0247 hours, 18 June

So far it’s been an un- eventful patrol. You look at your watch. Only another twenty minutes until you ar- rive back at base. Not bad, you think, only seven min- utes behind schedule. This isn’t so bad after all. That's when an explosion lit up the night sky.

“Ambush!!" You're be- ing fired upon from both sides. “Johnson!Get that 60 up there!” Willows: called.

“Coming! Wilson. cover me!” :

ty

You “cot sate man. Wilson begins to lay down cover fire as you move for- ward. You hear someone scream behind you. You look and see Wilson lying on his back, a neat, round hole in the center of his forehead.

“Johnson, move your ass!” :

“Right! On my way. You run forward to where Willows was calling for you.

You see him signal to you. You run over and hit the dirt beside him.

“What took you so long?”

“Wilson bought it. ~

“Yeah, well if we can’t get out of this goddamn quick, he’s gonna have lots of company. Okay, this is what I want you to do. I’m going to take four men and work around their flank. I want you to cover us. Get that 60 going and don’t stop till I tell you. Got it?”

”

“Right, Sarge. “Okay... Now!” Wil- lows and the flanking party start off. You open fire

with your M-60 machinegun, rapidly using up your ammo.

' “Ammo! Now!” That ammo better get here fast.

You're down to only one belt left.

Jenkins falls down he- side you and hands you three belts. “Great!Give the sarge some cover fire while I reload. ™ * Jenkins replies. As you struggle with

“No problem,

. the sometimes difficult M-60,

Jenkins opens up on the V C. to your front. The sound is deafeningly loud at such close quarters. Jenkins fin- ishes his mag just as you fin- ish reloading the 60. You're ears are ringing.

The flanking team has run into trouble by the sound of it. You open the biped on the M-60 and set it on a log for better accuracy. “Jenk- ins, can you make out where the sarge and his team are?”

“About 30 yards to your left.. Charlie’s trying to get

see an enemy soldier aim- ing his AK-47 assault rifle at you. Both of yon fire at the same time. The last thing you see before losing con-

= eciousniess is the V. C. being

lifted off his feet by the blast

=—=—of your M-60.

between the sarge and us, about 15-20 yards out in front. ~

“I see them. Ready?”

“You know it. ~

“Let’s rock and _ roll!” You and Jenkins both open up at the same time, spray- ing the jungle with a lethal hail of death. The pressure on Sergeant Willows’ team eases instantly. “They're falling back! Let’s go get ‘em, Marines!”

You charge forward, spraying the jungle with lead. Your comrades follow your lead and the V. C. retreat quickly. Suddenly, you feel a sharp pain in your back. You turn around and

1400 hours,

19 June, U.S. Military Hos- pital, Saigon

You waken slowly. You aren't dead after all. Sergeant Willows is in the next bed. He must have gotten hit too. He no- tices you're awake and comes over.

“You gave us quite a scare, kid. Doc didn’t think you'd make until the chopper came, much less the hospital. Glad to see you're O. K. ™

“What happened to you, Sarge?”

“J got hit in the leg. It’s nothing. °

“When are we going back, Sarge?”

“Oh, right. came out of it now, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“You're goin’ home, kid,

You just

* Willows says with a smile. “Home?”

“You spend three more days here, then they send you home for five months of recovery time. Good luck,

Johnson.

“Home!”

1200 hours, 22 June, Saigon Airport

You’re carried up the ramp into the waiting C-130 transport aircraft. You look back and take your last look at Vietnam for a little while. You’re one of the lucky ones.

Y, ye ==

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WED

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