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Vietnam '68: Jack's Journal

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Jack W. Jaunal, a veteran of W.W. II, Korea and Vietnam, decided in 1981 while teaching history as a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle to write his first book. Serving as what he described himself as an "old salt", he went to Vietnam as a Marine Noncommissioned Officer with the First Marine Battalion at age 44. The result of Jaunal's experiences from December, 1967 through December, 1968 was transformed into this book, "Jack's Journal". How did Jaunal write this? Jaunal explains: "Like many veterans of various wars, I remember more than once saying, I could write a book about this". The two times probably we say it most emphatically are during recruit training and during a wartime experience. The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series) I never wrote anything about my experiences in W.W. II-all that remains are some memories and a few letters I wrote to my mother. I never wrote anything about my experiences in Korea-all that remains are more memories and several letters I wrote to my wife. I did write stories about my experiences in Vietnam. These are compiled now as "Vietnam '68:Jack's Journal. This book is a daily record of events, my experiences and thoughts at that time. The stories are true, written at the time recorded or very soon after from notes on a desk calendar, in a pocket notebook, on backs of envelopes, or the top of a C-ration box".

Jaunal puts together a Vietnam expose where he writes about his day to day experiences with the enlisted Marines of "Heat and Steam" (Headquarters and Service Company), the "Third Amphibian Tractor Battalion" and the "First Reconnaissance Battalion". Starting day by day from the staging battalion at Camp Pendleton, California on December 12th, 1967, including his airline flight to Vietnam via Okinawa and Japan, Jaunal describes his experiences all the way to December 25, 1968. An Infantry Lieutenant's Vietnam: January 1967 to March 1968 with the 4th Infantry Division The reader gets a feel of what it was like to experience the Tet Offensive of January, 1968, patrols in the steamy jungles of S.E. Asia, as well as Jaunal's reaction to witnessing tragic death. However, if you are looking for the gory details of raging battles in Vietnam, this book is not for you. Jaunal warns the reader early that this book was written in a tasteful way: "The stories are not of the "blood-and gut" type, or glory, or an expose-those are for others to write". This self described "old salt" (he was 44 years old in a war where the average age was 18!) points out how different this war was from past wars. Jaunal explains on his entry of 12/23/67: "The new breed goes jet-set.That could be the slogan of the new breed marine. I can remember the last time going to war, Korea, 1950, and being down in the hold of a crowded troop ship with the sleeping racks stacked six or more high. Seasickness was the order of the day;it took hours to feed, and the trip lasted two weeks. Crucible Vietnam: Memoir of an Infantry Lieutenant Now, we travel aboard a World Airlines Boeing 707 charter flight at Travis Air Force Base, California. Thirty minutes after we are airborne the stewardess starts to serve breakfast. At one o'clock in the morning! Four very attractive stewardesses take care of our needs, plenty of room, and in ten hours we land in Japan. Jet, the only way to go!"

Very early in his entries, Jaunal comments on the sneakiness of the way "Charlie" (slang for the North Vietnamese Army/Viet Cong) fights. He writes on 12/27/67 while inspecting the enemies caves and tunnels inside "Marble Mountain" the following: "When Charlie opens up it is normally at night. He fires from the mountain and the villes. Last time Charlie wounded three Marines during a fire fight. Also, lobbed in some mortar rounds. One went through a hootch damaging a Marine's TV set. Charlie really knows how to hurt a guy!" Grab Their Belts to Fight Them: The Viet Cong's Big-Unit War Against the U.S., 1965-1966 There is also humor in this memoir. Jaunal recalls in his entry of 1/3/68 about his recollection of "Lily", a South Vietnamese prostitute who would stand at a road outside the U.S. compound and attract her customers by wearing a very skimpy and revealing mini skirt and lifting it up as the troops drove by. Jaunal recounted in this entry what happened the day the Chaplain was in the passenger's seat with his driver and they passed by Lily at the roadside and she decided to flash them. Jaunal explains: "You should have seen Lily the day the Chaplain's driver stopped by-with the Chaplain. The driver knew what would happen but the Chaplain didn't. Lily lifted her dress to show the Chaplain the wonders of the Orient, and the Chaplain almost fell out of his jeep!" There are multiple entries after the "Tet Offensive" that are extremely accurate and poignant. His descriptions of the Vietnamese country folk (who our troops tried in vain to win the "hearts and minds of" ) were exceptionally accurate:"Old ladies smile showing rotten teeth and betal nut stains all over their mouths. The kids in this village are brats. We cannot shake them off the last man, but they leave us at the village line".

However, I found in Jaunal's most vivid description of a particular patrol on 1/13.68 clear evidence of the unwinnable nature of this war. Jaunal states:"We leave the road now and start across country-sometimes referred to as "Indian Country". There are many native graves through here. We see bullet scars on many a headstone. Sometimes Charlie sets booby traps along here. We call it "Booby Trap Hill". We always think of them-and the mines, down the hill now and along the trail through the heavy brush. The Shake 'n Bake Sergeant: True Story of Infantry Sergeants in Vietnam What a spot for an ambush! Can't see much in front or to the sides at times, It's "hairy" at night. Good spot for Charlie to hit at night. Now we come out of the brush and cross the dikes through a rice field. There are times Charlie plants booby traps on the side of dikes, and then fires. If you jump off and into the paddy, you may land on a booby trap." Certainly, this was an elusive enemy fighting an unconventional war, that the U.S. was not at all prepared for. In addition, Jaunal lamented: "All along the route Charlie can open up on us, as he has at times on other patrols. But usually it is at night when he comes out of hiding around here and throws lead at you. That guy in the field back there-you wonder what he does for a living at night".

On the climate of Vietnam, Jaunal wrote: "Now it is warm and humid and almost everyone has a wet spot around the arm pits, the back, and where any equipment may be hanging. From cool and wet to hot and humid in a few hours-that's Vietnam." Curiously, Jaunal skirted the whole U.S. "fumbling" of the enemies' nearly successful "Tet Offensive", choosing to be "politically correct" and avoid any inflammatory statements. Jaunal also didn't touch, despite being stationed near Danang in I Corps, the whole issue of the Viet Cong Massacre at Hue in February, 1969. He did, however, include an indication of the "character" of the enemy in his report of 8/23/68 when he described the enemy's behavior during the Marine's defense on the attack of the Danang Airbase. Booby Trap Boys Jaunal explained: "When the VC and NVA forces attacked the bridge, they forced some civilians in front of them for cover." Most of Jaunal's book seemed accurate to me. There were two discrepancies that stood out to me that seemed to contradict other historical evidence. There was a program that the U.S. military initiated to weed out and kill the enemy called a "County Fair.

Jack Jaunal described this as a benevolent affair similar to one in the U.S. which would bring to mind images of livestock shows, baking contests and greased pig races. It was intended to win the "hearts and minds" of the indigenous South Vietnamese to turn over and expose the Viet Cong hiding amongst them to the American forces. Jaunal described in his entry of 2/9/68 the following "Country Fair": "Leathernecks of the 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion and the First M.P. Battalion with elements of the U.S. Army and Navy, and elements of the local Vietnamese Regional and Popular Forces gathered to conduct the two day "County Fair" operation. When We Walked Above the Clouds: A Memoir of Vietnam On the first day at dawn, the allied forces moved into the village and escorted the Vietnamese to a pre-selected point in the nearby, abandoned French fort. As the villagers started gathering, friendly forces systematically began to sweep through the area in search of the Viet Cong. The Villagers soon discovered that a day of fun and assistance had been set up for them to offset the inconvenience of keeping them away from their homes. At the fort a field dispensary was opened. Navy doctors and hospital corpsmen treated any Vietnamese that needed medical assistance."

Jaunal continued: "A mobile broadcasting van was located at a collection point, and throughout the day music and speeches were played for the villagers' listening enjoyment. A movie was shown that evening for their entertainment. Toys and games were handed out to the children to keep them amused while the forces continued their search. Many other items were distributed that day, including soap, clothing and one ton of rice in addition to other food stuffs. An almost festive holiday atmosphere prevailed at the fair." Certainly, the way Jaunal described it, our military was winning the "hearts and minds" of the villagers, while the only people that didn't enjoy themselves that day were the Viet Cong. However, if you read Martin Russ's "Happy Hunting Grounds," a picture of intimidation and Allied terror actually existed. Happy Hunting Ground Russ wrote: "Here's how a "County Fair" works. Long before dawn a company of Marines surrounds a Viet Cong-controlled hamlet. At dawn a company of ARVN's (Army Republic of S. Vietnam soldiers) moves into the hamlet and gathers all the civilians in one spot. Then the hamlet is searched. Anyone found is captured or killed. Tunnels and caves are blown up". Certainly, this doesn't jive with Jaunal's description. The second discrepancy is Jaunal's description of the average grunt in Vietnam at the end of his tour in 1968. In his entry of 9/11/68 (a bad date in American history!) Jaunal wrote this description of an American soldier: "They don't doubt the future. They have plans for going home, getting married or continuing college. Some will extend their tour in Vietnam or re enlist. They express no doubts. They have hunted and met the VC squarely. They know the cunning spread of Communism, the "never had a choice" victims. They express no doubts as to why they were here."

This view of Jaunal's is not supported by the multitude of memoirs that abound. John Trotti, a Phantom F-16 pilot who served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1966, re-upped for a second tour in 1968 close to the time Jaunal made this entry. Far from worrying about the perils of Communism, Trotti wrote about the changes he perceived from 1965 to 1968 in U.S. troop morale: "I was prepared for differences in the attitude of the troops, but I was totally unprepared for the magnitude of the change. From the moment I stepped off the transport, I sensed the mediocrity of the situation. Phantom Over Vietnam It was if our troops were wallowing in molasses. "Four hundred days and a wake up, baby" became the duty slogan for soldiers no more than hours off the plane. "Just make sure there's cold beer at the club." Trucks and jeeps with lolling drivers from the Americal division cruised the main service road (in Saigon) as if it were Main Street on Saturday night. Hundreds of soldiers with long hair and seedy fatigues lounged around outside the Americal PX smoking dope in blatant defiance of their officers and NCO's. "Bust me, you sucker," their postures said, "and see what kind of grenade comes through the door to your hootch." Certainly, it doesn't seem like the threat of Communism was on any of the minds of those Trotti described. Needless to say, I found Jack Jaunal's "Vietnam '68" a worthy read, an informative timepiece that should be among any ex veteran or historian's collection.