rlfj: Blog

Not a lot to opine on in this chapter. Grim gets a break from the war and spends quality time with his fiancée.

I am sure to hear some grief about the medals given out in this chapter. How come Grim only gets a Bronze Star and not another Silver Star, or maybe a Distinguished Service Cross? This mission was arguably tougher and required more leadership skills than the battles he earned his earlier medals in. One of the things I learned doing this story is that even more important than what you do in a battle is who sees you doing it. With the first Silver Star, Grim was fighting over the body of his captain, and in the second he was rescuing an international superstar. Nobody was watching this battle. That’s just how it works, and fairness isn’t considered crucial. Likewise, the proliferation of medals given to the REMFs was astounding. It got cracked down on, somewhat, but at one point you could get a Bronze Star, or at least a Commendation Medal, simply by flying over enemy territory in a helicopter! Lots of guys in the headquarters outfits did that.

Fun fact: Grim has now been wounded in action three times, qualifying him for a third Purple Heart. Isn’t that enough? There was a ‘three and out’ rule in the Viet Nam era that applied only to a single enlistment. In other words, if during your enlistment you got tagged three times, you could generate enough points to get sent home. If, however, you then re-enlisted, the clock was set back to zero. Fascinating stuff. I heard from several people about a soldier who had nine Purple Hearts and a Marine with eight. Remind me not to stand anywhere near either guy. They define the term ‘shit magnet!’

I received a few questions about the Hesco walls I mentioned. I remember seeing them on television once, and they go together very quickly. You can find out more on wikipedia

In Chapter 38 I introduce Route Malibu. Route Malibu actually existed, and Route Indigo is simply a fictional southern continuation, just like 4th of the 4th is a fictional continuation of 2BCT. Many of the things I have written or will write about Route Indigo are directly taken from descriptions of Route Malibu.

Several people commented on tears coming to their eyes during the scenes at the concert. FYI, when writing those scenes, tears came to mine, too. Worse, I had to read them more than once, for editing purposes, which means the tears came more than once.

Several people asked about the song at the end. Did I have music or more lyrics? Sorry guys, it’s tough enough just putting sentences together. Making things rhyme is well beyond me. As for music, I have many fine talents, but that ain’t one of them. Curiously, as I rode around town on errands, I heard an old hit by the group Toto, whose first big hit was labelled ‘Hold the Line’. Totally different song.