The New Guy

The Washington, D.C., Vietnam Veterans Memorial is inscribed with 58,272 names - each a story of lost opportunity and heartache; ultimate sacrifices that, with time, are known by and intimate to fewer. The New Guy is one of those small stories, perhaps now, 48 years later, important to only me - that doesn't mean it shouldn't be told.

Long Island's morning fog was dense and chilly as I turned onto the drive at Pinelawn National Cemetery. Driving forward, I familiarized myself with the numbering of the stones. Donning my overcoat as I got out of the car, I crossed the roadway to walk another 50 feet over wet grass to The New Guy's permanent address: plot 31313A in section "N."

A stunted, winter-bare tree stood watch over his grave - it looked like it shaded him nicely in the summertime. The headstone, identical to the thousands surrounding it, is engraved with bits of personal information: born 12 days after I was, on July 14, 1947, he died March 7, 1968. Below those dates are chiseled the word "Vietnam;" farther down are the two letters "PH" confirming the Purple Heart was awarded posthumously. Exactly 40 years later, March 7, 2008, I was here for a long overdue visit. Although today I know his name, for most of the intervening years, I didn't. In my recollections, he has always been, simply, "The New Guy."

New guys were easy to spot. Naturally, there was the rookie's nervousness, but that clean helmet cover was the giveaway. A seasoned Marine's helmet might have a heavy rubber band encircling it, holding bug repellant and a well-used plastic spoon, but always printed on the fabric covering his steel "pot" was a message. Sometimes a clever or rude manipulation of a biblical phrase; other times, it was a less-nuanced "Screw You" challenge to the enemy. The brazen tempted fate with a crude calendar counting down their remaining days in country. Attesting to the helmet's use as protection, basin and stool, the messages were written on camouflage covers stained by rain, soil and sweat. In 1968, those young Marines with helmet covers awaiting a personal signature were known to the rest of us as "New Guys."

I was a Marine forward observer scout. My helmet cover sported a faded green shamrock, surrounded by the words "All Irish F.O.'s." Early March found Louis, my radio operator, and me attached to "Alpha" Company, one of two line companies of First Battalion, Third Marines, providing security up a backwater of the Cua Viet River.

It was a reprieve to patrol from a fixed location, allowing us to fortify positions, improve makeshift hutches and learn the lay of the land before, not during, ambushes. The few incoming sniper rounds were erratic - minor nuisances that were quickly suppressed - and the weather improved daily. Most importantly, we were alive. There wasn't much not to like.

Suddenly, on March 7, 1968, our Vietnamese-speaking S-2 scout reported enemy combatants moving through Phu Tai, a neighboring village, after nightfall. Since it was our job to keep bad actors out of the neighborhood, Alpha Co was ordered on top of Amtrak's in the predawn dark for a rough ride, over dry rice paddies to give this little village the once over. Maybe we'd find trouble, maybe not. Personally, I was thinking not.

With the bellowing of our Amtrak's dual turbocharged exhausts announcing our pending arrival, all North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars working the area would surely be long gone before we showed up. For all intents and purposes, it looked like it would be an early morning cakewalk. Map and compass were close, radio communications checked; I was alert, not anxious. Turned out I should have been.

In the glow of a false dawn, we were rolling-up on Phu Tai's western edge when suddenly a rocket propelled grenade flew out of the tree line, blowing a hole in our lead Amtrak. With it came a stupefying volume of incoming automatic weapons fire. Screams of the wounded and shouts for corpsman were coming from all quarters as Louis and I leapt off our Amtrak and scrambled to a nearby trench. So much for nobody being home. Dawn had arrived at Phu Tai with a promise of some serious mayhem.

A vestige of the French and Viet Minh conflict of an earlier time, our trench was typical of those surrounding villages near the Demilitarized Zone. Just to the north of it, outside the village, was an abandoned, French-era church. It didn't show on my map, but there it was - two-stories tall and roofless, it was one of the few solid masonry structures in those parts. My view of it was blocked by a clump of bushes rimming our trench's back edge, directly behind where Louis and I made our stand.

Looking over the forward edge of the trench, I located where Marines were digging in. Our near-instant heavy casualties and the sustained volume of incoming fire indicated a large, entrenched force - a motivated enemy that might mount a counterattack. The simultaneous firing of several batteries was initiated to provide a protective curtain of shrapnel while we got a handle on things.

Despite everyone's best efforts, the day went badly fast. To my right, just beyond Louis, a Marine I had bummed a cigarette from a few minutes earlier was dead. To my left, in sequence, was another dead Marine, our wounded platoon commander and, scattered beyond them, a dozen, perhaps 15, Marines. Some dead, some wounded; those still capable struggled to keep our recently-issued M-16's functioning. 

During all this, I received a priority radio message advising me an NVA sniper had been spotted on the second floor of the church. The reason for the high number of casualties in my immediate area was now obvious: from his perch, the shooter could target men well below the trench's rear lip. It was inevitable that Louis and I were going to find ourselves on that deadly score card if we didn't put him out of business. Hoping to be quick enough to avert additional causalities, another artillery mission was worked up.

It was just then that I met The New Guy - part of a Marine company sent to reinforce our precarious position. As he dropped into the trench behind me, I turned to see by his clean helmet cover; the look on his face said that today was his introduction to the terrors of the fight. Still, he never wavered. Suppressing the fear, we all knew, he spoke the last words of his life: "What do you want me to do?" In the intervening years, neither our dire circumstances nor his response to them have been forgotten.

Quickly I pointed out the sniper's position and explained the need to keep him down while artillery was brought on target; I don't remember the precise number, but I can't imagine that more than 15 words were exchanged. Turning toward the church without hesitation, he took a firing position at the base of the bushes. With my back now covered, I gave the final "fire for effect" that would eliminate that menace in the loft.

Moments later, six 105 mm artillery rounds landed in the church's upper story, abruptly and decisively ending the shooter's reign. Unfortunately, The New Guy missed our small victory. Seconds before his demise, the sniper fired his last round. It was on target, and it was fatal. The New Guy was dead.

Although aware that he had protected me, providing time to complete the task at hand, reflection was not an option as that March 7, 1968, engagement at Phu Tai still had plenty of promised mayhem to be played out. A brutal assault, with Marines engaging in close-quarters fighting, routed the NVA forces. Afterward, in the late afternoon's fading light, we searched for our wounded and killed. I don't recall there being any prisoners.

As darkness enveloped the field, "Puff," the Gatling-armed C-130 flying transport, came on station, providing covering fire as needed and dropping huge illumination flares, lighting-up the dry rice paddy for the night's remaining work.

With our men accounted for, the Marines withdrew from the village and linked up to form a perimeter where, from freshly dug fighting holes, weary eyes and lethal intent were focused into the evening's menacing shadows. Inbound helicopter flights soon began landing with the necessities: munitions, food, water and, oh yes, more New Guys. Following triage protocol, our corpsmen backloaded the outgoing flights with our 94 wounded. It wasn't until the next morning, March 8, 1968, that The New Guy and his 12 companions, each now cocooned in a body bag, were finally relieved of duty. Marines gently loaded them into Hueys for their trip back across the Cua Viet to the first stop on their rotation stateside: the morgue at Dong Ha.

Curiously, though few things have had such a profound and lasting imprint on my life, many years passed before I dared replay those long-ago violent days. When I did, prominent and persistent was the question: "Who was The New Guy?" With research, I found the answer.

Three days after the battle of Phu Tai, the Department of Defense issued its weekly count of Vietnam casualties. The following day, March 12, 1968, The New York Times published the names of those who claimed New York as home. Last on their list of 22 was a young Marine from Brooklyn: Esau Whitehead Jr.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial website describes Esau at the time of his death as a 20-year-old African-American corporal from New York City. On "The Wall," his name is found on Panel 43E, Line 49. The record states vaguely that he died from "ground, small arms fire, Quang Tri province." Because of the chaos of battle, it is most likely I am the only person who knows the exact details. Wanting to share those, a letter was written describing Esau's last moments; however, when unable to locate survivors, I rewrote it as the story of 'The New Guy,' hoping someday it would land where it belongs. Of course, after all this time, there may be no family left or, it's also possible that no one cares.

But I do. I care. So, Esau, I'm writing your final story, hoping it will find its way to those who remember that 20-year-old kid from Brooklyn and wonder how it was for you at the end.

Cpl. Esau Whitehead Jr., you died living up to the Marine Corps motto - Semper Fidelis - while protecting a fellow Marine you knew for less than five minutes.

Thank you again, Esau. Your family should know.

The photo is left to right: Cpl Michael Walsh, Cpl James P. "Pat" Daly and PFC Roger McLain displaying the shamrocks they added to their helmet covers in Vietnam, 1968. Lt. George Norris is to the rear and between Cpl. Walsh and Cpl. Daly. He was killed in action while serving as a Company Commander. 

Reprinted with permission from the Marine Corps Association & Foundation, Leatherneck Magazine, May 2017