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It have been 50 years since the 69 Tet offensive and now i ca finaly tell the truth about my service in the Marines.It is now declassified. On Feb 1 1969 i just finished my scout sniper training at Stone Bay Camp Lajune and was home enjoying 20 day leave when I got a call to return to HQ 2nd Recon. Once I arrived I was sent right away to a secret location near Onslo Beach.The only thing we were told was that we were shipping out to an undiclosed location. We were all issued a M-21 sniper rifle and loaded onto cattlecars.The next stop was Cherry point airbase. We were loaded onto C-130 cargo planes and imediatly took off About 10hours later under the cover of darkness we landded at Danag airbase in South Veitnam and were loaded onto covered trucks but still did not know where we were going. Finaly we were at our destiation Hue city. We were told to lock and load and to set up firing positions aroundd the city andd to shoot anyboby tring to leave the city.We were ther for about a week and lost Marines and We were then sent back to Danag again under the cover of darkness and told to never speak about waht we did.All any body need to know was we were on a training mission and the guys we lost were just lost None of us got any medals or nothing. I think I need a drink. read more

USMC Vietnam Tankers Association

The USMC Vietnam Tankers Association will be holding our 11th biennial reunion on Thursday October 31 – November 4, 2019 at the Hilton Double Tree Suites Hotel Seattle Airport – Southcenter. Anyone who served with any of the Marine tank battalions or Ontos units in Vietnam . . . in any capacity is welcome!!! read more

In July 1968 I arrived at Hill 861s and was soon met by a couple of Marines who took a look at the new Corpsman who delighted in calling me a “squid”. I thought for a moment as I had never been addressed in that term. I then asked them if they knew what a “squid” was. They replied,no and I informed them that a squid was something floating in the ocean sh–ng on Marine life. They then called me Doc for the rest of my time there over looking Khe Sanh. My second item to address is very close to my heart. It concerned a Marine serving with me in 1/26 Company C. We were patrolling the Ah Shau valley one day when my radio operator, a black Marine from somewhere back East turned to me and began trying to take off my Caduses. I asked him what he was doing? He stated he was taking off my insignia , so the VC would shoot him instead of me as there was a $250 bounty on me by the VC. At the time I laughed and told him thanks for the thought but reminded him that the same bounty was on him as a radioman. Al I remember was his name we used as SCOTTY and I do not remember where he was from. The thought of what had transpired Did not hit me until much later. This Marine was willing to sacrifice his life for me. I cannot think of a greater gift. Loved my Marines….RIP DOC John GOTT, Kia 1/26 Marines 18 DEC 1968 Hai Van Pass VN. read more

On 1- Feb- 2019 Major Edward Wright USMC ( Retired) received The Silver Star for action on 21-Aug-1967. At the time of the action he was Lt. Wright, a platoon leader with Lima Co. 3/3 and was tasked with leading a 30 man reaction force sent to rescue an Army convoy and, other Marines from his company that were ambushed by an NVA unit.As they advanced and engaged the enemy the fight turned into close combat and ultimately hand to hand. Lt. Wright ordered his men to “Fix Bayonets” and continued the fight. It,s times like these that make the Vietnam War not seem so long ago. You want to know what combat vets are? There you have it! Those Marines are combat vets! Harry read more

I recently read a story that reminded me of my favorite uncle,Uncle Alf(Alfred) My Dad,Harry Sr.,came from a family of 4 siblings my Dad,my Uncles Alfred and Howard and Aunt Helen. My Dad and Uncle Howard were drafted in the spring of 1943.My Dad went to the Medical Corps and served as a Combat Medic in France and then later as a Medic in a POW hospital treating wounded German prisoners Uncle Howard was drafted into the Army Air Corps as an Engineer and helped construct and maintain an airstrip somewhere in France My Uncle Alf,however,enlisted in the Marine Corps in late 1942 and after training was assigned to the 2nd Division as a Jeep Ambulance Driver and was involved in the invasion of Saipan. During the battle and, on the way back from the front with some wounded Marines he got lost and, started driving back towards the battle and right into the shelling.He was hit with some fragments in his left arm and leg but eventually found his way back to the Field Hospital with the wounded Marines For his action he was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart all because he got lost.The story does not end there.Uncle Alf took some razing for this incident, even though heroic, was given the handle of “Wrong Way ” so after the war when someone would ask about his service he tended to,lets just say overstate his heroics or, as my Dad would say “Tell a Whopper” One time he was a Marine “Raider” sometimes he was even a member of a “Special Demolition Team” that would sneak behind enemy lines. My Dad and Uncle Howard knew the truth but that never stopped Uncle Alf. I loved hearing his stories.Our weekend fishing trips were always fun. Finally when I was about 14 years old my Dad told me the true story but he was still a hero to me and,part of the reason I enlisted in the “Corps” My Uncle Alf did not live to witness this. He was killed in a mining accident in late 1965. He was a good man and we all loved him even if he told “Whoppers”. SEMPER FI UNCLE!! Harry read more

Actually, I started boot camp in mid-september, but it was still so hot during the day at Parris Island, South Carolina ,that black flags flew for several days during the first few weeks there. Black Flag Days were designed to eliminate strenuous physical activities due to the high loss of recruits who would be overcome by heat exhaustion. The Drill Instructors side-stepped this handily. Faced with the herculean task of crammimg beaucoup hours worth of training into an 18 hour day, they simply continued the prescribed curriculum indoors or in some “out of the way” locale. Once you realized that these Drill Instructors were pushing you to the limit so that your chances of survival would be greater in actual combat, their methods began to make sense and, in fact, contained profound wisdom as well as a GREAT deal of humor. Each of us has a funny story or two from boot camp. I’ve been told I should share this one with all of you. There are three phases to Marine Corps boot camp. In Phase 1, they try to kill you, or at least it seems that way. You discover to your amazement that there are a myriad of rules and procedures that MUST be followed at all times. The hard part is that the rules are made known to the platoon one at a time as each is broken by an unsuspecting recruit. (Ask a former Marine what happened the first time someone called his rifle a “gun”.) Thusly, one learns how things are accomplished “The Marine Corps Way”. No recruit may speak to ANYONE without permission. No personal pronouns may be used when speaking, e.g. ” I “, “me”, “my”, “you”, etc. No one may laugh or even smile. (When we were photographed in our half-set of dress blues [the kind they bury you in, we were told] “If you so much as grin, I will break your skull!) Phase 1 lasted the longest of the three, or perhaps it just seemed to. Phase 2 consisted of two weeks at the rifle range followed by one week of “Mess and Maintenance”. Week one was “grass week” where each recruit learned the proper positions for firing an M-14. The essence of these seven days became individual studies on how long the human arm could function without circulation and still survive. Week two was live-fire week ending with qualification day. I fired Sharpshooter on “Qual Day” because I liked the medal. (No Bull) It was a Maltese or Surfer’s Cross with a Marine Corps emblem in its center and was, by far, the best looking medal of the three. Week three found us working in the chow hall somewhere scrubbing pots or peeling spuds. Three other recruits and I were sent to the Close Combat Course where we cleaned, painted, raked gravel, and one afternoon hand-rubbed linseed oil into the stocks of brand-new deactivated M-1 Garand rifles. (They were to be used during swimming qualification as “necklaces”.) The “SWISH” of the tomahawk startled us all but especially the recruit whose head it barely missed as it embedded itself in a nearby oak. “DAMN! I MISSED!” came the retort from the Close Combat Instructor. The recruit nearly fainted. Phase 3 was testing and “war games” in the field. Recruits were allowed to blouse their trousers and retain some hair on the very top of their heads (a “high and tight”). We began to feel “salty” and entertained the thoughts that we might actually make it to graduation. Some of us were wrong but that isn’t why I’m telling you all this. In the field at Parris Island you were taught many things, One of the most memorable experiences was the Day Infiltration Course. You had to crawl under barbed and concertina wire from point A to point B. As combat Marine recruits, we were burdened with 782 gear, pack, rifle, bayonet, and helmet. While you attempted to negotiate this course, an M-60 fired over your head, blocks of C-4 were detonated in sand bagged craters nearby, and Drill Instructors threw sulfur grenades at you to make you “HURRY UP!” All in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon. When it was Indian Company’s turn, all four platoons in the series were seated in formation and prepared for instruction on the situation facing us. The instructor for the course, a gunnery sargeant with a thick New Jersey accent, took the platform and briefed us on this obstacle and what we were about to learn from it. “Dee traynin’ tuhday is about a classic Muhreen Cohr tactic…a fruntal assauhlt in dee face uv hostyle enumee fiyah”, he began. He went on to explain,among other things, that staying low to the ground was the key to survival. You did this by low crawling toward the enemy while consciously digging a furrow with your helmet. The reason for this was that the enemy fire would glance off the left or right of one’s helmet and although possibly injuring an arm or leg, one could continue the assault. “Ahr dayer any questions?” he asked at the conclusion of his lecture. One recruit raised his hand. “SPEAK!”, commanded the Instructor. “Sir, the private understands the frontal assault and how enemy bullets can glance off of the side of the private’s helmet, but what happens if a bullet strikes the private’s helmet in the center?” The instructor momentarily looked perplexed. It was obvious that NO ONE had ever asked this question before. In the time it took for the gunnery sargeant to spread his feet apart and place his hands on his hips, he had his thoughtful reply. “For our poipuhsez heah tuday, we will not be interested in doz bullets wit yohr name written upon dem. We ahr interested only in doz bullets dat ahr mahkt “to whom it may cunsoyn!” read more

Many years ago my oldest son, Ted, started dating a young lady who happened to be working at the grocery store where my younger son, Tim, was a manager. As it turned out the girlfriend had recently signed enlistment papers to join the Army. She was waiting for the Army to schedule her for basic training when she met my son and quickly decided she would rather be with him than in the military. She promptly went to the recruiter and told him she wanted to back out. I assume the Army had no desire to keep her if she didn’t want to be there, and she hadn’t taken the oath so she was released from the contract.
I had never met Diane, the girlfriend. But soon after, Ted had the opportunity to introduce us and, for some reason, on that same day, she decided to play a prank on me. It didn’t work and I was clueless until Ted told me what she had done. I said “Tell her I have a long memory.”
A couple of weeks later, Ted was working in my office as a vacation fill-in clerk. While we were working he told me that this was the day that Diane would have departed for basic training. I said “Really! Payback time.” I looked up the phone number of Tim’s store and called him. He confirmed that Diane was at work so I asked him to call her to the phone and to listen in on our conversation. Diane came to the phone and the conversation was as follows:
Diane – “Hello.”
Me – “Is this Miss Diane Jones?”
Diane – “Yes, it is. Can I help you?”
Me – “Miss Jones, I am Captain Smith, Commanding Officer of the Military Police detachment here at Luke AFB. It has come to my attention that you have missed movement and are currently UA.
Diane (concerned) – “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Me – “UA is Unauthorized Absence. Miss Jones, you were scheduled to depart for Fort Benning, Georgia this morning and you failed to report for transport.
Diane (relief in her voice) – “Oh no, it’s okay. The recruiter, Sgt. Brown, cancelled my enlistment when I decided I didn’t want to go into the Army.”
Me – “Miss Jones, your recruiter had no authority to release you from your obligation and my Commanding Officer here at Luke has given me orders to see that you arrive at Fort Benning immediately.”
Diane (sudden panic) – “But-but-but”
Me – “You are to walk out to the front of your store and wait there. I have two of my M.P.s on the way to pick you up. They will escort you via military air transport to Georgia where you will be turned over to the Fort Benning Provost Marshall.”
Diane had started to stutter, trying to convince me of the mistake, starting to tear up and whimper a bit when I very sternly said “DIANE.” The tone of my voice stopped her and she timidly said “Yes?” I said “This is Ted’s Dad, Jim Barber. Gotcha!”
Dead silence on the phone. Then, “You son-of-a-bitch!” I was laughing so hard I could barely ask her “Is that any way to talk to the father of your boyfriend?”
Later, Ted and Diane went their separate ways. Ted has an 18 year old daughter now. A few months ago my wife and I were in the grocery store in Mesa and a woman with a couple of pre-teens called my name. Diane walked up and gave me a big hug. As we chatted she let me know that she has told everyone she knows that story and laughs about it to this day. read more