Vietnam war~ what is the 1st marine division,1st platoon,1st regiment,3rd gun squad charlie company 1/1 ?

Question

m60 "gunner" my dad was in the vietnam war. he passed away last year and i miss him so much! i am trying to get as much info as possible, what he did there exactly. i know he was in the "jungle" and i know that he killed some vietcong, how many i dont know. i didnt get to ask him all the things i wanted to. growing up i didnt talk about it because he was living with p/t/s/d. and daddy doesnt want his little girl to hear those things but now i am starving for this knowledge. i know that he has had best friends die along side of him and i know that the 1st platoon did more "front line killing" basically those titles have special meanings as to what hew did there and i want to know desperatly!!! he was very proud to be a marine even though they were treated horribly when they came home from that war, he lived the saying "USMC TO THE END" if anyone that was there knows those titles or even my dad Dennis G. Klein please give me some info on this!!! thank you from a proud daughter of a marin

Answer 1

I would be happy to tell you everything you want to know about those things.

The 1st Marine Division was and is stationed out of Camp Pendleton, CA. The 1st Marine Regiment is an Infantry Regiment assigned to the division, with Charlie Company being a specific company in the division. His platoon was made up of other Assaultmen (0351 is the MOS designation).

There actions in Vietnam were quite historic. There first operation in country was in December 1965. After the Tet Offensive in 1967, the 1st Marines fought to regain control of Hue City alongside South Vietnamese units. There were both intense hand-to-hand combat and machine gun battles in the streets of the city, which was finally taken, mostly due to the heroic efforts of the 1st Marines. Afterward, they participated in many other frontline battles and were the last to Marine Infantry unit to leave Vietnam.

Due to their actions in Vietnam the Regiment was awarded the following awards and citations:
-Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Streamer
-Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation Civil Actions Streamer
-Vietnam Service Streamer with 2 silver and 3 bronze stars

Edit: You can find some real good information on his battallion in Vietnam here:http://www.tlxnet.net/~boswell/firstmarines.html

His company also had one Medal of Honor recipient: Corporal William Perkins Jr., awarded in 1967 a link to the citation and some good information on what Charlie Company did is here:
http://www.usmcfew.com/0311/perkins/moh.html

Answer 2

When I was in my early high school years I discovered a book on the shelves called War Year. (I pulled it out because it was very short - and a book report was due soon.) It was written under a pseudonym that I am pretty sure was John Farmer (or something very close to that). Not only was it the first book I ever read that had the F word in it and talked about smoking pot, drugs, etc., but it was such a straightforward, personal, and real account of the year the guy spent in Vietnam that I read it several times during my HS years. And I still remember it and think about it to this day. I have tried to find information about it a few times (since the age of the Internet), but I cannot find ANYTHING. I would love to read it again and see how it holds up. Besides that, I never read it, but We Were Soldiers Once - And Young is supposed to be an excellent book - even though they made a crappy Mel Gibson movie out of it. (Both non-fiction) I have heard Keeping Watch is an great book.

Answer 3

03-- were all grunt fields-the fighting Marines. 0351 is not machine gunners. Back then and around 1978, the USMC had rifle Companies, made up of 3 rifle platoons usually and there was a smaller HQ headquarters platoon and a large weapons platoon. Machine gunners were the biggest element in this platoon and their MOS was 0331. There were also 0341 and 0351. These 0341 and 0351 were 60 mm mortar men and LAW tank killer teams with flame throwers. However the USMC had a lot of trouble with their new "flame thrower" it was a 4 shot thing and then after the fourth shot it was destroyed and discarded, but it had a habit of carrying people down range. Also the info I am providing is for the USMC for the years 1968-1978 many unit designations changed.

Answer 4

I cannot answer your specific questions about Vietnam and that particular unit's involvement in it, but as an ex-Marine, I applaud your father's part in it. To him and to his daughter, "Semper Fi."

I sincerely hope you find your answers.