In response to SGT on the bus I’ve always felt that a DOC was worth his or her weight in gold…I carried the M-60 with Medivac Mike 3-5 in what was called I CORP area in Nam…So I was involved with TET on a personal level…One thing never mattered and that was , was the DOC Navy or Marine and it never mattered…All I know is the DOC tried to help the one in the worse shape and if I had to make that decision between Marine or Sailor I’d make the same decision …After all , we all know that Marines are the mens department in the department of the Navy…
Semper Fi SGT T A Perry 2267858
Category: Main
Colonel USMCR (Ret)
For 28 years I and several other Marines have tried… with no success….to have an Awards Board convened at HQMC to consider awarding Lt Colonel Althoff the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Vietnam. One of the most descriptive illustrations of Lt Col Althoff’s actions was written in an eye witness statement by LCpl James Barnerd: “I have never seen in my ten months in Nam any chopper come in while hell was blowing up.” I thought there might be some interest in our endeavor…and any help would be welcomed.
Duty to Remember
Drink with me … to memories of brothers from days gone by:
To those fallen in a far away place;
To those remembered on a black stone;
To those come home, now gone on up ahead.
To them … and to Us for remembering the beauty in our days together.
“It’s a Gas”
From July 1978 until my separation from active duty in January 1979 I was assigned to the 6th Marines Regiment S-3 office at Camp LeJeune as the Assistant Operations Chief. While stationed there I had the opportunity to join the camp skydiving club. $40 covered our training and the first three jumps. When we jumped we parachuted from CH-46 or CH-53 helicopters. Other than the jump suits and helmets, the equipment was provided by the club. After the first three jumps we only had to pay $1 per jump which helped cover the cost of buying lunch for the helo pilots. The club members included everyone from rookies like me to Marines who had hundreds of jumps to their credit. One of the things I learned when we put our parachute rigs on was that the harness was supposed to fit snuggly which could be pretty uncomfortable. After my 7th or 8th jump I decided not to tighten the harness as tight as I had in the past. The hike to the helicopter and ride to jump altitude were more comfortable than they had been in the past but I soon learned why it was important to keep the harness tight. When I jumped out of the helo and my parachute opened it felt like my groin had been yanked up into my throat. I didn’t even try to steer the parachute but instead was kicking my legs up and trying to loosen the straps between my legs. I was told later by my fellow club members on the ground that they thought that I had gotten my legs caught in the parachute shroud lines and was trying to get them untangled. Somehow I managed to land in the drop zone even though I never steered my chute. I laid there for a few moments trying to catch my breath and some of the other members came running over to check on me. When I told them what had happened they all laughed. I guess I learned an important lesson the hard way. I think it took me about a week to stop speaking in a falsetto voice and to walk normally.
Pugil Sticks
Photo attached of JFK watching the Pugil Stick training. My memory of this training goes all the way back to January 1957 when the sticks were in their beginning and had no padding whatever, just each end duck taped with a pad. As for we trainees all we had was a football helmet and no face guard also boxing gloves. No other body or groin protection. We just formed a circle and the DI would insert one, two or sometime three against one however his mood at the time.
RECON Hill 200
I served proudly with First RECON Battalion – First Marine Division during the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam. I was an young NCO Scout Sniper with RECON Team Rio Grande, Echo Company. We spent time on Hill 200 defending this radio relay station and setting up for patrols into the active valleys below.
One of our toughest missions was locating and destroying incoming mortar and NVA artillery positions surrounding Marine Corps Base Khe Sanh. RECON Marines were Wanted Dead or Alive as the yellow NVA poster reads.
The attached photos depict just a brief moment in a young RECON Marine’s Life…
“Rough Amtrac Ride”
In the fall of 1976 I was assigned to Bravo Company 1st Battalion 8th Marines. We were on a three month NATO training cruise to Norway, Denmark and Germany. When we made our first landing in Norway the ride to the beach in the amtracs was pretty rough. One of the corporals in our tractor was having a particularly difficult time and began to “lose his lunch”. He did what we were trained to do and removed the helmet liner from the steel pot and threw up in the pot. When we pulled onto the beach the rear ramp was lowered and we ran off. As the corporal, with the helmet full of spew, ran off he proceeded to throw it out. Unfortunately there was a photographer in the “line of fire” and he took a direct hit. We ran around the front of the tractor to the beach head where we hit the deck to await further instructions. Suddenly there was the sound of applause coming from our right. I looked over to see bleachers filled with spectators. I learned later that there were various dignitaries from NATO, Norway (including the Norwegian king) and other European countries present. While we were waiting to move out I saw the “lunchless” corporal nearby. He had placed the liner back inside the helmet and put the helmet on his head. The remaining vomitus was steadily dripping from the edge of the helmet. A NATO official, who was monitoring the landing, walked by, looked at the corporal and walked away shaking his head and smiling.
Gunnery Sergeant Retired
Several years ago I was asked to render the first salute to a 2nd lieutenant graduating from Army ROTC, University of Dayton, Ohio. As we were waiting the commissioning of other ROTC cadets, I decided to add some life to the ceremony. After my young 2nd lieutenant took the oath of office, I walked onto the stage, hand salute (my best), and in a very loud command voice said “SIR, Gunnery Sergeant Pederson, retired, reporting as ordered, SIR!” After the ceremony, an Army one star general (Ohio National Guard) said to me, “It was the best First Salute he has ever seen.”
The nurses
In 1968 I was laying in a hospital unit..like a MASH unit..my left arm..leg and right arm were all wrapped in dressings..I had an IV hooked up…that night about 2 am we heard incoming mortar rounds coming in…two of the nurses came rushing in…one was wearing a helmet..flak jacket over a cowboys football jersey..and boots..she was only wearing pink panties and she had a m-16 with a full mag slung over her shoulder…the other nurse was dressed almost the same except she had mens green boxer shorts on…they both loaded me onto a stretcher and took me to a bunker and then stood guard holding their rifles at the ready…the nurses pulled out cigarettes and joked a little..this lasted about 2 hours…then a whistle went off that the coast was clear. The next day I was choppered to another unit…I never knew the names of those two nurses but out of all the memories of Vietnam in 1968…that is what I think about the most…they were both young like me…did they go back home..got married..had children..are they grandmother’s today…wish I could hug them and thank them.
Roi-Namur explosion
I spent 18 months in the Marshall Islands on a security job, which included six months on Roi-Namur in 2018. I walked the battlefields there many times; it has a tour with signs that describe the invasion. I’ve also studied the Marshalls campaign and I operate a facebook group called “Marshall Islands: 4th Marine Div Roi-Namur & 7th Infantry Div Kwajalein.” This story basically matches my understanding of that incident, although I’d never heard or read that someone tried to warn the Marine who tossed the satchel charge inside. Regardless, it caused the highest casualties of the battle.