Francis/Last Ride Home/1 Francis/Last Ride Home/2 DEDICATED TO MY WIFE, KATHARINA With all my love and devotion I couldn't decide whether to dedicate the book, or not. In the final analysis, the only persons I could dedicate it to would have to be my wife, Katharina, and to my children. As for my wife, she is the single most important driving force behind me. As far as the children, of course, they are precious simply because they are who they are and I leave this to them as a legacy. My wife always pushes me over the finish line, or cheers me on when I need to be picked up. She pushed me to finish this project. I had always talked writing a book, but never seemed to get started, but she changed all that, and I did finish. She is my motivator, best friend, and manager of my occasional laziness, and she is a wonderful person just to know, and she is fun to hang out with. She has been a great mother to our two children, Chris and Jenny, although I may be biased, I happen to believe she is the best wife in the world! A simple thank you, Henny [my pet name for her, which she hates] comes from my heart. This book is yours as much as it is mine. I am grateful for knowing you and thankful that you Francis/Last Ride Home/3 married me and helped me with our hardships in life all these years. Thank you for being there when I needed you. CONTENTS Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………………………….2 Preface……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4 The Manchester and Other Influences CHAPTER ONE Torpid Memories………………………………………………………………………………………………………12 CHAPTER TWO McNamara's Other Edsel: The Vietnam War………………………………………22 CHAPTER THREE Strong, Innocent Southern Illinois Roots………………………………………29 CHAPTER FOUR Puking All the Way to Okinawa…………………………………………………………………64 CHAPTER FIVE Celebrating With the 1st CAV Division………………………….…………………95 CHAPTER SIX Dagger Thrust Raids…………..……………………………………………………………………………110 CHAPTER SEVEN Various Versions of Operation: Harvest Moon Official Version……………………………………………………………………………………………………118 Author's Version - Fox on the Run………………………………………………………139 Bob Neener's Version……………………………………………………………………………………….175 Barnum, Utter and Miller Versions………………………………………………………187 Francis/Last Ride Home/4 Tying the Pieces Together……………………………………………………………………………221 CHAPTER EIGHT After Operation Harvest Moon - Operation New York.…229 CHAPTER NINE The DMZ and Operation Hastings…………………………………………………………253 CHAPTER TEN One Tour Over - One More to Go.………………………………………………..…275 CHAPTER ELEVEN Remembering the "Happy Valley"..……………………………………………………290 CHAPTER TWELVE Each One a Caesar.…………………………………………………………………………………………296 EPILOGUE: The Honor Roll Lest, We Forget...…………………………………………………………………………………………319 After Word.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………322 Reflections: Memories from Old Friends In Their Own Words.……………………………….……………………………………………………324 "Blood on the Harvest Moon: Setting the Record Straight" By Lt.Col. Jim Page, USMC, Retired…………...……………………………364 Author's Final Thoughts.…………………………………………………………………..…385 Francis/Last Ride Home/5 PREFACE The Manchester and Other Influences The works of William Manchester are world-renowned. His best selling novel for example, “Goodbye, Darkness - A Memoir of the Pacific War” is a compelling story about his tour of duty in the Marine Corps during WWII, and specifically during the battle for Okinawa. I enjoyed his personal story and especially his style of writing, not only about his personal life, but about his experiences in combat. In a small way, or rather I should say, in a rather huge way, he guided me in this task. He published that book in 1979, ironically, the same year I completed twenty years of active duty in the Marine Corps. Today, Mr. Manchester is 100% medically retired from the Marine Corps based upon his very severe wounds suffered during the battle for Okinawa on Sugar Loaf ridge. Neither he nor his publisher, Little, Brown have approved or endorsed my book. I started this book by doing some very extensive research on one particular operation I was interested in reading about – Operation Harvest Moon which took place in December 1965, and one that involved my Marine infantry battalion (Second Battalion, First Marines). As it turned out, there wasn’t much Francis/Last Ride Home/6 written about Operation Harvest Moon in official Marine Corps records – a few articles here, a footnote there, not much. I found the task daunting at first. That operation was my first dramatic taste of harsh combat. We had been in small skirmishes and firefights up till that time, but Harvest Moon topped them all for intensity, and it changed our lives forever. My search for background information took me all over the Internet, to various Veterans’ web sites, a few official Marine Corps historical sites, my own memory of course, and the memories, interviews and recollections of many who served me and who took part in the operation. Their contributions are priceless. I am eternally grateful to everyone who contacted me and offered advice and assistance, and help set the record straight (see Jim Page’s story at the end of the book, for example). I have tried to combine all their notes in the book, or at the end in the section I call “In their own words.” I wanted to tell a story about my life before I enlisted in the Marine Corps, the 20 years I spend in the Corps, but more specifically, the two years I spent in combat in Vietnam, with the focus on my first tour in 1965-66. The highlight of that first tour of duty was our bloodbath during Operation Harvest Moon. Francis/Last Ride Home/7 That very long year began for me when we set sail from San Diego in the late summer of 1965, and it lasted until I returned home in the fall of 1966. During my research, I found two good firsthand accounts of that battle, which some military historians have labeled the "Last Big Battle of 1965." One account was written by retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Leon Utter along with one of his Marines, former Private First Class Tom Miller. Colonel Utter passed away in January 2001 according to an email from Tom Miller. Tom for his part lost an eye during the battle. He now lives and paints in New Jersey. Lt. Col. Leon Utter commanded the Second Battalion, Seventh Marines (referred to as 2/7), and Tom Miller served under him in one of his companies. The other excellent account is provided from an interview of retired Marine Colonel Harvey Barnum, who at the time was a Captain and who won the Medal of Honor during the latter days of the operation. Barnum oddly enough had only been in Vietnam two weeks. He was an Artillery Officer assigned to Hotel Company, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines (H, 2/9). Utter's and Barnum's units joined elements from Lieutenant Colonel Josh Dorsey's Third Battalion, Third Marines (3/3) and together they provided great support during the operation. Barnum's interview was conducted by Al Hemingway, a contributing editor from Vietnam Magazine in the spring of 1966. He describes his duties as a Francis/Last Ride Home/8 First Lieutenant Artillery Officer (at the time) attached to 2/9 that happened to be with the lead company during the operation. His company was ambushed by the Viet Cong on December 18, 1965. Seeing his company commander, Captain Paul Gormley, along with his radio operator killed, Barnum strapped on the radio and led the company to success out of the trap. As I said, he had been in Vietnam only two weeks on temporary duty from Hawaii. For his actions and bravery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. The central characters in this story outside of the few instances of the units just described, are from my unit, the Second Battalion, First Marines (2/1). This battalion is part of one of three infantry regiments that are part of the 1st Marine Division, housed at Camp Pendleton, California at the time. This battalion would go on to spend a total of 2,077 days in combat in Vietnam. Marine Corps records show that they participated in 44 major "named" operations – more than any other Marine unit in Vietnam. According to the same records, this battalion was given credit for killing more than 400 NVA/VC in each of those major combat operations. The battalion is officially credited with combat time from September 11, 1965 (when we entered Vietnam) until it rotated back to the United States on May 19, 1971. I left the battalion and prepared my trip home on September 6, 1966, a few days after I received my second wound Francis/Last Ride Home/9 (on August 23, 1966). It had been a very long year since I had left San Diego. My service initially was in Fox Company and then later with Golf Company (January – September 1966). We lost lots fine men in those two companies during that year in Vietnam – over 100 killed and over 200 wounded. That is a huge number considering our company and most others during the latter months of the year only averaged about 100 Marines per infantry company – some less than that. Those who died gave all they had. I dedicate this story to their memories. In summary, I am grateful to Colonel Barnum, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Utter (may he rest in peace), Lieutenant Colonel Dorsey, Tom Miller, and to all the great Marines I served with for providing me input. A million words are not enough to say thanks. For those who buy a copy of this book, please enjoy it for what it is – my best effort. I want the readers to know that I struggled to tie together into one comprehensive package that which at another time so long ago seemed incomprehensible.