A few words from the author: Thank you to all who read my story, and a bigger thank you to all who reviewed it.

Notes on the text: The author means no disrespect to anyone who fought in Vietnam, or the Vietnamese in general. Though the author has researched the topics mentioned at length there may be improbabilities related to military justice.

If they want to sue me for writing this fic I will exercise my rights as an American citizen, first I will claim sanctuary behind my 1st ammendment rights (the right to free speech), if they still try to sue me I will exercise my 2nd ammendment rights (the right to bear arms).

Enjoy

Febuary 1, 1968; 1745 local time; Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon, Vietnam

Ichigo's squad (minus Ichigo) had unloaded the Huey and got themselves situated in temporary housing. The housing was a large tent, folded cots were sitting on the north wall, hanging electric bulbs provided illumination for the two round tables in the middle. Sitting forlornly in one of the corners was Ichigo's equipment, Renji had taken it in. Urahara, Kira, Ganju, and Gin had already set up their cots and were unpacking their belongings. Chad was sitting at one of the tables writing a letter. Ishida was sitting at the other table cleaning his rifle. Renji sat next to him, thumb-loading clips.

After finishing the clips he picked up his rifle and other combat gear and started walking toward the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Urahara.

"I'm going to find Ichigo, if you want to come feel free." Renji responded.

"You aren't going to go find Ichigo because you and I both know he's dead." Urahara said.

"You don't know that!" Renji shouted.

"I am ordering you to stay here!" Urahara shouted, pointing downward for emphasis.

"To Hell with orders! I've waited long enough, I'm going!" Renji said.

"You realize that you would be going AWOL with government property." Urahara said.

"Don' they hang ya' fer that?" Gin asked.

"No," Urahara said in a very grave tone, "they shoot you..." He took out his M-12 and loaded several shells into the tubular magazine. He worked the pump, chambering a round. He pointed the weapon at Renji shouting, "I lost some of my best men trying to find a man who was already dead, I'm not letting it happen again!"

"You never told us that before, what happened?" Renji asked.

"Pull up a chair, I'll tell you all about it. Kira, Gin, make sure he doesn't leave." Urahara said.

Urahara started his tale: "It was last year. Me and my men were taking part in Operation Cedar Falls, we were trying to destroy Charlie's tunnels down in Cu Chi." Urahara shuddered briefly and continued. "Back then I wasn't in command. We were commanded by a man named Chojiro Sasakibe. He was a real tea and crumpits kind of guy from Boston, damn good marksman though. Then there were the two sub-machinegunners Mac and Double-U. Their real names were Shunsui and Ukitate respectively. They were from Virginia. They mastered using the MAC-10 and Uzi one-handed. Shunsui had the MAC-10's and Ukitate had the Uzis. Then there was the guy with the M-60, Kenny. That guy was crazy, always shooting first and not bothering to ask any questions at all, came from Texas. There were the three rifemen: Shinji Hirako from Seattle, "Spike" from some backcountry hick-town in Wyoming, and Kiego Asano, he never told me where he was from. Then there was Hanataro" Urahara closed his eyes and let out a sigh before continuing. "He was a 'Tunnel Rat', poor kid."

"Spike wasn't the guy's real name, was it?" Ishida interrupted.

"Nah, he got that nickname during an earlier mission. His gun jammed up in the middle of a close quarters fight, he picked up a punji stake and impaled that VC he was fighting right through the chest." Urahara explained making a stabbing motion for emphasis.

He continued. "We were on a patrol with several other squads when we were ambushed. Charlie attacked the middle of our column, effectively splitting my squad into three groups, Kiego got wasted right off the bat. Me and Chojiro were together and we tried to find the rest of our group while similtainiously fending off the enemy. Kenny, Spike and Double-U were pinned down by a machinegun. Spike tried firing back but his M-16 jammed up after the second shot. Hanataro and Mac had their hands full too. We made our way to Hanataro and Mac and helped them out before dispatching the machinegun with a few well placed grenades. Chojiro ordered us to fan out and start searching for Shinji, before having his head blown off by a VC."

Urahara winced as a repressed memory reared its ugly head. "I assumed command and carried out Chojiro's last order. God, I still remember the screams. It was the worst twenty minutes of my life, I lost Spike and Kenny to a 'Bouncing Betty' trap. We found Shinji, or what was left of him propped up against a tree, both his legs were blown off. He was dead. It looked like he was hit by a grenade. We judged by the two blood trails leading up to the tree that he had crawled there. We also found a photograph in his hand, there were bloody smears on it. It was a picture of his girlfriend, she had a black ponytail, black specticles and was wearing a japanese schoolgirl uniform."

"A few days after the ordeal Hanataro went down one of those tunnels and never came back. Double-U caught some weird disease and got discharged. After our tours of duty were over, Mac got a cushy rear-eschalon job here in Saigon and all the replacements didn't re-enlist." Urahara finished his story.

Renji felt himself torn between two decisions. He could risk getting shot at by the enemy and his comrades in a foolish attempt to leave the compound and find Ichigo or he could stay here and let Ichigo die, provided he was still alive. Renji put his face in his hands and wept... he wept bitterly... because he knew that he would never see Ichigo again.

About fifty miles away, in the jungle, a girl came across the battered and unconsious form of an American soldier...

AWOL: Absence WithOut Leave, when a soldier leaves an area without permission. They did not shoot you for it, Urahara was just trying to scare Renji into staying.

Tunnel Rat: slang term for soldiers who were small enough to go down into the vietnam tunnels. Usually they were armed with only a flashlight and pistol. Their job was very dangerous and their survival rate was very low.

Punji Stake: Sharpened wooden spikes used by the Viet Cong as a trap. They were usually hidden in tall grass and the ends were sometimes smeared with things to encourage infection.

Wasted: slang term for killed

Bouncing Betty: slang term for a mine that launches in the air and explodes, its effect on a human torso similar to that of a large-bore shotgun.

Author's notes: The next chapter will feature Ichigo, and someone he has only dreamed about.