Things I'll Never forget: Memories of a Marine in Viet Nam by James M. Dixon

Author:James M. Dixon [Dixon, James M.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Do Right Press
Published: 2017-04-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

NEW GUY IN THE GRUNTS

MOST PEOPLE, I’m sure have experienced being the new guy at one time or another. We change jobs, move to new neighborhoods, get transferred to different departments or in my case, transferred to a different school. Sometimes we are met with open arms but usually we’re met with skepticism. At the intercity school where I taught, each year we would get several new teachers fresh out of college with their heads filled with hopes and dreams. By Christmas, if they made it to Christmas, most teachers developed a whole new attitude. I remember one young, new female teacher who brought a guitar to school the first day of classes, so she could sing ‘Getting to Know You’ from the musical The King and Me. She spent that first afternoon in the Principal’s office crying her eyes out because she wanted to quit. No matter how much knowledge we have, the new guy always has a lot to learn.

The night before we left for the grunts, Mac, Carden and I had a short conversation with a former grunt. As guys were pulled from the M.P.’s to go to the grunts, we usually got replacements right off the plane. Some were draftees, and some were enlistees, but all were boots with no experience. However, there was one guy who had been in the grunts and had been wounded. After getting out of the hospital he was sent to our M.P. Company. The night before we left for the grunts we asked this guy to step outside and give the three of us some advice about this next phase. I don’t remember his name because I only saw him that one day. After he asked how much time we had left in our tour, he paused to think. His answer would haunt me to this day.

“Well, one of you will probably get killed, one of you will be wounded, and one of you should be okay”. His other advice was, “Stay low!” After he returned to his tent, the three of us looked at each other and wondered. And then wondered some more.

The next morning Mac, Carden and I boarded a truck with guys from the other M.P. companies. The truck headed south. We drove for well over an hour and arrived at the base camp for the 5th Marine Regiment. We were told, “Welcome to Chu Lai.” (pronounced 'Lie') Carden and I were assigned to ‘K’ company. Mac went to ‘L’ company. Carden was put in first platoon and I went to the second. I would see a lot more of Carden than my good friend Mac.

I walked into a squad tent and was met with looks ranging from disgust to skepticism. I wore the uniform of a ‘non-combatant puke’. Everyone else wore jungle utilities and jungle boots. Even though I was a lance corporal and had been in country for seven months these guys couldn’t tell if I just stepped off a plane from Okinawa or if I had just been court-martialed and sent to them from a supply hut.

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