Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
6:53 | Squad leader Lucio Lopez would take the point a lot. He did not want another Marine in danger and he, frankly, did not trust all of them to do it right. He was also the demolition man and tunnel rat for his unit. Some of the underground facilities he found were truly amazing.
Keywords : Lucio Lopez Vietnam point man demolition tunnel rat Lee Bollinger Viet Cong (VC) North Vietnamese Army (NVA) tunnels Operation Pipestone Canyon black market
Lucio Lopez was from a large family and he already had two older brothers in the Marine Corps. One day he got up, went to town and enlisted as well. In just two hours, he was on a bus to boot camp.
He wouldn't wish boot camp on anybody. Lucio Lopez recalls the DI's that made his life very interesting for a few weeks. When he got to advanced training, another Marine there who had been at Khe Sanh made sure he got the map and compass skills he was going to need.
His first night in the field was memorable. Lucio Lopez sat down to a spartan meal and then the base came under attack with VC in the wire. He didn't even have a weapon yet.
Lucio Lopez had never been out of his hometown of Sacramento. When he joined the Marine Corps, he met guys from all walks of life, from every place and of every race. It was an eye opening experience. (Caution: coarse language.)
He was fortunate to meet someone in training who had been to Vietnam and who gave him some pointers. Because of that, Lucio Lopez was able to adapt well once he got there. He also had more than a little luck when it came to booby traps. (Caution: coarse language.)
There was a hot pot of rice on when the Marines found the NVA camp, but there was no one to be seen. Lucio Lopez checked out the bunkers and tunnels and still found no one. After making a show of leaving, his squad set up an ambush and waited. (Caution: coarse language.)
Everybody loved the Navy Corpsmen. They kept the Marines patched up and fighting. When you were in the bush for months, though, it could make you want to do crazy things. That's what happened to Lucio Lopez.
Lucio Lopez didn't get in from the field a lot. He missed the Bob Hope USO show and when he did get some time back at battalion, there were sappers on the wire. Hell, he felt safer back in the bush trading C-rations for hot food with villagers.
When your time until rotation is short, you get a lot more cautious. Lucio Lopez remembers when his time in Vietnam was almost up and he went to visit a wounded friend in the hospital. That Marine was bitter about getting hit so close to leaving. (Caution: coarse language.)
It was almost like he had less trouble in the jungle. Lucio Lopez first went to Okinawa, where he got picked up by the MP's after a barroom brawl. Then he was robbed and then he got home to California where things had not gone well for his family. (Caution: coarse language.)
Lucio Lopez recalls the day he enlisted in the Marines on the spur of the moment. He was young and eager and his mom was crying.
