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uncomfortable conditions were taken in stride by our Marines. Marines, for the most part, are not ‘made’ to remain in a defensive posture—we’re made for assaults on the enemy—across beaches—in jungle terrain—in mountains or desert conditions. Keeping our troops occupied in constructive ways and helping them keep their morale and spirits up became a key focus of mine and our NCO’s as well. The patrols that we ran throughout our TAOR were tiring but also offered the troops an opportunity to leave the ‘perimeter’ where they were living like homeless people. On these patrols our troops came alive—they were alert— they had to be or else face the possibility of tripping a booby trapped IED, stepping into a punji trap, walking into an ambush or being shot by a sniper. When they did happen to run into a VC patrol these Marines became a thing of beauty to behold—their lineage showed as they displayed the training and skills they had honed since Boot Camp. After just a few weeks of actual combat experience they executed their maneuvers to perfection. They had learned how to advance on ‘hidden’ enemy positions while providing covering fire for each other. They used smoke grenades to recover from surprise attacks and occasional sniper fire. Most importantly they operated like the ‘team’ they were— using arm and hand signals they had practiced—responding to commands instantly and willingly—they ‘did it right’!
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