Here's a great website for Vietnam Vets to do research

[radio relay]

Don't know if the link to this website has been posted here before, but it's a great resource. Pretty much everything you would want to know about the Marine Corps in Vietnam. Including unit diaries of every Marine unit in Vietnam from beginning to end of the war .....
http://www.recordsofwar.com/vietnam/usmc/USMC_Rvn.htm

[03Foxtrot]

This is my second attempt at responding to this post. The first one disappeared into cyberspace when I finished and clicked "post quick reply". I am truly computer challenged and there are times when I feel very out of touch with the world, not only from previously stated reasons, but also because of the modern way of communicating and the various devices that the current generation uses to take the place of one on one, eye to eye contact. It's all to impersonal and indicative of a society that I don't belong in.
What I sad before, was that this website offered to us by 'radio relay' does have a lot of good information, but is far from inclusive of much that I desire. For example, the Operations that it has available seem to end in mid 1968. Perhaps when this site was made available, some of the later operations had not yet been declassified, but I think not. It is unfortunate for me because I was looking for Operations Meade River, Pipestone Canyon and Durham Peak, all later in the year. I recommend the series of books published by the USMC History and Museums Division entitled, "U.S. Marines In Vietnam". I have volume six, "High Mobility And StandDown 1969" by Charles R. Smith, 1988 and I find it invaluable in helping me to get a better perspective. As a Pfc. to Corporal in rank and responsibility, even as a squad leader, I was not privy to much of the big picture and it wasn't for many years that I knew much more than I was in I Corps. This book and other information that I have acquired over these last 41 years helps me to fill in the many blanks in my own memories.
Semper Fi

[radio relay]

That's interesting ... Must be different for different units.

When I checked my units (5th Comm and 7th Comm) it seemed to be complete for the duration that they were in-country. I apologize, if I mislead.

[03Foxtrot]

Friend, I thank you for posting this website for all to see. None of us have any control on what a website does or doesn't provide and all of us have different needs. Rather incomplete or very complete, all of the varied sources that I go to and can substantiate through other sources gives me a more complete picture of the war. Using one source to build on another and put with personal experiences, all of this gives me a better understanding and another dimension to my own personal memories. My knowledge was rather limited and very germane to what I did as a Marine grunt. I'm no expert on any phase of this war but I do know first hand what I did and experienced during my tour of duty and short time in the Marine Corps. My recollections are on a personal and emotional level that when supported by factual knowledge that I was unaware of previously, helps me to deal with some of my own questions concerning my service. All of this leads me to hopefully having more answers than questions and will I hope give me some solace in these twilight days of my life. Speaking only for myself, I have always had such a hole in my mind and in my heart, remembering how and why I felt way back then, but never being able to really connect the dots, so to speak. What many of us carry inside, is for life, and even though I will always have the burden and the legacy as a survivor, to overcome the negative and get on with my life, I will always search for anything that seems to make this long journey a little easier to understand.
Sorry for the long and disjoined response, I seem lately to either say nothing or say too much and I have found that the latter does me more good in the long run. Not long ago, I was intent on leaving this site and becoming a reader and not a contributor, but I managed to overcome my initial reaction of being misunderstood and confused by others who seemed to always take my words wrong. No one is at fault because both myself and others who possibly hear me wrong, are all of the same persuasion, so patience and compassion are in need, not anger and animosity. The Gunny and a few others have inspired me to continue down this path. Any way, I just wanted to say that you owe me no apology, no one was misled by you.
Semper Fi

[m14ed]

Friend, I thank you for posting this website for all to see. None of us have any control on what a website does or doesn't provide and all of us have different needs. Rather incomplete or very complete, all of the varied sources that I go to and can substantiate through other sources gives me a more complete picture of the war. Using one source to build on another and put with personal experiences, all of this gives me a better understanding and another dimension to my own personal memories. My knowledge was rather limited and very germane to what I did as a Marine grunt. I'm no expert on any phase of this war but I do know first hand what I did and experienced during my tour of duty and short time in the Marine Corps. My recollections are on a personal and emotional level that when supported by factual knowledge that I was unaware of previously, helps me to deal with some of my own questions concerning my service. All of this leads me to hopefully having more answers than questions and will I hope give me some solace in these twilight days of my life. Speaking only for myself, I have always had such a hole in my mind and in my heart, remembering how and why I felt way back then, but never being able to really connect the dots, so to speak. What many of us carry inside, is for life, and even though I will always have the burden and the legacy as a survivor, to overcome the negative and get on with my life, I will always search for anything that seems to make this long journey a little easier to understand.
Sorry for the long and disjoined response, I seem lately to either say nothing or say too much and I have found that the latter does me more good in the long run. Not long ago, I was intent on leaving this site and becoming a reader and not a contributor, but I managed to overcome my initial reaction of being misunderstood and confused by others who seemed to always take my words wrong. No one is at fault because both myself and others who possibly hear me wrong, are all of the same persuasion, so patience and compassion are in need, not anger and animosity. The Gunny and a few others have inspired me to continue down this path. Any way, I just wanted to say that you owe me no apology, no one was misled by you.
Semper Fi

Right on, Dont think any of us can say it any better.
SemperFidelis Marines

[rufus1]

Yes I got some good information off of it this past week that helped me show and prove information that I had declared!!!!!!!

[advanced]

Great posts 03Foxtrot. I always learn from your heart-felt posts and I know personally of your compassion, depth, and your desire to understand what we/you went through. S/F

There was some discussion of Meade River awhile back though I'm not sure how to find it.

[03Foxtrot]

Russ,
You know all wars are complicated, at least since WW II, in my opinion. Both of those "good wars" were easier to explain, although most people will agree that WW II was a direct result of WW I. Because our government has seen fit since WW II to become the policeman of the world, or enforce foreign policy elsewhere for economic or political gain, our armed forces have been at war since June, 1950 when the United States and the United Nations decided to fight the North Koreans and Chinese/Russians in the defense of South Korea. That war was and is still politically motivated and dominated by a lack of a peace treaty and there is still tension and hostilities between all parties. Sixty years later, we still have combat troops there and nothing has really been resolved except for a long truce that each side seems content to keep. The reasons that America allowed ourselves to become entangled in Southeast Asia, specifically South Viet-Nam, and begin down that road of advisors, small in number, to eventually over 500,000 troops, actively fighting our common enemy, in my opinion, was directly related to the inconclusive finish of the Korean War. Different location, but the same political climate, our democracy versus their communism. A simplistic evaluation but one that I think fits this war, regardless of treaty obligations. Since I always have been a history buff, especially the WW II and Korean War era, i.e., USMC because of my Dad's participation in them both, I found that after many years of denial and internalizing all of my doubts and reservations about the Viet-Nam War, I needed to also examine this war in detail. My own personal participation and the baggage that accompanies those such as you and I and the indifference or distain that my country expressed to us on our return, all of this caused me to delay the research and study that I so needed to help me find a better understanding of what and why and how this war happened to me. Forty one plus years after my tour of duty, I am still seeking answers to questions and unresolved problems that confront me. My own conclusions about this war are not pretty ones but I always separate those who fought the war from those who sent us off to war and those who managed the war from those of us who bled for our country. I do appreciate your earlier comments, it means a lot coming from a brother grunt.
Semper Fi, Scott