[Repost from 2004] In honor of Veterans Day approaching, Seamus sent this recollection by Marine (ret.) Major Philip Seymour. Seymour was a Sergeant in Charlie Co, 1/1, in October, 1967. The action he that writes about happened in Quang Tri, Viet Nam - Operation Medina. A Veterans Day Recollection It’s odd how a particular smell or sound has the power to transport one back to events decades past. The “Marine’s Hymn” has such a power for me, largely due to events on a night almost forty years ago in a land a half a world away. Certainly for any present, former, or retired Marine, the Marine’s Hymn is one melody that evokes thoughts of Marine Corps Birthday Ball celebrations shared with friends in disparate regions of the four corners of the globe. But, the 12th of October 1967 was not a time for celebration or for toasting to The Corps with one’s friends. Instead it was a moment in time – otherwise insignificant – during which a company of Marines fought for its very existence and for which The Hymn played a significant role. In early October of 1967, I was a sergeant with C Company, First Battalion, First Marine Regiment of the First Marine Division (C 1/1 for short, or simply “Charlie Company”). Since arriving “in country” (South Vietnam) the previous December, Charlie Company had been conducting “search and destroy” operations in an area about twenty-odd miles south of Da Nang. But, on October 6th, both 1/1 and its sister unit, the Second Battalion, First Marine Regiment (2/1), were ordered north to the area adjacent to the so-called Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separated North and South Vietnam. We boarded trucks for the twenty-mile drive up Highway 1 to the Da Nang Air Base. There we boarded KC-130 aircraft for the short hop north to Dong Ha Air Base. After touching down, we trucked to nearby Quang Tri and dug in for an indefinite stay. We had little time to enjoy our new surroundings. The area adjacent to the DMZ was under the operational control of the Third Marine Division. Also operating in this area were both the 9th North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Regiment and the 808th Viet Cong Main Force Battalion. They had positioned numerous anti-aircraft guns on the hilltops in this area near their base-camps. These guns were responsible for an alarming number of “shoot downs” of U.S. aircraft, principally helicopters flying over the thick jungle canopy of the Hai Lang rain forest. So it was that elements of the Third Marine Division, with 1/1 and 2/1 attached, would set out on “Operation Medina” to try to locate and neutralize these guns and the NVA force that freely operated in this local. At 1100 (11:00 AM) on October 11th, Charlie Company boarded fourteen U.S. Army UH-1 “Huey” helicopters for a twenty minute, zigzag treetop flight into a Landing Zone (LZ) on the edge of the jungle. Charlie Company had been designated the “point” company; the remainder of 1/1 and 2/1’s seven companies would land and follow us about a thousand meters to our rear. In theory, Charlie Company would encounter the enemy forces first, thus preventing the greater force to our rear from stumbling into an ambush with potentially dire results. It was not lost on us that we were out in front and largely on our own if the worst was to happen. Once all of our Marines were on the ground, we moved off the LZ through head high elephant grass toward the jungle’s edge. Entering the enveloping jungle, little daylight filtered through the three separate layers of dense foliage. With the sun’s rays unable to penetrate the thick foliage, virtually everything one touched was covered with slimy, rotting vegetable matter. The ground was crawling with land leeches. These, in particular, made for an interesting night. Whether on watch or trying to catch some much needed sleep, each of us sought to ward off the persistent crawling and sucking of these leeches. Sleep was in short supply that night. Before first light on the morning of the 12th, those fortunate enough to find sleep were awakened by their less fortunate brethren. Largely by feel in the darkness, each Marine found a score or more black leeches adhering to their bodies. With only minutes to spare before moving out, each of us busied ourselves burning off the attached leeches – thoughts of a C-ration breakfast would have to wait until later. That morning dawned as had each morning since the end of the monsoon season several months before – hot and very humid. Our progress through the thick jungle was slow, typically measured in yards rather than miles. The “point” man had to hack a narrow path fifteen or twenty yards ahead while those behind quietly waited. Everyone faced outboard, alternating left and right, though none of us could see much beyond ten feet through the foliage. On signal to move out, everyone picked up his gear and moved forty or fifty feet forward, only to halt once again and face outboard. This went on through the morning and into the early afternoon. Finally, around 1400 (2:00 PM), our point man emerged onto a trail – a very well used NVA trail! After consulting by radio with our Battalion Commander, then more than a thousand meters to our rear, our Commanding Officer (CO), Captain Bill Major, decided to risk moving onto this trail. Each of us was concerned about the possibility of an ambush, but the alternative was to remain in the jungle and not reach our objective before nightfall. This would in all likelihood subject us to plunging fire from the NVA unit we knew to be encamped on the mountaintop above. Movement certainly was both swifter and quieter once on the trail. But as we approached the base of the heavily forested hillock, the jungle ahead erupted in sustained bursts of heavy and light machine gun fire down the long axis of our ranks. Those...
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Posted
Nov 10 2010, 04:17 PM
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BLACKFIVE