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A "Vietnamese" village, complete with "Viet Cong," booby traps and punji stakes, adds realism to the combat training of Second Marine Division troops at Camp Lejeune.
NEARLY ALL of the I corps area in Vietnam is considered to be one massive booby trap by Marines who plod through it daily. It is laced with an abundance of man-killing and maiming devices which annually claim nearly 50 per cent of all Marine casualties in Vietnam, according to official statistics. The other percentage of injuries and KIA's are the result of more direct means, such as snipers, mortars and eyeball-to-eyeball firefights with North Vietnamese regulars, Viet Cong and communist sympathizers.
A small "Vietnamese" village with the challenging name of Tri Me has claimed more than its share of Marine "casualties." Yet, it has probably saved the lives of more Marines than records will ever be able to indicate.
Tri Me is not in Vietnam. It is the most-used facility of the Second Marine Division's Counter Guerrilla Warfare Center (CGWC) at Camp Lejeune, N. C. Through its booby-trapped streets have passed more than 35,000 Marines, Seabees and sailors, most of whom were bound for duty in Vietnam.
"Here is where we want them to make their mistakes," explained the CGWC's Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, GySgt S. E. Jordan. "If they've got to become a casualty, this is the place to get zapped, because they'll always walk away from it and be given more than a second chance to correct their mistakes. That's a bigger break than they'll ever get in Vietnam because Charlie plays for real, and seldom gives anyone a 'second chance.'"
Training at the Center is thoroughand rugged. Marines like Gunny Jordan see to that. He spent a tour in Vietnam with a recon outfit and he knows firsthand that it takes a rugged and ready Marine to "play for real."
"Just like in Vietnam, there's no automatic good guys win' provision in the training here at the Center," Gunny Jordan said. "If they win, it's because they do things right, the way we teach them."
Seeing that students learn "the right thing to do" is the responsibility shouldered by Capt M. E. P. Dominguez, the Center's Officer in Charge. The captain, who was...