How To Sink A Helicopter
At the end of the semi-annual monsoon, the rains were intermittent, dousing us occasionally on bunker watch or on patrols. No big thing. We knew the “dry season” was coming up and at least we wouldn’t be soaked every day. …
Category: Vietnam War Stories
Gamma Goblin
Call me stupid, but I was out of touch with my Company for almost two weeks while I did my Company punishment in the Chief Petty Officer’s mess aboard the USS Renville. If there was any word for me that …
House Mouse
Having been a paramedic, I know something about the human body. Scientists tell us, basically, that we have only half a brain. That is, the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the right …
Acting Like The Goofy Uncle
The village school at Long Phu II was a little, thatched-roof, open-sided building. It had a chalkboard, which must have put it above most Vietnamese village schools. Each row of students shared a long table and sat behind it on …
Popos Lounge
It took three weeks for the USS RENVILLE to make Pearl Harbor, but she finally limped in on one boiler, a tired crew and double the number of Marines in her bays as she was designed to carry. Everyone on …
The Town Heard ‘Round The World
A small village called Long Phu II was the base of India Company’s operations for a short time. The monsoons were ending; we were recovering from Operation Hastings, getting replacements, rebuilding and training. We conducted limited patrols, and at the …
Flash
We had been out on Operation Deck House II for about three weeks. India was moving from the open rice fields, from paddy dike to paddy dike, then up into the jungle. The Infantry guys were hacking away at razor-sharp …
Sergeant Quick I ‘am Not
India Company had suffered severely, yet endured on that hill, 362 on 24 July 1966. It was the stuff Marine Corps legend was made of “the Company was ambushed, mortars rained in relentlessly, and an estimated battalion from the North …
HA! HA! You Missed
The “cat’s eyes” were closed and nothing was ringing on the double-stacked set of SB-22 switchboards. There was no traffic on any net Battalion, Company or Platoon. There was nothing to keep me from leaning back in my wooden chair, …
China Beach
In the early part of 1967, I was awarded a three-day, two-night “Mini R&R” to China Beach in Da Nang. I wasn’t the only one. Another guy was going along with me, and he had to be lucky. He was …