A Recon Marine Remembers LZ Margo (conclusion)
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Bodies and Excess Gear
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At one point after the last incoming I remember walking across a slope on Margo and smelling a God awful stench. I looked over and they had not yet evacuated the dead. The smell was from all the bodies.
I also remember when the choppers came in and picked up the gear that had been damaged or was now excess. I think there were two or three CH 46’s each with a huge net filled with gear dragging below. All that gear belonged to Marines who were no longer able to use it.
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After Margo we remained in the field until sometime in mid to late October. Lt. MacDonald had promoted me to Corporal and made me a squad leader. I had one guy in my squad, George Ellison.
For the rest of the time on this operation it seemed we were constantly being probed at night as we moved.
At one point we even went back up on Margo for a look. I suppose they wanted us to see if anyone had moved up there since it was high ground.
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Nobody got anything that resembled real sleep during this time. That is one of the things I remember most about that period of somewhere around two months in the bush.
The exhaustion.
LCpl Cavan Cox aboard the USS Dubuque. Photo courtesy of Cavan Cox.
