The engagement with the enemy began while it was still full dark. The Ontos fired into the general area near the western wall at its base and flung flechettes across the open exposed area in front of it. With the artillery still coming in, responding to successive fire missions I was calling, in spite of some errant projectiles that might have caused casualties in our own ranks, the single mudflat just in front of the cliff face was the only viable place the enemy could cross to reach our combined companies. The mudflat was also very likely to become the deadliest field of fire I had ever been a witness to and part of since I’d arrived in country.
“There’s no point in me staying here,” I said to Fusner. “Get your stuff.”
I worked my body around so I could strap my own pack to my back.
My torso ached like it had been beaten with baseball bats. The 175 rounds that had flown long had continuously displaced me from my foxhole, and in the process the near-visible shockwaves resonating through the air had struck me time and again, like light wafts of a vicious little collection of wind. But the waves had not been winds, they’d been condensed packets of air and water. The packets struck, as I was bounced from my hole, my poncho cover only retrieved because I’d tied one corner to my right boot with the bootlace. Only after resting for a few minutes did the pain begin. The leech bites were bad enough, I thought, but the pain was diminished by the mortally potential effect caused by the bruising strikes of the artillery shock waves.
I tried to listen to Fusner. His hearing had been spared by wearing the earphones to the Prick 25 radio, but my own was damaged again. My ears rang and Fusner’s voice, although it came through, was tinny and partially shredded. I tried to point at my ears but it was still too dark to allow Fusner to see that I was pointing at all. Finally, after getting my pack on and leaning in close, I was able to make out what he was saying.
“We can’t go to the wall and help, sir,” Fusner was near yelling, I could tell.
“If we do that then it’ll mess everything up he’s trying to do,” Fusner went on, making no move to strap his radio to his back.
I pulled back slightly. It was the first time, I realized, that Fusner had not sided with me, and then gone on to resist my orders.
He was right, I knew, but I had not been thinking of joining the Gunny where contact with the enemy was now imminent. I delayed for a few minutes in responding, by untying my poncho cover from my boot and then getting it properly situated over my head to cover my damaged torso and lower body.
“We’re going to the Ontos,” I said, cupping my hands and yelling.
I was still unable to properly gauge the full volume of my own voice. “I’ve got to be able to see or I’m no use at all,” I finished.
“Sometimes, maybe, sir, doing nothing at all might be the right thing to do,” Fusner replied.
I noted, as best as I could make out, that Fusner, however, was getting his radio onto his back and preparing to abandon our hole.
“The Gunny didn’t think to have the majority of our forces move together to meet the enemy where it has to attack. Nobody can think of everything, corporal.”
I knew it was foolish and not very leader-like to explain myself, or the reasons for my decisions, but my feeling that I needed the teenager’s full support would not allow me to do anything else.
“Sorry, sir,” Fusner replied, moving so close to my side, as we’d risen to begin the move, that our shoulders rubbed together.
I looked over but what I noticed was Nguyen, just to the other side of Fusner. I could not see his eyes but I knew he had to be looking at me. What might he have done if Fusner had refused to move, I wondered. I tried to shrug the thought away, but I knew it would lay in the back of my mind for some time to come.
I hunched over, easing the shockwave induced pain in my back and shoulders, and then I moved forward, trying to avoid falling on my knees or face because it was so dark. I felt Nguyen positioning himself so close in front of me that he partially blocked the blowing rain, the wind seeming to have risen with each of my successive artillery barrages. I had forgotten MacInerney and Russell, the two lieutenants that had returned from the Ontos. I stopped and said MacInerney’s name into the darkness.
“I’m right here, Junior,” he replied, from off to my left. I thought of the other nameless lieutenant.
“Where’s the other lieutenant?” I asked, knowing he’d been left back at the Ontos but not knowing why.
“He’s spotting with the scope for Hultzer,” MacInerny said as if he was surprised I didn’t know.
Suddenly, I was moving faster, pushing into Nguyen’s back. The one particular battery of four that I had called, the one that had landed so close that it had thrown Fusner and me out of our foxhole time after time and injured my body with following shockwaves had come close. Quite possibly we’d only been saved by the density of the jungle. For the hearing injury I’d suffered, the rounds had to have gone off fifty meters away or less.
The small arms fire began to build to a higher level. There was no response from the Ontos, which I knew had to mean that Hultzer was afraid of running low on flechette ammo. The resupply had brought in plenty, but plenty was a diminished term in this kind of outnumbered attack situation we were in, I knew. I pushed harder through the mess of the water-covered and rain-drenched massed floor, driving Nguyen forward. I heard screams behind me, the screams I knew of Marines and enemy dying together as the attack became fully joined.
For the first time ever, in making a movement under fire, I felt bad from moving away from the fire instead of toward it.
I stared into the eyepiece of the Starlight Scope, the rubber grommet feeling good, pressed all around my right eye socket. The scene in the distance was easy to home in on, as the open area from the edge of the jungle all the way to the edge of the water that ran around the base of Hill 975 ended at the cliff face. That face protruded slightly out over the area just below it, the bottom part covered by thick lichen and plant matter of all types, while above that the cracked rock face was barren and unclimbable, as well. I studied the scene near the cliff base, understanding that that particular small stretch, from the water to the jungle, was the only available area that could be crossed to allow the NVA regiment access. When would the full-scale attack come, the one that my Marines holding a tenuous but tough line just inside the jungle, might only get on to too late? I could see, but they could not. How could we get to the dawn, wherein no suicide attacks, with swarms of men, no matter how well-armed, could possibly succeed? I shuffled backward, pulling the scope with me. Fusner was there with the radio handset out and waiting. I called Hultzer inside the Ontos, located not more than thirty meters from where I lay.
“How many rounds of high explosive do we have?” I asked once he came on the line.
“Twenty-four, sir,” Hultzer replied, “We don’t use that stuff up as fast as the flechette rounds.”
I knew that last part, of course, as flechette rounds were so deadly and effective that it made little sense to call in anything else unless the enemy was dug in, or it was impossible to see where they were. The enemy, in this case, was dug in all right, inside a currently impregnable mountainside. But it was the visibility that was the real problem. I could use the Starlight Scope to study the area from where I was, and hope to report that to the platoons defending the jungle area where the NVA had to strike, but I could do little to be completely effective in that pursuit, as the ground was too broken and the debris all over it allowing for just enough cover to fool me from the angle and distance I had to view it from.
The last problem was the one that I was trying to overcome with Hultzer. How could we best slave the Ontos to the scope in order to fire at the right time and aim at the right place? The key to ranging the 106 mm recoilless rifle rounds was the fifty caliber semi-automatic guns the rifles had to spot where the charge would land with tracer rounds. The wall was a long way in the distance. My idea was to use the same effect that had been tried on us by the enemy when we’d been holed up under a fold at the bottom of the cliff on the other side of the river days back. We’d also had the effect of the cliff face exploding down upon our own Marines when the artillery rounds had fallen short that night not so long in the past. We could magnify the effect of the high explosive rounds by ten times or more, simply by having the 106 recoilless rounds explode against the face of the cliff, up above the growth line visible in the Starlight Scope. The explosively broken and crushed rocks of the face would cascade down onto any troops unprotected from above. And that would be any and all of the sapper regiment attackers.
Hultzer crawled up to me, but he wasn’t alone. I huddled, lying flat, my poncho cover extended over me, more worried about the leeches I might be exposing myself to by laying on the jungle floor itself, but still conscious that I could not long survive being exposed to the full effects of the monsoon rains without expiring or falling ill in some fashion or another.
First Hultzer, then Fusner, and then the Nguyen forced their way under my small poncho. Fortunately, we’d all been living under the same circumstance for some time, and the blossoms their own open poncho covers began to layer over my own in a cluster.
I ordered Hultzer to take the Starlight Scope and set it up at the front or facing side of the Ontos. At least he would be able to see something of what was going on in order to properly and effectively place fire on the enemy.
“Where’s McInerney?” I asked once Hultzer was gone, noticing his sudden absence among the Marines surrounding me, but nobody said anything in reply. Nguyen motioned ever so slightly with his chin, his face angled and directed toward the wall where the enemy force if it was going to attempt the assault, would have to cross the clearing underneath.
The two junior lieutenants joined our group, building the cluster of poncho covers into a larger, almost interconnected tent.
“Fusner, what the hell is McInerney up to?” I asked, my voice low and concerned, rather than angry at the inexperienced lieutenant’s independent action.
“He headed toward the cliff, sir, following in trace of Sugar Daddy,” Fusner replied.
My stomach clenched with tension. I’d sent Sugar Daddy off to lead or supervise the Marines who would bear the brunt of the coming major thrust of the attack, and I’d done so with the ridiculous offer of a combat decoration I had no power to award. I could recommend it, but that was it. Now, one of the new lieutenant’s was going into the thick of things with no background at all to modify his actions. The phrase ‘combat teaches by killing you,’ reappeared in my mind. My ‘walk in the rain’ title for the plan might very well turn out to be a walk in the blood of my own men.
The Gunny was at the wall, now likely joined by McInerney and Sugar Daddy. I was almost certain that Jurgens would be there, as well, waiting for the coming attack.
With this one defensive plan, I was risking almost the entire command structure of the assembled companies, save some other sergeant platoon commanders and the two junior lieutenants whose names I could barely remember.
“Now we wait,” I whispered to the Marines around me.
I ordered Fusner to have Hultzer fire at the first flash he might see of the enemy fifty caliber, but wait to fire at the side of the cracked rock cliff face until ordered.
“The idiot,” I heard come back through the small radio handset, even though I was several feet from where Fusner lay nearby.
The expression of frustration and anger could only have come from the Gunny, I realized.
“What’s he saying?” I asked, my voice a whisper.
“Apparently, Lieutenant McInerney, sir,” Fusner replied, “has placed himself under the slight lip of the cliff and is going to blink his flashlight when the enemy attacks so you can fire. He must know we can’t really see that well through the rain and over the distance.”
“Nguyen, get forward,” I commanded, motioning with one hand toward the invisible wall out in the darkness. “Go get him back, if you can.”
Nguyen disappeared, almost as he’d never been there in the first place. The man’s ability to move in such silence through the bracken and mud was unnerving, as it was now. I could feel what was happening rather than witness it.
I’d sent Sugar Daddy forward to chase his medal, the good news being that Sugar Daddy had come to feel he might live under my command. The bad news was that he was still Sugar Daddy. Somehow, the sergeant wasn’t going out to expose himself.
Somehow, he’d convinced the McInerney to expose himself, after which, no matter what happened, he could claim that he’d kept his part of the deal.
“Get me the Gunny,” I ordered Fusner, hearing a slithering nearby.
Two of the poncho covers were gone. The new FNG lieutenants had pulled back, probably to the Ontos, I thought, but could not know since they’d said nothing.
“Gunny, get him back,” I ordered, once the Gunny was on the combat net.
“Too late,” I heard before the enemy fifty opened up, and then a single round from the Ontos whooshed by, in response, without any order coming from me.
I switched my attention to the wall and saw immediately that a flashlight was blinking dimly through the rain, coming from down at the bottom of it. The enemy fifty wasn’t shooting at the ignorant officer, however. Its green tracers arced into the line of Marines set in to defend the only possible approach the enemy could use to penetrate our defenses. McInerney continued to blink his flashlight every few seconds until Hultzer, back at the Ontos opened up with a spread of semi-automatic fifty caliber tracer rounds of its own.
I could do nothing except hold on tightly to the radio handset and grimly stare into the distance where only McInerney’s lonely light blinked away. Hultzer was doing what had to be done and there was no point in discussing it with him over the radio. The Ontos tracers impacted the wall, sending sparks in all directions, as the unspent phosphorous tips of the bullets splattered into tiny fiery parts, not more than twenty feet above where McInerney’s position had to be.
There was no time to order Hultzer to check or hold fire. The giant whooshing noise of six 106 mm recoilless rounds passing by sucked the air from around us as they headed for the wall. At the same time, the Marines manning their M-60 machine guns opened up almost as one. Tracers crisscrossed the entire flat crossing, turning the slightly depressed jungle area into a cauldron of hot burning phosphorous and lead. The enemy fifty was not suppressed, as it sought to penetrate the inadequate cover my Marines would have thrown up when trying to adequately dig in. I knew the fifty would go through at least twenty feet of unpacked earth, mud, and debris. The enemy had to be attacking, as fire control was so ingrained into the experienced combat Marines in both companies that their combined fire would have dropped off in mere seconds if it had been just a reaction to receiving fire from the enemy.
The recoilless rounds hit the wall in a spectacular night display of fireworks and slightly delayed sound. There was no more indication of McInerney’s flashlight signals following the first salvo. The Ontos reloaded and fired again with fewer rounds, all impacting the same place on the rock wall. The fifty caliber spotters then trained in on the opening the enemy fifty was firing from, and three of the big rounds went out. The angle was such, toward the base of Hill 975, that they went right over our heads, causing temporary deafness in my ears, once again.
I crouched down, feeling totally helpless to control the events I’d deliberately, and then accidentally, set into action. The firing from the M-60s raged on, becoming more sporadic as time slowly passed. I kept my head up, peering out from under my rain and windswept poncho cover, no longer caring about the misery of the cloying wetness or the risk of being host to more leech predators. The enemy fifty had apparently been silenced by the three-round salvo Hultzer had directed into its burrowed lair. The 106 fired again and again until I thought that the guns must have run out of ammo before it quit. The machine guns stopped firing at almost the same instant. I heard distant chunks of the cliff walling falling to strike the mud below with sickening thuds. I had no idea of just how deep the inset that usually ran along the base of the cliffs might be. I could only hope and pray that it was deep enough like it had been for the rest of the company so many days and nights in the past.
The enemy attack appeared over, and it also appeared to have failed, as the Marines along the line of defense had seemed to quiet down all on their own. I still held the radio handset and was about to call the Gunny when I changed my mind, rising quickly to my feet and gathering my poncho cover in to wrap about my standing figure. I tossed the handset to Fusner and then took off at a loping run, back to where the open area extended all the way to the wall. I ran the entire distance to the cliff face, noting Marines dimly set in around me and hoping that they did not take me for some enemy apparition in their midst. I had to get to the wall quickly and I had to get there personally.
In seconds I was down next to the Gunny, his radio operator moving quickly to make way for my falling body. I hit prone, not more than a foot from the right side of the Gunny’s body. I breathed in and out deeply, to recover from the run and to control my emotions.
“Where’s the lieutenant?” I finally got out.
“I don’t know,” the Gunny said, his voice quiet and uncharacteristically gentle. “They didn’t get through or even come close to it. Under the tracers I watched the cliff face collapse among them. There must be a hundred men under that mess of rocks and debris.”
I looked out but could see nothing in the darkness, the rain still beating down while the wind had begun to abate somewhat.
“He didn’t come back,” the Gunny offered, understanding why I’d rushed so quickly to his side. “Nice work, sending him out there, though. There was no better way to pinpoint exactly where and when they were coming.”
That I had not sent McInerney, nor would I have sent anyone to do such a ridiculously suicidal mission, I kept to myself.
“Where’s Sugar Daddy?” I asked, the tone of my voice changing to the point where I observed the Gunny’s head turning to look over at me.
He lit a cigarette, the small Zippo light burning tiny but bright for a few seconds. We stared at one another, as he inhaled, and then the moment and the light were gone.
“Where’s Nguyen?” the Gunny countered.
I remembered having sent Nguyen only in that instant.
“Where?” I asked, knowing the answer.
“Don’t know”, the Gunny replied. “He went out there to do whatever it was he was supposed to do, I guess. He passed by, like the ghost in the night he is, and then moved on without comment or slowing.”
“Damn,” I whispered.
“You sent him to get that new lieutenant back in when you saw him blinking his flashlight, didn’t you?” the Gunny said, puffing on his cigarette and syncopating the smoke between his few words.
Sugar Daddy crawled up, to wedge himself between my legs and Gunny’s, his broad shoulders pushing us both aside.
“I couldn’t stop him,” Sugar Daddy said. “He just took off and ran and I sure as hell wasn’t going after him, Silver Star be damned.”
“What Silver Star?” the Gunny asked.
Neither Sugar Daddy nor I answered the question.
“What now, Junior?” Sugar Daddy asked.
“We wait until dawn,” I replied, hoping the ache in my mind and body was not being transmitted through my voice. “There’s no way to prove their fifty is out of commission permanently, no way to tell how many more men they are willing to commit to another attack and we can’t see in the dark to dig through the rocks.”
“A bit more than a walk in the rain, wouldn’t you say, Junior?” Sugar Daddy asked, after a few seconds.
“We took no casualties, except for maybe the FNG officer and Nguyen,” the Gunny replied. You can’t knock that kind of success under conditions like these, now can you Junior,” the Gunny replied.
I said nothing in return, moving further to one side and curling up into the poncho cover I’d kept with me. For the first time, I was truly angry at the Gunny. He’d saved my life, time and again, but what kind of cold-hearted beast was he, anyway. The dawn would come. Hutzler probably had more ammunition on hand and the Marines up and down the line of defense would remain fully on guard. We’d held the position, but to what end and the seemingly small losses would never be counted that way with me, no matter what we found at first light.
I’m sure somebody liked that body count.
Couple of minor suggestions;
‘Understanding that that particular small stretch’ – delete one that.?Still makes sense and sounds better
‘hope to report ‘that’ to the platoons’ – could not find what ‘that’ refers to. Just delete?
I could head* distant chunks of the cliff walling falling to strike the mud below with sickening thuds.
head should be heard* ??
Glad to see you back online and writing again, James.
Thanks again for the autographed copies of the 1st two books.
SEMPER Fi
Again Thanks,
Corrected
Semper fi, Jim
Glad you’re back in the saddle Jim. I was worried about you.
s/f Steve
Read The Cat. The cat is named Hasti! How’s that for coincidence. Thanks for the atta boy and encouragement and care expressed on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
James so glad you’re back in the saddle again. Two great chapters. One edit.The machine guns stopped firing at almost the same instant. I could (head) hear distant chunks falling. Cheers Milt. Forever Faithful
Thanks for the help Milt. much appreciate the help from my only real editors.
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad your back, hope all is well. Very good read. Thank you Sir! Semper Fi.
You are most welcome David and, indeed, it is good to be back…
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad to have this Chapter up to show how the company responded to the attack.
With that said, it’s not hard to figure out that the writing isn’t getting any easier for you, as the potential for loss never goes away.
Praying for your health, and that we get to see the end of Day 30.
I’ll make it and with renewed energy and strength. Thanks for the encouragement and motivation to continue..
Semper fi,
Jim
Hope continued good health
Thanks, I am percolating right along now with some really terrific help from the VA in North Chicago and Milwaukee,
nothing like what I’d heard. Just neat people and really grand equipment.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was an army crewchief on a LOH helicopter and we flew up in I Corp. I always had total appreciation of you guys on the ground. I flew to the SE edge of the A Shau a few times and was blown away at the terrain you guys had to fight and survive in.. I am in awe of each segment you have written, I just hope we as a crew were able to be of service to you guys. Looking forward to the next segment.
The chopper guys we never knew. Macho Man was the only crewman I ever knew and he didn’t make it very long on the ground.
But the performance of the crews in coming in, no matter what, and then pulling the wounded out and oversupplying the shit out of
us every chance they got. They sent smuggled sausage, cookies, cigarettes and much more that put rare smiles on our faces. We never
knew you guys. We never knew the guys flying the monster prop planes either. We talked on the radio but it was all nickname stuff.
Later on you can’t find anybody when you get home. Not back then, anyway. Thanks. This short note is my thanks and it is not enough, I know, but
riven through the book series is my admiration expressed in a different way. You did the job in spades and we felt it and lived because of it
many times over.
Semper fi,
Jim
When I read this all I can feel is respect, wonder, and awe…We often hear of the greatest generation, and I believe there are many. It’s not the generation it’s the individual man and his team and what’s inside that can only come to the top when these men face life and death that most of us never will have to face. I am amazed, and thankful…
Thank you Eric. I never expected to get even indirect compliments about my service over there and I presume that is most of the reason I never discussed any of the detail of what happened until writing these books.
Often, I still reflect and don’t find a lot to admire in what I did because
the enormity of losses overwhelms everything.
Thank you and I really really appreciate reading these words this morning….
Semper fi,
Jim
Excellent James! I am well into your first two books and I enjoy them immensely.
Thanks so much Waynor, as my life, body and soul are in those books.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back! I hope your health continues to improve.
Your latest installment seems proof positive you have not lost a step. No errors that I could see. The latest installment was riveting!
I along with everyone anxiously await the next chapter.
Thanks,
Jim
Thanks Jim, for the much needed help. My editors are you guys and it’s wonderful…
Semper fi,
Jim
All I can say is Thank You for continuing to write your story. another great installment, THANK YOU!!
Thanks William, another segment today….
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you for continuing with the later chapters. I hope the 3rd installment is not far behind. Enjoyed reading the first 2 riveting segments. I haven’t been reading the 3rd segment chapters, I want to read the 3rd segment all at one time. Keep up the good work.
Yes, the next segment will go up on Tuesday so you can continue along. Thanks for the encouragement by writing on here.
Semper fi
Back at you Mike!
Jim
Welcome back, Jim. Didn’t expect you so soon, but thoughts and prayers were with you. VERY well written, words causing physical sensations, unanticipated reflex actions. The only given here, for me, is that I know that you will “survive” in the end, but none of the other players here have return home tickets (in one fashion or another). I read in anticipation of what will happen next to those others, some of whom I want so desperately to survive, and some of whom I think we all know haven’t earned the right to survive over those others. And once again, you end the session with us waiting to know the fate of yet another new Lt. and that silent and loyal friend, Nguyen. We can’t vote or implore you, like they do in TWD, to keep our heroes alive. Their fates are already written. But we wait. And hope. And pray. You went through hell, brother. None of you deserved it. And I know your worst is still to be written. Thanks again.
Now that’s a deeply written comment if I have ever read one Marshall and I thank you for the thought and heart you put in it.
It needs no comment from me as you are exactly accurate in every conclusion…
Semper fi,
Jim
Good read! Please keep it up as your health will allow! God bless!
Thanks Steve, I’m doing fine now and back at it as you will see later today.
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad you are here again Lt. I was worried that you might not be able to finish this book or the others. You keep us all going with your actions and story. Hope most of your Marines made it back home. Semper Fi Lt.
The series plays out like the experience did Walter and I have no control over putting that down
unless I might want to modify what happened, which I will not…
Thanks for the comment and the care in it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back Lt. Glad to hear you are doing better. Have missed your writing, looking forward to seeing more. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
Thanks Greg, and another segment today and then Tuesday.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, sorry to hear you were not well and hope that is all behind you now. Sad how the stuff of over 50 years ago is still biting many of us in the ass. I’m glad the VA is taking good care of you as they do me.
This chapter had me feeling I was rain drenched and smelling the jungle rotting and death. It looks like the LT bought it. I wonder if he knew it was a suicide task or not. Hopefully N found a hole to hide in.
God bless and stay well
Thanks for the nice comment here, Jrw. The next segment is out tomorrow so you
will have your curiosity satisfied…
Semper fi,
Jim
You sure make it real LT.
Thanks Jack, and yes, it was so real as it remains in my mind to this day, and night, of course.
thanks for caring…
Semper fi,
Jim
Just another great installment! Glad you’re back!! Really looking forward to your next chapter.
Thanks John, means a lot to me to have your kind of strong support through this difficult time.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT. Welcome back Brother.
thanks loyal Glenn! Good to have you along after all these months and now years.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back, glad you are doing well. Another amazing segment!
Two more segments coming out over the next three days…and thanks my friend…
Sempe fi,
Jim
I could head the walling falling. Shouldn’t that be ” I could hear the walling falling?
Yes, it should, but stuff slips by, and thanks for catching it…and being one of the true blue on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad to have you back LT.
Thanks a lot SA and thanks for writing that on this public forum…
Semper fi,
Jim
So glad to have you back, I never caught a single error. I was trying to see through the rain, fog, & darkness I guess ! Try some R & R and get back to us when dawn comes ? Great Job, Semper Fi Lt.
Yes, I did have a hick-up there and tough go for a bit, but I am back and going strong. This segment will be followed by another on Sunday and then another on Tuesday, as we reach the 28th night
later in the week. Thanks for sticking with me thorough the thick and thin.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good to see you up and going again. Nice work James.
Thanks Fred and really good to read those words…
Semper fi,
Jim
James, so good to see you back at it. Masterfully written as always. It was worth the wait.
Thanks Nate, you guys keep me going, once I am back ‘going’ at all, as I am now.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another one of those chapters that I have to force myself to read, word for word, savoring each sentence like one of the Gunny’s cigarettes. Happy to see you back LT, hope that you and yours had a good Thanksgiving. Semper Fi.
thanks Mike, as I work through some physical problems with a lot of help.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back to good health Jim! I have been concerned and praying this isn’t your call time. Take time to enjoy your recovery and holiday with special ones. Let someone else take care of the Wisconsin snow! Tom S.
Actually, the winter here makes it a bit easier to cozy in and do the writing work, as I am now.
Thanks for the kind words.
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad your back, Hope all is well and you had a blessed thankgiving. Looking forward to each new chapter. Blessings to you Mike
Thanks Mike, much appreciate the words of support. I am back at it as you will see over the next few days.
Semper fi
Jim
When I was a youngun, my dad told me. “Son, if you want to know how much you will be missed, just stick your finger in a glass of water. When you pull it out, if it leaves a hole, they’re gonna miss you when your gone.
Well, your absence left a hole. You were sorely missed.
Hope you and your family had a happy Thanksgiving. A most heart felt Welcome back.
Stay low, keep movin, reload, pull the god damn pin and change yer f38576n zocks.
Thanks Edward, with two more segments coming at you over the next three days I hope you come
to realize I am all the way back.
Thanks for the great encouraging words.
Semper fi,
Jim
A lot of shit coming down there. A Good read for sure TY James
Yes, things did kind of get ‘heated’ in the end, and we are rapidly coming to that part with two more segments coming in the next three days…
Stand by!
Semper fi,
Jim
Hope you are well sir! It was worth the wait!
Thanks for the nice comment and I am doing okay, writing away…
Semper fi,
Jim
“Welcome back James.” “Please, always keep your own wellbeing foremost.” Second it!!!!
So seldom that we get to share the agony, and pain of leadership. It’s clear that the greatest guilt we suffer comes from what we were required to ask our men to do, and even more from what they did on their own. So many true heros known only their brothers in combat.
Glad your back, thanks for another healing exorcism.
Semper fi, Bob
Our own wellbeing is often not respected by some members of a rather demanding public. Most guys are great on here though and the gals too.
I am getting better and writing away…and thanks to people like you.
Semper fi,
Jim
Indeed welcome back. I hope all is well. I was thinking about you just yesterday and here you are. Been sitting on the edge of my chair reading this. Thanks
Thanks Donald, you are a gentleman and a scholar, as well as a greatly appreciated fan.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back James.
Great to be back Mike, and thank you…
Semper fi,
Jim
I missed how you get the Starlight, is there something missing in here?
Marines and enemy dying together as the attack became fully joined.
For the first time ever, in making a movement under fire, I felt bad from moving away from the fire instead of toward it.
I stared into the eyepiece of the Starlight Scope, the rubber grommet feeling good, pressed all around my right eye socket. The scene in the distance was easy to home in on, as the open area from the edge of the jungle
As always a great segment LT.
thanks for the questions and edit work. We are re-reading the making it better just now…
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back LT. Hope your health has improved and will continue to do so. Another very intense episode of real war, real confusion and no idea of the future. Stumbling along doing the best you can caring the water. Thank you Sir.
Yes, the confusion and disorganization in a combat zone is hard to describe.
Thanks for understanding and writing about it…
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt. Good to have you back. I hope that you are doing well and continue to do so. That was a gut wrenching 28th day., for you and your Marines. It was for me just reading this. Take all the time you need, keep yourself healthy above all else. We can wait..
I am motoring along now and will continue to do so, I hope.
Thanks for the care and for writing about it on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
James a hard night even harder on your soul.more vists in the night ,sorry my friend
Thank you
Yes, those were tough times indeed, with only the memories to ponder over upon coming home…
and those remaining indelibly imprinted over time…to my own amazement, as well..
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim (LT) Cannot tell you how heartwarming it is to see you back in action. Truly a Blessed Thanksgiving. Every Holiday, Birthday, successful VA appointment that passes into history elicits thoughts of wonder as to why me. The anxiety that wells up when reading your diary of combat finds me holding my breath. The concussive responses really opens the memory vaults. As I have said before I was not a combat MOS, but ! The more I read your story, it comes to mind the miracle of Y’alls survival. Now I will stress over the fate of Nguyen. When you made the comment of what kind of cold-hearted beast was He ( The Gunny) Expressing hatred, awe, and gratitude for His very existence. Personally, Officers give the orders, then expect the NCO’s to get them carried out. It is actually a cymbionic relationship. Once the order is given it is out of your hands. The bribery that is sometimes needed to get the response desired always leaves a bitter after taste. I am again so thankful for the positive turn-around with your health. May I be first to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed 2020. You are a blessing in my life. Drive On !!!!!!!
Thanks most sincerely George. I read and then re-read your words. How perceptive and clear about how it was. So many more understand than I thought would when I started all this.
It has been so helpful to me to have guys like you in my corner. Yes, that was the first Merry Christmas and thank you for that too…
Semper fi,
Jim
When you come back, you come back with a wallop!
Thanks Hayward, and I am back, as you will see over the next three days.
Semper fi,
Jim
I could hear instead of head chunks of the “walling?” Wall falling
Yes, caught that and thanks for the help. It means a lot to have editorial help from people as erudite and accurate as you.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good to see you’re writing again James! Hoping you have a clean bill of health! Another tense chapter, with the outcome still in question. The Gunny is an enigma for sure, and your anger is justified. He certainly is an interesting character. Hoping that Mcinnerny survived. Sugar Daddy May have lost his Silver Star to an FNG! Seems fitting! Semper Fi my friend!
How did medals end up meaning anything at all in that mess? But they did near the end when the guys came to believe that they might make it.
My own medals do not mean that much to me because not one of them recounts what really happened and most of the rest of it never got written up
because there was nobody to write it…thanks for the observation and encouragement.
Semper fi,
Jim
James,
I have to agree with you on the meaning of medals. They are arbitrary for the most part, depending on who saw what and how they interpreted the act. A lot of bravery is unrecognized except by the men who were there.
Yes, you know what you did and why and how. The fear that drives almost everything and seems
to obliterate lines when it comes to decision-making in every area.
Thanks for your understanding.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back. Hope they got you all sorted out and patched up. Got us all on the edge of our seats like normal.
Thanks Pete, I am all over it and back in action.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good to have you back Jim. Great segment!
Thanks Tim, great to be back and ‘in the groove’ so to speak. Thanks for your patience and support.
Semper fi,
jim
Welcome back LT. Hope the plumbing is working correctly now.
Got things flowing properly through the proper plumbing Mark. Thanks for caring and being here for me.
Semper fi,
Jim
As always your chapters are personal , exciting , heartbreaking ,feelings all mixed together to bring memories that somehow tend to excite and heal all at the same time . Words cannot explain how I feel , except to say, Thank you
A very nicely and intelligently written critique Don, and I thank you most sincerely for the effort and for putting it up for all to see…
Semper fi,
Jim
Will add my Welcome Back James and Glad your doing better and getting back to your normal routines.. Take Care of yourself and listen to family and Dr orders..
A small correction.. paragraph with 106 firing till I thought they must have run out of ammo.. the “walling” falling to the mud below.. know you meant “wall” .. and your fingers just over ruled your brain late at night..
Will leave it at that..
Yes, thank you for the help which I much appreciate, as you are my only ‘professional’ editors!
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back, was concerned when you weren’t writing for so long. Take care of yourself.
Thanks for the concern and the expression of that here. Good to be back among such men as you…
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad you are better James. Take care and don’t push too hard. The wait for daylight much have seemed forever.
Pushing too hard is what I do best but I am dialed back a bit right now. Thanks for the concern
and the for the expression of it on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad you are feeling better. Good chapter.
Thanks for the compliment and the great good will…and Merry Christmas…
Semper fi,
Jim
Good to have you back Sir.
Thanks most sincerely, and I mean that. Thanks for the kind words…
Semper fi,
Jim
Yes Sir I noted your time hack at the beginning. A hint you were excited about beginning again and that you felt well enough to attempt. I get short of breath just reading your description of a run towards the Gunny and the fight. Your medics at the VA Center certainly did bring back not only vigorous writing of this tough story but a spirit of , let’s get on with this. Well done again and now anticipation of a new segment of good news on your Scout and the LT. Thank you Sir. We are all very happy you are back with us. Poppa J
Thanks Poppa, missed you! Thanks for the glowing remarks welcoming me back to the writing and to life itself.
I am here and you can expect more segments now in short order as I work to finish book III and begin the fourth…
Semper fi,
Jim
Intense! Wow!
Your on-line ghost army will now hunker down and await the next episode and hopefully the dawn and some much needed air support and resupply.
Happy to see yiu up and running again after a long hiatus..
Thanks Walt. Yes, resupply. Without helicopters how could we ever have fought a jungle war like that and even held our own.
Thanks for the great returning comment Walt.
Semper fi,
Jim
James I hope you recovered from your hospital stay. As always I look forward to seeing the next segment of your book. Excellent job. Glad you are back on your feet.
Thanks for the expression of care and the compliment Dempsey.
Glad to be back.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back and I hope you are doing much better now….and had a good Thanksgiving… and what an intense segment…once again, you put us right there with you in the rain, wind, and muck…it is truly a miracle that anyone survived at all…you constantly adapt and respond and hope…that’s all you could do is hope that your adaptations were good…and from what you describe, they were…I think your men truly believed in you by this point and knew you were on top of things…although many times in those situations you really just fly by the seat of your pants with a gut reaction…and they seem to mostly work out…and the Gunny is just, the Gunny…he’s gonna say what he’s gonna say as always…I think he has just become numb to the situation as long as there is no direct effect on him…and, as always, I both anxiously and regretfully await the next segment…
Thanks Mark, your in depth comment is spot on and reaches depths within me too.
Thanks for the great comment and the welcome back.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back LT, certainly glad you are feeling better! Thanks for another intense and gripping episode!
You are most welcome Joe, and there are now two more segments coming at you in three days…
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back LT
Thanks Ron. It was a spell but I am back on top of my game and coming at you growing strong.
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad you are back- spectacular return!
Thanks for that great compliment and for putting it out in public here Bill…
Semper fi,
Jim
First and foremost we are all glad that you are doing better and feeling better too. This latest segment,like all the previous ones, had kept me on the edge of my seat until I consumed the last word.
Thanks Dan for the great support and for waiting. So many guys and gals have been supportive it kind of astounds me.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks LT great chapter! Hope you continue to heal! As always I wait in anticipation of more!
Tomorrow for the next segment Richard and then Tuesday for another…
Yes, I am back and I am thankful to be back and right here with you.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim welcome back, been there done that!! Not much fun, but your on right side of the grass so great!!!!!
Very good segment, but they all are.
Harold Hearon
Thanks Harold and your critique means a lot to me, especially written here where everyone can see it.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, hope you are back to full speed in no time!
Next segment tomorrow and then another on
Tuesday another. Yes, I am back and glad to be here…
Semper fi,
Jim
LT, I knew the radio silence was not good news. Glad to see you back in action and hope you remain in good health!
Great chapter, as always.
Red Marker
Thanks Gary, your praise does not fall on deaf ears. Thanks for that and the welcome back too.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another riveting chapter. Terrible job you were assigned to, but thank you to you, and all the others for doing it.
Writing a chapter like this had to be incredibly difficult. I hope your holding up.
Next segment is up tomorrow Mike and then another on Tuesday.
Yes, they are tough but I am powering on through.
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad you’re feeling better, James. Started to worry about you a bit. But, thankfully, you haven’t lost your touch. Great, building chapter!!!
thanks for the meaningful compliment and your care Buck.
Yes, I am back and writing strong…
Semper fi,
Jim
LT I’m glad you are better. I was starting to wonder if I had missed some segments. You take care of yourself. You are more important than the story. Doc’s orders!!
Again another intense segment.
Thanks Doc, for caring and for the advice. I am here and back and the writing will demonstrate that,
but I’m making a few changes as well in other areas.
Semper fi,
Jim
“The fog of war” kept repeating in my mind as I read this tension-filled chapter. Got MY adrenalin rushing, for sure.
James, you have done well. Sure, there are a few minor edits to be made, but I will leave that to others. I commend you not only for being able to get the battle down on paper, but also for living through it so many years ago.
Can’t wait – more, more more!
As one Viet Vet said, who was asked when he was in the Nam…”last night,” was his brilliant and telling answer.
All still in me and I’m getting it out to everyone because I have seen none of much of the real shit written.
Thanks for being a fan and caring as you do…
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back James. Hopefully you have a clean bill of health from the doctors. Please, always keep your own wellbeing foremost.
What an intense episode! …and still the wait for dawn, aircover, and resupply. What will happen in the interim?
Some minor editing suggestions follow:
in spite of some errant projectiles that have caused casualties in our own ranks
Maybe change “have” to “had”
in spite of some errant projectiles that had caused casualties in our own ranks
… However, the end of this installment has “We took no casualties, except for maybe the FNG officer and Nguyen,” the Gunny replied.
So… maybe change “have” to “might have” ??
in spite of some errant projectiles that might have caused casualties in our own ranks
the deadliest field of fire I had ever been a witness to and part of since I’d arrived in country I realized.
“I realized” seems redundant. However, it’s your story.
I heard screams behind me, the screams I knew of Marines and enemy dying together as the attack became fully joined.
Again seems as if friendly casualties occurred; but negated by the Gunny at the end of segment.
when the artillery rounds had fallen short that night no long in the past.
Maybe change “no” to “not so”
when the artillery rounds had fallen short that night not so long in the past.
“Where’s McInerney?” I asked once Hultzer was going
Maybe change “going” to “gone”
“Where’s McInerney?” I asked once Hultzer was gone
“Too late,” I heard before the enemy fifty opened up, and then a single round from the Ontos whooshed by, in response, without any order coming from me.
Hultzer was acting independently, but was he right?
Actually Hultzer was following your order given previously :
“I ordered Fusner to have Hultzer fire at the first flash he might see of the enemy fifty caliber”
bullets splattered into tiny fiery parts, not more than twenty feet above were McInerney’s position had to be.
Maybe change “were” to “where”
bullets splattered into tiny fiery parts, not more than twenty feet above where McInerney’s position had to be
The angle was such, toward the base of Hill 974, that they went right over our heads
Hill 975 IIRC
The angle was such, toward the base of Hill 975, that they went right over our heads
Blessings & Be Well
As always, thank you Dan.
This was a late-night return to the writing desk.
Your suggestions are always spot on.
Semper fi, Jim
Welcome back!
Yes, I am here and thanks for wanting me back!
Semper fi,
Jim