Hey guys, I'm really sorry about the whole waiting thing. I had computer troubles, but hopefully they're fixed…for now. So, I've come to the fact that I suck at "family friendly" stories, so I've decided to go to the other end of the spectrum. This next story is a war story centered around three squads from the war story from ARL. I've been planning it out and here it is.

Alpha-Operation Full Moon- 22 June, 1968- Nah Trang

It was a cold, dark night, like all the others, but this night felt different. All of us in Alpha were trained to effectively use our minds as weapons, and to use our rifles for thinking, but to actually incorporate the training into the job was a whole different story. Most of us were new. Come to think about it, only two of us were veterans. Lieutenant Benson and Sergeant Major Phelps were supposed to be some of the toughest guys in the division; I've heard stories that I don't like to think about.

We head out to the jungles, not even knowing what's in there or if we will make it out alive to see another day. I look at my friend from boot camp, Kenny Sparrow. Ironically enough, that's exactly what he was: a brown feathered sparrow. He's a good guy, but somehow I know that he won't be walking out of here alive. I look to my left and see pitch black. Why did I have to be put on the end?, I think to myself. If we get attacked, I'm the most likely to die, or even worse, to be captured and tortured to death.

We keep walking for what seems like miles, only hearing the sounds of the jungles. The jungles and the Set Cong. The "Lightning Army", as they were known. They were known for jumping in, attacking, and scattering before we could get our bearings together. The quiet starts to get annoying. Disturbing and annoying. It's the kind of disturbing that you feel like you're being watched. Luckily, Bradley, a submachine gunner to my right, starts humming the national anthem. It seems like it worked, because now I'm not scared. Just cold.

About an hour later, we stop for the night. All of us either take watch or find a nearby spot to hunker down and fall asleep. I take first watch. It lasts from 8:00 to 10:00. It feels like forever until Bradley and another guy take watch. The dreams are horrible. In the first, they've got me and they're torturing me for information about a past event. I woke with a start, looking around I see that the watch hadn't changed yet. I grab my canteen and take a long drink from it before laying back down and falling slowly back to sleep.

In the second dream, I saw my newly wedded wife, Cyndi, and our first child, Luke. I tried reaching out to them but they kept getting farther and farther away. Then, there was noise, and lots of it. The ground beneath me was shaking violently and I woke up. Kenny was standing over me, telling me to get my ass moving, and quick. Groggily, I search for my helmet. That's the most important thing right now. I find it near me and throw it on. Now my rifle. I search frantically for it and it turns up missing. Damn it! They're going to kill me! "They" being Benson and Phelps. An enemy soldier comes up to me as I'm searching and pulls out his pistol. As he aims at my head, I say my last goodbyes. Luck finds me at the last second. In fact, I thought he pulled the trigger. I look up and see him laying on the ground, blood all over his face. Once again, Sparrow saved my ass. I remember the first time as well as I'll remember this one.

Flashback

It was just before I was drafted into the army. Sparrow and I were hanging out at a bar and I was rocked. He told me that he didn't want to drink much; I had assumed it was because someone had to drive us home. We leave shortly after and I stumble off into a nearby alley to throw up whatever wanted to come up. As I'm hunched over, two guys in uniforms come up to me, one a little taller than the other.

"You okay?", the shorter one asks me.

"Chuck, shut up.", the other one tells his friend. "What's the matter buddy? Can't handle your drink?" He starts to laugh.

Coughing and spewing, I'm defenseless against whatever they throw at me. The only thing I can do is power through it.

"I have an idea. If he can't handle that drink, maybe this one will suit him better.", Chuck chimes in.

"Wait, are you talking about-", the other one starts to ask before being cut off.

"The Mississippi Queen! You know I always carry some around with me in case I need a quick fix. Let's see if he can handle it. Hold him down Seth."

Seth, the taller one, holds my arms down while Chuck pulls out this disgusting looking drink in a bottle.

"This here has a little bit of kimchi, past sauce, soy sauce, some clam shells, shrimp, peppers and a few other things in it. Bottoms up!" He tips the bottle into my mouth and the horrid drink sloshes in.

At first, it seemed tasteless. It actually wasn't that bad. But after a few minutes, it kicked in and my mouth was on fire. I started to see things around me burning into flames and floating off into space. I looked over and I saw them laughing at me. Seth wasn't holding me anymore, so I was on the ground, but I seemed incapable of movement. I hear another voice, I don't know who's it is.

"Hey, what in the blue hell are you doing? Leave him alone!" Kenny runs up and tackles Seth just as they start to kick me in my ribs. As he starts beating down on Seth, Chuck pulls out a switchblade and holds it against my neck, small beads of blood starting to form around the blade. The blade digs a little deeper into my neck as Seth is knocked unconscious. Kenny notices me in the stout man's arms and stops short. They just stare at each other in the faint light from the streetlamps.

Next thing I know, I'm back on the ground, but I'm not bleeding to death. Chuck lay unconscious next to me. And yet, there's another voice.

"Glad I came out here when I did. Your friend alright?" It sounded like the bartender.

Laying in my own vomit, I am once again picked up, this time by Kenny. He takes his shirt and tears a wide strip off, then proceeds to wrap up my neck.

"I think he'll be okay for now. Thanks.", Kenny tells the man.

"Hey, what can I say? I have to protect my customers. It's good for business."

Kenny walks me to his car and lays me down in the backseat. The next day, he tells me everything that happened, how he found me thrashing around and being beaten to a pulp, the fight, and the bartender that came to the rescue.

Modern day

I see Kenny standing over me. He had just killed somebody. The first time was always the worst, I kept hearing. I'm waiting for mine.

"Missing something?", he asks me as he tosses the rifle to me. My rifle. I know it is by the engraving I made in the stock. Live free or die trying. I heard it somewhere, I can't place the origin.

"Thanks" I get up, still shocked about the near- death encounter. The fighting stopped shortly after. Must've been another raiding party, I think to myself. No wonder it didn't last very long. I hear Benson doing role call.

"1!", he shouts. People call off numbers until I call out 14. 15 is missing, we find out later that it was the submachine gunner, Bradley. Glasses askew, a puddle of blood surrounding him, we say our last goodbyes and Benson grabs his dog tags.

We get moving again around dawn and the morning is cold and wet. Mitch "Muscle Man" Sorenstein, a support gunner, makes a joke. Something about his mother being cold and wet. Nobody laughs. None of us are willing to stay, and we gladly get moving again. Breakfast was on the go, consisting of a handful of wild fruits and water. Out here, we either hunt for our food or starve until the next meal.

Marching along as the sun comes up isn't too bad. The biggest problem is the bugs. The bugs and the fear of dying. We stop around noon at a camp. Looks like we've found Flash, one of the better engineer groups. They welcome us and we rest as Benson and Phelps talk to the Captain, a yeti that no one seems to know the name of. I hear from a couple of guys, a blue jay and a raccoon, that they call him Skips because of they way he gets around.

Ok guys, I know it seems weird, but I've got the park crew split up between three separate groups that will meet up and fight their way through the war. If you're wondering, the war takes place in Southeast Asia and the Philippines area, and it's kind of like a cross between WWII and the Vietnam War. It takes place in the late 60s (I know, it sounds cliché) but I needed a starting date and it so happens the 60s usually appeal to me. I'm thinking of having the groups being in every third chapter, so in Ch. 1,4,7, etc. it'll be Alpha, 2,5,8,etc. being Flash, and 3,6,9, etc. being Easy. Alpha group is mainly a gunner group, consisting of riflemen and submachine gunners. Flash is an engineer group, as stated earlier. And Easy Company (Yes, I know it's a Band of Brothers reference) is an air group. As we go on, I'll try to give more detail on the individual lives of our guys, but things could change. And yes, Chuck is the guy from Weekend at Benson's, aka the Iron Stomach. I planned on putting random villains from the show in flashbacks and such. Please review or PM me if you've got comments, questions, or if you're just bored. Ideas will be much obliged.