“Don’t Ever Get Out Of The Umbrella Of U.S. Artillery”: Recollections Of A MACV Team 162 Advisor

Jim Carson was born in South Carolina in September 1942. His father, a 1932 Citadel graduate, married Jim’s mother in 1936. They had met in a boardinghouse when they were both teaching; his father taught high school chemistry, and his mother was an elementary school teacher who had graduated from Winthrop College in 1933. In the summer of 1941, Jim’s father transitioned to active duty and was stationed in Hawaii with D Battery 2-19 Anti-Aircraft Artillery. During the war, Jim and his mother lived in Maysville, South Carolina, but when the war was over, they moved to Japan, where Jim’s father was serving on occupation duty. Jim discusses military service in his family’s history, including his great grandfather, and his father’s service during World War II and Korea. He recalls his childhood as an Army Brat and living around the world. When his father was assigned to William and Mary’s ROTC Detachment, his mother earned her master’s degree. His father and a mentor, “Pop” Metz (Citadel 32 and USMA 37), recommended that Jim attend West Point, and he was accepted into the Class of 1964. Jim enjoyed field time, but back in the Barracks, upperclassman Frank Reasoner, USMA ’62, made Jim his special project and target for development. A prior service Marine, Reasoner repeatedly recommended that Jim consider branching Marine Corps. (Reasoner posthumously earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam in 1965 serving as a Marine Corps First Lieutenant.) Jim reflects on classmates, officers, and NCOs he knew at the Academy and how they shaped his development. He describes hearing the famous MacArthur speech in the mess hall and interactions with General Westmoreland, who informed that Class of ’64 that he would be seeing them soon. He also recalls the entire Corps marching in Kennedy’s inauguration on a cold and snowy day, and a small detachment from West Point being sent to Kennedy’s funeral. In 1966, Jim deployed to Vietnam, where he was assigned to MACV Airborne Advisor Team 162. MSG J.J. Maldonado gave Jim some good advice when he recommended, “Don’t ever get out of the umbrella of U.S. artillery,” and urged him to make sure to connect with local U.S. forces when the Vietnamese Airborne was sent around the country to conduct missions. Working with the ARVN Airborne, Jim learned to speak their language and eat their food. He describes several operations he in which he participated, and he notes that relying on “body counts” was a great mistake but counting weapons was important. On October 13, 1966, he was wounded in the leg and was sent to a hospital in Saigon for treatment. He worked in the headquarters while he was using crutches and a cane to recover, but he returned to 1st Battalion of the Vietnamese Airborne in time for a combat jump in the U Minh Forest on December 27, 1966, to clear a communist stronghold. He describes the discipline of the Vietnamese forces he was working with. That operation was covered in a Time magazine article on January 6, 1967. After returning from Vietnam, he went and decided that “I never wanted to shoot anything again.” In 1967, he was assigned as Cadre for the Mountain Ranger Training Camp, and he viewed his mission as “preparing them all for Vietnam.” In 1970, he married Jane and later returned to Vietnam to serve with 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, in the 25th Infantry Division. When the 25th began redeploying, he was reassigned to the G3 shop of 1st Cavalry Division. After returning from Vietnam the second time, he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division as a planner. In 1973, he attended the Navy’s Command and Staff College, earned a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University, and was selected to return to West Point as a Tactical Officer for Company E2. In his final year as a TAC, the West Point leadership was preparing for the admission of women, and COL Arvid West was focused on “doing it right.” In 1976, Jim, his wife, and two children moved to California, where he was assigned as the Executive Officer for 2nd Battalion, 32nd Infantry, and later as the Executive Officer for 2nd Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division. In 1978, he took command of 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry. He describes the training his battalion conducted, highlighting building fighting capabilities, as well as the state of the Army in the post-Vietnam era. In 1980, he took over as the Executive Officer for the 26th Support Group in Heidelberg, Germany, an assignment he called “fabulous.” In 1981, he became the Chief of Staff for the 2nd Armored Division (Forward), stationed south of Bremerhaven. This was a tough assignment that was also rough on the families. In 1983, he returned to the United States for an assignment at Ft. Meade, Maryland, where he served as the Chief of the Readiness Group. After retiring in 1986, he entered the business world with a classmate, initially living in Los Angeles before moving to Virginia in 1988. In 1993, his wife Jane died of cancer, and he was devastated. A year later, he married Rikki, and they have been together for 31 years. He remains active in his community and especially with the Bruton Parish Church. He is proud of his service to the nation, stating it is “what I wanted to do,” but he felt used fighting a defensive war that could not be won. At the end of the interview, he declares that West Point was “the turning point in my life.”