|
 In Hell With Dragonsby Richard ShafferCHAPTER THREEWE DRAW FIRST BLOOD |
|
|
CHAPTER 3 Lt. Thomas had a meeting with the CO (Commanding Officer)
and he was on his way back. "The old man says that we've got the patrol tonight.
Do you think you can get seven or eight men ready in the next couple
hours?" "Yes sir, that's all you want me to take out?" "Yea, I want you to keep it small and simple, so
you'll be able to move with a lot less noise." "Okay sir, I'll get them ready for a briefing in
about 10 minutes. Do you know what the password for tonight is yet?" "Brown-Derby," he said. "Jesus, where do they get such classics, out of the
Hollywood movies?" "Beats me where the hell they get them, I just write
the damn things down." "What time do they want us back in the
morning?" "I'll call you on the radio and let you know when to
come in. Look far the call just before daylight." "Check." "And one other thing, just be careful, and don't do
anything out of character." "Me out of character? Never. You can count on it
Lieutenant." I held a briefing with the members of the patrol on their
duties for the mission. It took awhile to round up the supplies and ammo that
we needed. The time flew and it was time to get ready. I let them take their
last puffs on their cigarettes. "We're going to move out of here in about ten
minutes. Check your gear and lock and load. Mantley, have you got the
long-range antenna for that PRC-25 of yours?" "No, I left it in my other pack." "Well go and get it, we might need it. Don't ever go
out with me again without it." "Sorry Sarge, I didn't think we were going that far
out." "You never know where they might send us after we
get out there. It's best that you have it at all times." "Yea, right, that's a pretty good idea." "Make sure both your canteens are full. I don't want
anybody complaining that they don't have any water. Okay, let's get out of
here and move out." "Okay, hold up a minute. Hold it, we got a problem
here. Green, get rid of that pack. You don't need it where we're going." Green had one of the members take off his pack and we
left it behind. I didn't feel that it was necessary to take any equipment out
on a patrol that's just going to make noise. The move out of base camp was
quiet and orderly. Everyone seemed anxious to get going and get back as soon
as possible. Gerard took the point out when we started. He knew what I wanted
him to do and where we were supposed to go. I trusted him. Our objective was
to secure an area outside our perimeter. We didn't want to let the enemy find
us, before we found them. The action of this patrol was routine at first. |
|
|
|
When we got into position, we sat up in an "L" type ambush. I placed each man into position and had the Claymore mines set up. Everything was fine until I started talking into the company radio. I was
calling in our situation report. At about half way into my talking to
headquarters, I heard this loud blast out in front of our position. At first
I thought that Charlie had crossed in front of our ambush. It was then I
realized that one of our Claymores had gone off by accident. "What the hell was that?" asked Mantley. "One of the damn Claymores went off by
accident." "Shit, how in the hell did that happen?" "Green pumped the electrical device on the Claymore
too many times. The charge went off when he plugged in the wires to the
electrical device," said Johnson. "Damn it, get him over here. I want to talk to
him." Green came over and I asked him if anybody was hurt. "No Sarge, nobody got hurt." "What the hell happened back there?" "Sorry Sarge, I guess I goofed." "Goofed, your ass. You just let Charlie know where
the hell we are. Why don't you just call him up on the phone and ask him to
dinner, for Christ's sake?" "I'm sorry, it won't happen again." "Mantley, get TOC on the horn, I want to talk to
them. We're going to have to change locations." "Right Sarge. I'll get right on it. Four-6 this is
four-5 alpha, over?" "This is four-6, over." "Ah, this is four-5 alpha, wait one, over. Here
Sarge, he's on the line." I told TOC (tactical operations center) that we had to
get the patrol out of this location because of the "accident." They
agreed with me. We packed up and got out of there as soon as we could. We
tried to move as quietly as we could, under the circumstances. We settled in
at our pre-selected alternate site. It only took us about 10 minutes to set
up. Other than being irritated because of the screw-up, I was relieved that
we got out of that last problem without incident. We didn't see or hear
anything the remainder of the patrol mission. We could count ourselves lucky. Just before daylight, as expected, Lt. Thomas in TOC
called us to terminate the patrol. We packed up and prepared to leave the
ambush site. All we had to do was get back without any trouble. Only our luck
wasn't holding out this morning. Thinking back on it I can't think of one
reason why it would, considering what went down last night. At about the point where we were feeling good about going
in, a sniper started firing on us. Our coming up to the clearing out of the
jungle afforded an opportunity for the VC to open up on us. We didn't know at
the time where or how many there were. Dirt and water from the rice paddies
were kicking up all around us. Where the hell is the firing coming from? We
kept our heads low enough that he couldn't get a bead on us. Finally, after a
couple minutes of his taking pot shots at us, we first picked his location
out of the woods to our left front. We located him by the puff of smoke from
his rifle. On the second go-around from his firing, Figaroah picked up his
head just enough to spot where he was. The VC was well camouflaged in the
wood-line. "I see him," said Fig. "He's just to the
right of that second tree on the right, about five feet in back of that
bush." I raised my head slowly and then rolled my body from the
prone position I was in to another spot and then looked up again. I was
hoping that he hadn't had time to get a bead on my head. He fired once again
while I had my head up. Then I spotted him. I lowered my head and turned to
Fig. "I estimate about 200 yards to target, Fig. What do
you think?" "Yea, that's what I'm setting my sight for, it looks
good to me." "Okay, Fig, put a couple of grenades from your M-79
into that bush. After you fire the first round, we'll open up at him from
here. Okay everyone, get set. Now!" I yelled. Fig opened up with the first round and then we all opened
up. It didn't take much to flush him out. Fig's grenade launcher had done the
trick. The rest of it was for good measure. "Cease fire, cease fire. That should do it." The enemy put out an early warning sentry and it looks
like he might have fallen asleep while on guard. When he woke up and saw us
walking along the rice paddy, he must have panicked and just began shooting.
Luckily, we escaped this incident, again without injury. We think it was
stupid of Charlie to give away his position like that, to open up on a
superior-numbered foe. Because of it we just obliged and put him back to
sleep. Fig and Gerard went out to see if that was all that we were up
against. He was alone. "Mantley, make a call in and tell them what
happened. Just that we made some minor contact and that we have one enemy
KIA. Also let them know that we're okay and that we're returning to base camp
immediately. "Check Sarge, you want them to send anyone out to
meet us?" "No, just tell them to get a lookout for us. I don't
want anybody getting trigger-happy when we get in there." Fig and Gerard cleared the area where Charlie opened up.
While they were on the way back to meet us, Johnson hollered out to them to
hurry back. "Figaroah, get your ass back over here. We're
getting the hell out of this shit hole," said Johnson. "Hold your horses will you? I'm getting
something." Fig bent over to pick up something. He came up with a
rifle with a small scope on it. "Hey, look at what Fig just found you guys. Looks
like he just picked up a souvenir for himself," said Johnson. "Come on you guys, I want to get the hell out of
here sometime today." "Go on Sarge, Gerard and I will bring up the
rear." |
|
|
|
"I want Gerard up front here on point. Come on,
let's go." "Damn Sarge, me again?" "Yea you again. I want somebody up there with his
eyes open. You're it, so get to it, we're burning daylight." "What about Green? He ain't never been on point yet." "Green, Gerard wants you on point, okay with
you?" "Sure Sarge, fine and dandy with me." "Good, get up there and give Gerard some company.
He's getting lonely and scared up there all by himself." All
I heard from Gerard was a mumbling sound. Sounded like "shit."
"Hey Sarge, we just going to leave him like
that?" asked Johnson. "Like what?" "Aren't you gonna bury 'em?" "You want to take the time to bury him? Then go
ahead Johnson, we'll meet you back at camp while you do it." "Hell, no. I ain't gonna bury 'em; let the flies
blow 'em until he rots. I don't care." "Somehow I thought you'd see it my way." About 100 meters out from camp I had Mantley call in our
position. I was relieved that this patrol was about over. It was quite a
night and day to say the least. Why no one got hurt out there is beyond me. I
guess we were just lucky this time. Next time maybe we won't be so lucky. My
main concern is for the care and safety of my platoon. They are a good,
well-trained bunch of men. If they listen and do the right thing at the right
time, then we might survive this war. We've still got a lot to learn and a
whole year over here to make sure we get it right. As we came in toward the base camp, I saw Lt. Thomas
waiting at one of the machine guns from 3rd platoon's sector. He motioned for
me to join him as I walked in. "I was a little worried about you a few minutes ago.
I was just about to send a relief squad out when I heard all that firing." "No sweat lieutenant. Thanks for the concern though.
Everything is okay. Nobody got hurt." "Your men did a hell of a job. I'm proud of
them." "Thanks sir, I'll let them know what you said." "You got a confirmed KIA enemy, is that right?" "Yes sir. Figaroah caught him in the woods with his
M-79. Blew him all to hell." "Just one is all you saw?" he asked. "Yes sir, just one that we saw. We looked for more,
no luck." "Okay Sarge, take a break. We'll probably be moving
out of here in a couple of hours. Let your men know we're pulling out back to
base camp." "Yes sir, they'll be glad to hear that. Thanks for
the good news. Talk to you later, sir." "Right, see you in a couple of hours." Our mission here at the village was terminated. We headed
back to Cu Chi that afternoon. We cleaned up and took a rest. It was going on
toward the end of March and word was out that a big operation was coming up.
We were headed up north to a place called "Nui Ba Den," which means
Black Virgin Mountain. It was supposed to be up close to the Cambodian
border. |
GO TO FRONT COVER
Click |
GO TO CHAPTER TWO
Click Medal |
BACK TO CHAPTER THREE
Click |
GO TO CHAPTER FOUR
Click |
