David and Charlie were with a platoon of American soldiers on patrol in the jungle of Vietnam. The soldiers were looking for Viet Cong tunnels and they were using Charlie to smell them out. A sergeant named Max Meserve sent David and Chris to the far right of the squad to set up a flank.

Chris looked at David with fear. "David, it's been a year since the Tet Offensive and I think that the Viet Cong know were here." he said with a shudder.

David patted him on the back. "Don't be scared because you got me with you."

Just then the platoon was suddenly attacked by the Viet Cong. Chris was killed by enemy mortar fire. David killed two Viet Cong soldiers who tried jump him, but as he ran back to join the platoon the ground under him collapsed. He was stuck in a tunnel.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" yelled David, as he tried to get out of the tunnel. Unknown to him, a Viet Cong soldier in the tunnel below him was preparing to silently kill him with a knife.

Just then Charlie arrived and tried to pull David from the hole, but he could not. Sergeant Meserve heard David's calls for help. He pulled David out of the hole, and shot the Viet Cong soldier dead. The platoon is infuriated by the senseless death of their comrade Chris and were ordered to report to a nearby village of South Vietnamese citizens.

The platoon reached the village by the afternoon. The soldiers found no tunnels or any weapons that could help the enemy. The village children crowed around David and Charlie. David worked a bit of magic and gave the children candy bars.

"You have been a great aduiens." said Charlie, as the children enjoyed the candy bars. "If you want an autograph from David you must talk to me." he added with a laugh.

A little girl who was about six gave David a mango, but Sergeant Meserve took the mango from him and threw it away. "Don't eat anything that these people give you!" he ordered, as he grabbed David by the arm.

David was confused by Sergeant Meserve's behavior toward the little girl. "Give me a minute, Meserve. Why are you acting this way?"

Meserve gave David a glare. "She's a VC and you're going to kill her and her friends!" he sapped, as he handed David a gun.

David was shocked. "SHE'S JUST A LITTLE GIRL AND I'LL NOT DO IT!" he yelled, as Charlie got in front of the girl, but the girl ran for her mother.

Just then three of the soldiers chased after her. David and Charlie ran after them to stop them, but were stopped by Meserve, who hit them both with the butt of his M-60. They both watched helplessly as Meserve shot the child dead. The sergeant then turned to the villagers to kill them, but then a helicopter arrived.

It was Captain Hill who had arrived. He looked at Meserve and then at David who was still on the ground with his dog. He had David and Charlie taken back to the base and ordered the platoon out of the village.

Back at the base David went with Charlie to their tent and thought about how to tell Hill about the murder. Just then Charlie started to growl. David knew that something was wrong, but he saw nothing.

"I SMELL A GRENADE!" yelled Charlie, as he grabbed David's arm and pulled him out of the tent just as it exploded.

Soldiers gathered around David and Charlie to see if they were alright. Both soldier and dog was alright, but a little shaken up. David knew that Meserve was trying to kill him to hide the truth. With that he went to see Captain Hill.

"Stay outside and stand guard, Charlie." ordered David, as he went into Hill's office.

"I know why you're here, David," said Hill, as he looked at some papers. "You're here to find out what will be done about the murder of that girl."

"Yes sir, Captain Hill," replied David. "The village, which had stood for maybe 1,000 years, didn't know we were coming today. If they had, they would have run."

Hill was not wanting to hear about details. "David, I just want you to know that Meserve will be punished, but not right now because I need all the man power right now," he explained sitting up from his desk.

That made David fell uneasy and he left to find some one who would punish Meserve, but when he got outside the office he found Charlie lying on the ground bleeding from the chest. David took his dog to the medical tent.

"I never worked on a dog before," explained the doctor, as he looked at Charlie's chest. "But, I'll do my best to save him," he stated.

After David left Charlie with the doctor he went to other commanding officers, but they all said the same thing. With that he went to see Sergeant Meserve. When he got to Meserve's office he found himself at gun point.

"Nobody cares, Meserve." said David bravely, but in mad tone of voice. "I told everybody. I told them. You don't have to worry. You don't have to try to kill me, man. I told them, and THEY DON'T CARE!

Meserve only smiled evilly at David. "You still better watch your back." he warned.

"one more thing! STAY AWAY FROM MY DOG OR I"LL KILL YOU!" shouted David as he left the office.

A week later Charlie was back on his feet and Sergeant Meserve was in court for his crime of murder. David and Charlie watched as Meserve gave his testimony.

"Well, sir... I've seen a lot of killing... which it's our duty to do, because it's kill or be killed." explained Sergeant Meserve. "Sometimes you hate the enemy so badly... About two ops back... Operation Turner... we saw a hootch that had been burned down. Some Vietnamese were carrying kids out of a bunker. They suffered from smoke inhalation. I gave one small child mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. That just shows you we ain't all combat over here."

Even though Sergeant Meserve was a good soldier in the combat zone he still got ten years hard labor.

David and Charlie stayed two more years in Vietnam then they returned home. Charlie was back with Sasha and David was with his family.

One night David told his little sister something that all soldiers would tell their family. "The war is over for me now, but it will always be there, the rest of my days as my friends will be."

Charlie stepped in. "The war was hell, but now we're back in paradise with our loved ones."

David and Charlie had survived the war in Vietnam and now they could relax happily at home.

THE END