Mike Lynch - Marine Diesel Mechanic

US Army - June 1968 to June 1970

In 1968, my Dad and I had a talk where he told me that if I didn't enlist in the Army for a job that would keep me from lugging a machine gun through the jungles of Vietnam, that's exactly what would happen to me. That made sense to me, so off to the Army recruiters we went. My dad was a six-year Army combat engineer veteran who was wounded on the Pusan Perimeter in Korea. His father was an Army veteran who had fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I was born in Los Angeles while he was recovering from a mortar attack in Japan.

I was a pretty good mechanic at that time, so the recruiter sent me off to marine diesel school. I was inducted into the Army in June of 1968. I was 17 years of age. I attended Army basic training at Fort Lewis, WA. I learned how to shoot the M-14 rifle, stab straw men with bayonets, learned how to operate gas masks, and was indoctrinated in the Domino Theory.

PVC Mike Lynch, 1968. Ft. Lewis basic training photo.

Afterward, I was assigned to marine diesel mechanics school in Fort Story, VA. There, I learned to how to work on and repair Jimmy 6-71 diesels and Cummins V8-300 diesels  that were installed in the LARC-V, LARC-XV, and LARK-LX amphibian vehicles that the Army operated at the time. 

At the end of my training, I learned that out of the 50 men who were graduating from the school, I was one of the only three who received orders for Vietnam. Good grief! After a 30-day leave at home in Seattle, my Dad drove me to SeaTac airport for my trip to Vietnam. We stopped in Hawaii and Guam and I never got off the plane at either place. As we descended through the clouds over the famous country, some of the GIs commented on how many lakes we could see. A returning veteran informed us that what we were seeing were bomb craters, "you morons!"

After we landed, a couple of us were delivered by bus to a pier in Saigon where we were transported by a PBR manned by MPs (Military Police) to our new home, Cat Lai, a former Japanese seaplane base during WWII. This was the home of the 1099th Medium Boat Company that operated LCM-8 landing craft and would be my home for the next year.

The first boat that I was assigned to worked exclusively with the 199th Infantry Brigade at artillery fire support bases We moved supplies, troops, and occasionally transported teams that sprayed Agent Orange on the canal and riversides. We were engaged in three firefights in six months, and the final one resulted in the boat being sunk in a canal after being struck by two 90mm recoilless rifle rounds while transporting GIs to another firebase. One GI died and another lost a foot during this action.

After a few weeks off in Cat Lai, I was assigned to another boat and a new crew. Our first mission was to go back to the same area where my first boat had been sunk! I slept in my flack jacket and helmet, much to the amusement of the crew, but what did they know?

The rest of my tour was uneventful. No more shooting, no more death. I had 18 months left on my enlistment and was told that if I wanted to stay in Vietnam for another year, I could get out of the Army six months early. I passed since I had already had a couple of close calls.

During my last 18 months in the Army, I worked as the motor pool clerk at Ft. Story, a job the Army said I was uniquely unqualified for when I was inducted! I left the army in June of 1971 with the rank of Specialist 5th Class.

 Veterans Day 2024 

On Sunday, November 10th, 2024, the Huntington Park neighborhood celebrated Veterans Day at the community clubhouse at 1:00pm. We had a good turnout of veterans, friends, and neighbors, as well as enjoying some very good cake!

Here is a photo of the group of neighborhood veterans who were able to attend this event.

Left to right: Mike Bray and Jennie Bray, Vince Clay, Gary Cor, Mike Lynch, John Fletcher, George Wills, Carli Ann Torres, Mike Sommerfield, Julian Lopez, Bruce Blair, Brady Williams, Tim Barrentine, and Monte Berke.

A special thanks goes out to Rosemary Mastro, Nadine Bollard, and Mary Montgomery for organizing this event. You are our heroes!

Welcome!

Welcome! This blog is being created to archive the military histories of veterans living in the Huntington Park West neighborhood in Des Moines, WA.

Huntington Park is a pleasant "55+" neighborhood built on a bluff on the east side of Puget Sound in western Washington. My wife and I moved here in the spring of 2024 from nearby Kent, WA. I realized that plenty of people here were in my 70+ age group, and I was curious about how many military veterans were living among us. So, I placed a notice in the community newsletter proposing a meeting date and time for a meeting at the clubhouse. We had a surprisingly good turnout, and have been meeting at the clubhouse on the third Thursday of every month for fellowship and storytelling since then.

The blog is public and available to all friends, family, and neighbors of the Huntington Park military veterans. Your comments are encouraged and welcomed.

Enjoy!