![]() Fink shot under the machine gun, which caused a big cloud of dust to rise up from the ground. It was about 50 yards away from where we were."įink saw the machine gun but Jemison didn't see the weapon system since it was heavily camouflaged. ![]() John Jamison, our grenadier and my best friend in the unit, and I scouted out where a machine gun was located. "The Marines who were ahead of us were so shot up it was really, really bad. While in the jungle, Fink's unit caught up to the rest of the Marines who had made the initial assault. I couldn't shoot him, his cane was not a rifle."įink and the Marines made their way across the beach to the jungle. He was running away as fast as an old man could, which wasn't real fast. We were told going into Starlite, "If there are people not wearing Marine Corps green, shoot them.' Landing on the beach, the first thing I saw was an old man dressed in all white with his bamboo straw hat and a cane. "I ran as fast as I could to the tree line where I thought I was going to get cover. I'm going to be the first one off of it.' In Vietnam, you either learn fast or die."Īs Fink ran off the AMTRAC, he saw the beach was covered with dead Viet Cong. "I thought 'I'm not going to be the last one off this puppy. Everyone else was facing forward, and I'm thinking 'something isn't right here.'"įink noticed a crack of light coming over his shoulder as the front of the AMTRAC rose up as it landed on the beach. As the AMTRAC made the way to the beach, I turned around and started facing the back, because I thought we were going to get off from the back end. "Everyone from my unit got on the AMTRAC it was loaded off the ship. ![]() We went in at about 8 p.m., August 18."įink realized how important it is to never miss training as soon as he arrived in Vietnam. Just before my unit was supposed to debark from the ship, our squad was told we'd be in reserves, so we didn't get to make the initial landing. "The beach landing was the largest amphibious operation since Inchon in Korea. Fink was with 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. Operation Starlite, also known as the Battle of Van Tuong, was quickly devised to assault the Viet Cong first. During training we learned quick."ĭuring the summer of 1965, Fink arrived at Chu Lai, Vietnam where the Marines learned the Viet Cong were planning to attack their position. "I got an upper respitory infection an spent time at the sick bay. While at ITR, Fink missed some important training due to illness. However, nothing was going to deter Fink from becoming a Marine.Īfter recruit training at Mairne Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, Fink reported to the Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. He realized that being deployed to a war was a very likely possibility. When Fink enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1964, the United States had increased its involvement in Vietnam. LAKE BUTLER, Florida - Charles "Charlie" Darrow Fink never imagined that his good friend would be shot dead right next to him during a firefight in Vietnam during Operation Starlite.
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