Lions of Medina

Operation Medina was a search and destroy operation conducted by the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines and the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines from 11 to 20 October 1967 in the H?i L?ng Forest Reserve south of Qu?ng Tr?, South Vietnam.

In this interview, Doyle Glass talks about why he chose to write about that battle.

Q: Why did you choose to write about Operation Medina?

Doyle Glass: I was inspired by the excellent press that the World War 2 veterans were given in the late 90s early 2000s, specifically Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, which are based on fact.? Band of Brothers Is based on interviews of members of the 101st Airborne Company and what their recollections were.

I noticed at the time that there was very little, almost nothing, about the Vietnam War. ?It was not a popular war and a lot of the men and women who served in it were not treated very well when they came home. People wanted to forget about it and they certainly didn't want to remember any specific battles.

I saw this as a miss in the story of our country and knew kind of intrinsically, that there were some very moving, heartbreaking and dramatic stories out there that were going to go untold. The veterans were not getting any younger; a lot of them suffered from cancer as a? result of Agent Orange, and we weren't going to have them for very long.

It was a conflict that I had grown up hearing about and I felt that I should tell that story and give some credit to those veterans. So I just basically got on the Internet and started to send out emails. Within a day, I got a response from a veteran in Western Kentucky. I lived in Louisville, KY at the time. He told me, “You need to write about this operation I was on called Medina.” I got a little bit of a synopsis from him, then went out to meet him. He gave me some moonshine and some beans, and we had a great talk. I knew then that that would be my story.

As with many of the conflicts in Vietnam, the Americans were often outnumbered and put in a hard place to survive. This was very similar to the Battle of the Alamo, which I grew up learning about, being from Texas! Listening to that veteran’s story I thought “It’s like the Spartan 300 at Thermopylae, but nobody knows about it.” It's never been told. There's no history. There are very few articles about it, certainly no oral histories.

That was basically it. Just a story of a group of young men holding on in the face of overwhelming odds. And, you know, fighting for their brothers next to them. And I said, “OK, here's my story.” So that's how I got into Operation Medina.

Q: How many people did you interview for that book?

Doyle: I don't recall the exact number, but it was probably between 40 and 50, maybe closer to 40 individuals over several years. I would contact them and of course wanted them to be comfortable with what I was doing, and then I would record our calls which I later had transcribed by a court transcriber, so I would have the actual transcripts of what they said.

Q: Excellent. So you still have all of the recordings?

Doyle: I do. I have all of the interviews. That's the only way to make sure the facts are correct, and when you're writing nonfiction, the facts are the most important thing.

Q: You mentioned the one fellow, the Marine who gave you the idea to write about Medina. Did you have any other sources that really stood out?

Doyle: For Lions of Medina, the greatest help came from First Lieutenant Jack

Ruffer, who was in command of one of the platoons, Charlie Company, First Battalion, First Marines, and he was very much in the? thick of the fighting. On Operation Medina, which was a long operation, I account for really only a few days of that operation in October. But Jack, who has since passed away, was able to really help me make sure my facts were correct to head me in the right direction of who to speak with. He made sure that the? nomenclature and all of the terms were correct and that it was authentic for the Vietnam War that he and his buddies fought.

Q: What was your impression of Lieutenant Ruffer when you talked with him?

Doyle: He was a Marine’s Marine. ?He was similar to what you think of when you think of the fighting men, men and women in World War II, very patriotic. Very hard working, very self-effacing, very much concerned for the welfare of their comrades and wanting to uphold the honor and the values of the Republic and of the democracy of the United States. So, just a great man to know and I feel very fortunate and lucky to consider him a friend.

Q: How many interviews did you have with him?

Doyle: I probably have three hours or more plus numerous emails and phone conversations after that, because he was able to curate the book. We wanted to make sure it came from his perspective and told the story of his comrades--that it was represented correctly.

Q: It sounds like most of the content for that book came from interviews. What were some of the other sources that you consulted, if any?

Doyle: For Lions of Medina, and also for Swift Sword, there really is not a lot of information available for the perspective that I am writing from, which is from the frontline Marine, the grunt, the guy that's the private or the NCO.? Their story is going to be very unique and it's not going to be from the perspective of a history book with set piece movements of strategy and that sort of thing.

With World War II and a lot of the other conflicts, the first hand accounts are often the most dramatic. If you're looking at a specific operation or battle, they can be hard to get, so almost exclusively for both books in? the 90% plus range the content came from those guys that fought the battles. I feel that both books are unique in that sense and that it's told from the perspective of the men that were there.

Q: Can you talk about this photo, which appears in your book, Lions of Medina?

Doyle: That's a that is a photo taken on the morning of October 13th, 1967, after the night battle. The main march in for Operation Medina from the landing zone (“LZ Dove”) began on October the 12th, 1967, and they basically cut a path through this heavy jungle. It's the Highland National Forest. The gentleman standing in the middle is Captain Bill Major, and on the left, Marine Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Thompson. On the right is Lance Corporal Michael Lavalley, who was Captain Major’s radio operator. He was killed by a sniper shortly after this operation.

When you look at the photo you can see the fatigue and the stress on their faces, having survived the night ambush.

Most of the photos in the book were taken by Sergeant Bruce Martin on October 12th and the hours that led up to the night ambush that went from the evening into the morning of October 13th.

Marine Corps combat correspondent, Bill Perkins, took movies. Perkins was killed in action and earned the Medal of Honor.

I also used some photos that Staff Sergeant Bruce Martin took for Leatherneck Magazine.