#317 Johnnie Clark - Surviving One of the Deadliest Jobs During the Vietnam War

June 29, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Johnnie Clark: Surviving the Deadliest Job in Vietnam

The machine gunner's life expectancy in a firefight was seven to ten seconds. That wasn't a rumor or a scare tactic. Johnnie Clark heard it from a scarred veteran named Big Red his first night in-country, and he learned it was true: the M60's tracer rounds painted a laser-bright line straight back to whoever was pulling the trigger. Every enemy soldier knew to knock out the machine gun first. Clark arrived in Vietnam at eighteen years old, assigned to the Fifth Marine Regiment as an 0331 machine gunner, and he spent the next thirteen months proving that seven-to-ten-second rule was not the final word.

The Machine Gunner's Reality

The M60 was both a weapon and a communication device. Every fifth round was a tracer, burning red as it left the barrel. This let the gunner show infantry where to fire and mark targets for close air support—Clark once called in napalm two hundred yards from his own perimeter by tracing a path for the Phantoms. But the tracers also made the gunner visible to every NVA soldier in the jungle. Unlike the M16s and AK-47s that flashed like lightning bugs in a night firefight, the machine gun was a steady red beam pointing back to its source.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:00) **Introduction and Welcome** - Shawn Ryan welcomes Johnnie Clark and gives his military bio
2 (04:31) **Patreon Question on Writing Memoir** - Clark explains anger-driven motivation for *Guns Up* after hostile homecoming
3 (15:02) **Childhood and Upbringing** - Clark recounts poverty, father's crippling accident, and loss at age ten
4 (27:19) **Enlistment and Boot Camp** - Clark joins at seventeen despite medical pushback and describes Paris Island horrors
5 (34:53) **Machine Gun School and Recon Decision** - Clark and Chan assigned 0331 MOS; dramatic sergeant speech keeps them in machine guns
6 (41:39) **Arrival in Vietnam** - Clark lands during Tet offensive period and begins patrols after Hue City
7 (54:10) **Troy Bridge and Big Red** - Clark describes overrun bridge battle and Big Red's heroic stand

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Johnnie Clark is an American author and Vietnam Veteran, best known for his 1984 Vietnam War memoir Guns Up!. Many of his works fall into the genre of non-fiction military and contain a tough, no nonsense portrayal of combat, courage, and camaraderie.

Mr. Clark joined the Marine Corps at 17 years of age after graduating from St. Petersburg High School. He served as a machine gunner with the famed 5th Marine Regiment during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. He was wounded 3 times, mortar round, grenade, and gunshot. During his rehabilitation from gunshot wounds in Okinawa, Mr. Clark began training in Martial Arts as part of his rehab program. In 2015 Mr. Clark returned from Korea after testing for his 8th Dan in Tae Kwon Do. He was also promoted to 9th Dan in the Ji Do Kwan. Grandmaster Clark owns and operates Johnnie Clark Tae Kwon Do and Judo school in St. Petersburg and has been inducted into the U.S.A. Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

Mr. Clark’s books, Guns Up! and Semper Fidelis, are recommended reading by Lt. Col. Madonna, former MCG, to all newly commissioned officers at The Basic School. His books have been required reading in many colleges and high schools around the country as well as the Commandant’s List of suggested reading for all Marines. Many commanders have distributed Mr. Clark’s books to our troops now fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is the recipient of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association Brigadier General Robert L. Denig Memorial Distinguished Service Award for writing.

Mr. Clark has been awarded America’s 3rd highest medal for bravery and gallantry in combat, The Silver Star, 3 Purple Hearts, Vietnam’s highest Medal of Honor, The Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, The Civil Action Combat Medal, The Marine Combat Ribbon among other decorations.

Mr. Clark currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida with his wife, Nancy, and dog, Gunner.

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Johnnie Clark Links:

FB - https://www.facebook.com/authorjohnnieclark

IG - https://www.instagram.com/johnniemclar