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Thanks for reading this short excerpt from the paid post! Fancy buying it to read all of it?
Don’t write for me. This is your story alone and only yours. You gift us by letting us “attend” to the side. Your story is your story, our stories are and always will be ours. Tell us yours!! Sir
Ah, I am sorry I gave you the wrong idea.
This story is a rendition of what happened so it is about only the men who
served in the valley and what happened through that month.
Thanks for the comment and I hope you understand just how much I appreciate all that you write, and that of the others on here too.
I do write for all of us though, as this is that kind of production…or call it what you want. I would never have written or
finished the thing without your participation and comments on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, May your medical procedure scheduled for Jan 8th be a complete success. May you be restored to robust health – ready to do or not do whatever you please. Sending some healing energy your way. Blessings & Be Well
Thank you for your good wishes.
Complications in scheduling have changed the date to January 26.
Semper fi,
Jim
Was not really prepared for the loss of Sugar Daddy. I realize he had somewhat checkered history but he evidently went out like the warrior he was at heart. Take care Lt…
And now a message from the sponsor
https://www.jetpilots.com/spads-with-a-load
James, May this New Year bring healing to your body and soul. Consider putting off writing until your heart condition is resolved. Your cohort of readers supports your Journey – however long it takes to unfold. Always at your own pace.
Blessings & Be Well
Have to do something during this time of ‘high anxiety,’ so writing might as well be it. How much Netflix
binge watching can one do? Thanks for caring
Semper fi
Jim
is the A-6 flying off a carrier or out of Danang ? need to keep that consistent.
Yes, you are right. I did not really know when I was in the valley…only later.
Semper fi,
Jim
I once thought, back in the day, that that war was winnable. Now I’m not so sure and it no longer matters, anyway.
But I am sure that a political commitment to do so was never found and that we put so many men through what you describe here without an unkillable will to win was a stain on the national honor that can never be erased.
All stains fade over time. Yes, the war was a travesty of bad intent and
downright stupidity but it wasn’t a case where everyone went that way.
Thanks for the comment and the care…
Semper fi,
Jim
Kent…I am sending your words to my representatives in Congress.. Thank you for sharing them with all of us…
Lt, the pain of the loss of your men and Sugar Daddy came through in your writing. The picture of the Marine at the top of the story said it all, ominously, set up from the previous chapter. Looking forward to the finish. Merry Christmas! TJ
Thank you, Tom
A very Blessed Merry Christmas and rewarding New Year to you and yours.
Semper fi,
Jim
We grieve with you, Sir. Your loss is a loss shared by everyone reading this now and in future years. It is sad for me to not know their real names and to give them honor by name, but a treasure was shared with a reader who knows one of your aviators. Praying for you in the new publishing tactic and your prep for treatment soon. Have a blessed Christmas. Poppa J
Thanks so much Poppa, and I have had three other contacts from back in the day plus saw one of the arty officers
who fired for me down in the valley. That was at a reunion. He didn’t want to talk.
Semper fi, and Merry Christmas.
Jim
I have a go fund me site now to help defray expenses if you want see fit to help out there….https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september
Just put a lil something in the go fund me. Pray this works well. Poppa
Thanks Poppa, means the world right now…
Semper fi,
Jim
Sugar Daddy gone ??
27 KIA ??
What an awful hand to be dealt.
And you are almost to the end of your 30 days yourself, LT …..
this has to be getting more and more weighty on you.
One small edit:
“We need to shut that that thing down, and then fire on the ….
Lose a “that”
Thank you, Joel
You are correct regarding the effect.
AND, Thank you for the edit.
Corrected.
Semper Fi,
Jim
Fantastic writing.
It really communicates what battle is like for those who were involved. Thank you for your service, and what must be very difficult times as you relive and put to print the time you spent in the valley.
Thanks Charles for the great compliment.
Much appreciated and Merry Christmas…
Jim
I have a go fund me site now to help defray expenses if you want see fit to help out there….https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september
Is Homan my buddy Jim? I know he flew Intruders over there.
YES, HE MOST CERTAINLY IS!!!
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow. We all share the nightmares from our own time there, but in a strange way a lot of us are really invested in your story and have stuck with in hopes that when you go home, we go home in a way too. Sorry for the ramblings…
Take ten, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.
Thanks for the sentiment in your words and the compliment, as well…
Semper fi,
Jim
To help defray costs of printing, distribution and the time and trouble of running a personal publishing operation, not to mention getting out of here to meet the vets, I have started a GoFundMe Drive. Please consider helping out if you can. Here is the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september
James, have you read Matterhorn by Carl Malantis? In it he describes that you use your best men for the most difficult tasks. Knowing the chance of them getting killed is a possible result. This kept coming to mind as I read the aftermath of the re supply. I shed a few tears for Sugar Daddy tonight.
Thanks Mike, much appreciate the heart and depth if that comment. Yes, I have read Malantis and he’s good.
Semper fi,
Jim
I have a go fund me site now to help defray expenses if you want see fit to help out there….https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september
Amazing, simply amazing. I have no other words.
How does it feel to be so human in the midst of inhumanity? You’ve done well sir, to address that question from a combat perspective. Surely, within your deft accounting of how the flight of the Intruder differed with each pass to circumstance, so too you reveal how loss must and always will be the measure of one’s endurance.
Loss…the eternal catalyst, that every soul ever to dwell here, in this earthly realm, be not forgotten. That every soul, endure.
Even as we with you Lieutenant, stand at the sheer cliff face of your own how…left to stare eye to eye with that seemingly unanswerable, why. Whether slaking your way through a vat of molasses or kicking against the unseen grip of the demons below…you’ve endured every loss by way of your unique how.
And so it is! Even now, I find myself, (as one your many readers) encouraging you to continue onward! For having been shown that no matter the discomforts placed in our path to remind us of our own losses…suffered both in silence and with all, neither should they serve as a measure of how to affix blame!
To endure is to suffer loss. None of us are unaffected.
Yet, it is through your story and it’s telling, that I believe all might gain insight as to why all of us, if not only you, must endure.
If all is fair in Love and War, choose love.
For neither are survivable without certain loss. Choose to use your own inimitable how as means to our own personal revelation of why.
Semper Fi, Jim
And thank you for allowing your readers to deliver your letter… home!
Thanks, as usual Mr. Hayes, for the depth and breadth of your comment. Always great reading.
Semper fi,
Jim
I want to encourage you to finish those last few chapters. The hardest ones. I don’t have the words to do so nor the right. But I know you will, when you can. Hugs, James.
Thanks Kathi, for the compliment and well wishes…and for that contribution too!!!
Merry Christmas,
Jim
Leadership and Command in actual combat are at times the most agonizingly terrible positions to hold.
Jim, thanks for another great chapter!
Thanks a lot Mike,
Much appreciate the compliment,
Semper fi,
Jim
I have a go fund me site now to help defray expenses if you want see fit to help out there….https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september
Only we who have known this can really understand or care.I have tried telling about some of these things, and I seem to have a need too, but when the listener’s eyes betray them , I pull back and I’m lost again. Thank you for story, I’m with you. On a much smaller scale, but similar situation ,I was an enlisted rank (Cpl ) put in squad ldr position on my 1st week in country in the middle of big deadly Op. After awhile, and trying to listen to any and all advice,some good some not so good ,I decided if I was too die,I would take responsibility for my own decisions. As I look back I relive my decisions over and over, what could I have done better, for me and my men. Some how I lived long enough to make Plt Sgt, and make it home to my wife and 1st daughter. Keep up the good work. Semper Fi
Thanks for the oh so meaningful and deep comments about your own experience over there.
Yes, we do relive those decisions over and over for the rest of our lives. Whom would have thought?
I thought I was just getting through and then it would be over one way or the other. Never expected to
have it all remain so fresh and immediately available for more processing!
Semper fi,
Jim
In the ninth or tenth paragraph in the previous chapter Sugar Daddy is quoted as saying he would do his best to get the re-supply unloaded and over to Jurgens’ men. He lived up to his word. Like him or hate him he died a Marine doing his best. That Jurgens got his body off the bridge is testimony enough to the way you galvanized the combany into the a unit. A terrible number in the body count but stay focused. God bless you and your men.
I always appreciate your input, Chuck.
We need to get together this year.
Semper fi,
Jim
Suggestions =
M-60s laying down heavy fire from the load of ammunition that had bee* unloaded from the resupply chopper. [been **]
“You going to tell me?” I asked, noting that this time that* the Gunny wasn’t in a sharing mood with his cigarette. [delete 2nd that*]
“Jurgens got his body off the bridge, which is a story in of* itself,” the Gunny droned on, finally offering his cigarette to me. [delete of*]
mortars set up faster and then adjust fire with Marines I had no idea * might even be able to accept and understand fire direction orders? [if they*]
Losses are adding up but thank goodness for Marine airpower !!
Once again a riveting read James, keep on keepin on !!
SEMPER Fi
As always Sgt Bob, your sharp eyes are so appreciated.
Corrected.
Semper fi,
Jim
that was a hard one for you and the men , your luck is running on a thin line with no support from Bn
That’s a big ‘no kidding’ there Bill. Thanks for paying attention and understanding the situation.
Semper fi,
Jim
Totally and overwhelmingly gripping. Don’t know what else to say about the last four chapters. The comments are as tough to read as the story. Thank You.
Yes, the comments do indeed ad an exclamation point to the segments…thanks for noting and for the compliment…
Semper fi,
Jim
I haven’t written in a while, but I check the site daily and read new chapters a couple times. I will buy Third Ten Days when it is available. This is another descriptive chapter. Getting more tense as we know you are going to be badly wounded and some of the characters aren’t going to make it. I look forward to your recovery story when you get started on that. I like your writing style.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and concern, MSGt.
Semper fi.
Jim
“Every day is a holiday and every meal a banquet” SgtMaj. Albert L. Ross Jr.
Sixth paragraph….. heavy fire from the load of ammunition that had bee unloaded from the resupply chopper.” looks like an “n” dropped off the text in the word “been”.
Most of us put that pain in a closet and try to never look at it much less bring it in to the light. Semper Fidelis.
Your comment is so appreciated and your “catch” has been corrected, Mark.
Semper fi,
Jim
Sugar Daddy was at first and at the last a Marine, doing what needed to be done in spite of the obvious risk. What more can be asked of a combat soldier? Was his medal approved? It was certainly earned! As were many whose deeds were never recorded, much less honored.
A minor edit: “….and I missed Cowboy and his fellow pilots whenever they could not be overheard. ” Should be “overhead”, IMO.
Well, that one slipped by.
Thank you for your observation and support Mike.
Corrected.
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt-
War and battle up close is a MF!
You and your group that survived and the ones that did not survive all have a common theme.
We do what we do as the Integrity of our training and the USA as we know it is what we fight for 🇺🇸
It’s hard but keep “bringing it” and once finished, it’s forward to a new chapter of life 👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Lt- Job Well Done !!!
A GRIEF SESSION TO HONOR THE LOSS IS NEXT FOR YOU AND PRAYERS.
Thanks Chris, you have indeed hit the nail on the head.
The grief sessions never seem to end and the guys are never forgotten.
I suppose that is the way it is supposed to be but it can be hard to accept.
You might see why I am opposed to war so decidedly unless there is literally nothing else.
Semper fi,
Jim
A very moving chapter, and the company was right in feeling sorry for you, instead of blaming you.
One correction for you – Eighth and Eye in in D.C. I used to go there every Saturday and use the range in the basement. Me and my single-shot Remington would take the bus from Falls Church, VA, into D.C. After the range time, still with my Remington, would go to the Smithsonian and browse the Civil War section – a buddy and I had found an previously unknown Southern Calvary site west of Falls Church,
James, for some reason, this particular chapter really struck home. Thank you for getting your memories down on paper for the rest of us – we are with you in heart and mind, if not in body.
Thanks Craig. Very meaningful comment and I read and reread it carefully. What was my mistake using Eighth and “I” you mentioned?
Semper fi,
Jim
It’s crazy, but I’m experiencing a sense of loss over Sugar Daddy’s death. A testament to your writing and storytelling abilities. Keep ‘em comin’….
I share that same feeling. I loved and absolutely hated the guy but still miss his presence in my life.
What is that?
Semper fi,
Jim
One chapter closer to the end. Given the finite 30 days of the title and knowing the overwhelming danger of the situation I am on the edge of my seat.
Press on sir!
Working on the 29th morning now. I’ won’t finish the book before my surgery on the 22nd, but God willing right after I get out of there.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT we all grieve and we all hurt. Thank you for sharing yours.
You are most welcome Terry. Please to still be here to tell the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT, I have been following this from the beginning, thanks to a Marine friend from High School. I have never been in battle or even served but I listened to the stories or rather the experiences of several of my fiends and co-workers who did serve in the A-Shau. After hearing how difficult it was for them to share their experiences I can totally understand your difficulties with proper sentence construction. I hope I never have to find out how that feels! God Bless you and thanks for giving the rest of us a glimpse at what HELL is about. As one friend stated, “you can’t even begin to understand unless you have been there.”
You can begin to understand if you haven’t been there. That’s why I’ve written all this. The next time you
see a vet from that war down a bit you might better understand and share the blessing of still being alive with him.
What a pleasure to be here to be able to write this. We must not go unknowing into the future about how these wars
effect the men and women who have to fight them.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim! the pain of the loss of men resonates deeply in me today as I read this. The A Shau, the Que Son and so many valleys that sucked the life right out of us as humans are to be remembered forever in our souls. I do not envy you writing this as just living with the memories are painful enough. Semper Fi my Brother
Thank you most sincerely Captain. You put so much into the few words you wrote and I am impressed
and really appreciative. Thanks so much.
Semper fi,
Jim
Tears. Yes, there are those. At times, they flow with out warning. I, you and our Brothers, earned those tears and I shed mine with no shame.
stomp the snakes and move one. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, if only. No mater how many times you work it, it ends the same. The tears don’t seem to wash it away.
Fifty five years ago yesterday. I can smell the cordite, that fucking rotten jungle and the blood of my Brothers. One day, we will lay in peace. No more tears.
Hang in there Brother.
No one could describe better what the reality of PTSD is. How it flows through us like
the Bong Song through our very core. Thanks for the depth of this wonderful comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
In Hollywood war films, big, larger-than-life men like Sugar Daddy would make it through. Whatever his faults and flaws, he cared for his men. Can’t fault him there. What a painful loss this is.
Yes, to this day, a mixed up wonder of human under the worst of conditions.
I didn’t like him and he didn’t like me, but we respected one another intensely.
Missed him then and now.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, No matter how much I wish I could physically send comfort & strength to you, as you relive these last nights & days, I cannot. I will continue to send prayers for both. I do believe that your written memories are giving both to untold numbers & for that, you should be very proud. I sincerely hope that somehow, you are included in that number. And the same prayers go for those untold numbers reliving those times & memories. Most sincere regards. Doug
The relief I have received on here has been overwhelming fo rme. It has changed my life.
I am no longer ashamed of my service and I am not alone in what I went through.
I was not as bad as I thought because I do believe the men and women on here who read
the stuff and then comment straight from the heart. I never knew they were there.
I am not the shitbird I thought I was but I have been my own worst critic. Here
I feel at home and in comfort and I cannot tell you how much that hs meant to me.
Semper fi, and thank you for your sensitivity and expression of understanding and knowledge.
Jim
“I share you pain and I know you do mine.
Your brother,”
Well said. It must be incredibly painful to dredge up and disclose to others the true pain and guilt of leadership.
Semper Fi
Bob
It is painful to write the rest of this but I can handle it. My family around me, not so much.
I am not the same when I write the segments and then for awhile after I am not really me either.
I have to be Junior and it’s sort of like the Werewolf thing.
Semper fi,
Jim
It’s painful to read, relive, and feel the those things that we Attempted to wall off 51 years ago in a land far away. To remember things we did, things we asked others to do, and feelings that only a few would understand. So very few can understand what happens to us when we and others we are responsible for are locked in daily struggles that literally end in life or death. The ultimate crapshoot of who lives and who doesn’t. We that returned, build a shield to keep the uncivilized raw us sealed off from those that can not ever understand or relate to
who we were. Yet we can not help but feel quilt for how many incredible gifts we have experienced by having been one of the lucky ones to have had these years that so many have not had.
I can not even imagine how difficult it must be to actually work at recalling that time, what we felt, and who we were. However you are helping so many of us get better at dealing with the quilt and demons we’ve kept buried behind our shields.
Thank You
Simper fi,
Bob
What a wonderfully complex and erudite comment filled with the reality of what it is we were and are now.
How we still are that mix, but nobody but a few really know. Junior is buried deep and I keep him there.
What friends would I have if I allowed him out. Anyway, thanks for that great comment and endearing quality of it.
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt, we continue to pray for you and your Company. Even though this happened so many years ago, your writing style has engaged all of us so much, that it feels like a live report.
We know that with you as the writer, that you made it out. But the outcome of the next couple of days’ chapters has us on the edge of our seats, waiting to see who makes it out with you.
God Bless you for being able to share your life and times. And may He hold those that were lost in his eternal protection.