In Memoriam My Brothers in Kilo & Lima Companies, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines

Self | 11Mayh2013 | ConorMacNessa

[ConorMacNessa]

GUARDING THE GATES

The Marine Corps Hymn
USMC Band
(Click)

From the Halls of Montezuma,
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land, and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean:
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine.

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.



Marines Assigned To Lima Company
3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment
On Patrol, Afghanistan, 2010

"Riamh nár dhruid ó sbairn lann!"

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[ConorMacNessa]

IN THE ARIZONA TERRITORY, QUANG NAM PROVINCE, I CORPS, VIETNAM – 11MAY1969



May 11, 1969 – the "Arizona Territory", Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. In my first significant firefight, a vicious attack that is remembered as the "Mothers Day Massacre," Kilo And Lima Companies 3/5 were pinned down by heavy fire from Viet Cong in a large open expanse of rice paddies. I crawled under fire through several hundred yards of open space to reach our wounded. Our guys were getting killed with head shots every time they lifted their heads above the height of the paddy dykes. I reached the point where our Platoon Sergeant was leading the charge. I found him lying on the ground with his eyes open and still breathing, but in his last moments with a bullet through his heart. A VC had popped up out of a bunker and shot him at point blank range. SSgt. Emrick literally died in my arms.

Having secured that area, we set in for the night with a perimeter watch at 100%. The Platoon CP was set in right at the bunker from which the man had emerged who shot SSgt. Emrick. I had the watch from midnight to 0200. About halfway through my watch, another VC came up out of that bunker, which must have been part of a tunnel system. I drew my .45 and challenged him. He froze and everyone in the CP woke up. He had about twelve men with M-16's and one raw Corpsman with a .45 trained directly on him. The Corporal next to me cried out "Shoot him, Doc!" I shot him and missed – my hands had been shaking wildly. He crawled away toward our perimeter where he was quickly dispatched by a young Marine from East L. A. who travelled under the sobriquet "Skull." Our Skipper, Capt, Ken Hock, arrived and praised me greatly, saying "Damn, Doc! You're losing weight AND shooting guys!"

Kilo lost 8 men KIA in that incident, mostly head wounds. Lima lost many more and had many more wounded. Lima was so badly depleted it was stood down for several weeks to replenish its ranks. I had occasion to visit Lima while they were stood down. It was a somber visit – they were absolutely demoralized at that time.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

i. Over forty years later, the date of this event still resonates deeply with me. I have not had a Mothers' Day since then that is not overshadowed by the memory of that day.
ii. Our Platoon Sergeant, SSgt. Erwin Emrick, Jr., was then Acting Platoon Commander by virtue of the wounding of 2nd Lt. Chapman a couple of days before.
iii. I was always struck by the absurdity of this situation. I was in the midst of a group of highly trained and battle-tested Marines, but I was the one they expected to shoot him. I guess it must have been because I had the watch.

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[darkwing104]

My Respects

[Admin Moderator]

My respects too. Moved to News, Extended. We should never forget.

[penelopesire]

Thank You for sharing such a beautiful and moving tribute to your buddies in arms.

[Doogle]

Well Done CMN

[ConorMacNessa]

Thanks very much - I was unsure of where to place it.



"Riamh nár dhruid ó sbairn lann!"

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[tet68]

I Corps OOoorah!
66-68 Chu lai RVN.

[Baron 2A]

Semper Fi Marine!

[pabianice]

Thank you for your service.

[laplata]

What a great tribute to such magnificent men, Conor!

There are no words...........

[mad_as_he$$]

Welcome home brother!

Semper Fi.

[Tax-chick]

My father was in Vietnam that year. I was 3.

[BIGLOOK]

All respects and honors to Kilo and Lima, Doc.

[chesty_puller]

Good post Doc. When I was there 70-71 Arizona was a free-fire zone. If it moved, shoot it. I was a platoon commander in 3/5 when I came back to the world. A LT's slot and I was just a CPL.

I lost a lot of dam good friends and good Marines too.

[AllAmericanGirl44]

So moving, there are no words.
Thank you for your brave service.

[rabidralph]

Thank you for your exemplary service, Shipmate! I’m sorry for the losses you endured.

[left that other site]

Thank You for sharing this harrowing story with us tonight, Conor.

We must never forget.

[Gay State Conservative]

A guy I used to work with was a Marine who was in Hue in ‘68.He didn’t talk much about it (at least not to me) but what little he did say still gives me the horrors.I personally think he has PTSD (or something resembling it) because he sure had a temper on him.Given what he saw I suppose he’s entitled to his “weaknesses” (assuming that my “diagnosis” is correct) because I sincerely doubt that I would have covered myself in glory in a similar situation....or thereafter.