May 1967

9 May 1967:

“… [W]e’ve been taking a lot of casualties the past few days. The marines were here for a year & did absolutely nothing—and still aren’t. They didn’t even go out into the hills. So the VC are really dug in out there & we’re paying for it because of the… marines. It’s pretty hot here although we do get a breeze in the afternoon, but that only blows the dust all over you.“

"Why haven’t you sent me any ammunition?… The dust is terrible on a rifle, & on the road I depend primarily on my pistol….”

13 May 1967:

“… The marines have been getting most of it north of us lately…. Things have quieted down now, but we took a lot of casualties (only 4 killed luckily) when we first went out into the hills— last week, because the 1st marine division sat on the beach for a year not doing a damn thing. They didn’t go out & bother the VC & the VC didn’t come in & bother them. So now the 196th brigade & our btn. have gone out on the offensive (the 1st marine division was 3 times our size) & have cleared the VC out of well prepared positions (they had a year). Now we’re operating in small units again in our area. We’re making a big push now in the 1st corps (northern area) from all directions. Actually support troops are now securing the air base & the 196th light brigade & our btn. are 'securing' the area by trying to clean it out.“

"Several of our platoons today had trouble with their rifles jamming (the M-16 doesn’t function well in this dust) & missed a chance to kill a lot of VC. It’s a good thing the tables weren’t turned. These new rifles are too delicate. The old ones are heavier & the ammunition is larger and heavier but they always worked all the time. So everyone is trying to get ahold of a pistol while we’re in this dust. I’m telling you again I want only 10 rounds for my pistol but I need them now! I’d almost be afraid to fire warning shots at a suspicious looking Vietnamese for fear of using some of my ammo. I’ve only got about 18 rounds & I never take my rifle on the road because of the dust. Luckily we have gas and hand grenades….”

Tracked vehicles were used by the 3rd brigade when it moved to the coastal area and worked to clear the region of Vietcong. Pictured is a marine amtrack (amphibious landing craft). “We are using them a bit,” Rasmussen wrote.

15 May 1967 [date from envelope] [letter dated 4 May; probably begun on that date]:

“We’ve moved again. Now we’re on the coastal road about midway between Da Nang & Chu Lai (40 some miles to Da Nang, 35 miles to Chu Lai). But we’re still in wooden buildings—on a hill overlooking the road. The bad thing now is that instead of sand we have dust, and plenty of it since it’s the dry season. We’re not guarding the air base anymore but operating in the hills with helicopters & on the road with tanks & other tracked vehicles (we have a mechanized troop [carrier] on the hill across the road from us). We’re still only about 4 or 5 miles from the sea but a lot of good it does us as the beach is 35 miles away & the sea breeze only blows the dust around. But I’m safer than I would be out in the hills & we’re getting 3 hot meals a day & we’ve got all our people & equipment up here from Pleiku….“

"I was glad to get that last article you sent which mentioned a marine amphibious landing last week which was just 15 miles up the road from us toward Da Nang….”

20 May 1967:

“Things have eased down now & our casualties are down. The air base is still marine completely, but aside from that we’re not working with the… marines….”

28 May 1967:

“I spent most of these past week in Qui Nhon with my VMI classmate, Curtis White, who also went down for medical supplies—he’s at the 2nd surgical hospital in Chu Lai. We had a pretty good time down there at the air conditioned club the large hospital has there…. We had to fly up to Da Nang, an even larger air base than this, & then down here to get back. We flew back from Da Nang on a plane carrying 30, five-day old, dead marines coming down to Saigon from the DMZ. A most unpleasant experience to say the least. I don’t know why they can’t bury the dead on the spot in this war (as was done in all others) instead of having to send them back home. We’re losing too many people now for them to continue. The marines told me they had lost 70 in the past 2 days at the DMZ. We’ve had 7 killed this past week with many other casualties. One of my medics almost had his foot blown off—he only lost 2 toes luckily. I’ve got 3 medics in for the bronze star for the past 10 days activity. This whole northern area is crawling with VC. We’ve killed 45 in the past 5 days.“

"It’s true that the marines up at the DMZ don’t have enough men, but they’ve had an entire division here for a year doing nothing. Now a brigade (1/3 of a division) & our battalion (1/3 of a bde.) are going out after the VC & paying heavily because of the… marines. The marines have no concept of how to fight this war. They don’t use any tactics or artillery, helicopters, & air power correctly. They can’t understand why we haven’t gotten wiped out operating the way we do (the standard army method). They are defensive rather than offensive minded.…”

31 May 1967:

“I… was glad to get the ammunition…. [T]he M-16 rifle… is quiet controversial over here. It’s typical that the marines were interviewed: they always do less but get more publicity. We have a saying that’s marine squad consists of '3 looters, 3 shooters, & 3 cameramen.' The marines have only gotten the M-16 in the past month, while we’ve used it over here for 2 yrs.!… With the M-16 carbon piles up on a vital moving part in the chamber, while with the M-1 or M-14 it accumulates on an insignificant screw on the barrel. You can’t be cleaning it every minute, but we do our best. Out btn. has always had trouble with the M-16—too temperamental….“

"I’ll be leaving for a week in Hong Kong in 2 weeks, providing the riots don’t start again & they put the place off limits….“

"We’ve killed over 100 VC in the past week, but our casualties have been too heavy (our top kill ratio has been destroyed). Luckily we’ve gotten in 200 replacements (including 6 medics), bringing us up to strength, which we never were since I’ve been here.”