Mission 11

I was in the third day of a 5 day leave, and had just tumbled into my cot drunk as hell with all the rice wine we had been drinking at Chung's village. I dozed off into a drunken haze about dawn and was asleep when someone started knocking or should I say pounding on my hooch door. I pulled the pillow over my head and tried to doze back off but whoever it was must have started up again with a metal object, and it sounded like they were trying to break in. I pulled the 45 from under my pillow and fired through the roof above the door. The pounding stopped and I head someone yell. I smiled to myself before I passed completely out this time. For a change I was sleeping in an alcohol induced haze and I wasn't dreaming nor seeing past battles in my sleep. I was rudely awakened by someone throwing a bucket full of cold water in my face. I sat up sputtering, holding my head to keep it from exploding and cussing up a storm. When I was finally able to see clearly Gunny was standing above me with a bucket in his hands and a big smile on his face. I went immediately for my 45 under my pillow and it wasn't there. When I looked back at him he was holding it in his hand shaking it in the air and laughing up a storm. I then reached under my cot and pulled my extra out, and the grin went away as he did before I could get it lined up on him. From outside the door and to the side I heard him yelling at me which didn't make my headache any better.

"Goddammit Sarge, will you put that thing away. Your in enough trouble for shooting at the MP's who were here earlier. When in the hell did you start being so sneaky and keeping a hideout?"

"Since your sorry ass stole my last one, and thought it was funny, and what MP's are you talking about and what the hell time is it?"

"Its 1430 hours and you better get yourself together. The CO at HQ wants you in his office ASAP."

"Piss on you and him. I am still on leave and I plan on getting drunk and laid again tonight. Now bring my gun back before I start shooting at the sound of your voice you sneaky bastard."

He came around the corner, and filled the doorway as he came in with that shit eating grin on his face. He sat down on Jenkins bunk handing me my pistol still grinning like a Cheshire cat that swallowed the canary. My cot and bed and blanket was still dripping as I was and I was madder than hell.

"What, did you forget your manners Gunny. You could have tried just shaking me; you didn't have to pour a fifty gallon drum of water on me. That shit was cold, what did you do fill it with ice first. Damn my head hurts."

"Sarge, I been trying to get you up for the last half hour. You must have been drunk to the world the way you were snoring. Get your shower while I get this mess cleaned up then we will talk. Oh and come back here before you get coffee we need to talk."

I grabbed my stuff and headed to the showers. Gunny and Jenkins were the only ones who had keys to my hooch so for him to use them to wake me I knew it had to be important, but I was on leave and signed out so I shouldn't have been bothered for any reason. These were the General's standing orders for all special teams. When I got back to the hooch it looked like a maid had been and gone. My bunk was made and all the water had been cleaned up. I felt under my pillow and my 45 was there and I checked to make sure there was one up the spout. Gunny was watching me the whole time with that damned irritating grin on his face.

"Ok you smiling idiot, I need coffee so shall we walk and talk?"

"No not yet Sarge, we need to talk before the MP's come back looking for you again. I told them I would find you and send you to HQ as soon as I did."

"Gunny, you know the General's standing orders as well as I do. I am signed out on leave so they don't have the right to be bothering me. Maybe I ought to give him a call and find out when he dropped that directive."

"Sarge, the Generals stateside and wont be back for a week or two. Right now HQ can do pretty much what they want without any repercussions from anyone in Special Ops. Now will you settle a minute and listen to me?"

"Ok Gunny but if I don't like it I will go back to the village till my leave is up. I would love to see the MP's try to remove me from there."

"They know better than that Sarge and you know it. You were seen coming in the gate this morning, so they figured to snatch you while you were sleeping. They just don't know you like I do. Sarge I have the skinny on why they want you, and I think you need to hear this before they send you out."

"Well Gunny they won't send me anywhere I don't want to go. They can lock me in the brig first, but I don't think they are stupid enough to incur the General's wrath by doing that."

"No but they can lose you in the system for weeks, and your not gonna like that at all. You have too many enemies over there so you know as well as I do what will happen if they do that. And before you ask, the Captain is in Hue for an emergency meeting as of last night. Sarge they have set this all up so you don't have a choice in the matter, so listen to me for a minute, we don't have much time. Two days ago two Spooks, a Kit Carson and one of our teams left Firebase Thomas on a clandestine mission. They never reported in and still haven't. One of the Spooks was Colonel Redman's son. They know that's you and Chungs stomping ground up there, and they are planning on sending you and your yards in to look for them. Since Jenkins is pulled from any further missions Colonel Redman is planning on going in with you as the mission commander."

I just looked at him in total shock. Me, turn my team's safety over to a Leg who had never been in the bush. Ain't gonna happen I thought, and why was Jenkins pulled from any missions I wondered.

"Gunny who pulled Jenkins from doing any missions, and why would they think I would endanger me or my team in such a stupid plan?"

"Dammit Sarge stop and think for a minute. That last mission was over two weeks, and that put Jenkins in the less than ten days bracket. The Captain wrote the orders before he left."

I had to stop and think for a minute before it hit me what he was talking about. He was right if my math was correct. Jenkins tour was almost up and he was under thirty before we left that last time. He had told me but I had forgotten because we had been in such a hurry to leave. Dammit I was losing one of the best seconds I had ever had the privilege of serving with. He would be going back to the world and by the regs he couldn't go on any missions. These were standing orders and by rights he shouldn't have went on that last mission with me, but we had ducked out in the middle of the night and had gotten away with it. I looked Gunny right in the eyes before I spoke.

"Gunny, I aint taking my team out without an experienced second, regardless of what HQ says. You better get your contacts lined up to keep track of me. I still have two days leave coming and as of now I am disappearing until they are up. Anyone who sends a team for a clandestine mission out of Tom Thumb is either nuts or severely handicapped. You know the situation up there as well as I do. That place is a sieve and always has been. If they haven't reported in then they are all dead. End of story."

"You and I know that but HQ don't Sarge. The only reason they didn't bust down the door this morning was because I told them you were off base, and an officer was using your hooch to have some private time with his honey. They have all the gates guarded and unless you know a way off the base that I don't, they will find you before the day is over."

"I not only know several ways off the base, but I am going to disappear until you send word the Captain is back from Hue. Gunny, don't stick your neck out but if they ask, you don't know where I am for sure, and you haven't seen me. Now get out of here and let me disappear."

He got up, grinned and went out the door. I grabbed my 16 and went out the trapdoor of the hooch, and headed into the sparse jungle behind the hooch. Chung had shown me this way in and out just for emergencies and today I was planning on using it. I knew the path between the mines like the back of my hand, and made good time getting off the base. I took the jungle trail and within fifteen minutes I heard the warning whistle of one of the yards from the village who monitored the trail I was using. I whistled back giving him my sign which they all knew. In another ten minutes I was joined by Ling wanting to know what was wrong. We trotted side by side as I explained what was happening. We stopped at a small spring and took a short break with him whistling directions to the men while we rested. For the next ten miles or so we ran flat out then trotted to catch out breath then started running again. When we came out by the village Chung was there with the rest of my team waiting.

"MP's just coming into village. Here your pack, come we go."

We went into the bush on another trail and disappeared into the jungle. Two hours later we started running into men and women from the village going the same way we were. I asked Chung what the hell was going on and his reply shocked me.

"We go to second village we have. No one knows about it. Gunny send word this morning bout what going on, and what they want to do to you. We hide you until it safe for you to come back. No one find you where we go, not even VC know bout this place. MP's only find old men in village all others already headed this way by different trails. We stay out of sight until it safe for you to go back. Gunny know how to signal when it safe."

I couldn't answer him or comment because of the lump in my throat. He must have realized what I was thinking because him and Ling patted me on the back and motioned for us to keep moving. I knew that for them to move a whole village in order to protect me was the highest form of respect they could show me. I knew a lot of the regular soldiers thought these people were backwards, and their customs strange, but they were some of the best men I had ever had the privilege to serve with since I had been here. If they liked you their loyalty was unquestionable in every way. I watched as we moved and the jungle was getting so thick you could barely se the trail we were using. Other little things caught my eye also, like the claymores set along the trail and in the trees and the other traps set at intervals all through the area we were traveling. Seeing all of this I was glad it wasn't me or my team trying to sneak up on them. This was what I would call a killing field meant to kill anyone who came this way. No wonder the VC didn't know about it. The jungle was so damned thick you couldn't get off the faint trail if you wanted too. Ling was watching me looking around and dropped back in front of me speaking as we moved.

"This trail we make, take many months of work. Only two way in and both booby trapped like this. Charley no able to go through jungle cause it get thicker where we set up village. We have guard on trails at all times and we know all that move in area. Sarge, you give Chung idea for this as safe place for our people in case we get attacked. We have secret way out and it take us to mountains in Thailand where we be safe if things go bad. We have plenty money and food with your help, and we have plenty weapons and ammo you get for us. Sarge, since we start work for you, you never lie to us, and always take care of us in every way you can. You our friend and we no let anyone harm you. All villagers think of you as one of us. No worry, you be safe here till brass get heads out of ass like always do."