Casey should have been restrained by force, if necessary and held until resupply arrived, no matter how long that took, but that wasn’t going to happen. Casey wanted to go on the mission down to the river and confront the tank. In the dark. With a small band of men armed with little more than tiny and undependable LAW anti-tank tubes. And the Gunny wanted him to go. Our reinforced scout team, without machine guns, was to go against what was likely a Russian main battle tank. I would lead the mission, while Captain Casey would be the make believe commander, or the other way around, depending on the perspective.
“Big planes are called Sandys,” Casey said, kneeling on my spread out poncho cover. “The Gunny says you have sand. Does that have something to do with the planes?”
I hesitated, while preparing my hooch. It was too dark to see Casey’s face, and his back was to me. The man was like an idiot savant. I had no idea how the Skyraiders had come to be known as Sandys. For some idiotic reason, though, what he’d said made me feel a bit less scared, like when he’d said that I was ‘his’ Junior.
I called my scout team together to prepare for the move we had to make down toward the river bank.
“Stevens and Nguyen,” I said, looking at both men, “there’s no point in your being along. When that tank comes across, your being there won’t make any difference. I need Zippo for the scope and Fusner for the radio, and that’s it. Let’s limit our exposure. You stick with the Gunny until we come back.”
I pulled the two letters I’d written home from my left thigh pocket, and rolled the envelopes carefully together before sticking out my hand toward Stevens. He looked down at the rolled letters in the dim light, and then back up at me, before taking both in his right hand. Neither of us said anything. We both knew it wasn’t very likely I’d ever be coming back for my stuff. I hoped he and Nguyen would make sure to give my last letters to Macho Man, no matter what, and they’d get home. For some reason, I felt that it was vitally important that my wife get my last words, although I hadn’t written anything truly meaningful in the body of the letters.
I continued getting my stuff together. I wanted to make sure everything I had left was protected, in case it rained while I was gone.
“Okay, Fusner,” I said, “I want to be up on the command net. We can’t use artillery, although I’m going to call in a maximum range shot upriver just to sow some confusion while we’re making the crawl down there. “Get me the codes for Ripcord. Maybe those Army guys can give us a red bag.”
“Red bag?” Zippo asked as Fusner went to work fiddling with his radio.
“Howitzers fire projectiles using bags of powder,” I replied to Zippo, while I worked. “The longer the shot, the more bags of powder they stuff into the chamber. It’s worked that way since Napoleon invented the system. The first seven bags of powder come in white and green colors. Charge seven or eight can be a big red bag though, packed in to reach maximum range. I’ll ask for some red bag rounds to make it seem like the artillery is going to be adjusted in closer, even though we can’t get it closer. Maybe some rounds will drop close enough to keep some heads down, at least until we get near the river’s edge on our side.”
Fusner held out the radio handset toward me.
“Whiskey, Whisky Red Ball, at your service, over” came out of the small external microphone on the body of the radio.
Before calling in the mission, I identified myself and our unit code, giving the firebase radio operator our location. I asked for the GPO (Gun Position Officer). The radio went dead for almost a full minute before coming back up.
I told the GPO our problem and asked what kind of maximum range fire we might get since our position was almost thirty-five kilometers from their mountain-top base.
“Hey, Cunningham’s been firing for you guys. They said you were alright, Junior” the guy said. “You know we got a two-gun element of 175s here. You’re in defilade for Cunningham, but we can reach you with some H.E. Slow though. One shot a minute from each tube.”
I looked around and thought deeply for a few seconds. The news was good. The range of 175 was a little more than forty kilometers, outshooting anything in our theater on either side, except maybe naval gunfire from the New Jersey. The shells weighed almost two hundred pounds or four times the size of 105 ammo. The problem was, using the red bag to get out as far as we were, made the guns inaccurate at range, especially in our situation, which was beyond the enemy and right on the gun target line. The 175s fired only high explosive rounds and chemical. I asked the battery to stand by for an adjusting round.
The Gunny approached close, staying down close to the wet earth and beaten down jungle bracken. The company hadn’t yet taken any fire in the darkness. I felt an uncommonly cool wind beginning to blow downriver from the north, as if the elevation of the deep valley had been raised up to the top of the mountain we’d descended earlier. I was aware of the rough slurry sound of the river’s flowing water, as well as the usual buzz of hungry hunting mosquitos. The water level had to be dropping quickly I realized, as only an hour before the sound of it had been closer to a dull rumbling roar. The lower the river ran, the more likely the NVA would cross, and the darkness of a nearly moonless night would only act to encourage them, I knew. The company had become a non-moving target and there was no place for it to retreat. We would stand or we would all die. For some reason simply thinking that thought deadened the terror inhabiting my core. It was my United States Marine Rifle Company even if I wasn’t the company’s choice as a decent officer.
The Gunny dumped a pack stuffed full of something in front of me. I bent back slightly, the pack rolling heavily until it was only a few inches away.
“That’s all of our Comp. B.” he said. “Gathered it all together. About twenty-five pounds or so, with a pull action igniter and half minute fuse. I don’t know what it’ll do to a battle tank, but it’s something, at least.”
I grasped hold of the pack and examined the pull-type igniter attached to its side. I knew the fuse cord would burn brightly in the night once the igniter was pulled, making the carrier of the pack an illuminated target running across the night. Would that make any difference? Twenty-five pounds of Comp. B. was nothing to be taken lightly. Even if tossed atop a tank, however, the blast would almost entirely be directed away from the armor. But if the pack were thrown under the carriage, well, that might be a different story. Even a forty-ton tank could be blown several feet into the air, and the effect on any crew inside the rolling ‘metal coffin’ would be devastating, if not outright fatal. I moved the pack so I could complete closing the poncho I’d used to cover my own pack, and what little belongings I possessed.
The pack of explosives lifted into the air in front of me, as if pulled up by an invisible cord. But there was no cord. It was Nguyen’s supple arm, invisible in the night. He and the pack of explosives were gone before I could see anything more than a passing riff of white teeth from his thin smile. I felt better, again, wondering why most of my hope in staying alive was becoming founded on the feelings and actions of one crazy person and one native I couldn’t possibly understand. Stevens wasn’t coming on the patrol, but Nguyen was. Nothing was as it was supposed to be.
Four Marines, hauling LAW tubes slung down from their shoulders, came out of the blackness behind the Gunny. They hunkered down nearby. I couldn’t see their expressions, but I would have bet a lot they weren’t happy to be going out into the open and likely facing the first tank they’d ever gone up against, with a weapon not well regarded, even for anti-personnel use. The enemy’s RPG tubes fired six and a half pound rounds, which would have been much more effective, if we’d had any, which we didn’t.
I moved past the poncho cover, guided my dying flashlight beam down onto the mud, and cleared a small area free with my right hand. I drew a curved line to represent the river, another for the cliff to our right, and then stuck small stones in the places where the enemy positions were likely to be. I used a bigger stone for the tank. Casey moved up to my left shoulder, took off his helmet and stared down at my mud battle map.
“It’s the color of night,” he whispered.
“More like black as the ace of spades,” the Gunny whispered, more to himself than those around him.
I breathed deep and then laid out the simple details of my plan. We’d crawl down to the brush just back from the moving water. Fusner and I would remain with two LAW operators, while Casey would proceed fifty yards, or so, upriver to hopefully be in a place where the tank had to cross to get to us. First, we’d all stay together while I examined the tank and its supporting elements on the other side. I was afraid of what might happen if the tank crossed outside of the area between where our two positions would be. Tanks were a hell of a lot faster than men trying to move armed across the wet sandy mud.
“No,” Casey said, sticking his finger in the mud.
I wanted to say “No, what?” but held back. I’d seen enough of Casey’s strange behavior to give him a chance, and he was still the company commander. The Gunny pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The rest of us did nothing but fidget under the mosquito onslaught and wait. The Gunny took a long pull and then blew the smoke off to the side before offering the thing to me. I looked him in the eyes. Was the cigarette an olive branch, because I wasn’t at all sure about where the Gunny really stood. I took the cigarette and inhaled once, before handing it back. I coughed the smoke back out.
“All stay together,” Casey finally said, erasing the position I’d designated for the ‘pincher’ team of LAW operators. “Better to hit the treads with four on one side. Better chance to take out the track and then the tank can only spin around like a top. Tank top.”
It took me only a few seconds to realize the captain was right. If we stayed together we would make it much more likely that we’d get all four rounds on the target, and a tank with one track was pretty useless, except for the gun turret’s capability to turn and adjust fire, even if from only a static position.
“What about the alligators?” one of the LAW Marines asked.
“Grenade,” Casey replied, instantly. “Poof,” he said, throwing both his hands into the air to simulate an explosion. Then he leaned down and appeared to pick up some small bits which he then moved toward his mouth. “Mmmm, tastes like chicken,” he said.
In spite of the tension, everyone except me laughed. I recorded the fact in my mind that sanity might not be a very important qualifier for being a good company commander. I couldn’t laugh and I sure as hell couldn’t make anyone in the company laugh, even if I got the ability back myself.
The loosely gathered band of Marines, formed into a dedicated and poorly armed patrol, got ready to move out. From different directions, but arriving on the scene at the same time, Jurgens and Sugar Daddy showed up, each with a small entourage of Marines from their platoons. Jurgens crouched on one side of the Gunny and Sugar Daddy on the other. The Gunny nodded seriously toward me, flicking his cigarette and blowing more smoke, as I motioned for Fusner to pass me the handset. I’d scrapped my plan to come up on the command net once I found out the 175s could reach us, even if it they’d be firing out near the end of their accurate engagement envelope.
I laid down on the berm with my team behind me to sight and, and then adjust the first round. When “splash, over” played into my ear (I’d motioned for Fusner to switch off the external speaker) I alerted everyone around me to lay flat.
The big round came over, and I knew right away it was trouble. I’d called in a registration point nearly five hundred meters north of where I thought the tank had to be, so there should have been no express sound of the round going over our heads. The two-hundred-pound high explosive shell went off across the river, but only about three hundred yards from our position. And it was south of our position. Not good. Willie Peter hadn’t been needed to see the results of its effect however. The monster yellow explosion cost everyone who looked up to lose night vision. I was one of them.
“Shit,” I hissed out, calling for another round, blinking rapidly. I knew it was the wind. If the wind across the ground was picking up and running south, then the winds aloft had to be blowing more fiercely, and the effect of that had been pretty obvious and potentially deadly. But we had artillery, no matter how inaccurate, and the enemy wouldn’t know I’d called it in to land much farther away.
I motioned for everyone to start crawling toward the river, as I used adjustment by gun target line to drop one thousand, hopefully placing the next round where the first one had been calculated to land.
The last thing I saw when I looked back, before going over the berm into the riverbank mud, was Gunny’s eyes, reflecting back at me from the still burning mess the first round had ignited further downriver. His eyes were big and round, no doubt in expectation of where the next incoming might land. Jurgens and Sugar Daddy lay on each side of him. The enemy didn’t know I was pulling adjustments out of my ass, but the three non-coms certainly did.
The crawl down to the brush and bracken just back from the sand leading into the fast-flowing water was without incident. The second big round came in upriver but, except for the vibration and distant thundering sound of it going off, I couldn’t tell where it landed. I still felt it had impacted too far south for comfort, however. Calling any more fire in might prove as iffy and dangerous as dealing with the tank.
Once marginally safe by jamming ourselves into the camouflage provided by the brush I got the Starlight whirring and running atop Zippo’s flat broad back.
“Stop breathing,” I instructed.
“Everyone gets to breathe,” Casey whispered, plopping himself down on his belly no more than few inches from me. I ignored him, peering into the single green lens.
The tank was indeed a tank. It sat under piles of hastily thrown together brush, but it would have taken half a jungle forest to truly hide it. Gunny’s impossible tank was there, as I knew it would be. Nothing seemed beyond the capability of the Vietnamese when it came to pulling off unlikely or even seemingly impossible combat tricks. I could see no support vehicles or any troops. Everything around the tank was hidden by jungle growth or the folds of river bank running west toward the invisible and distant valley wall on the other side.
The artillery rounds had done their work because we’d made it to the river without being fired upon, but it hadn’t kept us from being seen. The enemy opened up from the hill, where we’d calculated they’d set up a base of fire, more to support their coming tank attack than our assault down to the river, I thought. The hill was no more than a few hundred meters from where the first 175 had come in, so I quickly called for another round, adding the one thousand meters back and then moving the shot right two hundred. The 175 round was in the air between ‘shot’ and ‘splash’ when the big fifty-caliber opened up on us. The heavy machine gun got no more than about forty rounds out of it when the big shell came whooshing in. I didn’t wait to see what the results were. I called for a couple more rounds, left and right one hundred. The hill in the southern distance exploded again and again but no more enemy fire came from it. But then small arms opened up from all around where the tank was located, again targeting our position.
What seemed like a brilliant white waterfall dropped down over my head from behind. The company had opened up to return fire, with the tracers from M-16s and the M-60s racing over our heads. Jurgens and Sugar Daddy were back there, I knew only too well, but the fire seemed to be directed only at enemy positions on the opposing bank of the river.
Casey ran to the where the LAW team was spread flat on the mud nearby, then quickly returned. He yelled in my ear that two of the guys were dead. Having fired less than one full belt of ammo the big fifty had killed two Marines.
“Can you shoot a LAW?” I asked Fusner.
“Hell, I think so,” he replied, unstrapping his radio and handing me the handset. “Don’t touch any of the dials. I’ll get one of the LAWs.”
Nguyen came out of nowhere, plopped the bag of composition B down next to me, and then scuttled the few feet back into full dark over to where Fusner had gone. Would he be able to handle the fourth LAW I wondered, not that it made much difference because there was nobody else?
Out of the agonizing muddle of small arms fire and the burning tracers racing around, the giant diesel engine of the tank fired up, and fear raced up and down my spine like out of control lightning. I tried to concentrate, and get my own breathing under control enough to look through the scope. I had to see where the damned thing was. The sound of the enemy fire in front of us and the company’s fire behind was awful but the roaring diesel sound made me quiver inside.
I focused the single optical lens of the scope on the tank, and realized I had no way to illuminate it once it got into the river. I’d forgotten to have the Gunny give me some illumination grenades. How were Fusner, Nguyen and the other two Marines supposed to see the damned tank once it began to clear the river and mount the bank we were holed up on?
I thanked God that Zippo was cool as a cucumber and remained totally still, as I stared into the Starlight scope.
The tank began to pull forward. It didn’t move fast at all. It gently closed the distance to the water’s running edge, but it didn’t stop when it got there. The clanking of its tracks became the loudest sound on the battlefield, as it eased into the water. I held the radio handset in my free hand, but I knew I could not call in any 175 rounds to try to hit the frightful thing because there was no accuracy at all in the big rounds, not with the windy meteorological heights through which they were flying.
The river was not too deep. I saw that right away. The giant green tank in my scope slowly moved from the far bank toward our own, the rushing water swarming up one side of it, and then creating a spume as it flew over the turret’s top. I wondered why the big gun hadn’t already opened up while the thing was on the move or even earlier when our position had been spotted.
The color of the night wasn’t black. It was green, yellow, red and whatever awful color the coming battle tank was painted. Out of pure fear I called in another round from Ripcord. I split the difference in range. The round was to impact somewhere around where the tank was, or we were, or wherever, I thought as I pulled back from Zippo’s back and pressed my face and body as deep into the brush and mud as I could get it.
<<<<<< Beginning | Next Chapter >>>>>>
Served with 1/4, bn. RO, 1969 until we pulled out. Have been hooked since the first chapter. Bought the book and left a review. Would’ve been extremely proud to serve with “Jr.”! Semper Fi Marine!
Well, Randall, the same goes for you. There are a rare small number of us around, those guys who were real back then
and now, as we age into eternity. Thanks for commenting so meaningfully here and thanks, as well, for buying my book and leaving that comment.
See if you can break away for our “Vietnam Combat Rendezvous” in Salina on the 4th of July. We’re just throwing this together as we go along!
Love to shake your hand.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was on here reading comments while I suffer through with everyone waiting until another chapter comes out and I thought I would go back to Amazon and leave a review. I had ordered the book the other day. While I was there I realized I had ordered it on Kindle. I don’t do Kindle so I went ahead and ordered a paperback. Anyway, keep up the good work and keep it coming!
Thank you Sherm. I really appreciate the endurance you have demonstrated to get the book
into your hands. The book is a lot easier to read and has almost no errors (Thanks to the guys on here who’ve
kept me straight). Really appreciate the support at this point and your enjoyment of the story…
Semper fi,
Jim
I have been following this on line and have now bought the Kindle version. Reading that again is good since I really missed a lot the first time through. Left you a 5 star review.
thanks Bob and yes the written formalized versions are better because of the limitations
the website puts on publishing. Hard to make the segments legible and well put together online.
thanks for buying the book and I hope you leave a review.
Means a lot at this early stage.
Semper fi,
Jim
Bought it on line a few minutes ago, but already posted my review having read it on line all along. You really captured the story. And proved that my PTSD hasn’t disappeared. Can’t wait for the rest of the story.
Thank you Steve, finishing Fourteenth Day right this second at my coffee shop.
Thanks for the help. Comments mean a ton right now on Amazon, as I try to build the
circulation into something…and I’m not sure what…
Semper fi,
Jim
Ordered the paperback last night! Am anxiously awaiting its arrival. I’m about to sit back & catch up your last two installments as I’ve been quite busy.
Have also been sharing the link & letting others know of this story.
Keep it up James! Great writing, very descriptive & puts the reader right there. I think it’s important for younger people like me to read an account of what it was really like for you over there.
Thank you Bob. Don’t be put off by the fact that there are a lot of disclaimers regarding fiction
when you get it. I had to do that for a variety of reasons, if there’s to be any truth to the story at all.
Thanks for buying the book and please go to Amazon and write a review, as that will help too.
Semper fi, brother,
Jim
No worries. I understand the various reasons that brought about the disclaimer.
Unfortunately, I cannot leave a review on Amazon at the moment, as your paperback is the first thing I have ever bought from them.
I will post a review, as soon as their site will allow me too.
Keep up the great work!
You have to spend fifty bucks before they will let you review a book.
I know it’s shitty but they are mostly a monopoly like the airlines now.
The downside of free trade and the capitalistic system. Thanks for trying
and thanks for buying the book. Means a lot to me, especially at this formative date.
Semper fi,
Jim
Bought the book on wife’s acct !!
Comment may look like hers !! Maux Nix!!
I thought that all 4 LAWs should be aimed at one area & CC has the same idea !! Now I’m crazy as he is !!
What of Cowboy & his IR he likes to use ?? A 100 other comments but I’ll quit on that !! Cong ke dau the tank !!
Live & love it !!
Thanks for the analysis and thinking like Casey. Another area where training failed.
There was no anti-armor training in Basic School. Not field training, anyway. Our
LAWs, the ones we were shown, were dummies. They are loud as hell to launch!
Thanks for the comment and for buying the book and leaving a comment on Amazon. Appreciate the help.
Semper fi,
Jim
Just before Cambodia started, legally(?), we were working on the border building gun pads for the sp 155, 175, and 8″ guns. I was in B Co. 588th combat engineers. It was a hard job, but got too see lot of things, both good and bad.
I remember on night laying down. Later I was being picked up off of the ground as they fired. I was always amused that the 175 had the longest barrel, but was the most inaccurate gun.
Every once and a while that 25 mile range, unequalled by any other artillery back then,
was more important than accuracy. A good F.O. will also adjust fire very gingerly out
at the end of the envelope. God knows, at maximum range of the 175, what the CEP was
but it had to have been huge…and undiscussed. Thanks for the writing on here and your support.
Go on Amazon and leave a review, if you would. Helps a lot at this point.
Semper fi,
Jim
I understand what your saying. It was amazing to watch them fire. It seems like I remember them having bagged powder and 3 zones. Zone 1, zone 2, and zone 3. I learned this from one of the gunners. He kind of shook his head when he talked about zone 3.
On the way to find the book and leave my positive comments. Good job!!! and write faster!!!!
White bag, green bag and red bag. Only one red bag, and a combination
of white and green all the way up to the red (eighth in a 175 or seventh in
a 105 or 155). Called charges. Charge one, etc. Direct fire (seeing a target and
shooting at it) is always maximum charge. Thanks for buying the book and leaving a great review.
Needed the help.
Semper fi,
Jim
I borescoped gun tubes for my unit at Ft. Sill in 1968&69. Gun tubes on 175’s deteriorated rapidly compared to 8″ and 155 gun tubes. I am glad you survived the experience.
I loved the fact, at Sill, that they called the wearing of the barrel ‘tube droop.’ You can
imagine what we were able to do with that after a few drinks. The book is out “The First Ten Days.”
We need all the reviews we can get right now so please go on Amazon and leave one…
Appreciate the help.
Semper fi, and thank you…
JIM
LT,
Bought a copy of the book and was disappointed that I could not leave a book review comment, as my purchase was lower than the minimum required amount to do so.
Did the next best thing and left a written comment under review by “Roger W. Kemp M.D.” since it DID allow me to do that…Best book on Vietnam I have ever read. Certainly NOT an impersonal and sterile rendition of events and experiences there.
Thank for your support Walt. I do NOT understand these restriction,
but really appreciate your going the extra mile and commenting on the other review.
Semper fi,
Jim
Figured it out Walt. Amazon does not care what you buy but before they let
you be a ‘member’ of the band and comment they make you have at least a hundred bucks
in purchases through them. They say that it is to make sure you are ‘real’ but, in truth,
a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks. Sorry you found out this way.
I’s send you a hundred bucks but you’d just send it back with a weird proud note!
Your friend,
Jim
James Strauss, thank you for getting this latest installment out so quickly. It is a stem winder with real life and death happening every moment. I arrived in country and straight to MACV for newcomer briefs. AF getting Army briefs. I was shit scarred. Into a bunk at about four and a vet told me it’s outgoing making the bunks walk on the plywood floor. Said it was 175s working Cambodia for the guys sent in by Nixon.
Your description of business end of those long hummers gives me even more admiration for a guy with the balls to call it in in the dark. Thank you again for a reviting story and the courage to tell it. Should receive my hard copy early next week. Poppa Joe
If you are more afraid of the other stuff going on to the point where you don’t care
anymore where the artillery comes blasting in then, well, you are in deep shit indeed.
And so it was that night, and on a few others. Nobody ever wants to get hit.
Even a high velocity slug into a hand or foot is a life changer, depending upon how fast you
can get to the real medical help behind the lines.
Appreciate it if you would go on Amazon and leave a review. Those things count a lot since the first book just
came out a couple of days ago.
Thanks for the help.
Semper fi,
Jim
Done and Did 5stars, well earned LT
Semper fi
Steve
Thanks Stephen. Means a lot, as you probably know. It’s tough going at the system
back here. FNG all over again! Really appreciate the help…
Semper fi,
Jim
Really appreciate all of the support, Stephen
Semper fi
Jim
paperback ordered…review posted…
Thanks Dan. The reviews are building and I will get ready to go to New York
for the big Book Expo with a bunch of book and a card table. I don’t have a clue
what I’ll be trying to really do but I am going to assault the lurking lair of the book business.
Thanks for your help in motivating me to go there.
I’ll take an ‘honor’ flight of may own making and then invite
other vets there to come on down to the Javitts Center!!!
We’ll probably all get tossed out but I’ll be in good company…again.
Semper fi,
Jim
Great writing and best read I’ve had in awhile. Only problem I have it is almost too much to believe. Those who where there never, and happily, saw this much. Did leave a review on amazon.
I don’t think I have asked anyone reading the continuing story to believe it. I want you to feel it.
I cannot possibly get all the detail of what happened down to a fine analytical result. I think everyone
on here understands that. So, there’s a good deal of fiction that must be mixed with the reality.
But the feeling of what it was like is as straight to the heart as I can get it. If you don’t feel that
then I missed the target. And thanks for the review…no matter what you said.
Semper fi,
Jim
Didn’t mean it in a bad way, was my way of complementing. Keep it up.
No offense taken Robert! One of the things that has plagued me and so many others
is the sheer unbelievability of this story, and so many more. How do you come home and
tell your wife and relatives about this sort of thing. Uncle Pee Wee, Aunt Sue, Mom and Dad,
and Uncle Nubby were all in a cabin on Green Bay back in the early eighties.
They are all gone now. They wanted to hear the real stuff,
they said, and so I began Thirty Days. I got to the second day! That was it.
I was told that I was a liar, charlatan, drunk and more.
There was no way…I never spoke to any of them again about the war
and I worked to keep from hating them for their willful studied and uncaring ignorance.
It’s not a believable story. That’s why the book says fiction, and for a few other reasons too…
but the real deal guys and gals…they are all here,
silent for the most part, except for a few.
But they are right here. I feel them. And it’s a good feeling.
Semper fi,
Jim
Greatwork can’t wait to read it from start to finish. This was my first read. Was with Kilo Company 3rd battalion 4th Marines.
Thank you Dan. Hope you leave a review, as Amazon reacts to early reviews.
Thans for buying the book and the support…and liking the story, of course.
Semper fi,
Jim
Just got the notice from Amazon.com about the review. They thanked Nancy my wife for the review. Regardless, it has been done and you have received another great review.
thanks a million Albert and to your wife too….
Means a lot, or so they tell me, those people who know how all this works.
Semper fi,
Jim
Ordered a paperback copy of the book. Left a good review plus 5 stars. Once all of the installments are complete I wish you would think about hosting a book signing somewhere, so that I can shake your hand and get my books autographed. Keep up the good work!
Now that’s a great thought. I wonder where I would go to do that.
I am going to NY on the 24th of May to attend Book Expo…I mean if things work out.
But I haven’t thought beyond that and I guess some of that would depend upon how popular the books
might be….and there’s simply no telling, according the people who know such things.
Thanks for that compliment and also for the wonderful review!
Semper fi,
Jim
Would be great if you could hold your get together somewhere in the middle of the U.S. so that it is centrally located to cut down on travel time and costs for those of us on the West Coast.
Lets see, the contiguous center of the U.S. is in Lebanon, Kansas, but the population is only 218.
The population center of the entire U.S. is in Missouri just west of St. Louis.
The center of all mass of the U.s. is in South Dakota.
Pick one Albert and we’ll meet. What the hell, another adventure…
and planned this way, very damaged…like us…
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
My dad was a South Vietnamese Navy officer; he was in it all the way til the end, April 30, 1975. I was not born until after he returned from the re-education camps, thus I do not know much about the war. He always has colorful stories to tell me about his experiences. It is very nice to read about the American side of the story. I am subscribed and following every new installment. Thank you!
Duy, please go on Amazon and write a review of the book that’s out there now.
You being from the other side, so to speak, will have a big voice in giving your opinion.
I always deeply respected the enemy for having the fiber and backbone they had to do the impossible
job they had set out to accomplish. They were more than a capable and worthy opponent.
Semper fi
Jim
Purchased book and reviewed same. Excellent read!!
Thanks a million Tim! I am kind of blown away, not by the sales but by the people
one here who are so heartfelt in making the success come true…
Semper fi, and thanks from the bottom of my heart…
Semper fi,
Jim
Review submitted – good luck on this project
Thanks big time Bob. The reviews are vital at this time and you have come through
like an ace. I much much appreciate that and won’t forget…
Semper fi,
Jim
Please go on Amazon and review this book. Do it for all of you who served in Vietnam returning with the pain inside , do it for all of your buddies that did not make it home, do it for the generations since who need this insight to understand. If you do not know how to leave a review, grab a teenager, I guarantee they can get you on there. It does not have to be perfect. It just needs to be done. Vietnam is the untold story of Great Heroism that an ungrateful nation needs to know.
Today, I see 1.5k shares on here, 124 comments and only 25 reviews on Amazon. Thinking we need to let Amazon hear us roar because you are smart, you are kind and you are so important.
Nancy
You are so kind Nancy. Thank you ever so much for helping this odyssey along.
I had no idea where I was going when I started and really still don’t, except the comments have
driven a lot of it. thanks for focusing attention on the comments with Amazon. Those are so
vital to any effort to get attention of any kind on there. The normal Publishing channels are closed
to a book with this kind of content. I am getting a booth at the Javitts center in NY at Book Expo
at the end of May though…and I’m going to go there and sit at that booth and have a load of books
to see how all the book people react. Should be fun.
Thank you so much for your analysis of me as a person. I have worked to come back from whatever it was I was and
had become…I like to think I’ve done a pretty good job.
Semper fi, and love,
Jim
You are doing an amazing job and God has such great purpose for you and your writing of this book. The task you have been given is not an easy one but you are doing it with such great humility and strength. The struggles of the past have made you the great man you have become today. Keep on keeping on. God bless you.
The pebble,
Nancy
You know Nancy, I have started cutting these comment out and pasting them on the walls…and soon I will
begin papering the walls of the coffee shop downtown. Then I can point to them when people come in so they
will know how great I am and that God is, indeed, on my side! Thanks for always making my day and making
me smile and in a sort of upside down and backwards way making me reflect on that fact that I do have all
these foibles and flaws and that there’s somebody out there willing to blow right by and overlook them…
Love,
Jim
good way to keep me awake at night lol ordered 3 books going to send one for signing I will get them on the 11th yes you have sand
That’s a great compliment Dave and I really appreciate it. Doing this thing
is so far from what it started out to be. Mostly because of meeting and reading stuff on here
from people like you. Thank you most sincerely,
Semper fi,
Jim
Per Casey’s question earlier, the history of the name ‘Sandy’ being associated with the Skyraider has taken on a life of it’s own. Some say one of the first pilot’s flying the A-1 on a Search and Rescue used that as his call sign because he had a dog named Sandy and it stuck to all SAR missions as time progressed. As most all things military mission names or purposed equipment were reduced to acronym’s. I would speculate that the A-1 design was for Search and Destroy missions, which was abbreviated ‘S’and’D’, which easily became SandD or SANDY http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/airman-down-19013581/
Thanks a million for that Bob. I had no idea and didn’t look it up.
Thank God there are some bright people like you around to figure this shit out
and put it up here for everyone. Thanks, big time, as usual.
Semper fi
Jim
That 175 is a beast. Years ago I was NCOIC on a claymore range firing into a common impact area. (Cav Scout Plt) There was a large exercise coincidentally. The SP 155’s had been firing regularly and occasionally we would hear the report from a 8 inch battery. Heard one round that was louder than the others and shortly thereafter came the cease fire order from range control. My LT was back at BN HQ and told me later that there was an 8 inch short round the landed about 400m down range from out 4.2 mortar’s. Talked with my counterpart at the mortar company. He said they were on the line and heard the round coming down. Everyone “buckle in the dust”. The impact bounced him off the ground and he heard a clank when a piece of shrapnel hit the side of his track. Brought home the meaning of “danger close”. Range control would not let him keep the shrapnel. He did show me a picture of it later and the dent in the M-113. Damn! There is no such thing as friendly fire. Dangerous crap shoot you have going there!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Leave a comment on Amazon, if you will, Tom.
Yes, it’s damned hard to be accurate all the time with artillery, and when you aren’t
people can die in droves. Thanks for your story and for liking mine.
Semper fi,
Jim
Holy Shiite Batman!Incredible writing!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
It’s out, the book, finally, on Amazon. And if you would leave a review it would be fantastic.
Amazon gauges those early reviews as being the most important.
Thanks for liking the story and writing about it here..
Semper fi
Jim
Been reading the Kindle version for two days now. Great job!! couldn’t wait for the softcover version but will get it later. Should be required reading for every American citizen and good for all vets to read and give them some release from the horrors lived with every day.
Can’t thank you enough. Please go on Amazon and write a review. It really helps in the early days of
sales. Or I hope so. Anyway, I’d appreciate it. Thanks for the compliment, by the way.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m reminded of the serials we would go to the theater every Saturday to watch, cliff hanger after cliff hanger.
After seeing other’s predictions, I’m going to guess Casey gets your Silver Star posthumously for your getting the tank with the explosives.
Keep up the good work Jim.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Please order and leave a comment on Amazon if you get a hankering or a chance.
Thanks Tim, there are some pretty damned smart people on this site and it is
always interesting to read where the story is likely to go…although real life has more
twists and turns than fiction.
Semper fi,
Jim
Pre-Ordered “The First Ten Days”, Kindle edition. (Sorry, no more room for hard copy books). Will probably have it read in two days!
Thank you most sincerely Dan. Did you leave a review? They mean the world to new book authors
as Amazon places huge credibility on the early ones. Thanks for any help there and for liking the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
My review is being moderated as we speak.
Thank you Tim for buying the book! And the review! Wonderful.
I have fifty reviews, which isn’t a record but it’s a strong showing I think
of grand support. I never expected a bestseller but I hope to do well enough to
reach a whole lot of combat vets. Trying my best. Thank you for doing your part.
Semper fi,
Jim
Hey Jim – keeping the tension tighter than a fat gal’s panty hose!
That was a risky move with the 175 mm, for sure, but seems to at least be close.
Left you a good review on Amazon.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
By the book, as at this stage it really helps with Amazon, leaving comments too…
My thanks will be long-lasting and run deep.
Appreciate your comments here and yes, those 175s at long range were worse than throwing dice…
Semper fi,
Jim
I ordered the paperback of first 10 days. Thanks again for what you are doing. Will send in review.
Thanks George. This is really our second effort with Amazon, having used another of my novels (Down in the Valley)
to try to figure out how it all works. And it has been some kind of learning experience. Wonder how we did but
dont’ get to know that yet because in this day and age of blinding electronic speed some things don’t trickle back
unless tattooed to the back of a turtle that must first go to some beach to reproduce. Anyway, thanks for being an important part
of the effort…
Semper fi,
Jim
I can feel the tension on that muddy river’s bank as the story unfolds. Again, wonderfully described.
Did you ever have the opportunity to call on the New Jersey and her big guns during combat?
Keep up the good work,
Daniel
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Available now on Amazon and if you make a comment too, well that would just be great!
Thanks for the comment on here. I try not to write on here what’s going to happen
in the story because it, well, takes away from the story for those that read these comments and
the story too. Thanks though, for asking…
Semper fi,
Jim
The days we trained on the 175 at Sill were extremely windy and we learned quickly how inaccurate the gun could be without implementing the met data. That didn’t always happen in combat as you know Jim. At least they’ll keep Charlie’s head down! Great writing as usual! Good luck on Amazon! I urge all our brothers and sisters reading this to write a review and buy the book!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Buy the book, pretty please Jack, although you probably have already…knowing you as I do now.
Thanks for coming on here, as usual, to add reality. I was in the regular training program
and didn’t get to use the 175, although I got to see the thing with its hugely long barrel.
Tnanks Jack.
Semper fi,
Jim
Ordered the book of course! Hope everyone on here does too! Good luck Jim and Semper Fi!
Thanks Jack…means a lot right now…
Semper fi,
Jim
I am enjoying each section as they come.
Will Macho Man make another appearance? Through all the confusion, he seems to be I be of those who is genuinely looking out for you in some way.
SEMPER FI
Jim
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The book’s out Jim, if you haven’t ordered it already, and please make a comment
as the early ones are vitally important in how Amazon does all that accounting stuff.
Yes, Macho Man will be back…and I’m not worried about mentioning that. He was
a ‘fixture’ and a representative of all those unseen faces in helmets behind glass
how flew those lifesaving choppers.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim,
I am surprised HQ hasn’t stuck their hands in you hash just to pass the time. They sure liked to get there name on the after action reports. A tank sure would bring them a personal sensual moment!
Should be just about out of all the ammo and food now, but most importantly all the consumable water. Sick Marines from tainted water will decimate the ranks and unit cohesion.
Welcome to jungle warfare and all the surprises it holds.
Butch
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Write a review, if you please, on Amazon.
Thanks for the appropriate and well thought out comment. Command communications with the company were
sketchy, at best. The valley was a lousy place for radio and although the Prick 25s were the best, many times
we could only talk to other units in the valley. Battalion stayed in the rear with the gear, or occasionally in
the field but never exposed to combat. And the C.O. was a drop dead drunk.
Just the way it was…
Semper fi,
Jim
Yes, Tanks, I don’t envy you one bit….. At a later date, Op-con to the 101st, Lam Son 719…. Coming out of Laos started across a valley, headed east to the resupply point at Khe Sanh…I got my baptism, A PT-76, Russian light tank, opened up on us, It had a .51 mounted on the turret for anti-air, We went into a 360 race track around that tank, “For the operation, I had a .50 ma duce mounted, I had scrounged it up before we went north tdy, Yes, opened up with the .50, and started bouncing tracers off the turret, They ducked and closed the hatch, Ran out of the belt and needed to reload…. They popped up and tried to put the .51 back into action, just as we got the big .50 back into the fight…. This went on for about 4-5 revolutions…. Then I got a burst through the hatch as they were opening it…. We Broke hard right, out of the race track and headed the hell out of the AO, as we went over the next ridge line I looked back and saw smoke and a secondary….. Didn’t bother to go back and see, Still get dreams about that one…………….
(The losses to US Helicopter Forces were 65 Helicopter Crewmen KIA, 818 WIA, and 42 MIA. 618 US Helicopters were damaged, including 106 totally destroyed, from 30 Jan – 24 Mar 1971.)
Just another day in the neighborhood………
Semper fi/This We Defend Bob.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Thanks Robert, as usual. A tank is something else entirely to meet on the field of combat and if
an infantryman is not afraid of a hostile thank then it means he’s never faced one in the shit.
Thanks for the comment. I know you are leaving a comment on Amazon and I thank you for that…
Semper fi,
Jim
In the process of buy a kindle just so I can order your book and support you, My son who knows more about these is coming over to help me one up and get your work downloaded, Yep, I am a 19th century guy, survived the 20th century, and finally bought a computer in the 21st. century, Still need my son to come over every couple of months to show me why me and the computer are not getting along and it won’t talk to me……
Semper fi/This We Defend …… Bob.
You are not alone, Robert.
Be sure your son take a moment to read. Hopefully we can get the concept
in front of the younger generations.
Thank you
Semper fi,
Jim
Bought the Amazon book. Positive review.
I read each part three times waiting for the next. Good job. Press on. Or maybe a short break is best for you?
Thanks Vern. I am hard on the next book. The Second Ten Days. There will be five volume in all, if I last.
Thanks for the comment on Amazon. That helps a lot right now where the book is so new.
Semper fi,
Jim
I remember standing back, behind the 175s at Quan Loi in line with the barrel, and when they fired, you could see a black dot,high in the air just for a split second as the shell was in line with your line of sight, going away. Great story, LT, you always leave us waiting for the next installment.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Yes, that dot was hard to see. Several times I actually saw 105s coming in through the air and the sight and memory
was and remain astounding. Thanks for that bit of reality you could only have gotten one way…
Semper fi,
Jim
Damn…”Hold my Beer” we’re going for one Helluva ride…
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Leave a comment on Amazon…please. The early reviews mean everything for future value by
that strange company. Thanks for liking the story too…
Semper fi,
Jim
You should have been a pilot as you seem to love to fly by the seat of your britches. How cruel of you to leave everyone stranded at the point of impact! Be sure to tune in next week for the next exciting episode.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
It’s out on Amazon jlambert and I need some good comments if you can manage it.
Thanks for that funny and appropriate comment!
Semper fi,
Jim
Well, El Tee, the sh*t just gets deeper and deeperer! I’m just hanging on by my fingernails here… Ordered the book yesterday, want to have a real flesh-and-blood copy in my possession, not a Kindle copy. Will get back on Amazon tomorrow and make a review. Semper Fi!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Thanks for taking the time to write a review. It means so much on Amazon in the books early days.
And thanks a ton for liking the work.
Semper fi,
Jim
Tonight’s news on the Syria attack gave me the old Op-order jitters. Reading your latest installment reminded me that for every situation there is a course of action. I think I will sleep well again tonight.
thanks Jim.
Glenn.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
It’s out on Amazon, the first book, and I need comments made on Amazon, if you have the time and inclination Glenn.
Thanks for the vote of confidence after reading the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
You are doing a good job Lt.I am anxiously awaiting the next chapter. Keep up the good work. I am glad we made it home and glad you are doing this writing. You would think that after 49 years it would let you rest but I have come to realize that it will always be there waiting to haunt us.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. The book is finally for sale on Amazon Billy.
If you would leave a review I would appreciate the hell out of it. Tough to get ahead using
Amazon as my only publisher….because the rest want nothing to do with this work.
Thanks for really liking the story…
Semper fi,
Jim
Hi Jim,
Great episode, as ususal. Keep it up.
Found some typos, here’s the list:
We can’t use artillery, although I’m going to call in a maximum range shot upriver just to sow some confusion while were making the crawl down there. ‘ – ‘were’ should be ‘we’re’.
‘If we stayed together we’d made it much more likely that we’d get all four rounds on the target,…’ – ‘made’ should be ‘make’
‘I called for a couple of more rounds, left and right one hundred.’ – delete ‘of’ after ‘couple’
‘Out of the agonizing muddle of small arms fire and the burning tracers racing around the giant diesel engine of the tank fired up, and fear raced up and down my spine like out of control lightening.’ – add a comma after ‘around’.
‘…not in through the windy meteorological heights they were flying.’ – this is confusing, I would suggest to replace ‘in’ with ‘with’ and move ‘through’ behind ‘flying’ to clarify.
‘…and then creating a spume as it flew over the turrets top’ – ‘turrets’ should be ‘turret’s’.
Thanks again for a great story
Thank you again, Nicole.
So noted and corrected.
Semper fi
Jim
Out of the agonizing muddle – lightening. Should be lightning.
Another great chapter. Adapting to sitting on the edge of my seat…waiting.
Thanks Richard. Please buy the First Ten Days on Amazon and leave a comment.
Helps enormously to get Amazon to help sell the book. Anyway, the next segment should be up
in a very few minutes. The fourteenth day, which surprises me in that I can still crank them out every few days
or so. Hard one though. Another hard one…
Semper fi,
Jim
Continued great writing Jim. You keep us in the edge of our seats. Love the decisions you make on the fly, making the best of bad situations. I ordered your book from Amazon today an should have it in a few days. Are you going to have a signing event somewhere or do we have to travel to Wisconsin to meet you?
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
That’s funny Bob! Signing events are those things arranged by big book publishers where there’s a budget and
a pro publicist to make sure the author isn’t sitting there with a pile of books on a card table…alone.
No, no signing party or event. Just me, here, writing away and using Amazon because nobody else will touch this
stuff with a ten foot pole. Those heroic cruise missles taking out an old dead airport in the Middle East are taking
up all the news and the media. Thanks for mentioning that you might come here. Now that would be fun!
Semper fi,
Jim
I got the first ten days on kindle Tuesday. I wait impatiently for the next episode.
Thanks a million Carl. Did you write a review? Means a lot on Amazon and I’d owe you.
Thanks for liking the story. I am on the next segment this morning…
Semper fi,
Jim
That’s a hell of a time to go to commercial you SOB. Now you’ve got me hanging.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The first books out there on Amazon Sam. Please leave a review on Amazon as it means so much right now.
Thanks for liking the story too!
Semper fi,
Jim
Well Jim…you have done it again…excellent writing and you led us right up to the cliff’s edge…talk about suspense…I can only hope that you get lucky and drop a 175 right in the tank’s lap…I will definitely go on Amazon and write a review and will encourage my friends that are “reading you” to do the same…I have commented before on the “it don’t mean nuthin” line that we all heard but I would like you flip that 180 degrees and say that as for the way you write your story “it does mean something…it means everything” to all the vets…to hear someone tell it like it was…to expose the ugly truth of how desperate the situation often was…keep it coming!!!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The book’s out on Amazon Mark. Leave a comment on there, if you would.
Thanks for the encouragement and support, as stuff like that does not go unnoticed here.
Appreciate you writing about it on here too..
Semper fi,
Jim
Bought it…and gave you an appropriate 5 star review…can’t wait for it’s arrival…I have already promised to let my 95 year WWII vet, that I mentioned once, to read it…anxiously awaiting the next instalment…
Thanks a million Mark. It’s a whole lot harder to build sales than anyone really understands who has not tried it.
The book has to be just right and submitted properly. An audience has to be there already or there will be no sale in the
first month and therefore Amazon won’t help promote the book. Strange and time consuming and brutally frustrating at every
turn. I cannot believe the book is out there already though. It’s only been less than three months since the idea of the first
book was dreamed up by someone commenting on here!
thanks for the purchase, the review and your heartfelt support.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m hooked like a three way treble hook in the throat. Keep it coming so I can breathe. Semper fi, 69-70
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The book’s out on Amazon and we need as many comments as we can get. Appreciate any help there Bryan.
Thanks for the compliment, big time!
Semper fi,
Jim
I’ve been sharing your Amazon link all over social media to show my appreciation of well written, soul bearing testimony to the reality of war and the effect it has on those involved.
Look at Casey running around checking positions while under fire.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The book’s out, and with a lot of your edits in it! Can’t thank you enough
Bob! Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
“Whiskey, (Whisky) Red Ball, at your service, over” (Whiskey)
Seems Nguyen has his own plan for the comp B or did have before the 2 LAW operators got killed. Other then the tracks a tank’s weak spot is the grill doors on the back. Spent 2 1/2 years in an armor battalion. Coldest thing in winter and hottest thing in summer.
Another cliff hanger, well done.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Thanks for the very apropos comment, as usual Peter. If you would, I’d appreciate a written review on
Amazon. It would help to get as many as I can early on…when Amazon really counts them.
Thanks for the revealing comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Rumor control had it that there were tunnels in the A Shau big enough for tanks. But this is a fact, the trails in Laos on the other side of the A Shau were big enough for a tank with room on either side. The canopy was so high and thick that they would’ve been hard to see from the sky.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Make a comment on Amazon, if you would Don, as the book is now out.
Thanks for that about the A Shau too, as you know and I know and the story will lay out
as it progresses.
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
I’m a 32 year old guy with no military experience and absolutely no connection to Vietnam (other than what Hollywood will occasionally put out there).
What I do have, is a great appreciation for quality writing and storytelling, and you have that in spades.
I sincerely thank you, and the rest of your brothers, for your service and sacrifice.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The book is now out on Amazon Ethan, if you would care to make a comment in writing on there (please!).
Thanks for reading and liking the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
My heart is racing! Great writing! I’ve ordered the first book a few days ago. Now , waiting on the 2nd and 3rd ? 😉
All right Andrus!!! Cannot thank you enough. Make a comment on Amazon, if you would. It will help
a lot at this early stage. And thanks for loving the story…
Semper fi,
Jim
Were you able to keep up with the rest of the men as you crawled through the mud? You had to be at a tremendous disadvantage dragging “huevos” the size of yours along behind….
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The book is out and please make a comment on Amazon…although the hilarious comment you made here might not
play so well there! Thanks so much!!
Semper fi,
Jim
Damn LT – left me pacing around the yard muttering. Copy ordered.
Hated those 175’s – ‘on the way – your guess is as good as mine!”
You got sand LT.
Will pass it around the community here and try to get more orders.
Thanks a million BigLar and I hope you will go on Amazon and make a comment. Need all the one’s I Can
get at this early stage. The 175s you had to get every once and a while because nothing else in the world
at the time had that kind of range.
Thanks for your comment…and the one on Amazon too…
Semper fi,
Jim
Purchase done – review written. Should put in a warning to all that were there. “Don’t read if you need to get to sleep in the next hour” Save it for morning.
Another great compliment, written by a man who probably does not give many.
I much appreciate and also for the much needed review. It’s hard to get people to not only write reviews on Amazon,
hell it’s hard to get them to qualify to be able to write them!
Thanks for that extra effort…
Semper fi,
Jim
Wwll LT youve2done it again! How’s a Marine supposed to fighr a war without properarty or aircover? You went and rewrote the book!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The books out on Amazon Bill. Please go on there and make a comment. Really means a lot at this stage of the books
initial offering.
Actually, the book was handed to me…and what a mess of a book it was!
Semper fi,
Jim
Just ordered the paper back from amazon,dam it man I can’t wait for the next chapter.thank you for all that you and your brothers and sisters in arms have done for our country
Go back on Amazon and leave a review Mike! I need all I can get right now.
Most people won’t write on there as hey make it difficult. But it really means a lot
for an author’s new book. Amazon’s all I’ve got right now.
Semper fi,
Jim
Its gonna be a long few days waiting for the next installment. I was fortunate to train with the Army’s 175s before going over had no idea that they would be available to us but I did not like their accuracy or their cavalier attitude when we called for them. That being said I would have been proud to have been on an FO team with you Jim. You got the right stuff my brother SF
Al
review coming on Amazon for this and one other of your books. Cant wait to share these with my dad,94 yr old machine gunner WWII
Hell Skipper I wish I’d ever had an F.O. team! There was just me.
The guys back at the batteries were something else at helping back from where they were
though. I got nothing but great feelings and care from them, Army or Marines.
Thanks for your kind words and thanks a ton for the review!
Semper fi,
Jim
With his bell rung, Captain seems like he’s all in! Twice now that that 55 has been silenced by arty or by Cowboy. Hopefully this one is it. Gunny has me perplexed. Great segment. Was it John Wayne who said that all men tremble in battle, yet those with courage mount up anyway? You and those who were out there with you, had that for sure.
Thank you for your service.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The book’s out on Amazon right now and I could use a comment if you will go on and write it.
John Wayne, who I loved too, avoided WWII and was never in any combat of any kind.
Great expression though, no matter who said it.
Thanks for your comment and thanks for your support…
Semper fi,
Jim
Can’t wait to read the next part, well done and well written. All the respect in the world for you and your brothers. I fought a different war in a different time (OIF I, 2003-2004) and I have nothing but respect and admiration for those who came before me. Thank you!! By the way, I went to Basic Training at Fort Sill……. I also just ordered your book from Amazon, can not wait to read it!!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The books out on Amazon, the first one, anyway. Please go online and leave a comment if you can.
Early comments help a lot, they tell me.
Thanks for the encouragement and also for ordering the book!
Semper fi,
Jim
A battery of m110 with their 8″s introduced me to a vietnam wake up, lol, first night in-country, thought we had taken in some direct hits by 122s, later seen the 8″s work against Victor Charlie, made short work of a mountain they were in, air bursts and deep penetration rounds, took your breath away. Later after I moved into FDC, we would shoot H&I with our 81mm and piss off the teams that were down and trying to sleep, arty fire was always our greatest fear when out beyond the wire with the teams.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. Books out on Amazon Felix.
Go on the site and make a comment, if you would. Important at this early stage.
And thanks for the usual revelations about your own time and the complete accuracy of everything you
write.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT ,I cannot take the suspense. The Russian 50 taking out two Marines and Casey in the mix. The intensity is off the chart!
Keep writing!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The first book is out and I need some comments on Amazon. Go there and write, if you can and will. It’ll count for a lot.
The fifty took out the two Marines, not Casey.
But what the hell…it was that kind of an early morning.
Maybe Mercury was in retrograde!
Thanks!
Semper fi,
Jim
Holy Moley! You all must have had balls as big as Volkswagons. I have been in edgy anticipation since the previous episode, and now I will undergo another 3 or 4 days of more anticipation…
LT,
4 A-10s have been dancing in the low sky above my house this afternoon. They are here to do a flyover for the reburial of a WWII test pilot from this town who died in Burma on a test flight 70 some years ago. He will be reburied here tomorrow. Wish I could send those 4 A-10s over to help you with that NVA tank.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. Out on Amazon right now!
Man o man Walt, would a couple of A-10s cleaned up in that valley.
The Skyraiders were what we had but there’s nothing like that 20mm Vulcan thing
for tanks. Thanks for the write up and please go on Amazon and write a comment. I need that right now…
Semper fi,
Jim
I am working to cut the time a bit between segments, what with the publishing of the first book
the day before last. I need comments on the site at Amazon though, if you can think of a way to get some more.
Thanks for everything on here Walt and for your comments about liking the story…
Semper fi
Jim
Forget the beer it’s time for the hard stuff. LOL NICE JOB LT.fred
The book is out on Amazon now and you might consider going on that site and writing a review. I can use the help!
Thanks a lot Fred. Appreciate the attaboy. Semper fi,
Jim
My exclamation is……….Fk
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Book’s out Brad, but you probably already know. Go on Amazon and leave a review if you haven’t yet.
Big help to a new author. Don’t know why, but they tell me it is. Thanks for the compliment about
the story!
Semper fi,
Jim
Quite the pucker factor Lt. I find it hard to realize some of the shit we did. We gotta get out of this place 😀 Semper Fi!
The song! Brother John played that one all the time and everyone loved it.
I could once sing the whole thing from memory.
Thanks for that memory, and writing it on here.
The book is out on Amazon now and you might consider going on that site and writing a review. I can use the help!
Sorry about selling my book but one has to do what one can out here…
Semper fi,
Jim
No apologies needed Sir, I’m ordering from Amazon and your book will get high reviews from the men that understand why and where you are coming from and it’s because of where you’ve been. I like the cliffhanger ending to this last part…..
Thanks Roger, a lot. One of those ‘high reviews’ on Amazon won’t hurt a bit either.
It’s tough to pull oneself up by one’s shoestrings…
No regular publisher would touch this work though.
You can see why in the reading…
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Leaving me sitting on the very end of the branch that is dipping very fast toward the earth again. You make a person pace the floor waiting for the next installment. Can hardly wait!
Thanks Anna. The book is out on Amazon now and you might consider going on that site and writing a review. I can use the help!
Thanks for wanting more and writing that on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Each chapter is like giving birth, you know the next pain is coming but you don’t know how bad it is gonna be! Sorry, woman analogy. Don’t answer this comment, just keep typing next part because I don’t go in bars and I don’t drink beer! Dang!
Keep up the gifted writing,
Nancy
Well, Nancy, it is impossible for an old Marine not to respond to an attractive women. It comes as standard issue in training, like
a barracks cap or rifle number. What the hell do you think we were fighting for out there? Thank you, as usual, for your pithy,
humorous and intensely caring comment.
Love,
Jim
Hope the guys waiting to shoot the tank had warning when you called in the 175s so they got low in the mud
Well, “LOU,” It’s nice to have your smooth flowing words seamlessly making their way across all of our screens.
I wonder about that God thing, but really always have. Studied theology and then went off to become a Buddhist (dumped on third day there)
check out the Mormons, but started laughing at the wrong place) and even looked at being a Sufi Muslim until I found out no self-respecting Muslim
knows what a Sufi is. So I am back here at square one. I have a Bible from the seventeen hundreds, so no new ‘slight of hand’ modern stuff
can fool me. But the print’s weird and I can’t always make the message out. I usually conclude that a particular passage means that the Internet porn on my computer (not
put on there by me!) is okay to view and the vegetarian pizza is okay to eat with a few layers of cotto salami sprinkled over the top.
Thank you for thinking I’m a better guy than I really am. I will pray to God for Him to allow me to keep on fooling you…
Semper fi,
Jim
Down to the last five days of our family exodus, so I’m able to get your new segments as soon as they clear the Ethernet. I’ve decided I’ll have to put these new ones on hold when “The Book” arrives so I can make it a seamless transition to the new chapters as soon as I devour the hard copy. Probably a good thing, since you’re making a nervous wreck out of me with this tank thing. I’m shamelessly hawking the first installment to my FB friendlist.
SF
PFJ
Thanks a million John. I am sorry and happy that you are returning from your trip. When’s the next one? I know you had an
absolute blast. Thanks for waiting for the book with expectation and excitement. Make a comment on Amazon as it’s real
important for a new book to get a few of them…
Thanks John, and welcome home…
Semper fi,
Jim
I did my Amazon comment today and have seen it show up on their site. Hope it helps sell another thousand copies!
SF,
PFJ
Thank you most kindly John. Well, the way it works is all in how Amazon portrays your product.
Do they give it top billing when there’s a search for it or second page?
Do they put up other recommended works up that tend to make people click on those instead of your work?
And then what comments to they choose to feature at the top? And so on.
A whole lot of how good you are going to do is based on how they treat you.
Comments are big deal for that placement. Will a lot of books sell?
That’s unknown right now because there has not been enough time yet to get valid reports.
Can the book climb out of the ‘pit’ of a few hundred, and make it into the thousands where it needs to be?
Unknown. It takes 385 sales a day to be one of the top ten sellers.
We may make it into that or we may not. No matter what, I have been backed and befriended
by so many people I cannot stop this headlong journey into where we are going…
and I do feel like ‘we’ are doing it, and not just me.
Would it not turn out to be the highest of humor if I,
after my conduct in the Nam, which I still have trouble with,
moved me into some sort of voice for American Vietnam Vets?
I would stand at the podium and my first speech would be very short: “It don’t mean nuthin.”
Thanks for your support and care and your review and everything….
some amazing men and women on here and you
are certainly one of them…
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Jim great accounting of things that happened. I never got to go the Army didn’t want me in 69, a medical thing, thank you for your service and bravery, don’t know if I could have done it.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
Go online at Amazon and leave a review for this first book, which came out the day before yesterday.
Early comments help a lot at Amazon. And thanks for liking the story…
Semper fi,
Jim
Here we go again! Bravery out the ass, a battle plan from the same place. And a screeching halt just about the same time I ran out of air. Wonder how reading the book will go without the pauses? None of us can put this down. Maybe I’ll forego the installments for Book Two. I’m just being silly now. Great job, Jim, thank you.
Thanks Walt, what else can I say to you.
Thanks for being steadfast and a Marine’s Marine all the way through.
Semper fi, brother,
Jim
Second try to correct something. I might wish I was a Marines marine but I am not. Greatest compliment I’ve ever gotten, hate to turn it down. The short address was 8th Army, Sig. Bat. Korea 66-68.
Give it up Walt. You were and will always remain a Marine, no matter where you went, served or what you did.
Some guys are simply born with a Marine heart and you are one of them…Marine!
Your friend,
Jim
And yes, Semper fi mother fucker!
keep your head down ,we want to read the rest , a great read got better
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The first book is out on Amazon right now Bill. Go online and leave a review if you can. The early reviews mean
a lot for the book’s success. Thanks for liking the story so much too..
Semper fi
Jim
Pucker up . It’s a coming. You know someone is going to get KIA and you pray it’s not you.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days.
The first books out on Amazon and I really need the comments about it on Amazon right now, if you can take a minute.
Thanks for that comment and yes, the next chapter is another tense one…
Semper fi,
Jim
You do have sand LT.
Jim
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. It’s out now on Amazon.
Thanks for that high compliment Jim. It meant a lot back then. In truth I had to kind of ask around
as to what he meant because I’d never heard the expression before except in passing.
The compliment means a lot today too…
Semper fi,
Jim
Amen to that
Thanks Mike, for the frequency of your comments and the support that denotes.
Semper fi,
Jim
Just waiting on the book to arrive. Will send it to you for an autograph, with return postage.
Thanks Jim, much appreciate the purchase and the review.
And thanks for being patient. Some people are getting books right away and others
have to wait. I don’t get it but then the whole publishing thing is kind of one big FUBAR,
like in the old days but without anybody dying…
Semper fi,
Jim
And the anxious wait for the next installment begins.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. It’s out now on Amazon.
Thank you Rick. I am writing into this night and the chapter is a tough one indeed.
The action is always easier and more ‘pure’ than the emotion.
thanks for sticking with me and wanting more…
Semper fi,
Jim
Keep em coming JIM Can’t wait!!
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. It’s out now on Amazon.
Thank you Ed, I shall endeavor to persevere…and get the next one out as quickly as I can.
It’s a relief to finally have the first book out and I think it came out pretty cleanly.
Now I can just write away…
Semper fi,
Jim
dang LT hell of a place to stop! all wound up and no place to go! pass me a beer!LOL
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. It’s out now on Amazon.
Well, that mind-picture of you has me laughing out loud Stephen! At the bar, like
you are drinking to pass the time while waiting for my next segment. Totally cool to think
of even if imaginary. Thank you for that moment…
Semper fi,
Jim
This story just gets better and better. Great job James.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. It’s out now on Amazon.
Thanks David, I much appreciate the compliment and your following the story on here
and then saying something about it.
Semper fi,
Jim
The Russian fifty has a life of its own. I hope the the 175 got it. We will know soon enough.
THIRTY DAYS HAS SEPTEMBER. The First Ten Days. It’s out now on Amazon.
Calling in 175s was risky at hell when nearly out of range…and no training for
that except when the rounds start impacting! No 175s at Sill or even 155s. We trained strictly with
the 105. They said it was just a bigger explosion for the larger bore weapons. Not.
Semper fi,
Jim
I will be ordering on q
Amazon tomorrow
Thanks Jon! Please leave a review. It’s free and it means a lot for the success of the book.
Glad you like the story and that you commented here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Got my Kindle copy from Amazon, thank you for your hard work. Wrote my review already. Don’t think I’ve ever given five stars before, you’ve earned them many times over. I’m already looking forward to the next chapter. Thanks again, God bless.
Thanks for that Patrick! Means a lot at this early stage of publishing. It’s not like you can get
a real big following or exposed to a ton of people using Amazon as the publisher. Not going to happen.
But the core following on here and real vets reading the book…that’s enough. But early good reviews help.
Thanks most sincerely,
Jim