PHU BAI ----- A North Vietnamese soldier found out the hard way he had some "fair weather" friends.

The soldier had been wounded during a clash with Marines and had been left behind by his comrades.

He was found hiding in a bunker by Pfc. Paul Wiegers, (80 Riverdale Ave., Yonkers N.Y.), of "K" Co., 3/5.

Wieger's company was searching bunkers with pistol and flashlight, near Da Nang.

"I was just starting to come out when I noticed his 'Ho Chi Minh' Sandals and his legs," commented Wiegers.

The prisoner was brought out of the bunker and taken to the company's intelligence scouts for questioning. The soldier had suffered a minor back wound and admitted being deserted by his unit.

PHU BAI ----- A North Vietnamese soldier, tired of fighting, surrendered to the first Leatherneck he saw when he wandered into Marine lines during a combat sweep south of Da Nang.

The enemy was spotted shortly after midnight by Lance Cpl. John Harmon (Rt. 2, Lake City, Tenn.) of "K" Co.,3/5.

"He was coming down the path. I thought he was another Marine," explained Harmon, who was on perimeter watch at the time.

Harmon, thinking the enemy was another Marine, asked him where he was going.

The North Vietnamese soldier walked up to Harmon, yielded his SK-S carbine and raised his hands in surrender.

"I didn't know what to think," said Harmon, who summoned two Marines to take the prisoner to their commanding officer.

The enemy was questioned by the battalion's intelligence section and said he had condsidered surrendering for some time. He had become seperated from his unit during an air attack and had been lost for two days. He didn't realize he had entered the Marine lines until he spotted Harmon. Once he was aware of where he was, the enemy decided to surrender.

The communist soldier said he was tired. Tired of artillery, tired of air strikes and tired of running from American troops.

DA NANG-- Two Navy corpsmen cant seem to stop running into each other.

HM3 Mike Waller (Pacoima, Calif.), and HM3 Nick Lemmo (Des Moines, Iowa), first met while in transit at San Diego, Calif.

After three days of processing at the transit center, the two former reservists were assigned to the Hospital Corps School at Balboa Naval Hospital, Balboa,Calif.

The two became fast friends and spent a lot of time together in their off duty hours. On the weekends, Lemmo would go home on liberty to Waller's home and eventually became like another member of the family.

After the 14 week hospital course was completed, Waller went home on leave with his friend to Des Moines.

Both corpsmen then got orders to the Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital in California. Not only were they both assigned to the same duty station, but to the same surgical ward as well.

The two worked together for five months until last June, when they received orders to Vietnam.

Lemmo was ordered to the 3rd Marine Division and Waller to the 1st Marine Division.

At that point, the two friends wondered how long it would be before they would see each other again. They corresponded regularly. Also as Waller related, "My parents would write and send packages to him and his folks would send things to me."

Recently Waller was part of a blocking force with "K" Co., 3rd Bn., Fifth Marine Regiment, during a regiment-size operation. Completing a sweep near Waller's position was "H" Co., 2nd Bn., Third Marine Regiment.

Waller noticed a familier figure walking across a rice paddy with the Third Marine Division Marines. Sure enough -- it was Lemmo.

The two got to speak to each other for a few minutes and then, like many times in the past, had to part once more.

PHU BAI ----- It almost looked like an Easter egg hunt as Marines of "K" Co., 3/5 searched what was left of a North Vietnamese Army base camp south of Da Nang.

The base camp had been hit with a concerted Leatherneck Air-Ground effort and was demoloshed. Its occupants scattered before the advancing Marine units.

The Marines checked the smashed bunkers and trench lines, finding many types of equipment.

Ammunition, full packs, 175,000 piasters (North Vietnamese currency), flags, gas masks, rice and 12 bodies littered the area.

Leathernecks found gear wherever they looked.

Two inquisitive men uncovered what appeared to have been an enemy command post bunker.

"I noticed an antenna stiking up through the ground," explained Lance CPL John Harmon, (Rt. 2, Lake City, Tenn.).

Harmon dug at the base of the antenna and discovered what had been a fortified bunker before an artillery round had struck it. He dug further and found two radios, maps and compasses.

Harmon's company commander, 1st LT Fred W. Smith, 11305 Shenandoah Vally Dr., Little Rock, Ark.) Commented that the hit on the command bunker disorganized the enemy so completely that they ran, leaving behind their gear.

Not satisfied with finding the command bunker, Harmon and another Marine, Cpl. Richard Vaca, (Rt. 1, Gilroy, Calif.) uncovered two other destroyed embrasures, finding two AK-47 assault rifles and two SK-S carbines.

HUE/PHU BAI -- Two Marines now in Vietnam didn't think the Marine Corps "buddy program" would last after boot camp graduation. However, the two have served together ever since they entered the service.

Lance Cpl. John R. Smith, (340 W. "I" St., Wilmington, Calif.) and Lance Cpl. Jack Shuman, (830 Gulf Ave., Wilmington, Calif.) attended the same high school and lived in the same neighborhood.

Smith was the first to enlist and a few days later talked Shuman into enlisting under the "buddy program" which guaranteed the two would be in the same platoon during recruit training.

They were also in the same platoon during Infantry training at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The duo went home on leave and were hoping to stay together at their next duty station. Their next assignment was Vietnam.

"My brother-in-law told us not to expect to stay together," said Shuman, "because it would never happen."

However, when they reported to Staging Battalion at Camp Pendleton for overseas processing, a chain of events began to prove the brother-in-law wrong.

Smith and Shuman were assigned to the same staging unit, took the same flight to Okinawa, flew to Vietnam together and both received orders to the Fifth Marines.

From the Fifth Marines they were assigned to the 3rd Bn., and finally to "K" Co., where Smith works as a field supply man and Shuman is a fire team leader.

HUE/PHU BAI -- Two North Vietnamese soldiers became indignant when a 1st Marine Division Leatherneck pointed his rifle at them and touched off a point blank gun battle, resulting in one enemy dead and a captured weapon during a combat sweep south of Da Nang.

Lance Cpl. Jack Shuman, (830 Gulf Ave., Wilmington, Calif.) was serving as a fire team leader with "K" Co., 3/5 during a night movement. Shuman was in back of the point man as lead elements of the company approached a trail intersection. The pointman made a left turn and continued to cautionsly search the path.

Shuman approached the intersectiona and noticed tow men walking down the trail. The two enemy walked up to Shuman and stood facing him.

"One of them said 'dung lai' (halt) to me," said Shuman, "so I put my rifle up to his chest."

The Marine behind Shuman, Cpl. Harold E. Spang, (Route 2, Stevensville, Ohio) came alongside the three and and grabbed the other North Vietnamese by the shoulder.

One enemy acted annoyed at Spang's action and pushed his arm away. The other soldier knocked Shuman's rifle from his chest.

Shuman immediatly began firing at the two, wounding one.

"They both dropped to the ground and started firing back," Shuman recalled. "Somehow they missed me."

The Marine's burst of fire killed one enemy. The other escaped.

The next morning a search of the area revealed a blsodied belt that appeared to have been shot off, an AK-47 assault rifle with blood and drag marks near the weapon.

PHU BAI Vietnam-- During World War I, an American general in France, states that the most deadly weapon in the world is a U.S. Marine and his rifle.

Half a world away, and 50 years later, a Leatherneck in Vietnam proved that observation.

Cpl. Edward Peruta, was serving with "K" Co.,2nd(sic) Bn., Fifth Marine Regiment during an operation south of Phu Bai.

The company was on a mountain, sweeping a penninsula in search of enemy troops, when Viet Cong were spotted in a valley approximately 2,000 meters away.

The Marines were called(sic) in an artillery fire mission on the enemy and waiting for the incoming shells.

"All of a sudden the VC started to run, so I just dinged one," stated Peruta in describing his actions.

I raised the sights on my M-14 rifle, used 'Kentucky windage' and shot.

His victim dropped to the ground as several more enemy vaulted from the bush in a dead run.

"I could barely see him," said Peruta, "I was lucky."

DANANG, Feb. 19, 1968 - A Navy corpsman is glad he wore his helmet during a platoon sweep.
Thanks to his steel pot, he escaped serious injury. HM3 George W. Jean, Akron, Ohio, was sweeping across a rice paddy toward a village south of Da Nang with Kilo, 3rd Bn, Fifth Marines, when his unit was taken under fire.
The side of Jean's helmet was struck by an enemy bullet.
"I didn't realize what happened at first," Jean recalled. "I felt something hit my helmet, but I paid
no attention to it because so much was happening at the time."
"Later, I took my helmet off and saw a big dent in it," he continued.
The round struck the helmet at an angle and did not penetrate the steel.
"I',m glad I had it on," Jean concluded.

DANANG, Feb. 3 - A North Vietnamese Army platoon that attempted to attack a group of Marine engineers working on a road 10 miles south of Da Nang on Feb. 2 had their plans upset.
The enemy was spotted by a squad on patrol from Kilo Co., 3rd Bn, Fifth Marines and taken under fire.
The strength of the enemy force was noted by the patrol and a reaction platoon was sent to the battle site. It was met by enemy small arms and mortar fire.
The Marines enveloped the enemy on three sides and laid down small arms fire.
"We called in Huey gunships and they laced the area thoroughly,'' said 1st Lt. Fred W. Smith, Little Rock, Ark., Kilo Co. commander and leader of the reaction platoon.
The platoon swept through the enemy position and found three bodies. One of the enemy dead had been tied to a pole for carrying, but had been left behind by his comrades as the Marines advanced.
Several blood trails also were discovered.
"We caught them by surprise before they could surprise us," stated Lt. Smith.