Reynel Martinez - Six Silent Men

Moving close to the ground
where the leeches live,
where the ants bite.
We are long taloned war birds,
our allies the Dragon shipsclaymores.
Our stealth makes us invisible,
untouchable as the morning mist.
In the highlands the hills ascend forever.
Legs burning, shoulder straps cut deeply.
The ruck never gets lighter.
The rain never stops.
The sun never lets up.
Young feet look old, yellowed, wrinkled,
flesh turns to pus, jungle rot.
The RTO rides the airwaves humming a deathsong.
Phantoms and 105s scatter the Kalashnikovs.
Nightwalking on a carpet that glows softly.
They hunt us.
Lying motionless, we watch the black silhouettes moving through the bush, our home. Invisibleuntouchable. The Marauders.

B OSS W EISBERGER
30 December 1989

Carmel, California
25 June 1996

With the publication of this the first volume of the history of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Divisions Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols experiences in Vietnam, I wish to pay tribute to their exploits and devotion to duty. They were distinguished in their willingness to take chances and risks. They were trailblazers for their successors, the Ranger units who succeeded them in the later days of the Vietnam conflict.

The recollections and personal experiences of these LRRPs characterize the boldness and unselfish devotion to each other. They were fitting successors to their forebears in the 101st Airborne Division.

S. H. M ATHESON
Major General (U.S.A., Ret.)

This book is not intended to glorify war; there is no glory in war. War exposes how mean and vicious the human psyche is capable of being. It is the closest we get to legalized mass murder. Maybe one day we, as a human race, will elevate our consciousness enough to outlaw war and allow peace of mind to all humanity. God bless that day.

Originally, this book was intended to cover in one volume the history of the LRRP/LRP/RANGERS of the 101st Airborne Division in the Vietnam War and be co-written by Kenn Miller, Gary Linderer, and myself. But because of the length of the material, the publisher has decided to bring the works out in a series of three volumes, each of us covering the period with which he is most familiar.

My intent in Six Silent Men is to portray the men who served in a special operations unit, in a shooting war. They were special men in difficult times. This book represents six years of research and documenting, much of it devoted to taping recollections and patiently transcribing hundreds of hours of conversational interviews so as to retrieve the history accurately. With the passage of time, one cannot hope to capture conversations exactly as they occurred. This story is told by the men who served, and my job was basically that of a scribe for them. My objective was to be accurate and honest to the best of my ability. In Six Silent Men, I feel I have largely achieved both, and I apologize for any unintentional errors or omissions on my part. To all the fine and brave men who arent mentioned by name in the pages that follow but who sweated and humped those Southeast Asian hills as Lurps with the 1/101st, my apologies and deepest respect.

First and foremost I wish to thank my family: my wife and friend, Sylvia; daughters Rene, Vanessa, and Hailey; and my only son, Marty. Thank you for supporting me on this lonely and difficult mission. My heartfelt thanks to Bob and Sue Puckett for the initial editing of this book and to Kenn Miller for driving all the way to Idaho for the second editing of the book.

A special thank-you to Larry Predator Zajanc for the use of the transcribing machine that made this job easier and for his support.

A special thanks to Lloyd Top Smith, who, though dying painfully of cancer, helped me with his guidance, counsel, and recollections. My only regret was that he didnt get to read the book as he wished. Rest in peace, my special friend.

My thanks, too, to all the Lurps who took the time and effort to answer my letters and phone calls, contributing to the information being collected. It was your story and you wanted it told right

A special thanks to those Foul DudesBoss Weisberger, Tom Greek Dokos, Dan Mclsaac, Allen Teddy Bear Gaskell, and Vietnam veteran but non-Lurp Mike Heinzfor the special interest you took in the book. Also for the encouragement and moral support you gave me when I needed it the most. You made me cross those difficult mental bridges in order to continue the mission.

A thank-you to my former commanding general, Major General Salve H. Matheson (U.S. Army, Ret.), for reviewing the manuscript and writing the introduction.

Special acknowledgment to Randy Stamm for help with the Vietnam map.

A brother Lurp, Don Lynch, brought us all back together in June 1986, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. It was a healing process. Since then we have floated white water in Idaho and met at reunions hosted by our parent organization, the 75th Ranger Regiment Association. For most of us, the emotional wounds left over from the Vietnam War have been healed and the bond we shared so long ago has been reawakened.

Stay a Lurp,
Stay alive.

Robin, Idaho
August 1996

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