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September 13, 2017 Grunt.com Admin

Trautwein's Marines

Captain Trautwein was the C.O. of Charlie Co., 1/1 in late 1968. I arrived in country in early October 1968 and this story takes place during my first day out in field, Dodge City south of Da Nang. As we were sweeping through knee high grass and bushy tree lines we came under fire from a tree line across a grassy field. Captain Troutwein shouted for the company to move forward to a dike in the middle of the field. That grassy field had 8 inches of water on either side of the dike and we proceeded to lay down in the water behind the dike. For several minutes 5 or 6 Viet Cong raked us with AK fire. Suddenly, Captain Trautwein stood up, calm as a cucumber. Now, you need to know about Captain Trautwein. He was an enlistedman in World War II and Korea. He has been promoted to officer ranks sometime between Korea and Vietnam. From my vantage point behind the ten inch dike laying in 8 inches of water, the Captain was silhouetted against the morning sun. He withdrew his .45 and yelled, “Sergeants, get you men on their feet and prepare to assault!” We all thought, “WHAT THE H___?” But, all the sergeants got up and started yelling and kicking Marines. “Get on you feet!” The Marines around me jumped to their feet and started hooping and hollering like crazy indians, so I followed suit. Then, just as calmly as when he stood up, Captain Trautwein bellowed, “Assault!” We lit up that treeline with everything we had, as fast as we could. When we got to the treeline we found only sandal prints and expended cartridges. Months later when recounting this story to some new arrivals, one of the Marines who was present that day explained what I had missed. As we swept we had pre-arranged artillery missions planned all around us. In particular, if we were hit, we would call in a barrage that rolled towards us upon the enemy. Captain Trautwein knew this, but more importantly so did the Viet Cong. They knew they only had 6 or 7 minutes to give us their best shot before artillery started raining down on them. So, when Captain Trautwein stood up the Viet Cong had already started running to our flanks away from the artillery. That assault was a military necessity and also a moral building stagecraft. Anyway, when we reached the treeline we were elated and high on adrenaline. Thank you, Captain Trautwein!
Filed in: Marine Corps Stories
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Comments

Rosella Trautwein - March 26, 2021
Andrew Gardner, it was H,J. Trautwein at Kaneohe in 1970/71. He was a firm believer that discipline and following orders saved lives, as shown by the blog at the top of the page, so was a ¨haircut nazi¨. The first words he said as we left the church at our wedding were ¨Chaplin, you need a haircut¨

As to the above blog, He was only 32 during that incident and didn´t serve in WW11 or Korea. He was enlisted in 1955 and after that enlistment he was in the MC reserves while finishing college. Then went to OCS in 1961.

Rosella Trautwein - July 16, 2020

Major Henry J. Trautwein, Jr. eventually received 2 Silver Stars, 2 Bronze Stars with a Combat V, and 3 Purple Hearts along with many other medals. I am sad to announce that he laid down his pack on April 11, 2020. Thank all of you who remember him with kind words. He was an amazing man in all aspects of his life and was a true Marine to the end. He will be greatly missed.

Raymond L. Plummer - May 22, 2020

I also served in Charlie 1/1 arriving just after Capt. Trautwein took command (Dec. 1968) As a young PFC I did not have very much direct contact with him at all. I did see him at a 1/1 reunion either 4 or 6 years ago. When we introduced ourselves to him, his wife proudly corrected us as to him being Major Trautwein.

Andrew H. Gardner - May 22, 2020

In our cruise book Capt. Trautwein was listed as J.R. Trautwein, but Billy Myers post shook the cobwebs out of the brainhousing group. Our CO was Henry J. Trautwein. Looking at his picture, he looks to be in his early to mid thirties. I guess that no BS look on his face could make him look older.

Billy Myers - May 22, 2020

Captain Henry J. Trautwein, Jr. earned the Silver Star on July 7, 1968 while serving with C/1/1. He was 32 years of age at the time. His hometown was Austin, Texas.

Bill Correia - May 22, 2020

In reply to Andrew H. Gardner.
No, this is Captain Henry Trautwein who was my CO of “P” Company, BITS, Camp Horno in early 1967. He was an huge influence on my life as a young Marine and, along with my CO of Lima Company 3/26, Captain Jesse Bennett, the most impressive Marine officers I met.

Gerald T. Pothier - May 22, 2020

The Captain Trautwein story has what is purported to be captain’s bars as a lead graphic to the story. Those are Army and Air Force captain bars, not USMC captain bars. Capt. G. T. Pothier USMC (Ret)

Andrew H. Gardner - May 22, 2020

I wonder if that is the same Captain Trautwein we had as CO of H&S at KMCAS 1st Bn 3rd Marines 1970-1971. He was Capt J.R. Trautwein when I was with Engr Plt. Damned fine officer. He had a sign in his office behind his desk you could read at eye level when you reported to him. It read “Hair is the crowning glory of a woman and the shame of a professional soldier”.

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