Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
8:56 | Marine radioman Mike Pomakis was operating the radio for a forward observer. After being pinned down by the NVA and the VC for hours in a rice paddy, they got up on top of the dike and called in mortars and air support to break the assault.
Keywords : Mike Pomakis Vietnam Forward Observer (FO) 81 mm mortar Operation Desoto Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) mortar fire North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Viet Cong (VC) reunion rice paddy white phosphorus (WP) High Explosive (HE) I Corps II Corps Duc Pho air strike 20 mm gun radioman Richard Garcia
Mike Pomakis came from a strict Greek family that held fast to the values of the old country. He tried to enlist in the Air Force but that was delayed. He decided on a four year enlistment in the Marines. That ought to cut those apron strings.
He was riding a train on the way to Parris Island when Mike Pomakis noticed that caskets were being unloaded at every stop. What have I done? The first week of boot camp, he thought he was going to die. The second week, he wish he had. Then it got better until he thanked the DI with the wrong verbiage. (Caution: strong language)
After boot camp he received his MOS which was 2531, a radioman. Mike Pomakis then did infantry training and radio school before heading to Vietnam where he was hit with the unique smell of the place when he stepped off the plane. It wasn't long before he spent his first sleepless night in the bush.
It was during Operation Desoto that the forward observer asked radioman Mike Pomakis if he'd like to go on a special reconnaissance patrol with him. They crept quietly into a village that they suspected was occupied by the NVA. It sure was.
Mike Pomakis was at an observation post keeping an eye on Charlie Ridge. He noticed something odd about a large boulder at the base of it. It wasn't a boulder.
Mike Pomakis had smoked marijuana once and it had no effect on him. The second time, he was at a fire base and it must have been better stuff because he was loopy. Of course, they started taking incoming mortar fire.
There was a sniper shooting at them from across the river. He wasn't very good because he had no kills but he was annoying enough that a squad was dispatched to take him out. Mike Pomakis recalls that as soon as they got him, the enemy came swarming out like ants. Luckily they had an excellent mortar gunner back on their side of the river.
When he returned from Vietnam, Mike Pomakis was in no hurry to get home. He stayed in San Francisco for a couple of weeks with some girls he knew before he finally went to see Mom and Dad. He didn't have any trouble with anti-war protestors but the tight job market for veterans cause him to move to Newfoundland, which worked out well for him.
We did our best over there. Mike Pomakis doesn't want the people who died in Vietnam to be forgotten. That Vietnam Veterans Memorial? The names are the memorial, not the Wall.
