On Full Automatic: Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam by William V. Taylor Jr

Author:William V. Taylor Jr.
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Deep Water Press
Published: 2021-08-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

EIGHT

WE MADE IT BACK to the ship to lick our wounds and regroup. For the rest of the battalion, it was just another mission. For me and my platoon, it had been a total disaster.

Operation Cochise ended on August 29. Our battalion had nine Marines killed while inflicting fifty-five confirmed enemy kills. We had lost Sergeant Jones, and he was going to be hard to replace. Francis was still our platoon commander. There was no one left in the platoon to stop his reckless aggression.

Waiting for us on the ship were a bunch of FNGs. I wasn’t going to treat them like I was treated when I first arrived in Okinawa. I introduced myself to them right away. I walked up to a tall, good-looking, nineteen-year-old Marine with a full mustache.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Bill Taylor.”

The Marine smiled back and said, “My name is Bill too, Bill Burgoon. These are my friends who I went through infantry training with, Ed Niederberger, Ivan Hiestand, and Bruce Hodgman.”

We liked each other right away.

I ended up being promoted to squad leader and lance corporal. Ed, Ivan, and Bill went to my squad, and Bruce was sent to Third Platoon. Some of Second Platoon’s wounded had been patched up and were waiting for us on the ship. We still didn’t have a full platoon by any means, but we had a lot more than the seven remaining from the last operation.

I was heartbroken when I found out Pilgreen had received his orders, and his tour was over. No one had to tell him what to do. He got his gear, jumped on the next chopper heading for Phu Bai, and then departed for the place we all knew as “the world”—home. I would have loved to say goodbye to him.

On September 1, our battalion took off from the USS Okinawa at 8:30 a.m. We were going to land in the Thua Thien province for Operation Beacon Point—heading again into the area known as the “Street Without Joy.” I knew what to expect from previous landings, but the new guys were in for a rude awakening.

We were on our way to LZ Sparrow. I looked at Niederberger sitting in the chopper along with Burgoon and Hiestand. They looked like kids having their first ride on a Ferris wheel. They were full of anticipation, as I must have been many months before. I guessed I was the old salt now. If these guys were going to survive, they were going to need my help.

I yelled to the three new Marines and said, “You know, in this area where we’re going, the North Vietnamese will use a lot of snipers and there will be a lot of booby traps around. You have to be alert at all times.”

They nodded in agreement. Suddenly, I knew what Pilgreen must have felt like, looking at me when I was as green as these new boys.

I put this question to the three Marines. “What are we doing in Vietnam? Does anyone know the answer?”

Hiestand immediately said, “We’re fighting for freedom.

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