Mission 14

This was supposed to be a routine mission, but as usual although starting out easy it rapidly turned fubar. I didn't have a second but instead had gotten saddled with a radio specialist that was afraid of his own shadow. We were supposed to be testing some new type of radio that scrambled the signal so that the VC couldn't listen to our transmissions. Although a good idea the A Shaw wasn't a good place to test it. I had been overruled by the General and was ordered to go out with this cherry and do field tests. Hell my whole team could see he had no idea of what he was doing and had done nothing but complain since we had been dropped off at the LZ. We were getting into some dangerous territory when all of a sudden he shut up. I was so startled at the silence I was shocked. When I turned he was listening on the radio to something and his eyes were bigger than the radio he was carrying. I waited a few moments before grabbing the radio to listen for myself.

No wonder he seemed so shocked I thought. There was a full fledged battle going on a few miles from our position. From the frantic calls I was hearing for support and from what little information the radioman was putting out he was panicked. I was finally able to get enough information to get a fix on their position and that they were in a firefight with several platoons of the 5^th VC regiment. Dammit I thought they were supposed to be way north of us and hadn't moved south according to the last Intel I had heard. This was bad and I knew even if I could get to them in time we would be so outnumbered that we wouldn't have any defense if we got involved. I finally got the cherry calmed down and told him to switch to another channel so I could call in some help for the patrol. He fumbled for a few minutes then handed the radio back to me. This time I was able to reach I Corps and make a report although a sketchy one. I was ordered to take my team and head in that direction to see if we could assist. I acknowledged the order and handed the radio back before calling my men in.

"Chung, Ling, I want you two on point and the rest scattered out in the ready positions. We are going towards a battle that will probably be over by the time we get there but we will assist in any way we can. Chung you know more about the 5^th regiment than any of us so I want you on point. Ling you bring up the middle spot and keep your eyes open for any movement. I don't know where they are at so we ain't walkin into an ambush."

"Sarge, I ain't gonna be able to keep up with all this equipment I got on."

"What the hell do you have Willis?"

"The normal pack and seven extra battery packs for the radio."

"Seven battery packs! What the hell were you thinking bringing all that crap! Get rid of all but two, keep your extra ammo and for god sakes tie that antenna out of sight or some sniper will choose you for his first target."

I watched as he followed my instructions and when he finished I saw that he only had four extra mags for his 16 and no grenades at all. Damn, what were they teaching these kids in basic? He quickly changed the used battery for a new one and I threw the extras into the deep bush. Finally he was ready so I sent Chung and Ling ahead to scout.

"Willis, we are gonna be moving at a fast pace so you stay about four feet behind me and watch for my signals. Keep that damned weapon pointed down and not at my back. If you fall and accidentally shoot me one of my men will kill you on the spot. Now keep up or get left."

We started out at a trot and within ten minutes I could hear him gasping for breath. I whistled the men down to a fast walk turning and giving Willis a dirty look as I did. He was so out of breath he took another ten minutes before he finally quit gasping. We moved for almost an hour at a fast walk until I came up on Ling squatted in the trail waiting on me.

"Chung say we close and he go to look. Sarge I hear new man way back. He need to be more quiet or he give us away to VC."

"I know, do we need to pull off the trail or just wait here?"

"There no fresh tracks that I see. I think I move up and you wait here. You keep others out on flank in case VC come this way. Have rear man move away more so you have plenty warning. Keep new guy near you in case he no understand signals."

I gave him the bird and got a grin as he moved up the trail further. I waved for Willis to come up next to me and when he did I had him untie the antenna and listen to see if there was any more activity on the channel we listened to earlier. He did and said it was totally quiet. I just frowned at his news and had a sinking sensation in my gut.

"Sarge I Corps keeps calling them but they aren't answering their calls. What should I do Sarge?"

"Keep off the damned radio and don't even answer if they call us. I want total radio silence until I give the word. Willis, we are in the middle of VC territory and one little squawk could get us all killed. Shut it down until we have something to call in."

"Ok Sarge but I don't like being out of touch."

"It's not your call and now it's an order. Willis if you want to stay alive I suggest you follow orders and keep your mouth shut. Now rest cause we will be moving out and I don't know what we're gonna run into. Save your breath for running cause we might be doing a lot of it if we get into some deep shit."

He just frowned and shut the radio down tying the antenna again so it wouldn't show above his shoulders. I grinned to myself thinking he at least had enough smarts to take my target warning to heart. Ling came back and squatted next to me whispering Chung was coming in and he had news. It took another ten minutes for Chung to come in sight and Ling moved ahead to watch the trail as Chung came in.

"VC move north but whole patrol dead. It not 5^th, but 7^th who attack them. They move whole regiment north for some reason. Charley thick as hogs on either side of march. Sarge, we no can help patrol and from what I see they weren't touched for some reason. I no understand this, VC always strip and mutilate bodies. You get looksee and then maybe you know what going on."

We sat discussing the situation for almost an hour with Willis listening with wide eyes to our every word. When we moved out again it was at a slower pace but without any breaks. I noticed Willis was as wet with sweat as the rest of us, and was swigging at his canteens like they wouldn't go dry. When we got in sight of the patrol I got a shock. There were only six men and they were all young as hell and being led by a butter bar. Him and the radio man were lying side by side almost touching and the radio was still in the privates hands. I think the most shocking thing about it was the fact that they were Army, and all had almost new uniforms as well. I noticed cosmoline still on a couple of the rifles. They hadn't even been cleaned properly before they came out into the bush. Now I was totally stumped until I got a look at the point man and it all seemed to come together and I started laughing. I got one of those looks from Chung and a weird one from Willis when I finally got my laughter under control. Willis and Chung were giving me dirty looks until I laid it all out for them, while having Willis take a reading and call for medivacs to pick up the bodies.

I called them over pointing at the face of the point man. Chung immediately gasped and moved back from the body. Willis looked at him then at me in puzzlement.

"See the red circles on his face. That's a bad case of acne, but I bet the VC thought he had smallpox and refused to touch any of the bodies for fear of catching it themselves. What I can't figure out is why there are only six of them instead of a full patrol. If you look closely you can see their all newbie's and still have a bad case of sunburn. Even their radio is one of the old ones we turned in months ago. What I can't figure is why they were so far out in the bush and who ordered them to come. Willis when the choppers get here I am sending you back on them. Let them know we will be shadowing the VC, and will be calling in sitreps every twelve hours. If they camp in the open for some reason you tell them we will call for an air strike if they do. I am taking the old radio they have, and one of the extra battery packs. Willis you make damn sure they monitor the old channels or they won't be able to hear our calls. If for some reason they don't answer we will pull back and return to one of the firebases close by."