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| A Summer Day
In Nam
by Lance Corporal, Floyd Ruggles
1st Reconnaissance Battalion.
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Last night I awoke to the sounds of thunder. I was recalling a small part of a day a long time ago. As if it was yesterday as I remember it was the height of the war that April day in ‘69. It seems to be bits and pieces of time that have been locked away for forty years or so. Names and places are not that clear this day, so I’ll do my best to remember. The team of 8 recon Marines consisted of young, tough, bronzed warriors with an attitude, a gung ho bunch of Marines from the 1st Recon Battalion. Bravo Company, 2nd Platoon. Team “call sign” unknown at this time. I can’t recall the team’s name for this mission this day, but the team names that come to mind are Blue Spruce, Cayenne, Panama Hat and Albrook that I recall. My team was getting briefed by 1st Lt. Riley, his name I can recall. 1st Lt. Brian Riley sticks in my mind because I felt I was responsible for his death and that been playing on my mind for years. You see as the point man for this small team of marines. I was responsible for finding and clearing the areas of all the booby traps, mines and all other devices that can wreak havoc on my brothers of my team. As a scout I took my job seriously all the time and on all my missions. It so happened by faith maybe luck, I considered my self to be very lucky in life and at that time in the years of ‘68 and ‘69. But my good friend Lance Corporal Herman Jonse, I’ll call him Jonsey for short. Yes my good friend Jonsey of Bravo Company, at the time had just returned from R&R “rest and recuperation” in Australia where he met Margaret his wife to be. Margaret what can I say about Margaret, but she was a peach, a down to earth woman and I thought Jonsey was the luckiest guy on earth. But at the time I was a dumb kid and I had no plans to go on R&R. As I told my friend I’m saving for a brand new car. And I can recall that car today that I was saving for, it was a green 1969 Chevy with white racing stripes. A new ’69 Chevy Chevelle SS “Super Sport” with a 396 high performance engine with a Holley carburetor, chrome wheels with Goodyear F70-14 polyglass tires and this car had a Delco AM radio. Well to make a story short Jonsey talked me into going to Australia for a week and yes to meet his wife to be. I can recall that time in Australia and meeting Margaret one of the best vacation, I ever had and thanks to Jonsey and Margaret that R&R to Australia April 8th through April 15th, 1969 maybe saved my life who knows. Only one week, but your life can end in a week. When I returned to the Battalion on April 16th I found out that my team had been lost to a mine or some kind of booby trap. And 1st Lt. Riley had taking the brunt of it all and my replacement at point and our radioman "Tom Harkens" was medivaced and I did not hear from them again. So I felt responsible at the time not protecting my team on that mission, so that 1st Lt. Brian Riley was the Marine leading this mission on this April day. He was giving the briefing the night before this mission. I recall parts of the mission and the high probability of making contact deep in enemy controlled territory. I recall that this didn’t seem to bother me at that time been that I had been on plenty of patrol about 20 missions in all to date and because of my experience at that time as a scout. This was to be only one more mission to me. As I think back on this now. Why is this one mission constantly on my mind? After forty years, why is this summer day on my mind. I seem to be reliving this day over and over in my mind. Like a movie that comes to mind “Ground Hog Day”. Where Bill Murray is living Ground Hog Day over and over and it seems to never end for him until he can get it right. As I’m writing this down for the first time, it seems to be playing out and starting to come back to me a little clearer. Each time I sit down to write now my time line 1968-1969 is becoming clearer to me. I stumbled across the 1st Reconnaissance website on June 3rd, 2008. I was on eBay comparing prices, with inventory on hand in my mall that day and looking for inventory to purchase for my Antique business. I don’t know to this day why I keyed in Recon. I keyed in Recon it seemed to pop into my mind. But I was surprised to see all the items listed under Recon on EBay that day. I don’t know maybe curiosity at that time. But I switched from EBay to my search engine and keyed in 1st Recon Battalion, Yes I keyed in 1st Recon Battalion that changed everything for me. Up to this point in time I thought I sealed the memories away for good. That click of my mouse and up popped the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion’s website. Oh my God, I don’t believe it, my old unit in Nam. At the same time a peaceful feeling came over me like running into an old friend yes like running into a friend. This feeling is hard to describe for me. I can recall that day I arrived at 1st Recon in Vietnam as a green know it all rookie marine with an attitude and gung ho at the same time. I was going to win the war by myself. I can look back today on this and laugh at myself. What a dumb kid I must have been then. Only moments after arriving that day in '68, reality set in and I learn quickly that I was in hell or some where close. Yes I can recall the day I arrived at 1st Recon, it was Saturday July 7th, 1968 at 14:30 (2:30pm). As one of their replacements for one of those brave men KIA “killed in action” on Hill 200 a month earlier on June 3rd, 1968. I spent the remaining part of June 3rd, 2008 reading stores on the Battalion website. I realized that what once was sealed away in my mind is now racing through my mind like a wild fire out of control. This would go on for weeks before I started writing it down. Working as a point man I’ll call it a scout from time to time, as a boy I like to play an old scout, you know like the one out of an old movie of the wide west or some times I played an Indian scout “Native American scout” from the cavalry. You can see my point so time to time I will call it a scout and not a point man. I’m just a dumb kid playing cowboys and Indians as my mother would say. I also worked as a M79 grenadier on my earlier missions for Bravo Company. Until two weeks shy of going home for good I was hospitalized in Yokohama on July 9th, 1969 and release from Active Duty on August 19th, 1969. I can recall that time in August of ‘69 when I return home and encounter the Anti-War demonstrator for the first time. My opinion at the time was that many Americans thought the war in Vietnam was wrong and the veterans of the war was baby killers and most Americans hated the veteran at that time in my opinion. I can recall the words Baby Killers for the fighting men and maybe women too. But returning home it played on my mind at that time in ‘69. I never talked about the war at that time I just sealed it away. But I did not intentionally kill innocent civilians or babies and you can take that to the bank. I am proud of serving in the Marine Corps my opinion will not chance. I’m proud to be a recon marine and that you can take to the bank also. Like most of us who served in Vietnam in my opinion went there with a different attitude. I never questioned whether, morally or politically. We should have been in Vietnam. We were told and I believed that we were helping a county to stave off communism and upholding the ideals of our way of life. As for the year of 1968 I missed that anti-war demonstrator as a member of the armed forces from December 7th,1967 I didn’t know about it, I didn’t heard about it, an I didn’t know why maybe I why so focus on going to war that I blank out the world around me.
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Too close to whisper...
...one click for "yes", two for "no"...
"Brothers of the Bush"
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Recon...their name is
their honor...and nothing more
need be said...Recon
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By James "Kimo" Andrews
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