I served in Vietnam in 1970 with 3rd. Platoon , Golf Company, 2 Battalion, 5th. Marine Regiment. There are two weathers in Vietnam—rain that comes down so hard, it can wash away your heart, your happiness, and your spirit. It causes mud that will raise higher than your boots. And it will hold on you and weight you down so bad that it almost hurt to move. Your clothes are always wet and would start to fall apart (anyways, mine did–once). Your gear is always wet. Your weapon and rounds are always wet. Your personal things,, that were so important to you that you would carry the extra weight in the bush, are always wet. And because I also hump a radio that had to stay dry, I was always wet. It would rain like a cow peeing on a flat rock (hard).
The other weather in Vietnam—hot! The sun would shine down on you like a heat lamp. I would sweat from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I would sweat from places that I didn’t realize I had sweat glands there. The helmet would get too hot to touch and that was on your head! Without proper cover, your feet would start to smell like hotdogs cooking, your body would look like bacon within the hour. You always had a towel around your neck so you could use it for shade or get it wet from a bomb crater ( large muddy water hole) in order to cool yourself down or use it to help your friend to cool down. You had to use this water because the water in your canteens was warm enough to make coffee. Now, think about pushing through elephant grass so thick that it would hold you up if you laid back on it or walking through rice patty fields where the water would be up to your knees and the Vietnamese would use human waste to fertilize with (a lot of Asian countries do this). And you’re carrying about 75 to 80 pounds on your back.
You would see the rain coming toward you so you would take off the shirt, roll your trousers legs up in an effort to keep them dry because the only clothes you had are the ones on your back. You were given one pair of trousers , one shirt, one underwear, two socks, and sometimes a tee-shirt. Too often, the clothes would have holes in them from the pervious owner getting hit. A change of clothes would come out about once a week with the Resupply Chopper; which might seem reasonable except that was not a promise. If the rear didn’t have your size, will then you would need to wait until the next time. More often then not, you simply wore the same clothes for the whole month you were in the bush.
For the month we were in the bush, we ate C-Rations that had dates from before most of us were even on the boxes. So, we always assumed that they were left overs from another time—“waste not want not!”. The Squad Leader would get two cases for the squad to share and would open them face down so that the guys would not know what they were getting. The guys would try to remember the order the rations were in while picking but there was never consistence. There were some odd cans of food! Such as: Chopped Eggs and Ham, Lima Beans and Pork, Turkey Loaf, Beans and Meatballs, plain Spaghetti in sauce, Chicken Noodle Soup, and fruit cocktail, pound cake (mmmm), peaches, and applesauce. There was other things like: cigarettes, crewing gum, peanut butter, crackers, cheese, and a round disk of chocolate ( we called a shit disk for reasons that were made obvious once you eat it), and little pieces of paper to be used after consuming the chocolate —I cannot believe that I was able to remember so much of this. We cooked our food by using C-4 in a old C-Rat. can. I would pour the booth out of the chicken noodle soup and add ketchup to it, or save the meatballs for the spaghetti, throw away the Lima beans and pork, and limit about many times I ate the eggs and ham and only in the mornings. My favorite treat was pound cake and peaches in evening. Everyone would throw away anything they were not planning on eating over the next three days (that’s how often we got resupplied) or we would hold on to a can of something in order to use it to trade for information from the Vietnamese . There was this one time when we were set for resupply when we received fire from the VC/NVA. The choppers would not come out if we had connect with the VC/NVA in the evening when we were schedule for resupplies. This meant that we would have to wait for three more days for fresh water and food. The water ran out on day four, which meant that we were getting our water from any source we could find in the bush. On day five, there was no food because we kept moving and had to replace loss calories and were living on less than half rations by then. On day six, if you had anything in your pack you shared it with your squad because it was getting late and no choppers were coming. I was assigned to third squad during this misadventure. “Red” , the Squad Leader, had gotten a can of sardines in mustard sauce from home. He open it up took one and passed it to the next guy. I never had sardines before but I took one and ate it and was grateful for it. Earlier the next morning the choppers showed up—-they still gave us the same old stuff—nothing special.
Footnote: My friend from high school who served in the Army shared with me that his favorite in Vietnam was pound cake and peaches also. Once when he opened a can of pound cake it turned to dust and the wind took it all away! Talk about having a bad day!!
It might seem like I was sitting in my pity pot when I wrote this but I’m not. I’m just telling it like it was for us—unpleasant for everyone alike. I think what help living through this was that the guys I served with were some of the best men I have ever known. Everyone did what was expected of them—no one backed off when things got tough. No one complained when things got serious or we had to go without. We just pulled together as a team—as Marines…
I didn’t mean to write about this but once I got started it just came out. I was going to write about the hole in my tent. Well, maybe tomorrow……. I’m sorry about any mistakes I made in doing this—I didn’t proof read it before hitting the magic button to send to it— Good luck with it and Semper Fi!
Good story, that’s what I expected when I arrived in Okinawa in 1971, Jan. , however my orders were cut for the Nam, and stayed on the Rock for 7 months. The rest of the time I was t. a. d. With 2/9 on board the USS Peoria,1183; LST. Up and down the coast of nam on call, but the call never came, just as well from what I’ve been told. Anyway, my hats off to everyone who served over there, SEMPER FI DO OR DIE OORAH!!!
Brings back memories of Camp Evans and Operation Chinook, 1966 and 1967. Beans and Franks along with some cheese melted in followed by pound cake topped with peaches and soaked with the peach juice was fit for a king.
Mud up to our knees from raining day and night. Our utilities were soaked. It might not have been but around 60 deg but when you are soaked that is cold. The ground was soaked to the point tanks would belly out and had to be pulled out by retrievers. “Otters” (small wide tacked vehicles) that were normally used in deep snow were used for resupply. I didn’t have a chance to take my wet boots off for two weeks and when I pulled one of my socks off a patch of skin came with it. I went to the Corpsman and he dressed it. He also gave me some extra ointment, clean dressings and a couple pairs of dry socks….Bob 1381 Vietnam 1966/1967.
WOW, thanks for bringing back all those memories. I haven’t thought of those (in detail) in 54 year’s. My old brain is working overtime now trying to remember the rest of my time in country.
Sgt G E Morton Chu Lia 1965 SEMPER FI
I remember the statement that “Vietnam is the only place on Earth where you can be up to your ass in mud and have dust blown in your face at the same time.”
I also was on Operation Chinook from the start. 2531 with the PRC-25. The base area was the worst for the muddy clay that hung on you from your knees on down. That soup kept getting worked over and over by the trucks and Marines. I was with Charlie Battery 1/13 attached to the 3/26 for the entire time from when we formed up at Camp Horno, CA until we left from Khe Sanh. In March of 2010 I went back to Vietnam and found the mud had dried up and nature had reclaimed the land. It was on that trip that I was encouraged to write the book, To Hear Silence, that covers a lot about Operation Chinook. The area was later called Camp Evans after Paul O. Evans age 20, the first Marine killed on that operation.
Ron….I read your book, thanks for writing it. I was with A Co. 3rd Shore Party on the rise next to the LZ. Some of what you wrote about, I can attest to. The incident about the truck hitting mine close to the 4th Marines aid station…It pulled of off the road right behind the truck I was in. We had been a little north of the base camp as a blocking force for about two weeks before moving by convoy to the main base. Also, concerning the tank that was blown up with crew and some grunts killed. As I remember there were 7 KIA. We kept them at the LZ for at least a day and a night before the rain stopped long enough for us to get choppers in to get them out. Many memories…Some good and some not so good…….Bob 1381 Vietnam 1966/1967
Ron,
I met you and other members of C 1-13 at your reunion some years ago in Green Bay, Wi. I came from Detroit with another member of you battery, Dan West 0811.
Dan’s health was poor, and asked me if I would help make the drive which I was delighted to do.
I met Dan about 25 years ago at a friends house. We hit it off, when we learned that we are both Marines, cannon cockers (0811), served in Vietnam at the same time 9/66 – 10/68 he in C -1-13 and me C -1-12. I again when with him to another of your reunions a couple of year later at a battery members farm in southern Indiana.
Dan died in late December 2017, but never stopped talking about Charlie battery and all the great Marines he knew as his life long friends. Thank you for having me along.
Simper Fi,
Bruce (Red) Parker
0811
C- 1-12 Gun 2
Correction to the above. Dan and I served from 9/66 to 10/67.
Bruce Parker
Bruce,
I remember you at the reunions. Hope you are still doing well. I’m still in Green Bay and doing ok. Since the reunion here Capt. Rich man and Cantrell have died. Over half the battery are now gone.
Thanks for bringing back some old memories. I was in-country from Feb to Sept ’69. I also remembered the flies, 24/7/365. Unbelievable.
Makes all of the things going on today seem like kindergarten.
Great story, Robert, but there is a third weather in Vietnam: COLD! Anyone experiencing the Tet Offensive had to be cold! Also, You’re the only one to label that C Rat as “Lima beans and pork”. Everyone else remembers them as something else.
These stories are entertaining, but not always very factual. The further away we get from RVN, the worse our conditions were, it seems to me. What … they gave out underwear? In all the time I was there, I never wore underwear, nor did I ever know anyone who wore underwear. What … the pound cake had dried up in a sealed can so bad that the wind swept it up and away when the can was opened? Give me a break.
I did wear “Skivvies” for the first few days, until I got that ugly f’n rash! never wore them again after that. Harry 1371
I don’t know what type of uniform you were wearing. I spent from 1/68 – 9/69 had water proof jungle utilities and never had them come apart. Monsoons felt colder because we were wet all of the time. Mud was more like clay sticking to your boots and utilities. One of the guys dad owned a store and sent him 600 rubbers that we put on the barrel of our M16’s.
Worked great. Oh what memories.
SEMPER Fi!!!
Waterproof Uts. ? Do you mean the cammos? I was BC ( before cammos ) . I do remember being cold enough for a field jacket. Harry 1371
A few days before i rotated out iwas issued a new pair of boots and a set of camos. The OIC ( A pretty green 2nd lt.) thought that I looked way to ragged and tried to clean me up. i left the new stuff in the corner of the hooch where i was staying. told him some one stole them and left ragged and worn the way i wanted. The guys that had the new stuff had it taken away anyhow whenwe reached Camp Hansen in Oki. Bill 0331
Thank you to all of you who served in Vietnam. I was with 3/4 Kilo in Iraq in 2006-2007 and I have a lot of respect for what you guys lived through, both during and after the war. Things could get shitty for us too, living at a combat outpost in the middle of nowhere for a month straight, but there was always chow and clean water and guys clothes didn’t rot off their bodies. I truly wish that you guys would have gotten better treatment back then, but if it’s any consolation today’s Marines think of you Old Corps guys like the bad asses you are because of the hardships you endured and the ass kickings you dealt. Thank you again and Semper Fi!
Thanks Brad. Never thought of myself as an Old Corps Marine but…. I’ll take it and wear it as a badge of honor. Thanx! Harry 3171
The night after graduation our Senior DI called us to the center of the squad bay. After telling each of us what our M.O.S. was he told us;
“To those who graduate after you, YOU are the OLD CORPS”…….Bob 1381, Vietnam 1966/1967.
NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD BE CALLED CORPS BUT I LIKE IT THANKS.
I remember just how cold it could get in Vietnam. On Dec 23, 1966 we got hit hard on Operation Chinook. Sometime before dawn it let up and I got out of my water filled hole to a stuff wind. Like a dumb ass I had sent me field jacket home before I got to Nam. Thought it would be hot there and wouldn’t need it. It felt cold enough that night that I thought it would start to snow.
Did 2 tours in country. Lima co. 3/9. 67 to 69. Always wet, cold and miserable. Underwear? What’s that? never wore any. Brought back many memories. I do remember crossing railroad tracks at night. Can’t see your hand in front of you, but we all made it across. Semper Fi to the OLD CORPS.
First stationed at Camp Evans with HQ/3/12 motor T on Oct 13 (Friday) 1967. Moved to Btry I 3/12 during Tet. Once in the field we ate a lot of C-rats. Hated the Ham & lima beans what
We called Ham and MotherF***ers. At Khe Sahn watched Montegnards eat rats cooked on a stick. Favorite c-rat trick was to take the can of white bread and put a dent in the can away from the seam then heat the can over C4 until the dent popped out. You punched the can with your John Wayne holding it away from you so the steam didn’t hit your face. You wound up with a fresh baked roll. As a Motot T guy I had a pair of vice grips to hold the can. Not bad for a dumb hillbilly from Harlan KY.