Midnight,

The Vietnamese New Year

Cpl. Clide Dillenberg and I sit on the edge of our foxhole taking our turn at watch. Clide, My friend and mentor says the VC and NVA don’t fight during Tet.
Then we hear Puff the Magic Dragon overhead a few miles to our front.
Suddenly a red SiFi ray gun like stream of tracers come from the blackness of the night sky with a long moaning droning sound.
Why are they firing Says Clide. They(The NVA & VC) don’t fight on Tet?
Something isn’t right here.

Daybreak, It has been raining most of the night and we are wet and cold even though it is in the upper 70’s. We mount up with the rest of Fox Company 2nd. Battalion 5th. Marine Regiment to do a sweep 13 clicks(Kilometers) west. Very hilly and we are carrying full gear and demo (Demolition supplies, C-4, det cord, fuse, blasting caps, fuse lighters.) about 65 lbs of gear not counting rifle, amo, canteens etc. We force march (Fast walk) 13 clicks west.up and down steep hills through dense jungle.

Mid day, No enemy encounter we, get a call form Battalion HQ. “Get back to LZ (cleared Landing zone) to be flown to a hot situation”. We force march double time. 13 clicks back at a slow to medium run.

The Chinooks are waiting when we reach the LZ. Pile in we can rest a few moments before making sure our battle gear is ready.

“:HOT LZ AHEAD!”

“We are going in Hot. ” We fly over the City, it is a big modern city with multi story structures. Hue! The provincial Capital The 2nd. largest and most modern City in South Viet Nam. We fly down the Perfume River and over the bridges Heavy gunfire form the ground and from our Choppers.

Hue City is divided in two by the Perfume River. The Modern City holds all the Government buildings and a Branch campus of Ohio University. The other side holds the Citadel ( An ancient Castle built in the pre colonial days).

We land a small park. The Gate drops, Everybody starts running out.
Machine guns fire on us as we run. We hit the ground and do squad rushes until we make it to the MacV compound. Safe inside after dragging and carrying our wounded and dead brothers to safety. We collapse for a few minuets while the skipper (Captain Mike Downs) Checks in with Battalion and the other company CO’s and we check on and treat our wounded.

Hotel company, Echo company and Gulf company will join up from 3 directions and try to capture the modern side of the City. Fox will cross the bridge and try to help units if 3/5 who are fighting at the Citadel.

We start across the Bridge and all is quiet. As we approach the other side of the Bridge the NVA open up with Machine gun fire. No where to go but back.
We drag our wounded and dead back off the Bridge and Back to the MacV. The Battalion CP orders us to go down the street along the river to the provincial Capital HQ.

As we were to find out much later several NVA Divisions have overrun the City overnight and now control everything They have killed anyone associated with the South Viet Nam Government or the US thousands of bodies were recovered later from mass graves. The streets are littered with rubble, blown up vehicles and body’s.An NVA flag is flying on the flag pole just 6 blocks away at the Provincial Capital office Building.

This section of the Modern side of the City has several important Government buildings now held by the NVA. Our objective is to find a way to recapture the Capatal buildings. Every where we attempt to go we are met with overwhelming fire. We finally start down the back yards of some Government officials mansions. Ahead we see several NVA run into a bomb shelter in a back yard. (A grass covered mound covering a concrete bunker with doors at both ends.

Engineers up!”

Cpt. Downs wants us to blow the door off one end of this bunker. We sneak up under cover fire and throw a satchel of C-4 against the door and run. Kaboom! the doors blow off both ends and a huge fire ball comes out of the bunker on both ends. When the fire goes out we go in to find 5 charred NVA officers bodies. The bunker had held something explosive and our explosion detonated what ever was inside.

Across the street the 106MM recoilless rifle mounted on a mule ( A small flatbed one man vehicle) is blasting away at the buildings where we are receiving fire from. He fires and the enemy is dead! We finally make it to the medical college. Imagine my surprise, an Ohio boy finding an Ohio University medical school in Viet Nam in the middle of the largest single battle of the entire War.

Working building to building we clear them and kill, capture or run them out.

Nightfall. The NVA have retreated back into their buildings as have we.

One on and one off watch all night 2 hour watches. Clide and I are in a Dental school building. I’m on watch. I sit in a dental chair swiveling 360 degrees and watch all the windows while Cide sleeps. This is so surreal siting in a dentists chair in the middle of Hue in the middle of a War.

Morning.

The word is passed. Gas masks! We are going to gas (CS Gas, a form of tear gas) the NVA across the street and then rush the building. The grunts rush in and kill all the NVA in the building. Cpt. Downs and his radioman head for the door to cross the street. Mike, the Skippers radioman goes through the door first right in front of the Skipper, Clide and I. Kaboom! We are all hurled to the floor. Looking up, Skipper is covered with blood and flesh as are Clide and I. Mike?A P40 rocket right in his face. The whole top half of his body is missing.

Late morning.

A government building of some kind across the street contains a large vault of some kind. We are told to blow it up and recover whatever important documents are contained inside. We were unsure how much C-4 to use. We don’t want to have to do this again.

Baloom!

The explosion blows the vault door completely off and halfway destroys the vault itself.Piasters (South Vietnamese Currency) are flying everywhere. It is a Bank! We just blew up a bank vault and money is flying everywhere. The Skipper looks through the rubble and we find very few documents.

The Capital compound is surrounded by a 8′ high concrete wall we cannot climb over it because they just pick us off one by one as we attempt to climb over. “Engineers up!” Cpt. Downs wants us to blow a large hole in this wall so we can rush the NVA in the compound. More C-4. A UPI news reporter is asking us if he can film us blowing up this wall. We said sure but you need to be way back. He takes a position 50 yards back where he can still see the wall but has some cover. Kaboom! The reporter is on his back, unhurt but a bit shell shocked. Our guys rush the buildings inside the compound and in minuets we have regained control of the buildings in the Capital compound.

“Who has an American Flag?” says Captain Ron Christmas of Gulf company. “I do sir says one of his men.” Bring down that Garbage(NVA Flag) and run up our colors.” as the NVA Flag comes down and Old Glory is raised,You can see it all over the City, fighting Marines all over the City see the flag going up and Cheers go up form everywhere. We suddenly are over come with emotion and patriotism as we realize the similarity with Iwo Jima.

The Canal Bridge.

Snipers!

They killed one of our guys from a building across the canal bridge. We killed them and the next morning more took their place. The Skipper said to clear that house ( a 3 story concrete house.) and get those snipers! We cleared the house but each night they come back in.Cpt. Downs asks us to set up a Command detonation form the other side of the canal from a office building where we had our battalion command CP. We hid 6- 20 lb satchels of C-4 in the rubble at key structural spots in the building that would bring the building down with an electronic remote device controlled from the room on the other side of the canal.

Nightfall,

We watch the house with a twilight scope form our window. NVA start coming in, we can see them moving past windows. We watch for several hours while more and more move into the house. Once we see no new occupants we hit the switch and blow the building up. It heaves up a bit and then collapses into a pile.

Next morning we search the rubble to find how many bodies. 6 NVA soldiers and one woman and one small child. The horror of finding the child was overwhelming and devastating for me for ten years.

“Blow the bridge!” says Cpt. Downs. The Lt and 2 other engineers from our Battalion are handling some of the demolition load. They bring shape charges to set on the bridge to blow it.

As they are setting the charges, gunfire, the LT goes down. The other men scramble for cover.

The Lt is down in the middle of the bridge and no way to get him without exposing ourselves to heavy enemy fire. Clide says “Lets push a jeep out there and we can have some cover from behind while we recover the LT. Clide and I push the Mighty Might (A Small Jeep) out to the center of the bridge right over top of the LT and pull him up into the back of the jeep. Then pull the jeep backwards to safety. The LT is hurt bad, several abdominal wounds. he is medicvac’d out and survives. The Grunts finally kill all the NVA in the area and we blow the bridge late that day.

Nuns!

We are searching for enemy soldiers all over the city when we come to a Monastery of some kind. Every one seems to be gone. We go inside a building with a long corridor and walk down
3 Nuns come out of a door at the end of the corridor and walk towards us with their hands crossed in their selves and their heads down. As we pass they bow and say nothing continuing past 20 feet they suddenly turn and pull AK 47’s from their robes and raise them to fire. we are quicker and cut them down. G-2 tells us sometime later that the NVA have found several Female’s disguised in other places in the City as well.

The Perfume River.

We could no longer cross to help 3rd Battalion on the other side of the river since we blew up the bridge so we took boats across from west of the city and crossed to meet up with 3rd. Bn. 5th. Marines and we took back the Citadel after heavy fighting in the next 2 days. We spent the next several weeks chasing the rest of the NVA all over the country side.

After 42 days and nights we were relieved by units from 101st. Army Airborne division.

We had killed and wounded More enemy in that 42 days than in any battle in the entire war. we sustained a couple hundred dead and wounded from that campaign and inflicted several thousand enemy casualties.

One of the greatest battles in Marine Corps history and in US Military history.

Our skipper Captain Mike Downs, Clide and I survived without a scratch. Cpt. Downs finished his career as a Brigadier General and is retired, Clide survived his tour and lives in Minisota.

Bookmark to:

Marine Bridges Gap Between Arabic, American Cultures

By Cpl. Andrew Kalwitz, USMC Special to American Forces Press Service

TAQADDUM, Iraq - They have their differences. In fact, they often don’t even speak the same language. But U.S. servicemembers and the Iraqi people here have the same goal: security and stability for Iraq’s Anbar province.

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Robert Sanders, operations chief for Battery K, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, helps to bridge the cultural gap.

Sanders developed an understanding of Arab culture during his upbringing in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He was born at Fort Benning, Ga., but his father’s discharge from the Army after the Vietnam War led to a job as an oil field worker, which kept the family on the move.

Now Sanders’ own travels have taken him back to a familiar culture, but with his new extended family — his fellow Marines.

“Staff Sergeant Sanders is our bid for success in the villages,” said Marine Corps 1st Lt. Matthew Thompson, executive officer for the battery. “He has found his niche in working with the Iraqis. He can communicate with the Iraqis without an interpreter, and they can communicate with him.”

Thompson, a Presho, S.D., native, credits Sanders with helping to gain rapport between Marines and the people in the nearby village of Kabani. In addition to the battery’s plans to build a new water treatment plant, a rebuilt school now stands as a testament to the coordination between the Marines and the villagers.

Sanders has put his cultural and linguistic skills to use for the military before. He lived among the Iraqi people for seven months at the East Fallujah Iraqi Compound during his 2004 deployment.

He supervised civilian contractors there and grew comfortable with the Iraqi people and their lifestyle, even getting used to the food and water to the point where returning to his old eating habits upset his stomach when he returned to the United States, he said.

Things were different then, the staff sergeant said. This was before thousands in Anbar province turned against the insurgency to cooperate with coalition forces in what came to be known as the “Anbar Awakening.”

“I remember sitting at Fallujah, and you could sit up on a Hesco barrier and you could watch car bombs exploding in the distance,” said Sanders. “Every night, we’d sit out there on the Hescos and smoke cigars, and you could watch tracers shoot across the sky. You don’t hear that anymore.”

Bonding with the people, he said, was a major part of the solution. Sanders has held classes to further his Marines’ understanding of the Arabic language and culture.

“It definitely makes our job a lot easier,” said Lance Cpl. Hunter Leger, a fire team leader with the battery. “We’ve been able to handle things without having to call someone up.”

Leger, a Lake Charles, La., native, said he and his colleagues are knowledgeable enough to work the entry control points without the help of an interpreter. As one of Sanders’ Marines at their home station of Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., he said he’s developed a respect for the staff sergeant’s professionalism. It seems many of the local Iraqis have done the same.

When the battery sends Marines to Kabani to coordinate with the muqtar, or mayor, he first asks them ‘Where is Abu Iskander?’ in reference to Sanders, the father of Alexander.

As Sanders has with many of the village’s people, he has developed a friendship with the muqtar, who jokes that the Marine could win over enough popularity in the town to beat him out for his position in the next election.

“The people like him too much,” Muqtar Ismail Mohmood Hamad said. “They come in from time to time to see what’s going on, and he always likes to help the people.”

(Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Kalwitz serves with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group.)

Bookmark to:

The Crawfish apologizes to his readers. He had a nice column all prepped for today, but never e-mailed it to his home computer.

I’m on leave this week. I’ve actually been spending some time with the family, since the wife had a few days off that coincided with my time off. You’ve probably notced a lack of comments from me in the forums. I’m okay, I swear. I just haven’t been online or watching the political shows much. I didn’t even pay much attention to the Olympics for the last 5 days of it. The wife goes back to work tomorrow, so I’ll start getting online a bit more. I’ll have a good column ready for next Tuesday, the last day of my leave and the first day of school for the kids.

Until then, I’ll just say that Obama’s selection of Biden was a great one…for McCain’s supporters. There is puh-lenty of ammo to use now. He has praised McCain repeatedly over the past couple of years and been not-so-complimentary about Obama.

Have the riots started in Denver?

I hear Obama’s campaign is miffed and is trying to get the Justice Department to block an advertisement that some conservatives are running on television stations across the country. I haven’t seen it but I hear it makes all sorts of connections between unrepentent terrorist William Ayres and The Messiah. From the squeeling of those stuck pigs, the ad must be mostly true.

Daughter #2 is now officially dangerous. We got our 2nd grader a lacrosse stick yesterday. Yes, a real one so she can play with a couple of middle school boys in the common area of our townhouses.

Bookmark to:

Since it has been so slow here today I thought I would pull out the big guns. I hate to do this to you all, but this is bound to stir some conversation…

You made me do it. I have no choice. I am sorry to resort to such desperate and ethically questionable tactics.

Sorry…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Friendship!

You have officially been lured into and caught by the cuteness bug before you even knew what hit you. I feel so bad for doing this. I hang my head in shame.

Bookmark to:

Mr. Hooah! is in the trenches and preparing to take his APFT. This has been a long time coming. We are fast approaching the one-year anniversary of the day that we both will remember as a traumatic and hope-stealing time. Today he is increasing his distance and speed with little difficulty. The leg is better, but not quite what it used to be. I don’t know if he can live with not being a Beta runner any longer, but he seems to want to give it a shot with what he has to offer. I suspect he will be taking that APFT very soon.

It was roughly a month after my husband’s surgery and I was driving back from dropping Nate off to school. Emma was in the back listening to her happy kid’s music, and I was deep in reverie. Driving is a great medium for me to think. I am very mindful of the road, but the fact that it is fairly quiet, and my toddler is strapped safely into a car seat, allows me time to actually process my thoughts a little more deeply and for a little more time than is usually afforded me.

I was caught up in this sort of reverie and anticipating the next conversation with Mr. Hooah! I could tell that he was feeling discouraged. I knew that I needed to do my best to build him up from a distance, and through the medium of a cell phone line. It was not going to be an easy task.

He had done a great job jumping back to action, or as much action as the surgeon and his profile would allow. As soon as he was released from the hospital he was walking from HHC to the DFAC (about the distance of a football field) and he waited in line like everyone else. He only went to the front one day when a DFAC worker insisted on it. He didn’t want to upset this person who was apparently very distressed that he was standing there on crutches and not sitting. I liked hearing that people were watching out for him, personally, but he wanted to stand in line with his buddies. I understand that too. His discouragement was not beyond my ability, but when I was thinking things through I just didn’t know what to say to him at that time.

I didn’t have any answers. I couldn’t encourage him about his second chance because I can’t reassure him that it will definitely be there. The last thing a discouraged heart needs to hear are empty promises and songs of false hope. He’s a smart man, and I am an honest woman. So, here we have a quandary.

The truth of the matter was, the truth itself was not that encouraging at that moment; at least not to someone who has suffered quite a bit of physical trauma. The break was pretty traumatizing, and the surgery was even more so. Even though surgery is necessary to heal and heal well, it is still very traumatic to the body. What affects the body, affects the mind and so on. So, at this time he was in a post-surgical slump, and he was and still is facing a lot of unknowns.

So, what could I say to him? How could I convey a message to him that hope is not lost, and that even though I have no proof that a second chance is even possible, I think he will get one? I don’t know what that second chance will look like, but I believe it is was always there.

It was about this time in my quiet reverie that verbal words came out of my mouth. I relived what one of his Captains said during his leadership training course in OCS. They were running out of time and it was his call. He called the shots, made good decisions and was proudly told “That was one hell of a recovery!”

At that moment I knew that I was going to remind him of the other times he struggled to get through a point in his training. He used his mind, his resources and his strength and all of that combined got him to where he needed to be. He has faced his challenges with bravery.

It does not take bravery to face the wind when you own your course, and you own it everyday. It does not take bravery to face challenges when you are strong, encouraged and moving forward in the manner in which you have planned. It takes moxy, fortitude and dedication, but not bravery.

Every courageous act begins with a spark of bravery. Courage is seen on the face whereas bravery is felt in the heart. Bravery is the initial spark that leads to the courage that others will witness. What better circumstances to have your shot at bravery and courage than a situation that feels nearly hopeless?

You can not display bravery when you are certain. There is nothing grand about stepping your foot out onto a solid and sure surface. We all do it everyday. Walking out on a ledge for the right reasons, and to defy your innermost-self that is screaming for you to stay on the safe end of the beam is bravery! To defy that human urge to cling to safety and security when you realize that the risk is large but the payoff is ethereal is bravery.

When we chose this path we did so with our whole heart. We sold our home, we sunk a lot of money and sacrifice into this path, and we are not turning back. Our past is neatly folded behind us, and our plans for the future have been greatly paused and possibly altered by a severely broken bone. Regardless of our circumstances, forward is the only way to go.

We have no answers. We have no assurance. What we have is our Faith, one another, our family, and some courage and bravery to display.

We also still possess a shot at one hell of a recovery!

Bookmark to:

I once covered the issues I have with the big green ugly Army socks, but today I want to tackle another issue. “The Stinky Summer Beret Blues” is what I am talking about. I have noticed this topic coming up within a few of my Army Wife circles.

The Army beret is made of wool and therefore it should not be tossed into the washing machine and then the dryer (unless, that is, your little one wants a cute beret for her Barbie Doll.) I know that most wool can be gently soaked in a cool sink with a little Woolite. Some wives say to soak the beret and then have dear husband wear it until it’s dry in order to reshape it. Some spray it with Febreeze at the end of each day.While others have a few different berets and they take them to the dry cleaners on a regular basis. We also have the modern wonder of the home dry cleaning bag.

Of course, then there is this certain band of Rogue Army Wives. I happen to belong to this group. When washing the beret and spraying it with Febreeze does not work, I recommend the following:

1. Remove said beret from your husband’s head (no matter how angry you are at him at the moment take the beret off!)

2. Tell said husband to go to Ranger Joe’s or the nearest equivalent in your area and get a new beret “just in case” he should need it after you attempt to clean his current one.

3. Put on a pair of flame retardant oven mitts (don’t look so worried, this is just a precautionary measure).

4. Pour this onto the beret.

5. light one of these and throw atop pathetic beret.

6. Place thumbs in apron, smile and maniacally state the following:

Bookmark to:

Good news inoculation to keep you from getting the main stream media’s “defeatist disease.”

(more…)

Bookmark to:

I am writing my sad pathetic blog this week hoping that I will be able to reach those who still don’t get me.

If you don’t get my twisted sense of humor from this blog or my posts on VAJoe then you may need to seek medical attention or enlist in the service. That should fix you right up.

I am referencing a certain individual in my first statement as that is how she referred to my blog. You know I couldn’t resist…

At first it I was upset with her but the more I thought about it, the more I realized she at least had read what I had written. She had taken the time out of her sad and pathetic day to do so. I am so honored. I also became aware that she was also making a weak attempt at controlling me and my actions. I guess I was suppose to pack it all in. Stop writing and take all my toys home and walk away.

As you can see that did not happen. In fact she has inspired me to continue. You see inspiration can come from the positive as well as the negative in our lives. Of late I have had more negative inspiration but I am a strong woman and though I get fired up and tell it as I see it, I also know that can still smile and laugh out loud over most of it.

I would be remiss if I did not thank all the people in this world who I have come across who have shared their cruel words and their cruelity with me. They have served me well! Thank you!

I am not a quiter. I have never been. I have failed at times. We all have. But I have always tried. That is the key here. One never knows what they are capable of doing without trying. If you try and fail that doesn’t make you a loser. But if you never try because of your fear of failure then you are a quiter. That’s just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions…

I don’t know know everyone’s circumstance so who am I to say really. Fears often control us. The thought of what others will think of us often limit us to keep it simple and not take risks. We will keep it just below the radar in the risk taking. I have no fear of what others say. I do have certain limitations though. I march to the beat of my own drummer. I always have. It is very liberating and but often lonely. In the end it is a good place to be. I can sleep at night knowing that I did what I believed in. I am not a follower. I am a leader even if I am only leading myself. I instill this in my children. They know that they have to do what is right for them alone. Not what the group says is right. I hope this will keep them a bit safer from the peer pressure that is surely to come. I want them to be strong enough to say no to the drinking, drugs and the girls that will toss themselves at them. I will be sure to have my Ruger and Mossberg on display…just kidding…sort of!

In my daily life I have a reputation as a hard worker. I sometimes would prefer to just take it easy but I know that it is better to take the path less travelled. I have standards and I am proud to know that the efforts I put forth are being recognized. When given a task I will get it done. If it requires me going above and beyond the call of duty I will get it done. If I have a problem with the task at hand I will simply let my boss know and we will work through it. I don’t sweep things under the rug. I learned long ago that eventually someone will lift that rug and you will be exposed. Honesty is the best policy and you will maintain the respect that you have worked so hard to earn.

It is sad but true that one lie or misrepresentation will destroy all we have worked so hard for. Is it worth it? Honesty IS the best policy. We have all learned this the hard way I am sure as we are all human.

I did receive some good news this week!

The Obamamessiah has selected Joe Biden as is running mate. I has been unable to wipe the grin off my face. Boy will this be fun! He has opened a can of worms and I have my fishing pole ready to bait. How perfect. This guy so full of one liners and so much more that will become fodder not only for my cannon but for the Republican cannon as well.

I have been checking up on him and have found some interesting videos and statements attributed to this man. The fact that the Obamamessiah introduced him as the next President of the United States is real rich. Talk about a Freudian slip! Let’s not forget that Biden introduced the Obamamessiah as Obama America. HUH? Did I miss something? When did that name change become effective?

I personnally think he will be the behind the scenes president if the brainless wonders somehow get the Obamamessiah elected. He will be the puppet master and The Obama will be his mouth piece. This way all the liberals will be filled with joy and prove to the rest of the world that we are just as European, sophisticated, and non-racist as the rest of the world. What a crock of crap. I guess it tastes good once you get past the first few spoon fulls. No thanks! I am a picky eater.

Let the games begin!

Bookmark to:

Second Sergeant Romeo Sharia and Cpl. Georgi Khidesheli demonstrate emplacing a mortar during a class, July 7, on Forward Operating Base Delta.

Georgian forces have been serving as part of the Coalition in Iraq since August of 2003.

They have proved to be more than competent and efficient in all of their efforts.

Georgia has been under attack from Russia.

The above map shows the locations of the attacks.

To see a currently updated map, go here -

http://www.mod.gov.ge/2008/bombing/bombing-E.html

American forces have releived the Georgian forces in Iraq and returned them to Georgia.

American humanitarian aid is being delivered to the Georgian people by the US military.

Amazing that a new country has reached out to help the Iraqis gain their freedom when the Georgian freedom is so young and so tenuous.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Georgians at this time of invasion from Russia.

We can not thank them enough and we need to stand with them now.

Does anyone else get joy out of the Beach Volleyball Team from Georgia defeating the Russian Team at the Olympics??

Bookmark to: