The sounds of the Bong Song’s nearby rushing waters, the whap whap whap of the descending chopper’s supersonic blade-tips rotating, and the rest of the valley background sounds all faded into non-existence, as four Skyraiders came down the valley from the north, no more than fifty feet off the surface of the river. It was like the jungle peeled back to let them pass, the deep quaking thunder of their huge radial engines spitting out life-threatening noise even a close-mounted fifty caliber machine gun could not compare to. When the Skyraiders were on top of us and the thunder didn’t seem like it could get any louder, Cowboy and his wingmen opened up with their twenty-millimeter cannons and swept the A Shau’s lower surface like four brooms shaking the sawdust to pieces on an old saloon floor. Dust, dirt, and debris sprayed from one side of the narrow valley to the other before the monster planes were gone. There were no Marines still standing when that occurred.
I stood up and brushed myself down, knocking the crap from my helmet with one clenched fist, but avoiding hitting the sharp chunk of shrapnel that was sticking out of it. I still didn’t like having the word “Junior” written under the single magic marker black bar on its front surface, but there was little I was willing to do about it. What was, was, and if I’d learned anything at all it was that the only way I had any chance at survival was to go along when I could, and adapt at every opportunity I was given, and forget about the fact that I was a valuable or a valued human being. I was just another jungle creature trying to get by, no better or worse than a venomous viper, the crocodile we’d killed earlier, or even the leeches and mosquitos I’d so hated in the beginning, before life had changed.
I wanted to notify you and your staff that I am sending a small package to thank you for sending me the 2 books of the trilogy. I hope you enjoy a little bit of Western New York.
Got that package and loved it, the contents and you for the sending. Made me smile for days as I went through everything!
Semper fi, and thanks so much…with love…
Jim
Sorry this is such a late answer but I was sick for a while there…
jim]3o days has sept. has become a thicker book then war and peace.its a good thing you didn’t make a full tour of duty or the liabrary of congress couldn’t hold the volumes it would take to store them.i no from my own short stay in nam that my own mind is comsumed with the memories of that tiny peace of time during my 70 plus years.thank goodness spring is here an i can get on with life ‘fishing looking for wild mushrooms and fooling a wild t
turkey.i grt it why you appreciate the people who critique your work . i should be so lucky . simper fi omer
ru
dy
Well, Omer, War and Peace wasn’t really descriptive of war, not inside the interior of it, anyway. There are very few descriptions of the real thing
because telling the truth about that awful shit mostly just loses you credibility. Like saying you were with an intelligence agency. Or talking about UFOs.
Dead before you start. Existing mythology is that powerful. Thanks for the usual note that made me smile. So Omer.
Sempere fi, brother.
Jim
Did the command in the rear just not want to hear the truth, that the hill couldn’t be taken without an Iwo Jima size attacking force? I see this in business all the time…senior management setting impossible goals that common sense tells them cant be accomplished.. But this, hundreds of men’s lives? Did these commanders have to drink themselves into a stupor every night to sleep and live with themselves after this?
I really don’t think they looked at things that way. They viewed our losses as bad field decisions and incompetence of the men in the field.
They could not understand the effect of either Project 100,000 or Project transition. They had no idea about just how specialized in the “Lord of the Flies” understanding
that one had to be to survive. And they never really gave credit for how good, committed and supplied the NVA was.
Semper fi,
Jim
jim]just saw trump congraduate putin on his winning election.please god send us a leader that well care for our people instead of their own wallet. sorry about the politics i just had to vent.your friend omer
Yes, these are times of angst when it comes to national leadership. We don’t really do politics on here
but a great many vets share your pain. The nation is strong and it can outlast most of the leaders who are not worthy
for the time of their stay in office. Hang tough, my friend.
Semper fi,
Jim
My turn to vent about condemning Trump, for something that all leaders do when another is elected.
Let me put it to you this way, I would damn well rather have a president who loved his country as well as one who appreciates the military personnel that serve it, then one who continually denigrated our nation and it’s military.
You need to think about that before condemning a president who is proud of our nation!
This is America J. We get to rail for or against our leaders as much as we like.
I won’t argue with you about that man. It is not worth it.
Semper fi, my brother,
Jim
Bone Spurs, that’s all I have to say
Again, great read. To bad about CPT V.C., then again, there a lot of ‘to bad’s… I was really surprised about the new “command element”, or lack thereof. Patiently waiting for the rest of the Third Ten Days, looking for your books on recovery/reintegration. A very compelling story.
Thanks Jim, I appreciate the compliment writing into your comment.
I am working away and finished the next segment last night. It should go up today.
Semper fi,
Jim
Just wanted to mention James..wasn’t a Marine but served with the First Inf. Div in the Iron Triangle AO. Great books waiting for the 3rd copy to be published.
By reading this work you will come to understand just how well the Army and Navy performed when called upon time after time.
I have nothing but the greatest feeling for the men and women who served in the other surfaces. American’s come up under duress
and combat is the ultimate duress…
Semper fi, and thanks for caring…
Jim
Isn’t the radio mans name Fessner and not Fusner..just saying
Yes, the books are closer edited…
Semper fi,
Jim
I think you stated V.C. came with two men. Was he one of the two men being pulled up with their supplies?
He and his radio operator and the third line was for their supplies…
Semper fi,
Jim
And if I learned anything at all it, was that….
James should that comma be behind it or all? Or not exist.?
Great read …. I get why some of these chapters come quicker than others. I’m sure you had a break or two writing this one.
Thanks for the sharp eyes, Mike.
The final chapters are a challenge.
Semper fi,
Jim
Great read , although I’m having trouble matching the topography you describe with the location you’ve writing about . And please , from an old Hooker, change that RAF chinnok to a US version ; )
The chapter shot was for drama, not because it was one of the real ones…
I did not have a camera over there!
Semper fi,
Jim
Just got back to Texas from my mom’s funeral and wish I would have had enough time to come over and visit you. Reading your story reminds me of some of my experiences over there. I did 3 tours, mine, one so my older brother didn’t have to go and had to re-enlist for present duty assignment to keep one of my younger brothers out of there. Like you know the learning curve to survive was very short when you first get there. The worst 2 days were when we got over run and had 21 out of 30 American casualties. The next night the south Vietnamese soldiers brought in around us had a worse night. The nova threw over a thousand rounds of mortars and rockets in on us. We filled every hospital in the delta. Over 700 medivaced, and over three hundred killed. Two more of my men got wounded that night.
Thanks for writing about your own devastating experience on here Ken. Most meaningful to the other guys and gals reading and me too…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, I’ve made this comment before, but I feel compelled to make it again after reading this installment, which more than most, choked me up and put tears in my eyes: I was born in the middle of the Vietnam war (1967). I can remember news stories from the early ’70s showing returning soldiers being spit on, called baby-killers, and a host of other disrespectful things. My entire life, I have made it a point to talk with Vietnam veterans about what they experienced, so that I might better understand the things that happened there. I’ve heard stories of unimaginable horrors and incredible feats of bravery. I’ve been told of hatred for the enemy, the love between brothers in arms, and the pain of returning home to a country that seemed to despise them. I’ve been told what it was like at Khe Sanh and Saigon during the Tet Offensive in ’68, of brothers lost on Hill 937 in the A Shau Valley in ’69, and countless other battles and skirmishes. Although I never had the honor to serve (4F), I feel a sharp and definite connection deep in my soul to those who have, my eldest son among them. To those who served in ‘Nam: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for not losing the faith, for fighting against the spread of communism, and for fighting for each other. May the brothers you lost in that place forever rest in peace, and may those of you that made it home alive, in body if not mind, find the peace you deserve in this lifetime.
Lance
Can’t thank you enough Lance. I really appreciate the depth of your sharing grief. Yes, the burden has been high for so many of us,
and we could not have known…and did not know. War’s end does not usually call for after action reports on how it all went and how everyone feels in coming
home. I still remember seeing the whole series of Band of Brothers and then at the end all the guys are seen in vignettes back home, happy as larks and successful
as all get out. Right. Thanks for the length, breadth and depth of your comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
JAMES I love and dread reading your story, I was in D 3/1 11th Brig Americal 68/69. I came to the Company as a new PFC and was a Spc 4 Squad leader 5 months later and still trying to not getting my Guys killed due to my inadequacies, I was next man up instead of deserving to be a leader . By the time I was an e-5 I knew keeping my guys alive wasn’t up to me since too many above me were constantly getting them killed, I got to hating the sight of brand new butter bars that knew everything from day one. Thankfully some would take advice from Squad leaders and tended to learn quickly while those who knew it all were just waiting for their replacement. The problem with this is the new Butter Bars brought new PFCs with them to replace the ones who died with the other Lt. I am so thankfull I wasn’t in the A-Shaw ! Much respect to you and Yours
With Project Transition always being new guys in to replace dead or wounded guys, well,
it became the blind leading the blind, or, as some small kid said at school when he was asked
about that expression: “When the blind are leading…watch out.”
Semper fi,
Jim
I wait with great anticipation for each installment and have read the first book. A continued thank you for reliving the stress of this time in yours and many others lives. Mainly hope it is therapeutic for and them! God Bless.
You are welcome Ron and I am glad guys like you come on here to write at all. I am working away and the next segment will be much
quicker. Thanks for caring….
Semper fi,
Jim
James three tours in VN and faced more animosity from peaceniks at LAX than the Vietnamese population physically attacked in 67 at lax when returning from first tour 65/67 did 16months first tour back in 68 & again 70:71
Thanks for all your time over that and sorry you took shit back here, like so many of us did.
It sure was a fact of the time.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim,
I am confused. I hope this was not the last chapter and your book is completed.
No, Jack, this was the 21st Day 2nd part. We have eight more days and nights to go…
Book three is well under way…
Semper fi,
Jim