Lest We Forget...
Lest We Forget
by Harrison Greene
The hill in
front of us was lit up like daylight on this particular November
morning in Vietnam. We could see an occasional burst of our artillery
hitting its target off in the distance. The three of us sat peering out
of the slits in our bunker. Despite being able to see an occasional
flash from an enemy rifle, we did not open up with our secret weapon
... a .50 caliber machinegun. We chose not to do so since the enemy had
not yet figured out where all of our heavy guns were located. After
all, we had only just moved into position on the side of this small
hill late the night before and our bunker had not yet been dug very
deeply. Things had been quiet most of the night, and now, at 3:30 AM,
the enemy had chosen to wake us up.
We had 105mm howitzers behind us cranking off illumination and high explosive rounds at a rate of one every 15 seconds. It was getting quite noisy, and the three of us had to nearly shout in order to carry a conversation.
Things were beginning to get busy out in front of
us.
The grunts were starting to rock 'n roll. We could hear the familiar M-14 cranking off semi-automatic fire. We could hear the reports of the enemy's M-1 carbines and an occasional AK-47 assault rifle.
Earlier that evening, while things were still
quiet, Gunnery Sergeant Tchaikovsky called all the outposts on the
field phone and told us that intelligence reports were predicting an
enemy probe sometime during the night. He told us that there was
reportedly a battalion-sized Viet cong unit moving towards our
position. He ordered a 100% alert!
He didn't have to order that, believe me. We were all more than a little nervous about finally being baptized under fire. This would be our first battle since arriving in country several weeks prior.
Gunny Ski (affectionately known as "Gunny
Godammit") was a big, lanky Pennsylvanian with a curious bit of wit
about him. We gave him the respect he deserved for having been a
veteran of the Korean War, but not much else. Just about every sentence
he spoke would include the word "godammit" in it.
I can still hear him
in front of our morning formations back in California, "Alright,
godammit, FALL-IN!"
One afternoon, the gunny called a special
formation. He had heard a complaint that several Marines in our unit
had only been issued one wool blanket. "Alright, godammit," Gunny Ski
bellowed, "some of you Marines have been issued two wool blankets,
while others of you have only been issued one. So, I want the ones who
have two blankets to give the guys with only one blanket one of their
blankets, and then everyone will have two."
I'm still wondering where
the logic is in that one!
Like an idiot, I gave one of my blankets to Lance Corporal Jimmy Jones. Gunny Ski was certainly tough on us, and he was a Marine that all of us loved to hate.
Jimmy was now my A-gunner on the .50 caliber
machinegun. The other Marine in our outpost was Jake Barnes, a
Louisiana man who spoke very slowly and deliberately ... and with a
strong southern drawl. We heard Gunny Godammit off in the distance
behind us yelling some obscenities.
"Alright, godammit." He yelled,
"Keep your heads down up front."
No sooner did he say that when
suddenly we were being clobbered by 40mm M-79 grenades, which were
landing all around our bunker. About five or six of them landed to our
right, and one hit the back of our bunker. We wondered if the gunny had
been drinking.
Jones picked up the field phone and tried calling back
to our HQ to let them know that the gunny's aim was off. Our phone was
dead, the lines probably severed by the rounds that landed in our
vicinity. We started yelling back to the gunny to cease fire, but the
rounds kept coming.
Finally, after another dozen rounds were fired in our direction, we couldn't hear each other talking anymore, but the bombardment stopped. We breathed a little easier, for the moment, but then things began picking up momentum in front of us.
TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT
- TAT! "That was an AK!" said Jones. We all agreed that it was very
close to our position. TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT! A
spray of dirt from the sandbags in front of us filled my eyes. TAT -
TAT - TAT - TAT - TAT! ZING! My head felt like someone hit me with a
sledgehammer, and I fell backwards against the rear wall of our bunker.
I reached up to wipe my eyes and feel my face, and it was all wet.
At the same time, I felt a huge weight slump against my shoulder. It was Barnes. At first, I couldn't see what was wrong with him. I heard a gurgling sound and a sound like he was trying to talk. The cannons behind us grew more intense, and the weapons fire to our front was now murderous. I yelled to Jones telling him that I thought I was hit. I told him that something was wrong with Barnes, but I still couldn't see clearly what was happening.
The illumination rounds being fired from the 105's
kept the night sky lit, and we were finally able to see Barnes, now
lying on the floor of our bunker, and bleeding badly from the face, his
hands clenching his throat. Still in a state of shock from having my
own bell rung, I dug around in the darkness looking for a first-aid
packet on one of our cartridge belts. Got it! I felt like I was all
thumbs as I opened up a large field dressing and began working with
Barnes.
Still unsure of my situation, I asked Barnes if he could hear me. He nodded in the affirmative. He started to cry. Things were getting seemingly worse out in front of us, and Jones reported that he could see more rifle flashes pointed in our direction. He wanted to fire the machinegun, but I told him not yet.
Barnes was shaking violently, and was obviously
already in shock.
He was conscious of what was happening; yet there
wasn't anything we could do to make the hurt go away. Jones tried the
field phone again to get a corpsman down to us. The phone was still
dead. He started calling back to the rear area where the cannons were
still firing away.
We could hear Gunny Godammit yelling down to us to answer our field phone, but it was apparent that he had no idea what was going on with us at that moment. "POST TWO, ANSWER YOUR GODAMNED PHONE, GODAMMIT!" he yelled.
I told Jones that one of us had to get back to the CP and get help. Barnes needed a corpsman before he bled to death. Jones volunteered to stay with him while I crawled back to get HM2 "Doc" Stewart.
Crawling out the back of our bunker, I followed the
Comm wire towards the battery CP. Shortly after leaving the safety of
our bunker, I felt very vulnerable to the rounds that were landing
around me as I crawled as fast as I could up the side of the hill.
Holding onto the wire, I came across the break, which was severed by one of the 40mm grenades Gunny Ski was laying on us. After searching around for the other end of the break and finding it, I twisted the wires together, and crawled back down the hill to the safety of our bunker and tried the field phone.
"Battery CP, Lance Corporal Toomey speaking," I
heard the voice say. "This is post two ... Barnes is hit pretty bad ...
send Doc down here NOW," I shouted into the field phone.
Barnes' field dressing was completely soaked in crimson red, and he was still whimpering and shaking uncontrollably. I reached over to him and told him that Doc was on the way.
Just as I was doing so, I turned around and saw this huge figure of a man come sliding into our bunker. "Alright, godammit, ... let's get this Marine outta here." Never before was I ever so glad to see Gunny Ski. He was the veteran Marine. The Marine that all of us sometimes hated; yet secretly admired because he was a seasoned combat veteran. Somehow, we knew we were going to be all right now. The Gunny came to our rescue. And, he brought with him a replacement for Barnes, who was now being carried back to the CP in the arms of this big, lanky, tough, dim-witted, loveable Gunnery Sergeant of Marines.
It was now about 0530, and the fighting began to taper down. The morning dawn was creeping over the hillside on which we were entrenched, and we could barely make out the outline of several water buffalo which were casually strolling across the meadow beyond.
"Time for "check-in," isn't it, Greene?" Jones asked.
"Exec Pit, this is post two ... all secure," I reported.
I never saw Gunny Tchaikovsky again after that terrible morning in early November. He was killed about an hour after he carried Barnes out of harms way. He was killed while saving another one of his precious Marines from an almost certain death. The date ... 10 November 1966 ... my first Marine Corps Birthday in the Marine Corps.
I know where Gunnery Sergeant Tchaikovsky is today. Rest assured, he is taking care of our beloved Marines who have been called back to guard those pearly gates.
Cam,
So many stories, so many heros and heroines, so much death and sacrifice required to keep us free. Lest we forget...
Posted by: Lew | May 25, 2009 at 10:24 AM