Troops in Vietnam: Reached a peak of 543,000 in the last year (1968) of the Johnson Administration

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The War in Vietnam,1965-1968

Americanizing the War

As a domestic policy innovator, LBJ hit the ground running in 1965. His legislative accomplishments included securing congressional passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act and numerous great society programs including Medicare. Again, to avoid the tradeoff between "guns and butter," decisions about Vietnam were not highly publicized. Nonetheless, there were several decisions made in 1965 that would essentially "Americanize" the war and increase the commitment to levels that were feared in the policy discussions of the early 1960s.

After a Viet Cong attack on American barracks in Pleiku, Johnson ordered reprisal bombings of North Vietnam on February 6, 1965. This was later expanded, on February 21st, into a program of sustained bombing called Rolling Thunder. In March, deliberations led to the decision to escalate the ground war (see Larry Berman, Planning a Tragedy). In April, a battalion of U.S. marines landed at Da Nang; in May, the President submitted an emergency appropriation request to Congress to fund the U.S. effort in Vietnam; in June, LBJ gave General William Westmoreland the authority to commit American troops to ground combat operations in Vietnam.

Marines landing at Da Nang & B-52 Flying Fortress

The "story" of decision making throughout the remainder of the Johnson term was the escalation of American involvement. As the following graph demonstrates, the number of troops stationed in Vietnam steadily climbed in the years from 1965 to 1968.

From 16,000 troops at the end of the Kennedy Administration, the U.S. commitment grew to 184,000 troops by the end of 1965 and reached a peak of 537,000 in the last year (1968) of the Johnson Administration. In a sense, this was a "back door" escalation. There were no dramatic national addresses in which the public was "called to war." In fact, the troop increases were typically announced at mid day with little or no fanfare. And LBJ explicitly refused to put the nation on a war footing and argued, in his 1966 State of the Union message, that the country could have both "guns and butter."

Conventional "Warfare" in the Nuclear Age

The Johnson Administration essentially found itself in a predicament --- a "political war trap" --- that was a product of the nuclear era, the Cold War, and domestic politics in the United States. The "trap" involved a wavering ally whose regime was threatened. The option of not using military force was discounted for fear of a "communist success" if the ally fell and the domestic repercussions this would trigger. However, it was believed that unrestricted military force --- such as crossing the Yalu River in the Korean War --- threatened to embroil the United States in a superpower confrontation. Johnson believed, for example, that an all out military effort against North Vietnam would trigger a Chinese or Soviet response that could escalate into a nuclear exchange. Given this logic, action was limited to conventional military force designed to achieve limited and political (as opposed to territorial) objectives.

Thus, the administration escalated in response to North Vietnamese actions. Its objective was to inflict a level of pain on the North Vietnamese that was sufficient to make them bargain in earnest. Thus Vietnam became a war of attrition. Johnson would regularly characterize his decisions as taking the middle ground. He would not "pull out" as the "doves" and "nervous Nellies" suggested nor would he go "all out" as the "hawkish" military advisors recommended.

Fighting a war with limited and political objectives had an added liability. It was difficult to define and convey the idea of "progress" to the public. There were few set piece or conventional battles and American objectives were not defined in geographical terms (e.g., Berlin and Tokyo). Instead, the administration was forced to create and essentially sell indicators of progress to the public. Herein lies the origin of such commonly used terms as "pacification zones" and "kill ratios."

Domestic Opposition to the War

Questioners, critics, and opponents to Johnson quickly arose. Perhaps the most prominent establishment figure was J. William Fulbright, the Democrat from Arkansas, who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Fulbright was a one-time friend and ally of Lyndon Johnson and had, ironically, served as floor manager of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964. He broke with Lyndon Johnson over the war in Vietnam and, in February 1966, led the Foreign Relations Committee through six days of televised hearings on the conduct of the war. To divert public attention from the hearings, Lyndon Johnson traveled to Honolulu to meet with South Vietnamese President Thieu. The Senate Committee would again hold hearings in August 1966 and in October-November of 1967.

Senator J. William Fulbright

Another source of early criticism against the war took the form of "teach ins" on college campuses. The first occurred at the University of Michigan in March of 1965. The practice spread to campuses throughout the nation.

Teach-in at the University of Michigan, March 1965

As the war escalated, demonstrations and other forms of protest become commonplace on university campuses and in major cities of the U.S, including the October 1967 march on the Pentagon.



The protests focused upon American policy in Vietnam, the military draft, connections between universities and the Defense Department as well as Lyndon Johnson himself. The mention of "gaps" became commonplace in political discussions. Lyndon Johnson was said to suffer from a "credibility gap" owing to his campaign as "peace candidate" in 1964. There was a so-called "communications gap" between supporters and opponents of the war. Finally, there was increasing mention of a "generation gap" that divided those who came of age during World War II and those coming of age in the Vietnam era. Criticism of the Johnson Administration grew more widespread and strident because of the increasing number of Americans killed in Vietnam. The number of Americans killed in action rose from a monthly average of 172 during 1965 to an average of 770 in 1967.

The Light at the End

In November of 1967, the Administration launched an extensive "public relations" campaign. It was designed to convince Congress, the press, and the public that there was "progress" in Vietnam and that the war was being "won." Johnson was advised to "[E]mphasize light at the end of the tunnel instead of battles, deaths, and danger." "There are ways," Johnson was told, "of guiding the press to show light at the end of the tunnel" (quoted in Larry Berman, Lyndon Johnson's War, p. 98 and 99). To head this effort, Johnson brought General William Westmoreland, commander of American forces in Vietnam, to Washington. Westmoreland addressed the National Press Club saying that the U.S. had reached the point "where the end comes into view" (Berman, p.116).

General William Westmoreland

In the wake of this effort, public support of Lyndon Johnson rose. The effects of this effort would be short-lived however. On January 21, 1968, North Vietnamese regular forces launched an attack on the American installation at Khe Sahn, a remote outpost. The attack conjured up fears, especially for LBJ, of Dien Bien Phu and American forces were ordered to hold the base. The seige lasted for over two months and the North Vietnamese were eventually turned back after the base was reinforced in April of 1968. (Casualties were around 1,900 for the United States Marines and around 15,000 for the Vietnamese communists.)

The Seige at Khe Sahn

The Seige at Khe Sahn, January-April 1968

The TET Offensive

Khe Sahn was just a prelude however. One of the most controversial interludes of the war began on January 31st, 1968. Early that morning, the North Vietnamese regular army and the Viet Cong launched what came to be called the TET (New Year) offensive. These forces attacked over 100 cities in South Vietnam including 35 of 44 provincial capitals. The offensive included Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, as Viet Cong guerillas penetrated the U.S. Embassy compound.

c
MPs seek out a sniper at the embassy compound & fighting in the streets of Saigon

The battle for Hue

In light of the "PR Campaign" of November 1967, the TET offensive came as a shock. How could, critics asked, the enemy mount such a campaign if the war was being won? The fighting continued into February. In January 1968, the number of US troops killed in action was 1,163; the death toll increased to 2,197 in February; in the next three months, another 5,000 would loose their lives in battle.   (On the TET battlefields, the Vietnamese communists suffered a total of 144,461 casualties; a huge difference compared to American loses.)

TET elevated a debate that began early in the war. In a sense, Vietnam was the first televised or "living room" war. Each evening, the networks would show film of the fighting that was, at times, gruesome. Unlike the practice during World War II, the film was neither censored nor subject to any systematic scrutiny by the government. Thus, the public was shown scenes of battles in progress, the dead and wounded, and the coffins of the dead being unloaded. One of the more shocking photographs of the war occurred during the TET offensive. A Viet Cong terrorist was captured by South Vietnamese military officials and summarily executed in the streets of Saigon.

As the TET offensive continued into February, the anchorman for the CBS evening news, Walter Cronkite, traveled to Vietnam and filed several reports. Upon his return, Cronkite took an unprecedented step of presenting his "editorial opinion" at the end of the news broadcast on February 27th. "For it seems now more certain than ever," Cronkite said, "that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate." After watching Cronkite's broadcast, LBJ was quoted as saying. "That's it. If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America."

(Almost, since the first day's of the invasion of Iraq, many Democrat leaders and the US news media have been saying [everyday] that the US is losing the war in Iraq and that it is another Vietnam. In April 2008, Senator Harry Reid proclaimed to the world that America has lost the war in Iraq. After over four years, this negative attitude has impacted the American war effort greatly by influencing the morale of the terrorists as well as the morale of America's troops.

On the TET battlefields, the Vietnamese communists suffered a total of 144,461 casualties. Back in 1968, it's a fact that the communist leadership were seriously thinking of calling an end to the war. But the Communists saw the reaction the increased American casualties had on the American News Media, American anti-war protestors and the American people, so the communist leadership decided to continue the fight.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/7624/Generals/giap.htm
In his book, communist leading General Vo Nguyen Giap clearly indicated that NVA troops were without sufficient supplies, and had been continually defeated time and again.
By 1968, NVA morale was at it's lowest point ever. The plans for "Tet" '68 was their last desperate attempt to achieve a success, in an effort to boost the NVA morale. When it was over, General Giap and the NVA viewed the Tet '68 offensive as a failure, they were on their knees and had prepared to negotiate a surrender.
At that time, there were fewer than 15,000 U.S. casualties, the Vietnam War was about to end, as the NVA was prepared to accept their defeat. Then, they heard Walter Cronkite (former CBS News anchor and correspondent) on TV proclaiming the success of the Tet '68 offensive by the communist NVA. They were completely and totally amazed at hearing that the US Embassy had been overrun. In reality, The NVA had not gained access to the Embassy--there were some VC who had been killed on the grassy lawn, but they hadn't gained access. Further reports indicated the riots and protesting on the streets of America.
According to Giap, these distorted reports were inspirational to the NVA. They changed their plans from a negotiated surrender and decided instead, they only needed to persevere for one more hour, day, week, month, eventually the protesters in American would help them to achieve a victory they knew they could not win on the battlefield.       http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/7624/Generals/giap.htm

Webmaster Jack Cunningham)


[Full Text of Walter Cronkite's broadcast]

The TET offensive remains a matter of controversy to this day. Militarily, the American forces repelled the attacks and retook the cities initially occupied by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. Critics argue that this was not emphasized in media reports so that TET was framed and interpreted as, at minimum, a "psychological defeat." Others assert that there was a disjuncture between the optimism of the administration's PR in late 1967 and the coordinated enemy attacks of January-February 1968.

One thing is certain. TET had a substantial impact on American public opinion.

Indicator

Pre-TET

Post-TET

Change

Approves Johnson's handling of job as president

48%

36%

-12

Approves Johnson's handling of Vietnam

39%

26%

-13

Regards war in Vietnam as a mistake

45%

49%

+4

Proportion classifying themselves as "hawks"

60%

41%

-19

TET also had an impact within the Administration. In its wake, President Johnson refused the request for a substantial troop increase from General Westmoreland and initiated a reconsideration of his policy of escalation. Finally, TET took a personal and emotional toll on LBJ himself. In the face of a challenge for renomination by Senators Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota and Robert Kennedy of New York, LBJ addressed a national television audience on March 31. After discussing Vietnam, he announced that he would not seek nor would he accept the nomination for another term as president. Johnson was withdrawing from the race.

The emotional and physical toll on Lyndon Johnson is apparent. Compare his appearance at the signing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to that when he withdrew from the presidential race.

Politically, the toll of Vietnam is also evident in path of public support for President Johnson from January 1965 through the end of December in 1968. The mounting casualties, along with domestic unrest, had a most corrosive impact on the president's support. In retirement, LBJ spoke of this. He referred to his Great Society program as a "beautiful woman" and noted that she was gradually replaced by the "bitch" that was the Vietnam War.

All Text & Analysis, Copyright ©, August 2002, Dennis M. Simon

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Vietnam Facts vs Fiction

~ Why do these two U.S. Marines look drunk... ~

Jack (Sussex, NJ) and George Dros (Cooperstown, NY) are sitting at a table in a Duc Duc Refugee Village peasant hut, near the village's market place.   The two, young United States Marines are members of CAP Team 2-9-2. (CAP Teams were composed of about 8 to 13 Americans, who lived and served 24/7 in Vietnamese peasant-farming villages.    The Duc Duc Refugee Village was composed of about 2,000 homes.)

In the above picture, Jack's and George's eyes were shut, because of complete exhaustion. It was July 1970. At the time this picture was taken, the Americans in Duc Duc were not sure whether the CAP Unit would be pulled out of the village or whether it would be wiped out. We were experiencing heavy combat. Intelligence reports were coming in daily that the Communists wanted to punish the village while the Americans were still there.

      By wiping out CAP 2-9-2, the terrorists hoped to leave an example to other CAP Villages. With alerts at the highest level, night ambush responsibilities were 100% watch throughout the night. With two long patrols a day going outside the village, it didn't leave much time for the eight or so Americans to sleep.

     Around the day this picture was taken, an intelligence report came in from the 1st Marine Division Headquarters in Da Nang that the high Communist Command wanted to speed up President Nixon's troop pullout from Vietnam. They wanted to embarrass the Americans on a wide-scale and influence the American People into pressuring a faster troop pullout. Their plan called for wiping out the Fifth Marines at An Hoa. It was going to involve thousands of Communist Forces. The Village of Duc Duc was on the large Marine Base's perimeter and was said to be the main route for the Communist attack. Our orders that night in July 1970 was to set up in the most well protected position. Our Cap Unit was expected to try and hold off the Communist drive off as long as possible. We were expected to serve as a warning or trip wire (Queens Gambit) for the Fifth Marines.

Months after Jack and George pulled out of the village of Duc Duc, the Vietnamese communists punished the peasant village by burning it to the ground. Hundreds of civilian men, women and children were killed, wounded and reported missing. Two thousands homes were reduced to ashes.   The blaze could be seen from twenty-five (25) miles away in Da Nang.   It was the light of the blaze that guided United States Marines helicopters to the scene.

The boy with Jack is the Marine's village boy. These village boys would run errands, cook C-Rations, clean up-after, massage tense muscles and serve as interpreters for the Marines. Usually, each Marine had their own boy to help him around the village.

Many times, adult peasants of Duc Duc would supply these boys with intelligence information of planned terrorist attacks on the village.   Supplying these intelligence reports on terrorist movements and plans may have been the reason why the Duc Duc Refugee Village was later burned to ashes.

A month after the above picture was taken, the boy lost both of his parents in a terrorist rocket attack on their area of the Duc Duc Refugee Village.   After his parents were killed, the boy moved to a relative's home closer to the City of Da Nang; which in the long run saved his life the night of the Duc Duc Massacre.

JULY 17, 1970

      On what was going to turn out to be my hottest day in Vietnam, we had asked our (new to the village) sergeant for just a short, daily patrol.   Although it was still morning, we had already completed a number of our daily assignments around the village and the temperature was already scorching.   As usual, our Navy Corpsman already had treated a long line of peasants and my buddy, George Dros and I (our unit’s demolitionmen) had already setoff a couple of controlled explosions of dud high explosive rounds that the local children collected. The loyal children received payments based on the size of their dud round.

    The CAP 2-9-2 patrol of five Marines and six Vietnamese Popular Forces (PFs) Militiamen left Phu Da with full gear.   Sergeant Donald Eifford led the patrol down a small, dusty path between two tall cornfields.   I was the M-79 Grenadier and a Lance Corporal.   When we exited the cornfields, Sergeant Eifford took out his field glasses and spotted three figures entering a known Viet Cong frequented treeline.     The treeline was once the site of a peasant village.

      Since no villagers were allowed that far from Phu Da, it was safe to believe that the three figures entering the treeline were Communists.   Sergeant Eifford radioed for mortars on the jungle treeline from the Fifth Marines Headquarters at An Hoa.   (Only a month before, CAP 2-9-2, two tanks and a company of about 130 Marine Grunts from the Fifth Marines worked the same area. Even with all those Marines and supporting equipment, the treeline was a bad neighborhood to say the least.)

        Using Eifford’s map grid coordinates, the Marine mortars from An Hoa were very accurate.   (He was excellent at calling in support for us.)   Our sergeant decided for the eleven-man patrol to go after the Communists.

        About a mile into the thin, open rice patty dikes, fear triggered five of our six Village Militiamen to refuse to go any farther toward the mile long piece of jungle.   Even though we tried to influence their decision, the militiamen refused. They were terrified.   To be honest, having experienced combat there myself, I was a little worried.   Without the other PFs, there would be only six of us in the thick treeline.

      Like I already mentioned, the last time we dealt with the Communists in the same piece of jungle, we had about 130 men and 2 tanks.   In spite of all the men and equipment, we still had to call in F-4 Phantom fighter jets for a couple of bombing runs.

     The lone Vietnamese militiaman, who agreed to go along with us, was walking point (first) anyway. He had to pass through five Marines on the less than two-foot wide rice patty dike in order to leave with his buddies.

     As the CAP 2-9-2 patrol came close to the treeline that only minutes earlier three Communists entered, the sergeant ordered me to walk point (first) and slam the face of the treeline with M-79 Grenade Rounds.   Immediately, I moved up in line and started firing.   About a hundred yards outside the large treeline, we had to stop. My grenade launcher jammed from a BeeHive (shotgun-like) round casing.    I cleared my weapon and reloaded with just high explosive rounds.

       (In the Command Chronology for CAP 2-9-2 for July 17, 1970, it was documented that I shot a total of 22 M-79 High Explosive (HE) rounds that entire day.   Although I picked my targets well, I thought that I shot much more than 22 high explosive rounds.   It was a long day under the hot sun.)

      Once we entered the jungle, we immediately spread out into two-man teams and found Communist huts, bunkers, and trenches and stored food supplies.   My buddy

L/Cpl. George Dros did some extra searching under some heavy jungle canopy.   Inside a large hut that George found was Communist military documents and the equipment for making booby traps.   In another hut, we found freshly cooked rice still warm in four bowls.

    We were elated that we chased off the Communists.   I took my handy Kodak Instamatic Camera from my field jacket and started taking pictures. A couple of the guys even posed.

      This feeling of satisfaction lasted only a few minutes.   Suddenly, we were hit from what seemed like every direction.    The Communist fire was extremely intense.

      Immediately, Sergeant Eifford radioed for mortars from the An Hoa Fifth Marine Base.   The Willie Peter placing round was right on target.   However, probably because of the shifting of the M-81 mortar’s tri-pod, the ten M-81 high explosive rounds walked directly towards where we were pinned down.   We thought that our own mortars would kill us.   I didn’t know what to do. The thought of moving to my right or left was out of the question. The Communist fire was too furious. The last round exploded only about 20 yards in front of us.

      After calling in the mortars, our sergeant called in helicopter and fixed-wing air strikes.    During one of the initial passes over the trees, the fixed-wing pilot spotted a cluster of huts deep in the treeline. He concentrated his ordinance and succeeded in triggering some secondary explosions.

      During all the action, the rest of the Marines from CAP 2-9-2 and a few Vietnamese PF militiamen arrived from Phu Da.   Meanwhile, CAP 2-9-1 from the other side of the

An Hoa Marine Base rushed to our aid, but they got pinned down just outside the treeline that the six of us were surrounded in.

     For a number of hours, we had to fight off the Communists ourselves.    It was in July and the temperature was said to be over 100 degrees.    (I don’t remember for sure, but the number 110 comes up.   Our Navy Corpsman had his mother send a thermometer just about a week before.   (He was always saying how hot it was.   It became a joke for us.)    Regardless, whether it was 100 or 110 degrees, it was extremely hot.   Water ran

out early.

     Once CAP 2-9-1 arrived, the Communists broke contact with us.   As the CAP’s demolitionmen, George Dros and I blew as much as we could with our C4 plastic explosives.   After we ran out of C4, George and I collected some hand grenades and destroyed the remaining Communist belongings and equipment.

     It was very important what route we left the jungle.   We needed to take a route that the enemy would not expect us to take.   Otherwise, the Communists would be setting up an ambush for us.   We set up security then left the treeline together on a route that crossed through a chest high, slow moving stream.   (My camera’s film was destroyed.) While in the stream, a few guys were a little nervous about the poisonous snakes, especially the deadly Bamboo Viper.

       Once on the other side of the stream, CAP 2-9-1 left for their own village. The Americans and the few PF Militiamen of CAP 2-9-2 rested on a small knoll for a couple of minutes.    We were out there under some ugly conditions for many hours and we needed a much-needed rest.   Besides, our water ran out hours before and a few of us were near Heat Exhaustion.   Myself included.

       Our Navy Corpsman was tired of telling us not to drink the filthy rice patty water.   Since the patties were the universal toilets for their peasant caretakers as well as water buffaloes and the watery grave of many insects, the Corpsman didn’t appreciate us drinking the filth through our closed teeth and then wiping our teeth clean.   (We didn’t bring our toothbrushes.)   Our sweat-soaked, camouflaged utilities were our tooth implement of necessity.

       Three of my buddies went to search for some desperately needed clean water.

           (The problem was the three Marines went without their weapons. I’d

           say the intense heat; the day’s activities and lack of water were getting

           to them.)

         After only a few minutes of rest, our sergeant jumped up.   He was in a hurry to get back to Phu Da for fear that the Communists might attack the unprotected village.   (One of the Vietnamese Militiamen might have read one of the Communist documents that George Dros found in the makeshift booby trap factory.)

        I told the sergeant that the three men went for water without their weapons.   I volunteered to stay.    All I cared about was that my friends were out there with no weapons.

      The Communists must have followed us.   About fifteen minutes later, as my three, joyful, wet-buddies were returning with the much needed water, the Communists attacked with rifle fire and small explosive weapons.   For protection, each of my buddies drove into a large, rice patty filled with water. It was about a hundred yards wide and it separated us.

      For the next fifteen to twenty minutes, I fought alone in the open to draw the Communists' fire, so that my buddies would survive or not be captured. The sounds of the zinging bullets and bombs were constant.

                         Thank God, those Viet Cong Terrorists were bad shots.

       In order to give the impression that there were more Marines on the knoll than just me, I switched between my M-79 Grenade Launcher to my buddies' M-16 Rifles and a

M-60 Machinegun. However, I'm sure it didn't take long before the Viet Cong Terrorists realized I was the only American on the small knoll in the middle of the open rice patties.   If they killed me, the V.C. Terrorists could just walk up to my buddies and do what they wanted to them.

                                 (The Communist fire was pretty fierce.)

       I was no different than any other American in the Combined Action Program.   The thought of leaving my Cap Brothers did not even enter my mind.   At the time, we only had about eight Americans living in Phu Da.    I loved them.    One of my buddies pinned down before me in the rice patty was even married and had children. Some of George Dros' comments are below.

      You could say that back then; I felt my buddies were all I had.    Due to a number of different circumstances, we felt very alone.   Even, many American people back home were against us fighting the Communists. In June 1970, during a military sweep just outside our village, we found thousands of American Dollars that were donated to the Communist Terrorists by an American College student group at Berkeley University.   The donated money may have been used for the bounties on our heads.

       I served in Phu Da during the student shootings at Kent State University.

       I was also in Phu Da when my hometown of Rosedale, Queens had its Vietnam Veteran Memorial attacked twice by tar and paint during 1970.     (It's the first Vietnam Veteran Memorial in all of America.)

                                           http://home.earthlink.net/~rosedalememorial

         Back at the knoll, a couple of the Marines who left with my sergeant returned to help but it took them some time walking along the thin rice patty dikes.   For all they knew, they were walking into an ambush themselves.    Our sergeant led the rest of the CAP 2-9-2 Americans and Vietnamese PFs back to protect Phu Da from a possible Communist attack.

       Daniel Gallerger was the first Marine to arrive to help me.   He came into the firefight shooting his weapon and laid down right next to me.   Daniel’s on The Wall in

Washington DC for something that happened months later.   He was a good Marine.

      In the end, everyone was saved and my sergeant received a well-deserved medal for his actions.   It was a miracle that no Americans were hurt that entire day.

      On July 22, 1970, CAP 2-9-2 returned to the jungle treeline with three infantry companies (C, E, and F) of the Fifth Marines, tanks and CAP 2-9-1.

     My buddy George Dros (one of the guys I saved) wrote his parents about the episode and they wrote and thanked my parents.   I felt great.

       To this day, George and I are extremely close and we both live up here in the beautiful, hilly farmland of Sussex County, New Jersey.    However, we don't really talk much about the war portion of serving in Phu Da, Vietnam.   To this day, it's still extremely hard to talk about the ugliness of war.     Instead, we talk a lot about our American Buddies as well as our Vietnamese Friends and the many Vietnamese Parents and Vietnamese Grandparents who adopted us into their families.

ACTUAL UNIT REPORT FOR JULY 17, 1970

17 July 70

A PF member of a CAP 2-9-2 patrol accidentally detonated an unknown type booby trap rigged with an unknown type firing device alerting an enemy ambush at AT 872500, 2.5 km N of Duc Duc District Headquarters. The patrol received SAF and returned fire with organic weapons fire, 22 M-79 HE rds,

2 M-72 LAAW rds, and called a helicopter gunship fire mission on the enemy. The enemy fled in an unknown direction. One PF was WIA by the exploding SFD. The PF was rendered first aid and medevaced by helicopter. A sweep of the area was nonproductive. RESULTS: 1 PF WIA(E).

George Dros' Comments about the above action.

Some time in July 1970, we went on a (daily) patrol that took us farther into enemy territory than ever before. The temperature this day was in excess of 100 º. With only three (3) other Marines and 1 Chou Hoi, we confiscated a large cache of Vietnamese communist terrorists (V.C) explosives, detonators, documents and battle plans for upcoming engagements.    (This most probably was a small terrorist bobby-trap factory.)

After neutralizing their base camp, we were hit by Viet Cong terrorists’ rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms fire, pinning us down for over an hour.   We called for artillery from the Marine Cops’ 5^th Marines Combat base at An Hoa and a react team from our brother CAP team 2-9-1.   Return artillery fire was immediate.

      It took CAP 2-9-1 a while to reach us, because as they neared the tree line that we were pinned down in, they were also fired upon.

After about three hours, the V.C. broke contact and both CAP teams started back to their respective villages. We had to cross a chest deep river, carrying our weapons over our heads, but at least we were in our own back yard. We stopped on a small knoll for much needed water, since we had run out of water hours before, because of the intense heat and sun. Two Marines and I filled everyone’s canteens while Jack and the rest of the patrol stood cover.

Returning from the well, I saw Jack standing cover by himself, as Sgt. Eiford thought the village might be hit and took the rest of the unit back with him in case of enemy contact. As we made our way to the knoll that Jack was on, we took heavy fire from our right, pinning us down behind a small rice paddy dike. Jack then exposed himself to enemy fire to try and keep the V.C. away from us, switching from his own M79 grenade launcher, to my M-16 rifle and one of the Marines’ M-60 machine gun. Jack kept the V.C. off balance long enough for us to pull ourselves along by the rice stalks until reaching him. The V.C. broke contact, probably fearing an artillery attack.

This was Jack, always caring and making sure the people he loved were safe and protected from harm. Jack’s code in life has always been the same: passion for his family, his country and the Corps. I will always be thankful for being a part of Jack’s family.

What is Jack Cunningham doing today instead of battling terrorists in the Duc Duc Refugee Village?

Jack is battling the State of New Jersey for his Due Process in his right to charge Legal Malpratice against a corrupt New Jersey Attorney Ethics Vice-Chairman Robert Correale. It's been over a nine year battle so far for Jack, but he has some corrupt New Jersey politicians and officials ducking for cover.

Please read the details at:     http://www.americans-working-together.com/attorney_ethics/id73.html

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"A man good enough to shed his blood for his country, is good enough to receive a square deal afterwards . . ."

-- Theodore Roosevelt

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The below picture is worth 10,000 words...!   GOD BLESS OUR MILITARY.   Please press the link below the picture to see a larger copy and the story behind it.

http://www.capveterans.com/american_patriotism/id58.html

In Vietnam, Webmaster Jack Cunningham served (24/7) in a Vietnamese peasant-farming village.   At times, there were only four (4) Americans in a village of 2,000 homes.

Jack is holding his M-79 grenade launcher.   The weapon was nicknamed "The Blooper" because of the sound the weapon made, when it released a round.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

GOD BLESS AMERICA

CAP Badge

Read Some Of Webmaster, U.S. CAP Marine Veteran, Jack Cunningham's Vietnam War Experiences, While He Lived (24/7) In A Peasant Village.     Press here.

Parris Island, Marine Corps Boot Camp   1969

18 Years of Age

Jack Cunningham and his wife, Joan

* AS THE PLAINTIFF AGAINST A CORRUPT LAW FIRM,   HONORABLE WAR VETERAN MOCKED IN STATE SUPREME COURT DOCUMENTS FOR HAVING PTSD.      Please press here for details and evidence. *

A real David vs. Goliath story.

Serving as a PRO SE, Superior Court plaintiff, a PTSD disabled veteran convinced Honorable Judge Ronald Graves that a high level Supreme Court Official and his law firm committed Legal Malpractice.   Over the objection of this high level Supreme Court official, Judge Graves determined that the disabled vet's charges and evidence "warrants the Law Division for damages."     When the disabled veteran asked the court for a transcript of Judge Graves' decision, he was notified by the court clerk that part of the court transcript was (strangely) missing and could not be reproduced."    Read some of the court filed letters by pressing here.   This missing court transcript helped this corrupt, high level Supreme Court official and his corrupt law firm to get away with Legal Malpractices charges and Attorney Ethics charges.    This state courts' COVER-UP is still going on.       PRESS HERE FOR EVIDENCE

IT'S ALREADY BEEN SEVEN YEARS OF BATTLE, BUT DAVID IS NOT GIVING UP, UNTIL GOLIATH AND HIS SUPPORTERS COME DOWN TO JUSTICE.

PRESS   HERE

PLEASE PRESS THE CARTOON FOR A LARGER COPY

BATTLE SCARS: The photo of the 'Marlboro Man' in Fallujah became a symbol of the Iraq conflict when it ran in newspapers across America in 2004. Now the soldier has returned home to Kentucky,where he battles the demons of post-traumatic stress.

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Above:   He refuses an offer to go home early from his general.

PLEASE PRESS THE ABOVE PICTURE TO LINK TO AN UPDATE ON THE MARINE.   A FEW MORE PICTURES OF HIM ARE BELOW.

PLEASE PRESS PICTURE FOR A LARGER COPY

PLEASE PRESS PICTURE FOR A LARGER COPY

PLEASE PRESS PICTURE FOR A LARGER COPY

A real David vs. Goliath story.

Serving as a PRO SE, Superior Court plaintiff, a PTSD disabled veteran convinced Honorable Judge Ronald Graves that a high level Supreme Court Official and his law firm committed Legal Malpractice.   Over the objection of this high level Supreme Court official, Judge Graves determined that the disabled vet's charges and evidence "warrants the Law Division for damages."     When the disabled veteran asked the court for a transcript of Judge Graves' decision, he was notified by the court clerk that part of the court transcript was (strangely) missing and could not be reproduced."    Read some of the court filed letters by pressing here.   This missing court transcript helped this corrupt, high level Supreme Court official and his corrupt law firm to get away with Legal Malpractices charges and Attorney Ethics charges.    This state courts' COVER-UP is still going on.       PRESS HERE FOR EVIDENCE

IT'S ALREADY BEEN SEVEN YEARS OF BATTLE, BUT DAVID IS NOT GIVING UP, UNTIL GOLIATH AND HIS SUPPORTERS COME DOWN TO JUSTICE.

PRESS   HERE

** MEMORIAL DAY 2008 **

Purple Heart urged for veterans with PTSD.     Learn the details by pressing here.

Recall New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine.   Please press here for details.

Is Barack Hussein Obama a closet racist?   PRESS HERE AND YOU DECIDE.

If you think Barack Obama and his mentor Rev. Wright connection is interesting,

please take the time to learn Barack's connection to

DOMESTIC-TERRORIST BILL AYERS.

http://www.capveterans.com/the_year_2007/id242.html

Ayers, 63, spent 10 years as a fugitive in the 1970s when he was part of the "Weather Underground." They bombed the Pentagon, U.S. Capitol and a string of other government buildings.

A book Ayers penned about those years, Fugitive Days, landed him in hot water on Sept. 11, 2001. That morning, the New York Times ran a story about the book in which Ayers said, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."     http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

In the mid-1990s, Ayers and Dohrn hosted a meet-and-greet at their house to introduce Obama to their neighbors during his first run for the Illinois Senate.

Read the whole story at:   http://www.capveterans.com/the_year_2007/id242.html

A real David vs. Goliath story.

Serving as a PRO SE, Superior Court plaintiff, a PTSD disabled veteran convinced Honorable Judge Ronald Graves that a high level Supreme Court Official and his law firm committed Legal Malpractice.   Over the objection of this high level Supreme Court official, Judge Graves determined that the disabled vet's charges and evidence "warrants the Law Division for damages."     When the disabled veteran asked the court for a transcript of Judge Graves' decision, he was notified by the court clerk that part of the court transcript was (strangely) missing and could not be reproduced."    Read some of the court filed letters by pressing here.   This missing court transcript helped this corrupt, high level Supreme Court official and his corrupt law firm to get away with Legal Malpractices charges and Attorney Ethics charges.    This state courts' COVER-UP is still going on.       PRESS HERE FOR EVIDENCE

PRESS THE PICTURE FOR A LARGER COPY

** MEMORIAL DAY 2008 **

Purple Heart urged for veterans with PTSD.     Learn the details by pressing here.

Recall New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine.   Please press here for details.

Is Barack Hussein Obama a closet racist?   PRESS HERE AND YOU DECIDE.

If you think Barack Obama and his mentor Rev. Wright connection is interesting,

please take the time to learn Barack's connection to

DOMESTIC-TERRORIST BILL AYERS.

http://www.capveterans.com/the_year_2007/id242.html

Ayers, 63, spent 10 years as a fugitive in the 1970s when he was part of the "Weather Underground." They bombed the Pentagon, U.S. Capitol and a string of other government buildings.

A book Ayers penned about those years, Fugitive Days, landed him in hot water on Sept. 11, 2001. That morning, the New York Times ran a story about the book in which Ayers said, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."     http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

In the mid-1990s, Ayers and Dohrn hosted a meet-and-greet at their house to introduce Obama to their neighbors during his first run for the Illinois Senate.

Read the whole story at:   http://www.capveterans.com/the_year_2007/id242.html

PTSD Veteran Jack Cunningham exposed himself to enemy fire to try and keep the Terrorists away from us. Please press here for details.

CIVIL LAW,  ETHICS LAW, CRIMINAL LAW OR ALL THREE...

A state Supreme Court ethics official Robert Correale misuses his government and court office to Cover-Up and block ethics violations and legal malpractice charges against his own law firm, Maynard & Truland.  After seven years, the Cover-Up leads all the way up to the Governor's Office, Attorney General's Office and the state's Supreme Court and Superior Court.

http://www.americans-working-together.com/attorney_ethics/id88.htm