I huddled in what I had come to consider my cave, a dry place in a wet world of drizzling misery. The bottom of the cave, although consisting of sandy dirt rather than stone, like its walls, was mildly dusty from going many years without being touched by outside moisture, other than the heavy water-laden air always present everywhere in the valley during the monsoon season. I wrote. The stationery, if I could still call it that, was almost too wet to allow my poor quality government pen to write on. The imprinted blue image, in baby blue ink, of Marines raising the flag on Sarubachi, ran if I brushed my hand over it, and the paper itself came apart if I pressed down too hard with the tip of the pen. I wrote about my cave. I didn’t tell my wife it was a cave. I referred to it as my quarters, and my lying descriptions about it were complimentary. I glanced out toward the entrance, nearly hidden by the low light inside the cave’s dusky interior. That portal became a window, for my descriptive purposes. My poncho, thrown across the few inches of dry dirt, was my sheet and the sandy dirt my mattress. I didn’t mind writing the lies at all because, if I made it, however slim my chances, I would be able to make humor of my attempts to not tell her about the reality of life and death down in the A Shau Valley.
I carefully enclosed the somewhat soggy letter into a drier envelope, although simply addressing that paper caused the ink to run a bit, once it was exposed to the moist air. Mailing home for “free,” the word has to printed in the upper left corner of the envelope, had one other undiscussed benefit. I had only written half a page so I’d have to finish the letter later if I had a chance. There was no stamp to attempt to affix to paper that was in no condition to be able to hold it. I placed the envelope in my thigh pocket, buttoned it, and then sat back to consider when the next resupply might be planned and then when it could be arriving.
I carefully withdrew my last two sheets of stationery and one of the remaining Iwo Jima envelopes from the plastic bag I kept it and my wife’s letters in, before resealing it. The moisture could not be avoided in the air but at least the rain itself, when I went back outside, would not destroy the only writing materials I had. My brother had been sent to Yokohama, which probably meant that there was a U.S. Army hospital there. It might not work but if I wrote him a letter and sent it in care of the hospital itself someone on the staff might get hold of it and get it to him. His outfit, the Big Red One, would probably have no further contact with him if the Army was the same as the Marines. Once one of my own men left through evacuation for wounds he was never seen or heard from again, no matter how mild or serious the injury. In movies, I’d seen back in the world that had never been the case. It seemed that Hollywood always portrayed combat units as tightly integrated and the men like brothers, never to lose track of one another again. Once more reality bit deep down in the rain, leeches, Bong Song River, and the North Vietnamese Army inhabiting the bottom of the A Shau Valley. If I was somehow to make it back to the world, then I knew in my heart of hearts that I would never see or hear of any of the Marines I was with again.
I thought about the next resupply, if we could get it, and how it would have to hold us until we were firmly in place up above the escarpment. Without another resupply, what the choppers had brought in previously in ammunition, food and water would have to serve as the only tattered foundations we had for our retreat downriver. Without another resupply, the success of the attack downriver would be more problematic. The Gunny’s act of blowing the bridge, although assuring that the rest of the main body of the NVA across the river would not be able to attack from the flank and be a factor, also assured that there would be no ability available for the companies to go back if some situation called for it and that there would be no relief coming down the valley that would be any use to us if it arrived from that direction. Battalion had been completely deaf to protests about how the only relief likely to have any success in saving us would have to come from the direction of An Hoa and Go Noy Island. My requests, that the companies retreat up the canyon face and back toward the security of An Hoa, had been denied.
Darkness was once again coming. The cave had grown dim, almost too dim to look across its short distance to where the entrance was and see Fusner fiddling with his radio equipment. How the Marine Corps found such young boys, trained them, set them loose in combat, and then had them act like knowledgeable men of technical wisdom time and again under the very worst of circumstance astounded me.
“I need the Gunny, Jurgens, the lieutenants, and Hutzler,” I ordered, not having to raise my voice because the only sounds that reached to the very back of the cave where I’d tossed my pack and spread out my poncho liner were those of river. The water moved in the distance and I could feel its flow through the rock and ground more than I could hear it.
Fusner didn’t use his radio, instead, he leaned half his body out over the edge of the lip of rocks that made up the entry to the cave, and speaking to someone. When he pulled himself back inside he went back to working on his radios.
“Who did you send for them?” I asked, not really caring, but wondering.
“Nguyen, sir,” Fusner replied.
“I thought he didn’t speak English, and you don’t speak Vietnamese, much less the Montagnard dialects,” I said, not entirely mystified but still curious as to what Fusner would say in response.
“I don’t know what you mean, sir,” Fusner came back after a moment.
I sighed out loud. “There’s stuff you know you know, stuff you don’t know, and then there’s the stuff you know you don’t know,” I said, with resignation in my voice.
Talking to Fusner about communications of any sort, I’d decided early on, and that had not changed over time, was like talking to a jittering box of rocks. Sounds came back from the corporal but they weren’t interpretable as any kind of cogent or understandable communications on the subject.
“Yes, sir,” Fusner replied, his expression from across the cave leading me to believe that it was similar to the one of befuddlement I myself felt.
Nguyen returned, his arrival marked by his quickly sticking his head and upper body into the opening Fusner had used my poncho cover to close off. Then Nguyen was gone. He’d said nothing, which was his custom, but I’d gotten the message from his look, which was confirmed when, seconds later, the Gunny, Jurgens, and Hutzler crawled under the poncho and adjusted themselves along the bottom of the cave, only a few feet from where I sat with my back pushed into the relatively smooth rock wall. The pungent smell of ages-old moisture contained inside the body of the rock surfaces surrounding us was faintly bitter but not totally unpleasant. The fact that the leeches didn’t live inside the dry sandy bottom surface of the caves, and mosquitos didn’t like it much either were two more benefits of the place.
The Gunny squatted, pulling out a cigarette, while Jurgens and Hutzler both sat down on the dry loamy surface that made up the floor, the cave being too low to stand inside. The two new lieutenants crawled in next, both going to their knees and pushing a bit back into the poncho cover to avoid being in direct contact with the others. The poncho pattered, its rain-induced sounds somehow able to be heard over the gurgling of the Bong Song River in the distance and between the continuing beats of the mean-spirited drums that had begun sending their dark message as the day turned into night.“There won’t be another resupply,” I said, having come to that difficult conclusion only moments earlier. There was no sense trying to schedule a resupply that could never be put together in time to help. The companies had to move and they had to move quickly.
There was no reaction from the collected group in front of me. I waited a few seconds, the cave lit dimly by the flashlight I carried, with its lens buried partially in the sand to allow us all to have some ability see without any of us being blinded.
“We don’t have the time for any choppers to come in, and we probably couldn’t defend them in such a free fire open landing zone, not to mention the likelihood that command wouldn’t allow them to undertake the mission anyway. The bridge’s been blown so that avenue of retreat if we might have chosen to use it, is closed forever.”
I didn’t mention that the blowing of the bridge had been done by the Gunny in an action made out of his own volition and judgment. The blowing of the bridge left both companies revealed for what we were; sitting ducks or trapped rats.
We only had one direction to go, and although I’d never have planned to travel back over the bridge I’d rather have had the option, or at least let the enemy assume we had the option. That the enemy units on the other side of the river might attack over that bridge had been unlikely, at best, since one M-60 machine gun, aimed down the length of the bridge would completely decimate any force on the trying to cross over the bare expanse of its exposed superstructure. “What’s the plan?” Jurgens asked.
“I don’t like it,” the Gunny whispered, between puffs of thick smoke he’d been blowing toward the side of the cave where Fusner lay with his radio hugged into his side.
“You don’t like what?” I asked, in surprise. I hadn’t even mentioned the plan, much less, and details about what it might be.
“I don’t like the fact that we’ve been ordered to stay here by battalion, to await relief, although no relief can possibly reach us, and we’ve been denied permission to do exactly what it looks like our only option is to do,” the Gunny said.
I was baffled by his comment. He’d blown the bridge, assuring that any relieving force coming down the valley, even if it survived getting past Hill 975 in one piece, could not get to our side of the river to relieve us, or even help us without a lot of heavy equipment to rebuild a crossing or a whole fleet of helicopters to transport the number of Marines it would take to reinforce our position.
“Okay, then what’s your advice?” I asked, splaying out my hands in front of me.
“I’m worried that we’ll attack down this damned valley all over again, make it up to the top of the rim, get back to the island, and then get court-martialed for disobeying orders if we make it.”
I was surprised. The last time the Gunny had mentioned being court-martialed we’d laughed out loud at the possibility of such an event happening. Neither then, nor now, were the forces in the rear with the gear; battalion, regiment, or even the division, going to pull anyone in the unit out to be sent to Okinawa for a general court-martial. I knew the Gunny was serious, however, and I also realized that things had changed significantly over the course of only one month. We’d beaten the enemy back time after time, under almost hopeless circumstance each time. The Gunny, like Sugar Daddy and Jurgens, had demonstrated with their newfound interest in being nominated for personal decorations, was beginning to believe that he might live, after all, and if he did, what the ramifications might be for his career or reputation.
“Moot,” I replied.
“The question doesn’t call for an answer unless you want to stay right here until we’re worn away, run out of ammo, food and everything else until finally we get overwhelmed by who and what you know is out there and coming to do that.” I put my arms down, my shoulders slumping a bit while I waited for a reply.
“We have two companies,” the Gunny said, choosing to ignore the issue he himself had raised. “If we’re going high diddle up the middle then what do we do with Kilo company?”
“We did the middle last time, although we came up both sides of the jungle before that,” I said slowly, realizing that I was not going to be able to logically lay out the plan I’d formed, so much as distributing it piecemeal in answer to questions that, although relevant, were all covered by the plan.
“We’re not going up the middle. We’re going downriver under the cover of the eastern lip of the wall, with the Ontos in the lead, its rifles pointed over into the thick of the jungle. Kilo’s going to attack along the river as they go, moving fast more than attempting to contact or respond to contact with the enemy. We ourselves will move down about four or five hundred meters along the path and then act like a firebase to suppress fire while Kilo makes its transit. The 175s will soften things up before anyone moves, and then I’ll hold them in reserve to fire when Kilo’s down and hopefully climbing the glacis, and we’re working our way along toward it, hugging the lower edges of the wall.”
“What happens to us, once Kilo’s down there, the NVA realizes that, and their full angry attention shifts to us?” Jurgens asked.
There was a brief silence. I waited.
“The 175s again,” the Gunny answered finally, his voice low, before flicking his lit cigarette against the side surface of the cave wall. “While we move along the bottom of the cliff the 175s drop in on the jungle, and, if we’re lucky, none of them get close enough to us to cause casualties, which gives us about twenty minutes to make it all the way downriver. That’s not enough time.”
“I have two-zone fire applications planned and ready to go,” I replied. “The firebase has the rounds and will red bag us all the way, including repeating another zone once we make it up the glacis in the morning, and that’s just before Cowboy comes back with reinforcements and Homan roams overhead to get us all the way back to the island.”
“Okay,” the Gunny replied, his tone one of mollification. “That might work. What do we do to prepare to support Kilo? Our firebase will have to move along with them once they get to the river.”
“We make a brief run along the cliff downriver and then stop to provide as much accurate fire as we can. Then the 175s do their first bit of work. Kilo crosses to the river the instant the last round comes in. The enemy will take a bit to recover. Once Kilo’s across the open area, and they’re a good distance down along the bank, we move on our side continuing to draw the enemy’s fire.”
“Have you got one of those cute names for this operation?” Jurgens asked.
I’d been waiting for the question, although I’d expected to have it asked by Fusner.
“Hopalong Cassidy,” I replied.
“What’s that?” Jurgens came back.
“Who is that, sergeant,” Fusner answered, from behind him. “He’s a great cowboy hero on Saturday morning television.
“Figures,” Jurgens replied.
The Gunny nodded his head.
“Complicated,” he said. “Simplicity usually works better, but then I’m the one who blew the bridge. I thought it’d make things simpler but I was wrong. I should have let you know first. Let’s get to it.”
I was shocked.
The Gunny had never admitted he was wrong about anything before, much less doing so in a backhanded sort of apology.
“Can you jury rig a round to take out the machine when we go?” I asked, knowing what his answer would be, but still, I felt the question had to be asked.
“Aye aye, sir,” Hutzler said. “I’ll miss the little beast, though.”
“Yeah, me too,” I replied, relieved that by saying what he’d said that there’d be no problems from him or his men in abandoning the vital piece of equipment that had helped keep the company alive through so many contacts with the enemy.
Only Fusner and Nguyen were left in the cave with me. I had hoped the Gunny would stay and we might talk. I missed the time he’d spent helping me to survive to the point I’d survived but I also knew, with a sinking sensation, that he was coming to treat me like a real company commander. And that meant I was to be left alone.
I had Fusner give the signal to begin our movement downriver. The first part, the part where we moved forward and then stopped to establish the firebase, would be touchy, and if it failed Kilo company would be cut down before it ever got to the river. I knew from the past, however, that the NVA, for whatever reason, did not act quickly after being hit. Their counter-attacks were always slow in coming although ferocious when it came to risking and expending men when it finally came.
The Ontos churned forward with its usual grinding growl, getting in position to head downriver, it’s small engine laboring mightily as it acted more like a combined blender and lawnmower, eating up the jungle gathered under it as it pushed through pile after pile of old and new leaves, fronds and branches of floral debris. The path located alongside the cliff wall wasn’t wide enough for the full width of the machine’s compact but stodgy girth, leaving one track to pull smoothly on the bare path while the other ground away at the very edge of the jungle. The six barrels of the recoilless rifles weren’t pointed straight ahead, instead, they were angled over toward the body of the triple canopy jungle, ready to strike any position the NVA chose to fire from because fire they certainly were going to before the company reached the lower part of the canyon wall that was scalable.
In the attack downriver I would move behind the Ontos with Jurgen’s platoon out in front. There were no FNG replacements in Jurgen’s platoon, so each and every casualty, if the platoon took casualties, would consist of vital combat veterans who had been with the company for some time. I, like the rest of my Marines, would be tucked in as close to the overhang that ran along the bottom of the rock wall as possible, while being out from under the lip enough to make decent speed in getting downriver as quickly as possible.
The drums played from atop the eastern rim of the ridge, and the deep beating sounds would follow us through the night, I knew, since there were no supporting fires I could call that close to the lip of the cliff’s edge that might not end up falling into the valley down where we were exposed and moving.
There was no point in covering or supervising the laying down of the base of fire. I waited in the cave for our real attack downriver to begin, fearful that this attack would be much more about taking hits rather than giving them.
I took the time I had to finish the letter to my wife, as I waited to call in the artillery. Midnight, without a moon, and in the never-ending mist, would be the time to execute the call, giving me about half an hour. The firebase would open up in minutes. The artillery zone fire would last about twenty minutes, give or take. When the artillery fire mission was over Kilo would make its rush to the river, and then head down along the eastern bank of hard mud, while, at the same time, our company would begin its initial attack before setting in place to lay down heavy machine gun fire and blow as many rounds of 106 millimeters recoilless into the jungle as we could afford, leaving only a few to make a stand at the base of the glacis later in the night. The Ontos would have to be blown to pieces never to be used again, although neither I nor any under my command, I was certain, would be wanting to return to the A Shau under any circumstances. The enemy wasn’t likely to have any kind of a supply of the very specialized recoilless rounds the rifles required, but still, the Ontos would have to be destroyed.
I wondered, in the writing of the letter, if it would be the last letter I wrote home. I’d wondered that so many times, but in writing along the way I hadn’t been a veteran of the conflict. My terror had subsided over time, with respect to confronting the enemy, but a colder analytical reality of tempered fear had set in to replace it. I paused in the writing, only getting as far as jotting my wife’s name down on the damp but serviceable stationery. What could I write? I put the pen back to paper and wrote about the valley in the night. I included the drums, knowing that she would not get the deadly intent that drove the enemy to beat them as continuously as they could, but that was okay. I wrote of the river, it’s high-speed current passing, making sounds disturbing but also vaguely comforting. The Bong Song was the core artery that passed right through the center of the valley, and no life, fauna or flora, could ignore it or fail to depend on it for life and sustenance. The rains would come and go but the river would always be there. I finished the letter by indicating that I was leaving the field of actual combat and heading to a rear area where I would likely remain for the rest of my thirteen-month tour. I stopped, as I came to signing my name. A year to go. How could I possibly spend another full year in such a place? How had soldiers and Marines spent four or more years going from one conflict after another in Europe, and then across the ocean to fight in the orient?
I sealed the letter and tucked it away in my thigh pocket, my hand accidentally grasping the container of morphine I carried with me. I hadn’t had to use any of the opiates for some time, but somehow I felt that that time might be over. There was no way the companies could go through the kind of gauntlet the enemy had to have prepared for us without taking heavy casualties. So far, the company’s actions to survive against superior forces reminded me of what Joe Louis had said about engaging another fighter who was more adroit and quicker than he was: “He can run but he can’t hide.” We had run but we could not hide forever, and that included staying in the same place where we were right now.
“Ready with the fire mission request, sir,” Fusner said quietly, as if not wanting to disturb me. Even Fusner was treating me like a real company commander and it was making me uncomfortable.
I nodded once, then closed my eyes and breathed in and out deeply while I waited. Of all my plans, this one had to work or we were all dead.
“Shot, over,” Fusner intoned, waiting into the silence, as the rounds left the barrels of the guns, and crossed the more than twenty miles through the air to strike the jungle down in our part of the valley.
“Splash,” Fusner said, and then both of us counted off the five seconds to impact in our heads, waiting for the explosions to begin. I knew all the Marines under my command, or the command of the other two lieutenants would be okay, as long as everyone was safely tucked under the bottom curl of stone that lined the lower edge of the canyon wall. The 175s were inaccurate at the distance they were firing but there was no way an eastern deflection error could cause much in the way of damage to anywhere we were. The Army firebase, so far away, was firing across the distance using an arc that had to intersect the top of the ridge if the rounds were too low, which meant only the enemy drummers, beating away on their fifty-gallon drums might be at any real risk, and that thought was not unsatisfying.
The explosions shook the floor of the cave and brought hidden dust and small bits of stone and embedded shells down from the ceiling of the cave. Nguyen, Fusner and I crouched low, knowing the rounds, and their terrible shrapnel and expanding concussive envelopes, could not reach inside the cave, but fearful nevertheless. The 175s were nowhere near as powerful as the thousand-pound bombs either the A-6 Prowler or Skyraiders could drop, but in the night, with nothing but the drifting mist, no moonlight and the beating drums playing their short but deadly sounds, they seemed just as mighty and dangerous as the bigger ordnance the planes delivered.
The rounds continued to come in. I’d spent some time letting the two new lieutenants know what they had to do, which was almost nothing. Kilo company was made up mostly of combat veterans, with a small supply of FNGs, like our own company. The two lieutenants fell into the FNG classification, although, having lasted a few days and still being alive, would become veterans if they made it only another week, or so. The existing veteran Marines in the company would catch on extremely quickly to what had to be done and would take no time at all in moving downriver, even under fire, and they’d need no direction or leadership to do so.
It was time. Fusner and Nguyen waited at the opening, Fusner having rolled the poncho cover back up neatly and reattached it to my pack.
I looked around the cave, sweeping my flashlight all around the interior. I would miss the cave, no matter where we ended up as a company. Having private and safe quarters wouldn’t be something I’d take for granted ever again if there was to be an ‘again.’
I stepped out into the wet night, the rain coming down lightly in the night, the drums beating their deadly intent and flashes of fire coming from the cracking automatic discharges from our M-60 machine guns. Kilo had to be making its rush for the river, although nothing could be seen. I drew the sweetly putrid smell of jungle into my lungs, made my way behind Fusner and Nguyen down the path to where the Ontos waited, wondering fleetingly how the wildly brutal ‘stage play’ of shattering life around me had come to be my home.
You had used the Army to resupply before, why couldn’t you get a supply drop from the Army this time around? Even if it was a LAPES drop. Been looking forward to finish of the 30 days since you hooked me on the story on day one. Keep up the good job, LT.
Needed evacuation more than supply. By the time we hit the wall we simply had to get up it and there was no fire base at the bottom that would protect us.
Thanks for the timely comment. LAPES drops were well planned and rare, at least for us.
Semper fi,
Jim
Hey Jim. Glad you’re feeling better. I have a question. Did all this happen before 68? I looked at a map and the abandoned airfield by hill975 isn’t far from where the battle of Hamburger Hill was fought. Right now, I’m trying to figure out what way you are headed based on the map I’m looking at. Makes it easier to visualize. Been enjoying the story for over a year now. Semper Fi brother,
We are heading directly south down to where the most accessible part of the canyon, for climbing down our out of is located.
East is the wall along which we are proceeding and the Bong Song is to the west while Hill 975 is to the north across the river.
Semper fi,
Jim
Lt-
My year in the Bush had some intense moments.
NOTHING compares to your Mission.
I heard A Shau was bad news but you lived it!!!
199th/1st Cav
11B40-Grunt 69/70
Keep it coming.
Chris
Made it through, true, but never have forgotten what the Gunny said: “You died down in this Vally. What is coming out isn’t you anymore,
but somebody else entirely.” I didn’t truly understand that until I was out of the hospital and back home…with a wife telling me exactly the
same thing and having to accommodate this new husband returning all over again.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you James. Another great chapter! I hope you are well.
Glad to have you back. I know personally that it’s has to be the right time to open up. Glad you can take us on your time there.
Since your last chapter we lost Dan Griffin, he was so very anxious that the story would end and he wouldn’t have it to look forward to. He is the veteran that gave this old vet the heads up and put me on to your story early on.
I’m much the same anxious for the next chapter but apprehensive about the end.
Thank you for your dedication to share this story!
RIP Dan Griffin
So sorry to lose Dan and so happy he loved the work. I tried to get back after the heart surgery but could not quite manage it.
Then my friend Chuck asked me to use the go fund me thing to gain interest and man oh man did that do it. I am totally motivated.
Why would the money mean so much? Because contributions come across as belief in my and what I’m doing (https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september).
Thanks for the great comment and the sad smile I must smile at losing Dan…and the thanks I pray up toward him…and you.
Semper fi,
Jim
So glad you have regained your health and are safe enough to proceed with the final five installments. Just as you never saw your wounded again, I was accepting that you might never return to this onerous task. Welcome back. The Go Fund me is a great idea. I hope the spirit of paying forward is with your followers here.
Bob, the go fund me (https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september) has reinvigorated me and has me writing like crazy again
like I cannot believe, especially in this virus influenced time.
Thanks for the comment and the care and the compliment of your writing.
Semper fi,
Jim
I hope that you will compile all of these into on book when you finish the last day. I would like to read it from the beginning to the end as a completed novel. Thanks and good luck with the rest of the story.
Thank you for your support, Larry
Because of length, the journey will be published in three separate books.
Fat Books are not as popular as in the past.
The first Two are available in Autographed Paperback and Hardcover,
with a discount available on Third Ten Days, when published.
Here is a link to First Two
30 Days Has September, First and Second Ten Days
You mentioned being supported by the A6 “Prowler”. The Prowler is an electronic warfare plane. Are you sure it wasn’t the A6 Intruder?
Yes, it was the Intruder. I never knew what it was when I was down there, except I knew it was an A-6 and one hell of a ground support aircraft when
flown by someone like Jim Homan.
Semper fi,
Jim
James – I hope I haven’t missed it but how’s your health? Apparently well enough that you can “continue to march”! As we have aged it’s strange to get a hold on the fact that we survived Vietnam, but our inevitable end cannot be far off regardless. April 20th was the 53rd “anniversary” (there HAS to be a better word, but one escapes me at this moment) that 9 out of the 11 men in my squad were killed or wounded – the only 2 “unscathed” were myself and another Marine. The next day (April 21, 1967) FoxCompany in my battalion walked in to an estimated 500 NVA and suffered 29 KIA and 90 WIA (give or take) in one bloody day. How the HELL any of us survived that war I still can’t understand…….maybe we didn’t. This journey you have led us all on has been riveting, terrifying, amazing, unbelievable, exhilarating, depressing and inspiring all at the same time. You, your men and your story makes me proud all over again to be a “Marine” and a Vietnam veteran….proud and thankful to ALL our brothers and sisters in all branches who served. So continue to march, Lieutenant……..we are all behind you! Semper Fi………..
Why is my comment above still awaiting moderation?
Thank you for your support and comment, Gary.
It is heartwarming to have your input and that of so many ‘fans’
I have been slow in getting caught up on these comments and writing another soon to be posted Segment.
There are =currently 94 comments in the queue.
I am working slowly.
Semper fi, Jim
Your too polite! How can so many critique your work from deep in The Valley where you have taken us? BTW, “FREE” was supposed to be printed where the stamp would normally go!😉
You are exactly correct Bob, about the ‘free’ thing on envelopes. Thank you for that.
Semper fi,
Jim
Great to see that you are doing well Lieutenant, worried about you.
One thing, in this latest installment :
“Mailing home for “free,” the word has to printed in the upper left corner of the envelope…”
As I recall, the word FREE needed to be printed on the upper right corner of the envelope, in the same place a stamp would would normally be affixed, the upper left corner of the envelope being reserved for my return address.
Thank you for pressing on to finish this book! My viewpoint was different, being on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf doing our best to supply close air support for you.
VF194 USS TICONDEROGA 1966 1968
Yes it was in the right corner in looking at it directly. I got that wrong because my brain is not properly wired…or maybe it was the
stuff they gave me for the operation….
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you for describing so well the intimate work required in a personal shift from a position of conscious terror put up against your own survival to that of conscious resignation that any one of us (but especially the men under your command down the A Shau) might never again be granted another moment in which to write soft lies to their loved ones.
Rare are the moments when our focus on survival goes beyond that of our own person to the level recognized only by those other than ourselves. Leadership will always hold higher office than command. Your men may have obeyed your command despite holding a grudge…they were, after all, marines. Yet, to recognize your command by admitting to their own faults is a much higher compliment…one that acknowledges leadership beyond command!
Well done Lieutenant!
And in case you think any of your readers might still have missed it…your recognition of those who’d dare to risk it all to fight and die at your side, continues to this very day!
Thanks D.D. Hayes the consummate writer and teller of truths sometimes too uncomfortable to read….I understand.
Thanks for putting this wonderful comment up here on this site and the compliments, as well.
Semper fi,
Jim
So glad to see a new chapter Lt. The tension is rising and set for one hell of a ending. I can’t express enough my appreciation for the sacrifice you and your fellow Marines made in that hellish valley. I fully support your effort and will gladly make a contribution. Semper fi.
Thanks Tim, it is good to read your comment at this particular time. Thank you for writing it up on here for all to see…
Semper fi
Jim
I’ve been looking lately to see if I missed a new installment. Just two nights ago I rechecked your website. To see an email today, not about “The Cat” or any of your other books, but about “30 Days” was the answer my searching was looking for. Thank you for coming back to focus on this cliffhanger. I’m afraid that word may be more appropriate as we prepare for what unfolds in the next segment. All the best.
Whom would ever have thought the I started this series of books, certainly not me, that they would become so timely in describing what it is like to have
to struggle through brutal survival times? thanks for the timely comment and for writing it on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Enjoyed! Thank You Sir.
thanks so much David, means a lot to me…
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks, JIm.
What a welcome relief to see you have posted another episode in this compelling saga.
We ghost soldiers are still here slogging along with you and your real men down in the A Shau valley.
Your writing has really captivated–and enlightened me…to better understand what a lot of guys my age went through over there.
With ya till the end, LT.
I am totally motivated and terrifically supported by the men and women from here who have contributed to the go fund me campaign that I started. I was unaware that I needed
such emotional support, as I am constantly thinking I can make it on my own no matter how difficult the circumstance. Even down in that valley though, I was terribly
in need of support, even when it came to the point where it did not seem so, as you will read in this next segment tomorrow or
Sunday. Thanks for the care and for writing like you just did on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Good to see you back Lt. Another great chapter, sounds like pucker time for your marines. I always look forward to reading each chapter, you write is so well just what life in the valley was to those who were there.
You take care, I will await the next chapter.
Thanks ssgt, much appreciate the kind comment and the fact that you made it on here.
I am hard at work this night and half way through the next segment. Just took a break to reply to one of the many many comments here…
Semper fi,
Jim
51 years ago yesterday I got my ticket punched for my trip out of the A Shau. I got Medevaced out on the battalion commander’s Loach. I often wonder if the NVA soldier that shot me survived the war. It was a terrible place to be no matter which side you were on.
I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for the NVA,
underground like wet rats and always knowing that our supporting fires were absolutely murderous and everywhere above.
Thanks for writing and enjoying the work.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for your continuing effort on finishing this book. Your explicit details draws me into your story. It also confirms my belief that the battle with this current virus cannot truly match those of war in this country. As a seasoned healthcare worker, I can say that no matter what we face at work, we are still able to return to our homes, tv, pizzas & family. Some of the younger workers should read your book or that of Vietnam nurses. Also, the healthcare workers in Afghanistan would be happy to trade places with people in NYC. It is all about perspective & experience. I don’t fear the virus, but the loss of freedom. Keep up the good work!
Thanks most sincerely Cathy.
Yes, that kind of war that I fought, and others have followed me in fighting, cannot compare.
But that’s all right.
One can never expect the uninitiated or the inexperienced to understand…
any more than they did when they first came down into the valley I discuss so often and intensely in my books.
Thanks for your work, your care, your attention and the compliment of your writing
about it on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
An incredibly powerful story I read in 1983. Until then I had no idea what the nurses went through every day.
Available on Amazon in paperback or kindle.
Home before Morning: The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam Reprint Edition
by Lynda Van Devanter (Author)
Lynda Van Devanter served as the National Women’s Director of the Vietnam Veterans of America. She counseled other Vietnam veterans and conducted seminars around the country. Coping with ill health since her tour of duty in Vietnam, she died in November 2002 at age fifty-five.
BZ James! Looking forward to the next installment. Stay healthy my friend.
Thanks for writing to keep me going…
Semper fi,
Jim
Once again move, but this time with a plan to blow the ever loving Ontos !!?? That had to hurt !!
Glad you’re healing LT, keep ’em coming.
SEMPER Fi
The Ontos made itself beloved by every Marine it served, and serve it did. What a wonder of a small
tracked machine and what a mechanical wonder. Everything on it worked all the time every time and that was
in the worst of circumstance. Like the Starlight Scope. It was damn near indestructible…
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back James… you were missed. Donation sent.
Best,
Bill, Innkeeper 3A
Every comment I make is delayed, awaiting moderation .,,,
Was it something I said ? Lol !
No, it is just that I get that many comments and like to answer each one myself.
Sorry, but the experience here is not something in the books or standard in any way.
My apologies.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks most sincerely, Bill and for the contribution a hand salute. I hope not to disappoint
and I much appreciate the depth of the intent of your comments.
Semper fi,
Jim
Tense moments…you definitely pulled my “pucker string” and took me right to the cliff’s edge again. Your writing reflects the changes in your command. Mostly subtle, but still noticeable…like the Gunny living you alone and not sharing coffee with you anymore…and his apology!!! Very unGunny like…but I think that he is realizing his attachment to you and probably is trying to distance himself should something happen so the loss would not be so great…anyway, I anxiously await the next segment.
Thanks Mark, a very interesting and deeply thought out comment. Funny thing about command, the loneliness of it.
Not expected and not part of any training. It just happens.
Semper fi, and thanks for the great comment.
Jim
“Who’s that sergeant,” Fusner answered
“Who’s that, sergeant?” Fusner answered etc
Noted and corrected.
Thank you, Michael.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, And so the ending begins. And you carry us along. It seems, that maybe, since the beginning, you added our “weight” to your pack, as you re-lived these days, these memories again. Perhaps some of that “weight” has been lightened for you, or maybe just re-arranged, to make that load just a bit easier to carry. I hope so. I also hope that our “weight” – your readers, the men from that time, men from this time, military & non-military alike, families of those who did & did not return & so many others – that this “weight” & your desire to finish this journey & not let “anybody down”, does not overwhelm. Do not let it. You have given so much – of you & your men – is remarkable. You continue to honor these men – honor yourself – by forcing yourself to relive these days – these horrors – these days when “regular Joe’s” accomplished things that no one would ever want to do – never have to endure – and that, it seems, most of the country would rather just forget. Thank you. Doug
The go fund me site has been terrific. https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september
It has been a great help in letting up on some of that weight and allowing me to look forward not to finishing the books
and then getting out there on the road this fall to meet as many of the ‘guys and gals’ as I can.
Thanks for pointing out the burden of memory and its revelation as you have read along here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad you’re back. Great chapter, preparing us for whatever’s coming. On another note, I’m extremely skeptical about trusting sending money over the web. Could you give me an address where I could send you a check to help with your efforts.
My address is 507 Broad Street, Lake Geneva, Wi 53147 and I cannot thank you enough for asking. What a great uplifting body
of support the go fund me site has been and the contributions of wonderful people like you.
Thank you for deep down…
Semper fi,
Jim
Great writing LT – wow – I’m gonna have to go walk to wear the tension off.
Thanks for the great compliment here Larry. Much appreciated and felt, as well as putting it up on this site for everyone to read.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, as usual a captivating segment. I have to save each installment to be read with no interruptions. Yours and other books of this type should be required reading for our high school students to hear and learn the real cost of war in mental and physical pain. Thank You for this segment. USN 71-75
We can do this nice and easy or we can do this nice and rough, Tina Turner mentioned in performing the Proud Mary song.
High schools do not lend themselves to the ‘rough’ thing, which is unfortunate, because so much of life can be so rough.
Thanks for the thought though and the compliment of your mentioning it here.
Semper fi,
Jim
And the tension builds. I can almost feel it in your narrative. It is good to read your words again. You deliver the feeling of total situational awareness that I felt for 19 months in the mid 60’s. Years before I decided to go to OCS.
Thanks for writing on here like you frequently do Glenn. Always good to read your words and think about them.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you Jim, to say I have been waiting patiently would be a lie, I have been anxious to find out what was next. I did realize you were down and recovering so that tempered my feelings and gave me reason to pray for your recovery. As always, I feel the tension of your situation and marvel at your ability to think – both in planning the next moves, and to keep your wits about you under this incredible situation. If it were not for the fact that you are writing this – I would have little hope of your surviving the A Shau.
Thank you
Thanks so much Christopher. I must admit, strange as it is, that the go fund me site (https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september) contributions have
motivated me beyond what I would have believed. I think I suffered some depression after the heart surgery but I am fully back now and waiting the next segment as soon as I am done with these comments…
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back, you have been missed. I can hear your frustration in mapping out a plan to move the companies. Can’t stay where you are and only one option on where to head, all the while knowing that you are damned if you do move and damned if you don’t. With your commanders in the rear telling you to stay put and wait for reinforcements you know can’t come, and those commanders totally oblivious to what is really happening in the field. Once again, your writing puts us totally in the mix, without the risk, and churns our stomach. Good call, making the move. Your Marines knew that, too.
Thanks for the great compliment. These three books have been so detailed, but even with the detail I have had to leave out so much
about the smaller things, like setting up to communicate using those radios and antennas, how the combat net worked in near opposition to
the arty net, how uniforms decayed and were replaced along with boots and more. The food, the water, some of which I’ve covered, and so on.
Thank for liking the work and sticking with me.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’ve been waiting for this, although it gives me conflicting feelings. The anticipation for each new section is such that once you release a new one , anything Im doing at the moment gets put down so I can immediately read the new material. With that comes the realization that each new section brings us closer to the end and soon the story, and our journey with you, will be over.
Thank you so much. I hope you will ‘continue the journey’ as you put it, with the coming of the first chapter of The Cowardly Lion…when I came through the medical system fo the time and then was assigned to work with Nixon at the Western White House in San Clemente. The odyssey will continue, if you have the time and want to take the trouble to read on…
Semper fi,
Jim
Well worth the wait!
In the third paragraph, you used “stationery” correctly, but twice more in the text it became “stationary”.
Than you for your sharp eyes.
Corrected.
Semper fi, Jim
Thanks for continuing the saga. I anxiously await the next
Thanks for the compliment written into your request for more.
Semper fi,
Jim
James: I am drawn into your story,as if I were there. I smell the smell,hear the sounds,feel the rain and know the tension. I’m living it as I read so not able to offer editorial advice,as Dan C. has.I anxiously await more of your story. You see it is your story,it is who you are. Thank you for sharing with us. God bless brother👍🇺🇸
Thanks so much for that compliment and for your conclusion that the story really is me…it is, but everyone won’t see it that way.
There’s more and its coming at you…as requested.
Semper fi,
Jim
“Welcome back” Even though you never left. Just sending some appreciation. Thank you.
Got the appreciation and thanks for sending it my way.
Semper fi,
Jim
OJT is paying off, you’re getting the hang of this commanding
Yes, it came slow and hard won…but what did I really win? I lived but so many did not and not to feel that
when you are the leader is a bitch. I am okay now but it is still tough stuff to write.
Thanks for sticking with me and saying what you are saying on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
I am ready to make the dash,Sir!
Okay, because here it comes!
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for another great chapter, James.
You are most welcome Mike and I will continue this afternoon, as we approach the end of this book and the start of the next one (The Cowardly Lion).
Semper fi,
Jim
Great story. One typo: stationary should be stationery
Got it and thanks for being one of my editors. Don’t know what I would do without guys like DanC and you.
Semper fi,
Jim
A rough morning ahead ! And a hopefully good outcome for all the men .
The outcome in combat is almost never ‘good.’ Maybe in the movies. When I saw Saving Private Ryan I much appreciated the hard
display of combat moving in from that awful beach. When Tom Hanks gets to the top however the commander there asks him how many men in his company made it.
We all saw what Hanks went through, but somehow he only lost a few men? No chance. He would have lost most of his men. Reality is hard-biting and not filled with
a lot of truth after….
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad to see you back!
I am back and writing away. The go fund me site has helped motivate me a huge amount (https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september).
So has the comment section here, of which you are a part. I cannot think you enough.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks, James. I hope you are well in WI.
I am okay and thanks for asking, especially on here where everyone sees our communications
Semper fi,
Jim
Wow, James. I can really feel the tension. Many thanks for posting this. Not knowing what lies ahead but still going forward doing the best that can be done under the circumstances. Also seems apt for today’s new reality.
Some minor editing suggestions follow:
Marines raising the flag on Sarubachi,
Internet searches all spell it as Mount Suribachi
Mailing home for “free,” the word has to printed in the upper left corner of the envelope
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=17111
Item 4 (b) says upper right hand corner
Once more reality bit deep down deep in the rain, leeches
Seems like an extra “deep”
Maybe “Once more reality bit down deep in the rain, leeches”
OR “Once more reality bit deep down in the rain, leeches”
I thought about the last resupply, if we could get it,
Context seems to be future resupply
Maybe substitute “next” for “last”
I thought about the next resupply, if we could get it,
that there would be no ability of the companies to go back
Minor: “of” reads smoother to me as “for”
that there would be no ability for the companies to go back
Gunny, Jurgens, and Hutzler crawled under the poncho and adjusted themselves along the bottom of the cave., only a few feet from
Extra period after “cave”
Gunny, Jurgens, and Hutzler crawled under the poncho and adjusted themselves along the bottom of the cave, only a few feet from
“Complicated,” he said. Simplicity usually works better,
Add a quote before “Simplicity”
“Complicated,” he said. “Simplicity usually works better,
Their counter-attacks were always slow in coming although ferocious when it came to risking and expending men when finally came.
Maybe add “it’ before “finally”
Their counter-attacks were always slow in coming although ferocious when it came to risking and expending men when it finally came.
could call that close to lip of the cliff’s edge that might not end up falling into the valley
Maybe add “the” before “lip”
could call that close to the lip of the cliff’s edge that might not end up falling into the valley
The two lieutenants into the FNG classification, although, having lasted a few days
Maybe add “fit” before “into”
The two lieutenants fit into the FNG classification, although, having lasted a few days
Hang in there. Blessings & Be Well
I cannot imagine doing this work all the way through without you…and I don’t even know you. It’s like having Fusner right there behind my shoulder, not only operating
a radio like a wizard but able to to just about anything else he was asked to do…
Thank you does not quite get it.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for the new chapter I was afraid I lost you, glad to see ya back, thanks again and be safe ✌️🇺🇸
Coming strong Carroll, and the go fund me campaign has helped me be that strong right now as I head toward the finish line, and then
move to the first book of the series afterwards…
Thank you,
Semper fi,
Jim
I too was worried you might not be able to finish this book and deal with those memories. I salute you sir ,and please continue. Today’s young men need to know what that war was like. God bless and keep you sir.
I appreciate your comment, Howard.
Please share these stories with many who may benefit.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome Home James
Thanks very much Bruce, it is, indeed, good to be here!
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim,
Good to see another episode get posted.
Needs to be told…
Thanks…we in your ghost army are once again “on the move” with your real men.
Continue to wish good things for you in the “here and now”, and continued recovery for you, LT.
Thanks Walter. Go fund me helped bring me back too, not just this site. https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september
Funny how the contributions people have made have translated into emotional meaning inside me.
Semper fi
Jim
James, a very nice job of painting pictures with words. Read, close my eyes, and see the scene. Good job. Semper fi
Thanks for the neat compliment Joe, got it and appreciate it…
Semper fi,
Jim
“Complicated,” he said. Simplicity usually works better, but then I’m the one who blew the bridge. I thought it’d make things simpler but I was wrong. I should have let you know first. Let’s get to it.
Needs quotation marks before Simplicity.
Thanks. Have been waiting for this. Hope all is well!
Thanks for waiting. Much appreciate that and am responding to it…
Semper fi
Jim
LT, Good to have you well and writing again.
Looking forward to more 30 days.
You have the next segment that followed now, as I write this. Thanks for hanging with me and caring by writing about it here.
Semper fi,
Jim
Great read as usual. Had to read it all three times over and again in case there are no more of them to come. J.
Oh, they are coming, as you noted in getting the next segment already. The go fund me site motivated the hell out of me because the guys and gals contributing reached inside me somehow. https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september. Thank you for this short but great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
“wondering fleetingly how the wildly brutal stage play of shattering life had come to be my home”
wonderful closing sir
Glad you noted and liked that phrase or sentence. I wrote from feeling and not for effect but sometimes the two things
come together without volition. Thanks for the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back LT., happy
You’re doing okay under the circumstances. Gut churning feelings here.
Thanks for that uncommon compliment and for writing it on here Michael.
Semper fi,
Jim
Out of the frying pan into the fire. Making me feel right along with you.
Glad to have you aboard and with me Pete, for all the time too…
Semper fi,
Jim
Thankful for the third part and a great read, Thank you. Hope you are doing well during these days of isolation.
Yes, I am okay, past the surgery and the depression afterwards….and writing again.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m fired up again
Great to have you with me, as I persevere here and move on through the end of the book…and the beginning of the book about
after.
Semper fi,
Jim
Nice. Straight forward… Seemingly the only logical action to accomplish is to get out of the A Shau Valley…
Thanks Terrance, really appreciate the compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
You are doing every thing right JAMES !!
Thanks Harold, really appreciate the compliment and the care and writing it on here….
Semper fi,
Jim
Still sitting on the edge of my chair. One little correction: You got your left and right mixed up. The stamp (or free in our case) is always in the upper right.
Yes, not in my mind but in my presentation. Thanks for the correction.
Semper fi,
Jim
Excellent writing Sir! You make a situation come to life putting clear pictures and emotions in the head of a reader!
Much appreciate that professional critique my friend. And also for putting it up on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Welcome back LT. We all missed you.
Thanks for that Tony, and it is really good to be back. go fund me brought me back, unexpectedly! https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september, and, of course, the comments
of people like you!
Semper fi,
Jim
you really capture squad communications under stress brilliantly
Thanks mightily my friend, you short critique hits the spot for certain.
Semper fi,
Jim
thanks, for another round of this great story. I enjoyed the distraction much better than the ( well written) commentary, which to me was obvious, of our current state of affairs
Thanks Keith, for the compliment about the story and also the commentary I write about life going on around us.
Semper fi,
Jim
As engaging and frightful as always. You write more descriptively then any author I have read about war and battlel
Thanks Richard, that is one hell of a great comment to read. There are some extraordinary authors in that group and it is wonderful to be include among them by you.
Semper fi,
Jim
I can feel the heavy burden on your shoulders as I read the words you write. Not many men know the weight you had to carry. You are not speaking of monetary loss or of personal loss, but the loss of human life that can never be replaced. A lot to bare for such a young man. Thanks for another chapter.
That and more, as the next chapter is now up and running. I am working on the third from the last of this book. Until the next book begins,
which is called The Cowardly Lion.
Semper fi,
Jim
Dang LT! The time off hasn’t done anything to quiet the turmoil!
No, the turmoil goes on and the A Shau tries to claw us back into its deadly grip.
Thanks for the great short comment…
Semper fi,
Jim
Woof, OK , It was well worth the wait LT! Will wait as ordered for the next installment, Thank you kind sir, stay safe.
The next installment after this one is already up and running. Thanks for the comment and the support in the writing.
Semper fi,
Jim
👍 glad to see another episode, 👍
Yes, and there’s one more after this and I am working on the third as we head into the ending of the third book.
Thanks for the comment and good wishes…
Semper fi,
Jim
Once again you amaze me with your narrative, it has to be hell for you to relive this as well as having gone through it. Praying for you to have the courage to finish this book. My SOG buddy has been reliving some of his excursions over there, mostly put of Phu Bai, so this has been a sort of a trip down memory lane. Take care and peace.
Glad you are taking this all in and appreciating it Peter, as that is what I am writing for.
Thanks for the kind words and the support. The next segment is up, as you probably know.
Semper fi,
Jim
I think a map, and some aerials would compliment the story. Artillery locations and landmarks. Illustrate the artillery trajectory down into the valley.
Yes, that will come with the third book when we publish it using Amazon.
Thanks for bringing it up…
Semper fi,
Jim
Glad you’re okay, LT. Been waiting for this. Another edge of the seat installment. Stay Safe! Thank You.
thanks for the compliment Al and the latest segment after this one is already up and I am writing away.
Semper fi,
Jim
Tough for you to write, but I’m glad to see you back at it.
Thanks Arnie, I have been ‘repackaged’ and reinvigorated by the go fund me campaign, even if that does not seem entirely reasonable! (https://www.gofundme.com/f/thirty-days-has-september)
Semper fi,
Jim