seems to work today
like mine did then!!!
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, does that mean my mind is fifty years behind the times? Sometimes I feel like it is.
Of course it does J. But being able to toss yourself back fifty years and then
interpret those thoughts and experiences to be understandable and cogent in the modern
world ai a gift not to be overlooked. Uncommon. And fun to be around.
Semper fi,
Jim
I could do about it that wouldn’t lessen my own (changes) for survival. (chances)
Gunny sent Nguyen along as our guide. He said Junior sent him to help and if we lost communications he could (ran) back. (run)
What a turn of events. Casey in and out of it and still lucid enough to call in air support. Tug of war with the Gunny is going to prove interesting as well. Rittenhouse sacrifice is a turn that has me puzzled as his written testimony will carry more weight with his death. Sure makes one wonder what all he had written in those reports.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. It’s now out on Amazon!
Thirty days Has September: First Ten Days
Please take a couple of moments and write a review. Anything at this point helps a lot so
I don’t get lost on that giant stage…
Thanks for the comment Peter, as you have been here for some time and now know the work.
Those reports will be back and what was in them. Thanks for paying enough attention to discuss them.
Semper fi,
Jim
Very interesting reading makes me almost feel like am there.
Thanks James. That’s a great compliment and it makes me smile
that you bothered to take the time to put it on here.
Not always easy to do that.
Semper fi,
Jim