Speaker
Johnnie Clark
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Machine gunners in Vietnam had a 7-to-10-second life expectancy once a firefight began because tracer rounds made them the most visible and primary target on the battlefield.
When Clark arrived in Vietnam, every machine gunner in the 5th Marine Regiment had already been killed or wounded, forcing mortarmen and others to pick up the M60.
Guns Up! has been continuously in print for 42 years after being rejected by every publisher in America for four years before Random House bought it.
Clark's memoir Guns Up! was rejected by every publisher from New York to California for more than four years before being accepted within one month of Clark removing all profanity.
After Clark removed the profanity and honored God by rewriting the book, nine publishers wanted it within one month — including Random House, the world's largest publisher.
During a 3-man killer team ambush, over 200 NVA soldiers walked so close that Clark could smell garlic and see their Ho Chi Minh sandals — and none of the Marines dared fire or move.
Clark's Silver Star was awarded approximately 30 years after the action because a 122mm Chinese rocket destroyed all records at An Hoa combat base, including the original write-up.
The morning after Clark finished removing all profanity from Guns Up! as an act of faith, Soldier of Fortune magazine called about a story he had submitted four years earlier — setting off a chain of events that led to Random House.
After a supernatural experience on Greybeard Mountain, Clark received Psalm 121 in a missionary pamphlet, in his own previously written book, and in a song at church — all within days.
Marine named Sonny was shot multiple times in the Dodge City graveyard battle, dragged in front of an NVA machine gun, nearly drowned in monsoon floodwater, and survived — later becoming a Virginia state senator.
Guns Up! was published in Lithuania and a Lithuanian soldier emailed Clark saying his entire unit had read it, calling it 'the greatest war book that God ever wrote.'
The original GI Joe doll was created by Hasbro in honor of Marine Mitchell Page for his actions on Guadalcanal, which Clark discovered while researching Gunner's Glory.
Clark's family survived on $70 a month after his father was blinded and crippled in a car accident, living first in a log cabin then a one-car garage.
Returning Vietnam veterans were pelted with tomatoes and eggs by protesters at El Toro air base. Within hours of landing on American soil, Clark was denied entry to a bar because of his uniform — and was arrested at a bus station after decking a protester who spit on his shoes. Two Marine MPs recognized the 5th Marines pogie rope on his uniform, uncuffed him, and put him on a bus. That was his homecoming.
Tracer rounds — one in every five bullets fired from an M60 — created a visible laser beam pointing straight back to the gunner. Every enemy army was trained to knock out the machine gun first, meaning you had roughly 7 to 10 seconds of sustained fire before you were dead. Clark arrived to learn every gunner in the 5th Marines had already been killed or wounded.
Big Red fired relentlessly as 400+ NVA stormed Troy Bridge, keeping machine gun positions alive while the bridge was blown up beneath him. He was killed May 20, 1968. He received nothing. Thirty years later, readers of Guns Up! triggered a congressional inquiry that resulted in a posthumous Bronze Star — a medal Clark says wasn't nearly enough.
In the Dodge City graveyard battle, Clark ran into open ground during a battalion-strength NVA attack to knock out two enemy machine gun positions. His boots were shot off his feet. His A-gunner dragged him to cover. A kid named Sonny — shot multiple times and believed dead — was dragged in front of an NVA gun and nearly drowned in monsoon floodwater, yet survived. Clark's Silver Star for the action was never recorded because a 122mm rocket destroyed all military records.
Chan was smuggled out of Communist China as an infant by his doctor father. He had a college degree and a minor in ministry and could have been commissioned as an officer. Instead, he chose to enlist as a machine gunner to pay America back for giving his family refuge. Seventeen arm surgeries ended his surgical career — but he became the world's leading cardiovascular perfusion expert.
Guns Up! was rejected by every publisher in America for over four years. Clark stripped all profanity as an act of faith. The morning after finishing the rewrite, Soldier of Fortune called about a story he'd submitted four years earlier — which had just 'turned up in the slush pile.' Then Eagle, then American Legion. Within one month, nine publishers wanted the book. Random House — the biggest in the world — bought it, then asked him to put the profanity back in. He refused. The book has been in print for 42 years.
Clark typically carried 400 rounds of M60 ammunition on top of the gun itself. His team was supposed to be five men — but often it was just him. He never had a spare barrel, so when the gun went white-hot he'd pee on it or pour a canteen to cool it down. His .45 was so neglected it rusted shut the one time he needed it. He carried a K-Bar and a Bible wrapped in plastic.
Fifty years after his last trigger pull in Vietnam, young Marine machine gunners flew Clark to Pennsylvania to shoot an M60. They told the 76-year-old he'd need the bipod and a scope to hit the Tannerite target 150 yards away. He fired a 20-round burst from the hip. The washing machine exploded. Every young Marine who tried afterward — with bipod and scope — missed.
Shawn Ryan describes hitting rock bottom spiritually during the Afghanistan withdrawal chaos, breaking down crying on a flight to Sedona while feeling the world was darkness. A Vietnam veteran Air Force guard — a total stranger — read his mind and told him every burden he was carrying wasn't his battle. Then, the daughter of his recently deceased best friend texted him out of nowhere with a message her father had told her to send. Ryan says it felt like a battle for his soul.
A Marine called Cowboy was so terrified he would shake audibly and urinate on himself during ambushes, making him a danger to everyone around him. The lieutenant gave him an official out. He refused to leave. Clark's gun team took him in, taught him Bible verses, and tried to steady his nerves. Then, in the Dodge City graveyard battle, a corpsman and Chan found no significant wound on Cowboy's body — he had died of fright-induced heart failure.
At a turning point in the Battle of Guadalcanal, every Marine machine gunner was dead or wounded. Marine Mitchell Page raced a Japanese soldier to the last operational gun. The enemy dropped to the ground and fired 30 rounds at point-blank range — and Page couldn't move. He felt total peace and complete paralysis. Not one round hit him. The moment his enemy's clip was empty, Page was released, chambered a round, and killed the soldier. He later told Clark this story on his deathbed.
Clark hiked Greybeard Mountain in 2004 seeking relief from severe PTSD. Mid-descent, he was frozen mid-step — unable to move forward, backward, or sideways — feeling complete peace but total paralysis, just like Mitchell Page on Guadalcanal. An audible voice told him to walk further up. At the top, embedded in a boulder he'd never seen, was a plaque quoting Psalm 121 — the same verse he later found in his own book, in an unexpected missionary pamphlet, and sung at his church the following Sunday.
On a 3-man killer team ambush, Clark's squad expected a small enemy patrol. Instead, over 200 NVA soldiers marched within inches of their position. One Marine had already pulled the pin on a frag grenade thinking they'd have to fight out. When the column finally passed, he let go of the spoon in relief — setting off a grenade right beside them. Nobody got hurt. Everybody wet themselves.
After 17 straight days of combat contact, Clark was dozing on ambush when he heard the Young Rascals playing 'In the Midnight Hour' — and thought he was dreaming about home. Then an NVA soldier, already shot by a teammate, tumbled on top of him. The enemy was carrying a boombox tuned to Armed Forces Radio Network, which played that song every night at midnight. Clark reached his K-Bar. Decades later, he told the story to Felix Cavaliere of the Young Rascals at a party.
Clark's A-gunner Chan later returned to Parris Island and reported that the obstacle course the Marines once had to complete is now for display only — allegedly because female Marines couldn't complete it. Clark shares this with some skepticism but notes it lines up with a broader cultural shift in military standards he's observed since his era.
Analysis
What they talk about
- History 46%
- Religion & Spirituality 27%
- Arts 18%
- Health & Fitness 9%
Connections
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