JAMES L. CHASE- WAR HERO & MINUTEMAN ( AN UNSUNG HERO )

HISTORY : The book

THE HILL FIGHTS The First Battle of Khe Sanh

( Note: I have learned since, there were errors in the book. Later ,it was determined the some heroic actionsof Chase, in the confusion of the battle, were in some instants mistakenly attribued to the Staff Sergeant, when it should have been to James Chase. )

Edward F. Murphy Author of Semper Fi--Vietnam
Ballantine Publishing 2003---- ISBN: 0-89141-810-5

( a few high lights )

from page 35

Lance Corporal Chase with two other grunts took up the rear of the column, Kurtz was one
of the few grunts Chase allowed himself to get close to. A Marine since his eighteenth birthday in September 1965, Chase had been in South Vietnam for more than a year. In that time he had learned the intense pain of losing friends , so he made few new ones; the fewer he knew, the less sorrow he suffered.

from page 36

At the first sound of firing, the three men hit the dirt, After listening for several minutes, Chase realized this was no ordinary ambush. He turned to another Marine, " We're going up front. They'll need us".

Chase , and another Marine, dashed forward , hitting the ground several times as they drew closer to the (S. Sgt ) . "Slow down will ya", the other fellow admonished, " I'm a married man and I am in no hurry to die ".

By the time they linked up with the (Staff Sergeant), the enemy fire from higher on the hill had increased substantially . Above the din Chase was told to bring in the Artillery . Chase started the rounds on the eastern slope of HIll 861 , then walked them over the top.

The rounds exploded with a satisfying KABOOM! The (S.Sgt ) had then made contact
with a flight of Marine jets. He had to scream into the mike to be heard over the roar
of he fire fight.

He glanced up at ( the enemy ) and his heart stopped.----"I couldn't believe what I saw.
The gooks were charging right down the hill at us," the (S.Sgt.) said, Yelling and firing their AK-47's the North Vietnamese soldiers assaulted right into the Marines. The( S. Sgt) shoved the radio hand set at Chase. "Tell him where we're are at " turning back to the fight.

One determined NVA spraying fie with his assault rifle, headed straight at the S. Sgt )
The enemy rounds hit his weapon , tore into his flak jacket , and struck the ground all around him. Undaunted the (S. Sgt) stood his ground firing back. He shot the enemy soldier at least six times, but the man kept coming . Finally the NVA dropped , and rolled right on top of the ( S.Sgt) . Lance Corporal Chase, who had never directed an air strike before, had given the jets their position. Under (Chase's ) direction they circled wide to make their way in from the west . Chase carefully guided them in. "Come on , Come on.
Come on", he urged . Just as the F-4's reached the drop point , Chase screamed into
the mike " ABORT". They looked to close for comfort.
( Chase had tried it again, but had to order them to abort again. They were going to drop
"danger close" to his men.)

As the jets lined up again, the S Sgt glanced up the trail . A horrified sight chilled him. Up and down the trail , enemy soldiers darted and dashed around, shooting Marines in the back and dropping grenades right on the helpless , wounded me. They were so close ,
firing was endangering his own men

Suddenly, the roar of the incoming jets grabbed attention, two planes were coming in at
tree top level right at them. They were going to hit him and his men. "Get down ! " He screamed to those around him.

Chase had brought the jets in a third time. "Come on. Come on." he led them in . This time though , when they neared , he yelled , " DROP'EM !" . The glistening napalm canisters were coming right at him. I've really fu*ked up, he thought as he curled into a ball.

The jet jockeys were good. The pilots , jets now rushed by in a deafening blur just feet above the desperate Marines, had released their napalm at precisely the right moment. Tumbling end over end, the silvery pods landed smack in the center of the NVA.
One second the hillside was green jungle filled with firing NVA; the next, oily black -laced flames engulfed everything. The NAV did not even have a chance to scream . I ended that fast.

The intensity of the a blast stunned Chase. " I'd never been closer to napalm than five hundred meters before " he said. " This ws like fifty."

Another danger, the napalm started others fires that were now threatening the wounded
Marines.

from page 38

Chase, who had taken a grenade fragments in the shoulder, joined ( with another ) and helped seriously wounded over the hill to the L Z .
He learned there, that his friend Kurtz , was K I A.

from page 39

Chase and another Marine had been carrying a casualty toward the chopper when he spotted Doc Benoit crouched on the rear ramp, treating yet another casualty.

As Chase grew closer, he saw columns of earth erupt from the mortar attack. He dropped his end of the poncho and dove head first into a near by hole. A shell went off right next to
him. Hot metal from the round tore into his right thigh, right arm , and side . He slumped
deeper into his hole.

"The next thing I knew two guys were trying to help me. looked around. The chopper was gone !!!! Doc Benoit was laying in a heap where it had been. Several newly wounded
guys staggered round the L Z, blood pouring from their wounds.----- It was horrible. Then I
remembered the radioman.

Shrugging off the two Marines, Chase found his radioman lying at the foot of a tree stump.
He still held his radio's hand set, a few inches of torn wire dangling from it base. Blood poured from holes in his abdomen and pelvic area. "Check and see if I'm all there , willya?"
His genitals were intact. Soon corpsmen started treating the radioman.

from page 40

The (SSgt) radioed the( commanding officer) "Echo Six, I gotta stop the medevacs. The gooks are hitting us every time one comes in. I don't have enough men left to carry the casualties . Get me some help out here." ( he was assured he would get help )

IN the meantime , despite his wounds , Lance Corporal Chase took up a position down hill from the L Z. " I didn't want the NVA sneaking up on us from that side, so I fired downhill when ever I thought they might be"

At abut 1500 , Chase spotted movement below him. He held his fire. Soon, a green clad column of Marines came into view. It was ( reinforcements) he waved, and yelled "over here., over here" ! He started down hill a few meters to meet them, when Chase heard
the unmistakable whine of a mortar round .

"INCOMING" he yelled , then turned and ran up the hill. His wounds kept him from scrunching down a hole, so he sought refuge behind a tree. He covered his head with his
hands and mortar rounds flew overhead. They exploded with devastating effect among
the (reinforcement Marines) When the barrage ended, Chase looked downhill. His eyes found a ghastly sight. --- Dead and wounded Marine lay everywhere. Cries of pain rose from the still smoky ground. The few uninjured moves about as if in a daze, over whelmed by the carnage.

from page 41

Passing in and out of consciousness, Chase arranged for some of he newly arrived Marines to carry ( his radioman ) to the new L Z too. he crouched in th brush a safe distance away. Only when the chopper started to accelerate its rotors to take off, did Chase move forward. Hobbling along, right leg stiff, Chase made it to the back ramp. He collapsed
in a heap on the metal floor. For the first time since that morning, a corpsman tended to his wounds .------------Chase had caught the last flight out.

There is much more to this story, but that is for another time.

Appendix:, page 259

JAMES L. CHASE, JR. (B/2/9) spent more than a month in the hospital recovering from his wounds . He was discharged in September 1968 and went to work for the postal service.--- In 1997 he suffered a breakdown and was diagnosed with PTSD. -- He now receives 100 percent diability. He resides with his wife in Oceanside, California.