RAY ROUGH RIDER EARLEY. 1965. March.
Another history rap from Rat!
I had been in the Marines for two of my four year enlistment and became a member of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, of The 3rd Marine Division. We would become the first into Vietnam!
Anyhoo, our home was Okinawa, which was for me a paradise. ”Shortime Girls” were $2.00. Beer was 10 cents in the Marine Club. We were havin' too much fun! Can't have that! Let's get this war going. The Marines look for the ASSHOLE OF THE WORLD to fight their wars in and Vietnam was it!
The last three months of 1964- (89) days to be exact- we had sat aboard ships off the coast of Vietnam waiting to land. I guess 1964 was too early, it was put off until 1965. By Christmas we had returned to Okinawa. From spending all that time aboard a crowded WWII Era, LSD (Landing Ship Dock), with no room to exercise we had become soft.
Offloading at White Beach, Okinawa, the Col. forced marched our bn. wearing full combat gear, helmet, rifle, flak jacket and pack twelve miles to Camp Hanson. As the Col. and his driver in his jeep drove back and forth alongside the stretched out Bn- sometimes he marched with- he would encourage us.
The 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade all made it to Camp Hanson where we would return to our individual Bn's. The Brigade had been made up in '64. Our area would be renamed Camp Butler and become a staging area for all Marines going to Vietnam. The next four months we practiced Marine Amphibious Landings.
Early on a March morning, 1965, we got the order to “mount out” packs, rifles and helmets. O-Dark-30, the 9th Marine Regt. would make an Amphibious Landing at Danang, S. Vietnam. Some of us flew into Danang's air base by KC-135s.Vietnam would be the Marines most costly war. They were the “first in” and “last out”. More Marines would die in Vietnam than had in WWII. They would be 25% of the names on the Vietnam Memorial, with only 10% of the troops sent to Vietnam.
I would do another tour and be affected for my life by this War, passing on a disabling disease to one of my five sons. I am now 100% disabled and in a wheelchair. Anyhoo back to 1965…
I came home and had 30 days leave. The class I should have graduated with had already done so. After saying my hellos to my family, I said “see ya later”. Mice had moved into my Little Ford Victoria. They ate the wiring out of my Flathead, so unable to start it, I borrowed this beautiful 1961 Pontiac Ventura from Butch Williams. It was all I would ever want.
I would purchase this ”Boss” car from him by the time my leave was up. Butch had rebuilt the 389 3-carbed motor, making it faster than stock. He replaced the Pontiac with a 1964 “sleeper”- a Chevrolet Biscayne 409,425 HP 4 speed, dual quad, positraction, bench seat, two-door post, Gramma-lookin', ugly green car. Butch knew the 409s weakness and had rebuilt the motor, replacing the connecting rods. He was a professional drag racer by this time and would go on to win Class titles for the next three years.I spent most of my leave drinking and telling bullshit war stories. It wasn't much of a war yet, but it was all we had. At the time I wouldn't know that adozen friends, two classmates, and 58000+ Americans would be killed in that “BULLSHIT” War. Many friends joined the Marines after I came home in July of 1965. I would go back to 'Nam for another tour in 1967-68. Semper Fi! Rat-a-tat-tat.
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