Prologue
Given the choice of experiencing Pain or Nothing, I would choose Pain.
William Faulkner
While 125,000 celebrated the Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967, I was in Vietnam trying to stay alive. As a combat correspondent with the renowned 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), I followed soldiers in and out of battle. Twelve months in a Third World with so much death and depravity was an unforgettable experience. For those in the thick of it, it was horrendous. Some left it behind, many did not. This story is based on actual events. It’s my firsthand accounts of the men who were in the worst of it.
What this Book is Not: I promise that I won’t belabor my readers with: All Hell Broke Loose, eighteen times.
No superfluous assessment of how we got into the war, no history, no discussion of the draft, no tearful goodbyes from family, and none of me playing Army as a kid. No letters home asking about Aunt Martha’s gout.
There is no rhetoric at all. I waste no time in manifesting the anxiety and danger of walking point, inundated with the sucking mud of the monsoons, stifling heat, snakes, and punji stakes. Then, running out of water, food, and ammunition.
And the most horrific face of war: Holding a fellow soldier or a dying friend, you can do nothing for — except try to comfort. Then, continue the fight or move on to another battle.
My Vietnam narrative is a story of young men and some boys who volunteered or were drafted. They were a generation defiled of their youth. Yet, when called upon, they fought and died for each other with extraordinary acts of courage.
Our men, the Infantry, fought a savage, barbarous, and ruthless enemy. The adversary bolted from camouflaged spider holes, AK-47s blazing, and then disappeared into tunnels.
Snipers, hit-and-run tactics were common, booby traps, and punji pits seemed to be everywhere. The enemy shot at our men from friendly villages to lure the GIs into returning fire and killing civilians.
Our wounded who survived a battle were murdered, then our bodies were stripped and desecrated. And if it were to their benefit, a fate, possibly worse — capture for a ransom. As for the Geneva Conventions, they knew nothing about them.
Our soldiers could not distinguish between the enemy and civilians and were saddled with ridiculous rules of engagement. Many, if not most, combatants quickly became weary and bewildered.
That our fighting men sometimes called the enemy g- -ks. I am not going to judge.
Imagine earning the most venerated medal for bravery in all the military — The Medal of Honor — in what the majority of Americans believed to be an atrocious and despicable war. Draftees and volunteers didn’t choose this war. But when the battle came, it was theirs. And they were fighting for their lives and those of their fellow soldiers.
So, it’s okay to hate the war without demeaning the warrior.
As I recount the book’s most significant battle, the horrific ambush, you’ll need to keep up with just one character. Why? Because he almost single-handedly repelled the initial ambush. Hagemeister was the catalyst for others who became warriors for our cause. He was rewarded with the Medal of Honor for his courage and intrepidity during the bloody ambush.
At least seven men could witness his heroism because he saved their lives. I was one of those. And I watched in awe as Charles C. Hagemeister, our medic, fought the enemy with ineffable gallantry and resolve. (Regrettably, he died in 2021 at age 74.) But, finally, albeit after death, he’s getting the recognition he deserves through this book.
Men like Chuck Hagemeister came home to a hostile or indifferent nation at best. They faced many challenges in the country that some soldiers believed they were defending.
As the conflict dragged on, the notion of “Fighting in Vietnam to Defend one’s Country” was passionately challenged. They came home from war to a nation that didn’t care and they died for a nation that didn’t care.
But, despite or because of that, I believe their stories need to be told. Those in the military who have seen combat and lived to tell about it often don’t; It makes the accounts of those who do mean so much more.
These young soldiers were challenged in ways most will never know. What they faced, most could never imagine. Their stories should be passed on to future generations. I will put these men — and (women) the nurses who dedicated their lives to comfort and save us — up against any generation. Although there are scores of books on the Vietnam War, none are about Chuck Hagemeister, the bloody ambush — none about his valiant acts that earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.
And the probability of me being there to witness and survive it — was the providence of a lifetime — an incredible honor.
~~
These pages contain Eighteen compelling chapters on Vietnam. (Four in Book II). All such chapters are so marked in the table of contents. Many riveting photos accompany these stories. The remaining Twenty-Six Chapters in Book I constitute the rest of my momentous Life At The Limit. They include Elvis, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Romance, PTSD, Disease, Single Parenting, and Auto Racing.
There are also Two Chapters with stories from WW II veterans in Book II. I will end the entirety of my writing (in Book II) with What I’ve Learned, and leave you refreshed with Don Swan’s Greatest Hits in the last two chapters.
Two chapters in the book are designated as Historical Fiction. However, my narrative is based on actual events as I remember from fifty-five years ago in Vietnam. All people, places, and battles are real unless otherwise noted.
The Vietnam stories in this book were written to Honor Charles C. Hagemeister.
If you’re interested in just the Vietnam and WW II stories, see the Index where those chapters are identified.
READER DISCRETION ADVISED
There were also periods without enemy contact. Troopers were lulled into boredom and became complacent, only to be suddenly interrupted by terror. (The VC/NVA typically fought only when they believed they had a tactical advantage.)
Swan's Song Series 
nice
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