Charlie One Five: A Marine Company's Vietnam War

Foreword

xvii Foreword W hen I first arrived in South Vietnam in late January of 1968, my first assignment was to command the legendary Marine rifle company Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines—Charlie One Five—a truly awesome responsibility. I wasn’t new to the command of Marines, as I had served in the Marine Corps for well over a year at that point and was an experienced platoon commander, but it would be my first command in a combat situation, and it would be my first command of a Marine rifle company. When I graduated from Platoon Leaders Class and completed my training at the Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, I transferred to the 2nd Marine Division based at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. I spent many months as a platoon commander in Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines. During that time our battalion went afloat on a Caribbean cruise, and we sailed the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea participating in training activities, including amphibious assaults on the island of Vieques, near Puerto Rico. As always, this Marine infantry training proved arduous and effective. We worked hard and we fine-tuned our infantry skills. After that I went to the Civil Affairs Advisory School in Fort Gordon, Georgia; we sarcastically referred to that school as the Live Longer School. I had recently married and had been promoted to first lieutenant. I knew that I would ultimately go to Vietnam , so I didn’t mind taking those extra few weeks in school to learn about how the Marine Corps reconstituted things and interacted with civilian populations after the battles ended. My arrival in a combat zone, and subsequent assignment to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, was a very rude awakening for this young first lieutenant. When I found out, at 1st Marine Division headquarters, that I was headed to the famous 5th Marines, I felt quite honored but a bit awestruck. My fellow lieutenants and I learned a lot about Marine Corps history during our training, and the Fighting Fifth is very strongly represented in that legendary history. I also learned that the 1st Battalion of the 5th Marines (1/5) had a reputation as a fine fighting force, so I felt Foreword: xviii very fortunate to join their ranks. However, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of my welcome “briefing,” conducted by the commanding officer of the 5th Marines, Col. Robert D. Bohn. After I was ushered into his office in the Da Nang area, Colonel Bohn personally greeted me. A big and impressive guy with real military bearing—just the sort of officer one might expect to lead the battle-hardened 5th Marines—he stood up as I entered, shook my hand firmly, and asked but one simple question: “Lieutenant Nelson, do you know why you are in Vietnam?” I answered him by repeating what we learned stateside and said that I was there to liberate the country, to set the people of South Vietnam free for democracy, or something along those lines, and he quickly countered with, “No! You’re here, Lieutenant, to kill the enemy.” After a somewhat stunned silence, I kind of looked at him funny, but then I thought to myself, “There it is,” and said to him, “Aye, aye, sir.” He then asked me if I had any questions, and I said, “No, sir,” and he dismissed me with a warm “Good luck!” That was it. Welcome to Vietnam. My job was to kill the enemy, plain and simple. The 5th Marines assigned me to their 1st Battalion, put me on a helicopter, and sent me to 1/5’s combat base on 29 or 30 January 1968. I stayed there for three days, and during that entire time Phu Loc 6 Combat Base came under heavy attack. Enemy mortars and rockets exploded everywhere, the Marine artillery battery and mortar units returned fire, people rushed to and fro, and it seemed like all hell had broken loose—my baptism by fire. I can remember sitting in a damp, dark bunker during those three days, having no command, having no control, just stuck there waiting to leave. I somehow remained very detached about it all, but I could smell real trouble all around me, and I found it difficult to just sit there with all the incoming and outgoing fire. That last morning was especially harrowing, because 1/5’s battalion commander got hit and was severely wounded, and...