April 29, 1965

April 28, 1965 Cont.

The four of us walked along the narrow road in complete silence as the rain continued to patter down around us. I glanced down at my watch; it was just after four. All hope of getting even a few hours of sleep was shot now. After what had just transpired we were going to have to keep moving. Sitting still was going to get us killed.

I glanced over my shoulder at the three men that were following behind me. Nathan was at my heels; silent and watchful, but always there. Henderson and Mag were following about ten feet behind him. Magnet looked all right but Henderson had his helmet pushed forward so that it came down over his eyebrows and obscured his face. He was hugging his rifle against his chest. I sighed softly, and stopped moving.

The guys reached me one by one and stopped.

“Henderson…” I said, breaking the long silence.

He didn’t answer.

“Henderson.” I said sounding slightly agitated.

He let out a long breath, “Yes, Sergeant?”

“Please adjust your helmet.”

He adjusted it.

“Thank you, but I would appreciate it if you would carry your weapon correctly as well.”

He moved his M 14 into the ready position.

“Thank you.” I said curtly, as I began walking again, “And stop dragging ass.”

“Sorry Sergeant.” He muttered.

I rolled my eyes, “Fucking Cherries…”

“I like cherries, but it kinda hurts when you bite down on the pits though.” Magnet said.

I exhaled sharply, “God, I hate fucking cherries.”

“Okay, okay, we get it… you don’t like fruit.” Magnet mumbled.

I stopped and turned around and just glared at him. Magnet stopped as well, giving me an overly sheepish look, the kind of look that said that he honestly didn’t know what was going on.

Nate put a hand down on Magnet’s shoulder, “Man, you must not have been in country real long.”

“Only about a week before I got sent to y’all.” Mag answered.

“Figures.” Nate said, “Cherries aren’t fruit man…. They’re FNGs.”

A puzzled look crossed Mag’s face again.

“Fucking new guys, man…” Henderson said, “Even I knew that.”

Without any warning, of us were knocked to the ground by a massive explosion. It couldn’t have gone off more then hundred feet behind us. Nathan and I were on our feet in seconds, but Magnet and Henderson were still reeling in the dirt. I reached down and pulled Mag to his feet.

I dusted him off, “Are you okay?!”

He didn’t say anything.

I shook him, “Magnet! Are you all right?!”

He nodded feeling himself to make sure it was the truth.

I grabbed his collar and pushed him, “Get in the brush. Right now!”

Mag stumbled in, followed by Nathan, Henderson, and I; gun fire erupting at our heels. Henderson collapsed in the mud shaking.

“What… What… the fuck was that?” he stammered.

“That.” I pointed out at the road, “That was a grenade. Nate, I need you to check it out for me. How many, from what direction. Shit like that.”

He got to his feet and was gone.

I turned to Magnet, “Give me the radio.”

“Sergeant…”

“Magnet, give me the radio now.”

He pulled off his pack and pushed it toward me just as Nathan knelt down beside me again.

“There’s at least ten, man… Maybe as many as fifteen. They’re NVA, pretty heavily armed too. They’re heading our way.” He whispered.

I nodded as I pulled the radio out of the bag. I keyed the mike, “Bravo Charlie one five niner, this is this is Echo. Over.”

There was a long moment of silence, and then the radio screeched and came to life again.

“Go ahead third, we read you loud and clear. What is the situation out there? This mission was supposed to be a covert op.”

I took in a long breath, trying to gain my composure, “Yes, sir, I know that, but we ran into more than a little enemy resistance out here. We got at least two, if not three squads of NVA soldiers moving up on us fast. Slightly more than I think four men can handle, sir.”

There was a long enough pause to make me think I had lost them before the radio spewed out the words I least wanted to here at the moment. “You’re Marines, not the God damn Army, or even those pussies in the Navy. Get off the damn radio and take care of it Marine.”

I slammed the radio handset down, “That mother fucker!”

“What are we gonna do now?” Mag asked softly.

Nathan shook his head, “I don’t know man, I guess just stand up and fight.”

“But we’ll die.” Magnet replied fighting back tears.

“Marines die… They taught you that in basic didn’t they? That’s what we were sent here to do. We were sent here to fight for our country and die.” Nate said, as casually as he could.

“But I don’t want to die!” Magnet said, choking on the words.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have joined the Marine Corps then.” Henderson countered.

“I didn’t!” Magnet snapped, “I was drafted!”

“All of you shut the fuck up!” I snapped, interrupting their squabbling, “Those NVA soldiers are gonna be on top of us in a few short minutes. Faster if y’all keep yelling at each other like that. Now, Nathan, give me the map. I have a plan.”

“He has a plan…” Nathan mumbled handing me the map, “we’re gonna die.”

I looked the map over for a couple of seconds, and then opened the bag that the main unit for the radio was housed in. I turned the knob so that it would broadcast on all US Military bands, and picked up the handset again.

“This is United States Marine Corps Sgt. Richard Fischer First Regiment, Second Infantry, Third Platoon, Echo Company. We are currently pinned down, and in desperate need of assistance. Can anybody hear me? Over.”

Another long pause and then, “Go ahead Sergeant. This is Lt. Owens US Army Air Cav. What’s your position?”

“Forget about my current position. Is there any way you could send a bird to pick us up? I gotta LZ for you about half a klick from here.”

“Sure thing Sergeant. Just give us the co ordinates.”

I let out a long sigh of relief then tossed Nathan the handset, “Well, give the man our co ordinates. Let’s go.”

Within one minute we were sprinting through the jungle as fast as we could in the mud and brush, heading father south. The NVA soldiers were closing in on us fast. It occurred to me that the one I had smashed in the face must have gotten away and radioed for re-enforcements, a mistake that might very well cost us our lives.

We burst out of the thick jungle and into a small clearing.

I dropped my pack and collapsed into the mud, “Oh, thank god.”

Nathan stood over me holding out his hand.

“Fischer, you might have saved us yet.” He said pulling me to my feet.

Henderson held up his hands, “Guys, shut up!”

For a few seconds everyone fell silent.

“What the hell is that sound?” Mag asked.

I shook my head, “All I hear is the rain, man.”

“No, no, no… There is something.” Nathan said, “I think it’s a chopper.”

I closed my eyes and listened as closely as I could, trying to hear through the rain. Sure enough, off in the distance was the steady thump thump thump of a helicopter. I dropped to my knees and started pawing through my pack. I pulled out a flare and a smoke grenade.

I threw the flare to Nathan, “Light this.”

I pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it as far to the end of the clearing as I could. As soon as it hit the ground red smoke began pouring from it, seconds later it was followed by the bright white of the flare.

Magnet’s mouth gaped, “What the fuck was that for?! Now gooks can see exactly where we are.”

The incoming chopper crested the top of the nearby valley. Their thump thump thump had changed to a steady whir. They were no more then a minute out now.

I squeezed Mag’s shoulders tightly, “Get your gear and go stand next to the flare… Try and stay calm, okay.”

He snatched up his pack and started for the flare.

“Henderson, go with him.” I said, pointing toward the flare.

Henderson too took off, trotting across the open field behind Magnet.

Nathan dropped down to one knee and started putting away his spotter gear, “And what exactly are we gonna do?”

I chambered a round in my rifle, “We’re going to lay down small arms fire in case the NVA shows up sooner then we expected.”

Nate nodded as I dropped down beside him. Off in the distance the crackle of gunfire went up. I squeezed my rifle a little more tightly, and eyed my sight. I half expected the NVA troops to burst through the tree line at that moment, but instead a giant US Air Cav. Huey helicopter skimmed over the tree tops into the small clearing. It hovered there guns blaring for roughly a minute before the guns fell silent and the Huey dropped to a few inches above the jungle floor.

I let out a long sigh of relief and climbed to my feet bringing Nathan with me. I motioned for Magnet and Henderson to fall in to me.

“Come on, boys, we don’t have all morning.” I yelled.

We climbed onto the Huey, and by the time we dropped our packs we were skimming over the tops of the trees again.

A young Army soldier manning the gunner position turned to us, “Man, I sure hope that one of you guys is Sgt. Fischer… Other wise we’re in a whole heap of trouble.”

I smiled awkwardly, “I’m Fischer.”

The young soldier nodded vigorously, “Good to have you on board, Sergeant.”

Magnet sat across from me. He looked scared, and I didn’t really blame him. Henderson didn’t look much better. Nathan was the only one that looked all right. But then again he should have been used to this by now.

I motioned to Mag., “Trade me seats.”

He nodded vaguely and got up, “Yes, Sergeant.”

I sat down on the floor just behind the pilot’s seat and leaned as far forward as I could, so that I could talk to the co-pilot.

“Corporal.” I said, “I need you to tell the pilot to drop us at the next available LZ that isn’t running hot.”

He nodded, “Yes, Sir.”

I turned back to face my men, expecting that maybe I might be able to close my eyes for a few minutes and pretend that I was sleeping. That didn’t happen. I was met by the frightened faces of two young Marines that were already tired of fighting in the jungle. They had had their taste of it, and didn’t like it. Their faces said that they were ready to go home.

“An LZ, Spades? I thought you called to chopper to take us back to the base.” Magnet said.

“We have a job to do, Private.” I answered.

“But…”

“But what, Marine? You’re part of a Scout Sniper squad now. We can’t just leave.” I snapped.

Magnet and Henderson both recoiled at my sudden burst of anger.

Nathan leaned forward and put a hand on my shoulder, “Just relax, man.”

I instinctively rubbed the bridge of my nose, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Nate.”

The co-pilot squeezed my shoulder, “Sergeant, we got an LZ for you. It’s about a minute out. Better get ready.”

I picked up my rifle and made sure I still had a round chambered, “Let’s lock and load boys.”

They reached for their rifles hesitantly.

I got up and moved to the open door of the slick. Nathan got up and sat down beside me, resting his feet on the running blade. The jungle skimmed along silently only a few feet below us. What was left of the rainstorm misted in through the door and clung to our uniforms. Everyone was silent for the last minute of the ride. The only sound was the thump thump thump of the rotor blades.

Finally, the steady forward motion of the Huey lurched to a hover and sunk into the dense jungle.

The co-pilot turned and yelled into the back of the chopper again, “This is as far as we can take you, Sergeant… Should be pretty clean, but as close to Elephant Valley as we are, I can’t make you any promises.”

I nodded to myself, “Thanks for the lift, Corporal. Give your pilot our thanks.”

I jumped out of the chopper and onto the moist jungle floor. The ground was just wet enough that our boots were almost soundless as we started the slow lope toward the woods. Nathan was at my side, silently looking over one of the laminated maps of the jungle floor.

“We’re close, man… Real close.” He whispered.

I nodded silently.

He looked over his shoulder at the two young men following us, “Orders were to leave them behind, Fish… You think we should call the slick back?”

I shook my head.

“Are you sure?”

I glared at him, “Did we not have this same discussion with those two, three or four hours ago?!”

He looked slightly puzzled.

I put a hand on his shoulder, “Silence, McNeal, silence.”

Henderson appeared behind us, “Yeah, you’re not being very stealthy, McNeal.”

“Fuck off, man.” He snapped.

“You know what?! Fuck it! I don’t care how fucking loud or clumsy y’all are… If y’all get shot to pieces, it’s not my fault… I tried, goddamn it!” I yelled at the very top of my lungs.

They all stopped and looked at me aghast.

“Oh, don’t even look at me that way.” I said, my voice falling to a whisper.

Nate let out a very long sigh, “We’re lucky that this LZ wasn’t hot… And we’ll be even luckier if Charlie isn’t crawling all over us in the next five minutes or so.”

I flashed him a sarcastic look, “I told y’all not to yell, but no one ever listens to me.”

Nathan clasped his hand over my mouth tight and pointed with the other one before I had the chance to continue ranting.

“Dude, Air Cav. dropped us at the crest of the hill that sits directly in front of the compound that we were supposed to infiltrate.”

Nathan slowly let go of me, I opened my mouth to say something, but Nathan hand clamped his hand over my mouth again before I could speak.

“And if you say, what’s the worse that could happen, I will shoot you myself.” He continued, before letting go again.

I turned around and looked at the tree line, “Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me?!”

Nathan shook his head.

I pushed my helmet up on my head, “Well, y’all, let’s go.”

Nathan shouldered his rifle and fell in to my position. Hesitantly, Magnet and Henderson followed.

“What do you want us to do?” Magnet asked.

“Okay, we’re going to move into the tree line. When we get close enough, I want you and Henderson to take cover and stand down. McNeal and I are going to move up about fifty yards ahead of you. Don’t fire unless I signal for you to.”

They both nodded.

“Okay, let’s move.” I whispered.

The four of us fanned out into our positions, Nathan and I walking point. We reached the tree line faster than I would have liked. It meant that we weren’t moving as silently as we could. As we reached the trees it became painfully obvious that we were closer than I or Nate had originally thought. From our current position the compound only lay about a hundred yards down the slope.

I let out a long breath as silently as I could muster, and signaled for Henderson and Magnet to stand down. Both men dropped down behind separate trees, and leaned around, ready to fire at notice. I turned to Nate and signaled for us to move up. I began my slow creep toward the tree line, followed closely by Nathan. When we reached the tree line, minutes later, we dropped down to our stomachs and began setting up our equipment.

I finished with my rifle, and turned to Nathan who was already peering through his high-powered binoculars. I nudged him and he glanced sideways at me. I pointed to my eyes and then down at the compound. He shook his head, and I gave him a puzzled look.

He put his binoculars down and whispered; “I don’t see anything down there, man. If anybody was ever here, they’re not here now.”

I shouldered my rifle and peered through the scope; scanning every visible inch of the compound. There was no visible evidence, at least not from here, that anyone had been there in the last twenty-four hours.

I sighed loudly standing up and bringing my rifle with me. Nathan reached up and grabbed my hand and pulled back on me.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“We’re moving up.”

“Alex, it’s like 4:30 in the morning. If anyone is still here, they are probably still in bed. I think that we should stay here and just watch for anyone until tomorrow night.”

“There is no one down there, Nathan. We don’t have time to wait. There is a whole squad missing, our brothers in arms. There might be evidence down there suggesting where they might be. Hell, they could even be down there somewhere.”

He sighed heavily and stood up, bringing his pack and binoculars with him. I turned back up toward the top of the hill and whistled loudly. Magnet and Henderson poked their heads out from around the trees behind which they hid. I signaled for them to move up. In seconds they were at my side, leaving me greatly impressed with the stealth in which they moved.

“We’re going in… Be prepared for anything.” I whispered.

They nodded. The four of us formed up and fanned out into position, I took point. I glanced over my shoulder at my small squad, and then motioned for them to move out.

We slowly moved out of the tree line, being as silent as we could. The surrounding buildings and other landscape were completely silent except for the off handed croaking of tree frogs. I squeezed the stock of my rifle a little tighter as we approached the rear of the first building. This was the moment of truth.

I held up my right hand and the three other men halted. I pointed to Nathan and Henderson and at the next closest building to us. Neither men questioned, they just fell out of formation and trotted off silently across the courtyard, occasionally crouching or zigzagging for cover. I turned to Magnet and motioned with my rifle barrel to the building in front of us. He nodded and fell on to my left flank.

The two of us slowly approached the rear exit, each of us taking up a position on either side of the door. I put my back flat against the outside wall and gingerly tried the doorknob, which was unlocked, not to my surprise. Mag immediately started to open the door the rest of the way. I reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and pulled him to my side. He glared sharply, but it soon faded into the look that most young marines coming into Vietnam had, one of lost ignorance.

I motioned toward a small window a few feet away. The two of us crouched down and moved to it. I made a quick peak into the room to make sure there weren’t any uninvited guests. I didn’t see any movement, so I stood up just enough to see into the room without revealing anything more than my boonie hat and my eyes. No one appeared to be in the room, which appeared to be a large meeting area or a small chow hall. I stood up and tried the window. It slid open a couple of inches but wouldn’t open any further. Magnet released a disgusted sigh, but before he could get any words out, I took his rifle out of his hands and jammed the muzzle into the crack in the window. After a few tedious seconds I had managed to pry the window open. I shoved the rifle back into Magnet’s chest and climbed through the now open window before he could say anything.

I had just replaced my pack and shouldered my rifle as Magnet clumsily climbed through the small opening. Grace was not one of his finer attributes. He dusted himself off and fell on to my left flank again. I raised my left hand so that he knew to stand down again. I moved toward the small doorway a few feet away along the wall. I quickly glanced around the corner. The next room was clear too. I glanced back at Magnet and then walked in.

“Magnet.” I said, breaking nearly ten minutes of complete silence.

He appeared in to doorway between the two rooms.

I pointed to the door leading outside. Down at the bottom a trip wire had been rigged so that when the door was opened it would set off a claymore.

“That’s why we had to crawl in through the window.”

He nodded vaguely.

“Clark, over here you have to be smart. The Viet Cong are ruthless; they will stop at nothing to kill soldiers. You have to learn to think like them. That’s how you stay alive over here… Just remember, don’t ever use an unlocked door in Vietnam. It’s probably been rigged to some kind of boobie trap.”

He nodded again but was still staring blankly at the trip wire fixed to the claymore.

“That could have killed me… I could have died just now, and my parents would have had two sons that were lost to this war.” He mumbled.

I clasp his shoulder, “What did I tell you about this place before, marine? It don’t mean a thing… It don’t mean a fucking thing… You’re still alive... So deal with it.”

I turned on my heel and walked away.

“You’re not going to disarm it?” Mag whispered, following me.

“Do I look like a bomb specialist to you?” I said climbing through the open window.

He shook his head.

“I didn’t think so.”

I had just turned to help Magnet through the small window when an ear piercing shriek sizzled through the air around us.

“Oh, what the fuck now?” I groaned pulling Magnet and myself into the dirt as I shouldered my rifle. I could hear Mag’s breathing starting to become more and more rapid as we sat there. “Chill out, man… I’m gonna take care of it.”

I slowly rose to my feet and Mag followed suit. I motioned for him to follow me, and we started to move toward the building that I had sent Nate and Henderson to check out.

I glanced around the corner of the building we had just come from and across the small courtyard. I didn’t see any thing so I trotted across the way to the building in question. I stole a quick peak over the nearest windowsill and after determining that the room was empty I slid it open. I slipped in effortlessly, but was followed by the woefully obvious entry of Mag. When I was sure that he was at my side again we moved forward.

The next room was not secured with a door of any kind; it was simply open to what appeared to be an office. On the other side still yet was a large open room that I couldn’t quite tell the origins of. As we entered the small office Nate and Henderson met us coming from the larger room. Henderson was a peculiar shade of green and was hanging limply from Nate shoulder. I glanced questioningly at McNeal.

“What the hell is going on? I thought we were all on the same page with the whole stealth sniper thing here.” I asked angrily.

Nathan nodded waving me off with his free hand, “I know, Fish, I know… We have a bit of a situation though.”

My heart skipped a beat, “What kind of a situation?”

Nathan dropped Henderson, “Stay here with Henderson and make sure that no Charlies get in the back way, okay?”

Henderson nodded distantly as he wiped at his mouth.

I looked questioningly at my spotter, “Did he puke?”

Nate shrugged pulling me into the large open room, “the entire fuck over him self, and I don’t blame the poor bastard. If I was so desensitized to this fucking shit I might have joined him.”

I started to say something witty and sarcastic to Nathan but my attention was captured by a rather large pool of blood coagulating on the stone floor a few yards from us. My eyes followed the dripping blood upward to its source. My stomach turned over on itself, and even after everything I too had seen over here, I thought I was going to loose it.

The large room that was connected to the office turned out to be what the NVA had been using as a motorcade. Apparently it wasn’t the only thing they had used it for. Swinging neatly above the large pool of blood spreading across the stone floor were four bodies. They had been strung up by their shoulders and filleted. The NVA was infamous for finding new and even crueler ways to torture soldiers they captured. These poor Marines had their innards ripped out while they were still alive and left to hang there as they slowly died.

My head sagged, “Get Mag and radio command… We found our missing squad.”