I stared at Jurgens, waiting for an apology I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear, and damned well knew I didn’t want to accept. The man was the epitome of a phrase I’d never used in my lifetime and had only heard about in occasional passing while I was in college. White trash. The phrase fit, even if only in the A Shau Valley the color part of the insult really mattered. And it mattered because Jurgens made it matter, not me. My own father was a racist, born and raised down in Texas, but the word trash didn’t fit at all with respect to him. The only exhibition of his prejudice I’d ever witnessed had been to ask my fourth-grade black best friend to get off our property in Michigan, which was terrible for me, but not a violent or killing move on his part. Trash, however, was a choice of lifestyle, and I’d never been forced to think about the applicability of the phrase until I was dropped into Jurgen’s life.
“For better or for worse,” the Gunny said, “we are all we have.”
“It don’t mean nuthin.’” Jurgens said, quietly, his eyes meeting my own with a mirrored distaste.
Did I miss something or is there purposely a gap between Book Two and this chapter?
Enjoying our work.
SGT Uffelman USMC
Well, yes, there are many more chapters up on the Internet site.
Check jamestrauss.com and click on the book III of the story.
Semper fi,
Jim
Mr. Strauss, Howdy! It’s very hot down here in Texas. I need some action from you to get me through the Summer. Looking forward to future installments! Thanks!
All right, all right, I am on it this very night…
Semper fi,
Jim
James, You are to be commended for letting the NVA retrieve their dead and wounded and I agree with the Gunny that it will weaken and tire them out. But as far as payback for the NVA not messing with the equipment you left behind to bail out Kilo I have a question. On page 283 of the First 10 Days,the ninth day you told the Gunny”They weren’t expecting us to go get our stuff and come back because they didn’t know we left it there in the first place” I especially liked Gunny’s comment to you after your statement to him.
That was a tough call, but sometimes you have to stop in the middle of all that shit and try to be human.
It’s not like you think you are going to survive anyway. It’s more how you want to die and how you want to feel about dying before you do.
Semper fi,
Jim
Was in the Corps and Nam same time as you. Never read a war story of Vietnam before, yours has me wanting the whole book. Thank you. I was in Amtrac’s
Thanks Albert. The first two books of the series are on Amazon and I am working away on the third…
Appreciate the comment and your interest.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks LT. James for anther Great read. Also anther cliff hanger, can’t wait to find out whats up with the Hueys, My guess is more Marines. Don
That was my guess at the time Don, and now we shall see…
Semper fi,
Jim
As always great writing and story telling.
Thanks a ton for the great compliment Mark!!
Semper fi,
Jim
“but I noted that my right hand, the hand on the automatic, wasn’t shaking at all.” Isn’t a Colt .45 a semi-automatic pistol? Maybe add the semi or change to pistol as the next line refers to a Colt. Just a suggestion sir. I really enjoy your style of writing. Intense story of experience this F-4 CC can only imagine. Each installment floods me with memories of sitting near my Grandfather (101st WW2) and his brothers talking quietly on the front porch as I was a kid. The short glances and unfinished sentences of men amazed they had made it home. My Dad (82nd Korea) staring off into the night warning me before I left for basic of the the fear I would soon face in far away places or rather the hope I would not need to learn to overcome it. I was one of those kids glued nightly to the news of ‘Nam and my neighbors that I knew were in the thick of it. I cradle my fathers Colt as I re-read this a second time. Stay the course. This needs to be told.
Semi-automatic hand guns are commonly referred to as automatics, even though they are not, for the most part, fully automatic.
A .45 automatic is almost invariably taken for exactly what it is. Thanks for the comment though also for the intensity of your read and you
obvious support and care indicated by your words.
Semper fi,
Jim
Spent months in the ashaw. Can’t figure out exactly where you stationed. What inland river that large?.
The Bong Song, as we called it, in Monsoon flood…
Semper fi, fellow traveler and warrior….glad you made it back…
Jim
I think the use of his snipers really lights up the divided nature of the command, You did not even know about the snipers. Small thing but it says a lot
What I knew about commanding a company was pitiful at the time and, as you can see, OJT had little to do with education and a whole lot
more to do with minute to minute survival…
Semper fi,
Jim
I just bought a bottle of hoppes!.
Yeah, I have a giant bottle in my basement that I see all the time. Never opened but there it is, like Vietnam in my life.
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, I’ve been with you from the first words and I’ll be here for the last. You take the time you need for each segment….they always bring some part of the time back to me, some good, some not. Thanks for staying with your story. The white rabbit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TF53JjKaKo
Yes, Mike, I know you well and cannot thank you enough for being along for this ‘ride’ so to speak, and yes,
that is the best version of White Rabbit…
semper fi,
my friend,
Jim
Jurgens radio could reach command correct?
Yes, it could, although the platoon radios had shorter thin metal antennas than the company radios.
Fusner also carried an extendable mast that was a bother but he always had it. The PRICK 25 radio was a wonder,
Semper fi,
Jim
Carrying it with you is the direct result of surviving. Those who do must not forget the sacrifice of those who didn’t make it home. Semper Fi Marine.
Thanks Chuck, that means a lot to me a lot of other guys who read it on here…
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim, your writing has seemingly picked up steam across the entire breadth of your efforts. Not to slight any previous labors on this site, but this chapter really had a flow to it that was not overtly apparent before – at least to me. While other chapters may be more action packed, this one read extremely well, IMHO. I discovered TDHS on about Day 9 and have been with you, your team and the rest of the regulars since then – devouring every chapter like a slab of Texas pecan smoked ribs, the comments and responses chasing the richness of the story like a coldbeer, enhancing the flavor and the feeling. Yes, your work is top shelf. It really is a highlight of any day to see another chapter. I Jones for it but I don’t judge, truly; life is complicated enough. Add to that the detailed dredging of memories and events long buried beneath the alluvium of intentional spoil placement … no words I know of can describe this holy yet apocalyptic event. We all know. We all can’t not finish. If the goal was to know how it ended, we’re good – shegone! But what we all want to know is how YOU finish this gig. Yes. That’s a significant reason for me to check 5 times a day for the new posts.
My heart is with you and the guys on this forum, the ones that don’t write here, the guys who can’t write for whatever reason, the guys that were left over there and those that “never left.”
I am in awe of you and your company – both there and here.
Best always,
Daddyj63
Thanks Daddy, for these words of iron and depth, and extreme high compliment. I hope to have a segment up tomorrow, God willing and creek don’t rise.
I am bitten down and hard at getting to the most agonizing portion of the work but I must proceed and I will. Thanks for the support. The guys and gals on here
have made this series continue and will make it come to completion. Without you I would have stopped along the way…
Semper fi, brother
Jim
I enjoy reading your stories about the A Shau valley and its mountains. I just got back from a tour there with 23 other vets. We walked in the valley and walked up Hill 937 or Hamburger Hill. What an awesome experience.
That trip must have been something.
I wonder what it would be like to once more climb 975.
What would go through my mind?
I have no clue, or if the hill is even still there in pristine condition.
I know the Bong Song has been tamed from the wild
thing it was running straight through my heart and life at the time…
thanks for your thoughts on the trip…
Semper fi,
Jim
You have not failed. Vietnam will not define you, but Sir, you will be remembered as the one that survived and defined IT . . . the voice for all those who “survived” but are never fully away from there again, and as an honor to those named on The Wall, so that it be understood for generations to come.
I believe that one day,there will be a movie made of this very painful personal experience, and you will understand what God spared you for this incredibly important undertaking! Thank you, from just another soldier of that era.
Thanks Tom. High praise and I cannot thank you enough for that analysis.
I will write on….
Semper fi,
Jim
Ditto on the movie but it will take a herculean effort to keep the director on point with the story. This story is ‘real” and would only be lessened by Hollywood influence.
It wold be hard to get the actual detail down which is so necessary for those who were there. The credibility is in the details and I am not sure that anyone, outside of a combat vet, in Hollywood would be able
to handle the ‘translation.’ Thanks for the deep thoughts about it, thought…
Semper fi,
Jim
Intense event after event .
If this was an HBO series,would be cutting fishing trips short rushing home for the next episode.
Rotors in the night…dark dust off,doubtful,uppity defiant platoon Sgt. end run radio call for Iroquois Night Fighter and Night Tracker, or INFANT,unlikely in hard weathet socked in valley,perhaps.
Most likely Bob Hope/Joey Heartherton USO suprise midnight show production.
Intrigued to your writing.
Salute
Thanks Sean, great compliment in your writing and well taken on this end, as I finish the next segment. The James Strauss Group is growing mightily on Facebook.
I would have named it something else when I started it last month but I had no idea it would grow so fast. Join. Be good to see you write on there.
Semper fi,
Jim
Nguyen would appear that he thought his survival depended on your survival or could he simply slip away if the whole company went south? Again a chilling chapter for sure James, looking forward to the next
Thanks James, join the james strauss group on Facebook. Would love to have more supporters like you on there.
Semper fi, and the compliment was great.
Jim
LT shouldn’t you still have the 3 rounds of flechettes left in reserves in the left side tubes, since you hadn’t fired those tubes? Army choppers & troops coming in?
Another busy chapter LT.
The choppers will be revealed with this next segment.
No, I’d fired all the tubes in the real world but might have written it wrong in the story.
I will go back and check though. Thanks for being so on top of things…
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great episode Sir. I’m certainly glad we never had this much dissension in the unit I was with. We had enough on our plate fighting the NVA without having to look over our shoulder to see if someone was ready to pop a cap on us. I had trouble getting to sleep last night so I got my tablet and finished reading the story. That was a mistake, I was in Nam all night and today. Anyway keep up the good work, I’ve enjoyed every episode and every book.
Hello Sir are you receiving my responses?
Yes, I am and thank you. I was just a little delayed in responding myself.
Semper fi,
Jim