Sgt D.R. Nicholas
Its your Country
The Fall of South Vietnam was inevitable">
Sgt D.R. Nicholas
Its your Country
The Fall of South Vietnam was
inevitable, or was it? We, the Marine Security
Guards, were aware that things were coming to a head as early as
November,
1974. Rumors abounded of falling northern provinces, one right
after the
other. In reality, I believe we were hoping the U.S. would
intervene as most
of us came to appreciate the COUNTRY of Vietnam if not the
people.
The full reality of the war came to rest as several of us
attempted to make a
phone call home during the Easter holiday time of 1975. As we
stood in the
communications room at Ton Son Nuht, what we at first thought
were the
rumblings of thunder, turned out to be exploding bombs.
This
precipitated a
rush back to the Marine House to discover defensive sandbagging
preparations
underway. I had the opportunity to return to the airport the next
day where I
witnessed first hand the bombing runs directly over my position
on the
airport. Armed with a pistol, six rounds and a squad of Marines
with M-16's,
we had no weapons to stop it, I felt totally useless. The only
compensated
comfort being the removal of several Vietnamese from exposed
areas to the
bunkers at the DAO compound.
The day before the evacuation proved to be my most potentially
deadly, and
emotional. Somehow, I missed the communiqué concerning
restriction to the
Embassy. As I walked around Saigon, unarmed, dressed in civilian
clothes there
were no other Americans, no other Marines and none of the usual
hustle of the
city. As it was still early in the day, I figured it normal
considering
current events and the usual hustle of civilians would return
later. Upon
entering a bar on Tu Do street, I noticed a couple of the bar
girls and again,
no other Americans. Cozying up to the bar I observed in the
corner of the room
five ARVN troops. They appeared disheveled, dirty and armed. In
addition, they
were drinking and talking loudly. At this point, understanding
what we
Americans were about to do, I began to
believe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, I was
there and there
was no turning back. Soon one of the troops spotted me, the
talking turned to
whispers and then all was quiet. Attention was focused in my
direction as one
ARVN troop stood and threaded his way through the tables toward
me. I realized
they weren't drunk and I was in deep trouble. Turning toward the
oncoming
troop, I stood up ready for whatever was about to happen. As he
came closer,
he started to speak in English. "You are a Marine, No?"
I resounded with a
proud and deliberate "Yes". It was then he struck out
his right hand and
looked at me. He started to speak again. " I would like to
buy you a drink. My
country is losing and I have been in the field flying helicopters
for the last
week fighting the VC. We came in to rest for a couple hours
before going back
out to the field to do what we can. I just wanted to say thanks
to you and all
the Americans for what they have done for my country." With
that, we shook
hands and he returned to his table to enjoy what little time fate
would allow.
I got what I went for and left. Before and during my stay in
Saigon, I was led
to believe that all ARVN troops were cowards and ran at every
turn. A joke I
learned in 1972, went, 'Anyone want a slightly used rifle, has
never been
fired and only dropped once.'. This encounter changed my way of
thinking...
for at least some troops. The events that transpired the next day
did nothing
to bolster my new understanding of them.
Upon returning to the embassy compound, I was greeted by a very
content "Nich-
Oy". Looking, I saw no one immediately and it came again. I
followed the sound
trail up where I saw Sgt. Steve Schuller laying atop the edge of
the roof of
the Embassy. He updated me on the situation and I was later
assigned the back
Embassy gate where for the next for the rest of my time in
Vietnam, we
controlled the masses that gathered.
MSgt Steve Schuller USMC, Retired
My job was to admit those
Americans,
dependents and certain Vietnamese workers who worked for the U.S.
Early in the
day, as we manned a tower over the gate, we heard a loud
explosion across the
street. Cautiously looking over the edge of the tower, I observed
a vehicle on
fire, but no fatalities. We stood fast. At that time we were
still the only
Marines on board. Fortunately, there was no further action. All
through the
day and night I kept hearing the cries of "Please let us in.
Take my children
so the communists won't get them. We will do anything you want to
leave." We
were offered everything from money to sex to escape the
anticipated carnage.
We couldn't have slept more than two hours in the past 48 hours
and I kept
thinking as I looked at the men in the crowd, If only you would
put this much
passion in repelling the enemy instead of being here, we would
not have lost
so many of our men and your country would be free. In addition,
my encounter
earlier created a built in disgust for these 'men'. In addition
to several
other events that occurred that night, I observed one individual
clamber over
the gate rather than waiting for me to open it. His route was
initiated with a
soft sandaled shoe on top a solid iron spike making up a part of
the gate.
Naturally, the spike went though the shoe, and foot. He said
nothing as his
mind was anesthetized from the fear of remaining in Saigon. We
had to Medivac
him out due to the extreme blood loss. And so it went.
We did what we could in the time we had. No one faltered at their
post and if
one Marine had to be removed from a position, another quickly
volunteered to
replace him. We watched the smoke during the day and flames at
night at the
airport knowing that two of our comrades had just been killed.
The sound of
gunfire was all around us, We heard the screams of dying as they
were driven
by in ambulances and saw their charred bodies. We were animals in
a cage
waiting for the onslaught to begin, with nowhere to go except up,
and
eventually, that is where we went.
Don Nicholas, DPM
Don is on bottom row. 4th from right.
At 25th Reunion/Memorial
Marshalltown, Iowa
Fall of Saigon Marines at the Vietnam Wall near Cpl
McMahan and LCpl Judge's names.
From Left to Right: Kevin Maloney, Don Nicholas, Ken Crouse and Doug Potratz
From Left to Right
CWO Kevin Maloney, CWO Doug Potratz, Lance Corporal Ken Crouse,
SSgt Nicholas