Bill Howe recalled in a letter to Jim’s wife Helen that:
“Jim was one of the most conscientious men under my command”. He went on to say “His pleasantness and kindness of character singled him out as a man to be proud of. Jim was a country boy, his sincerity in caring about people gave him the touch of humanity that many of us lack.”
Another mate of Jims wrote: “We always found him easy to get along with and provide a good and human balance to the other NCOs”.
Jim deployed to South Vietnam on the 10th of October 1967 and served with the Detachment of 131 Divisional Locating Battery attached to 4th Field Regiment. By this time Jim had been promoted to Lance Bombardier.
On Wednesday the 2nd of January 1968, Australian troops commenced Operation Coburg to the north of Nui Dat near Xuyen Loc, east of Bien Hoa. The Locators including Jim were trucked to Xa Tran Bom on Route 1 and dug in on a small hill about one kilometre north of that village. Listening Posts were established to support the operation. The next day, Jimmy was with the Survey team at Fire Support Base Anderson and they formed a Listening Post, 31G. This was the time of the TET Offensive and VC and North Vietnamese staged massive attacks all over South Vietnam.
On the 13th of February, several Listening Posts were set up in and around Fire Support Base Anderson. On the night of Saturday the 17th of February, there was an initial contact in the rubber about 1500 meters away from their position. In the early hours of the morning of Sunday the 28th, the VC blew up the magazine in Bien Hoa and a green flare was fired from Xa Tran Bom and the VC launched a mortar and rocket attack on the Fire Support Base. One of those mortar rounds was to kill Jim near their listening post 31G.
The VC had dug small pits and had been covered with sand and they jumped out of the holes and killed most of the Australian Standing Patrol in front of the American lines.
They then charged across the wire and were killed after causing considerable damage. A green flare from the village ended the attack. A helicopter gunship arrived and shot up the rubber trees as the VC were removing their dead and wounded. Jimmy had been home with his family on R and R only two weeks earlier.
Acknowledgment:
My thanks to Jimmy’s brother Tony and his family for sharing special family photos, articles and letters.
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