A Farmer's Courage II: Vietnam 67'
Chapter 2: First Patrol
(Jack's Letter)
Dear: Ann
I've received your letter already; right after I arrived at the U.S. I know we haven't have much time to talk about my actions leaving you back home since I have to leave at the middle of the night. But I just want you to know that I've arrived safely in Nam, and am now in my first patrol. Arriving here, I met two new friends; who happened to be criminals being punished for their crimes. One is a tall, skinny, bald guy named Kowalski. He was quite a kind feller even though he's a criminal. The second one is Richard. Richard is also a criminal who was sent here because of his actions. He was a family man who only wishes to help his family, but ended up in jail cause of murder, and rape. I hope this letter reaches you, and I hope you're reading this letter right now. We're getting close to the LZ for the mission, I better stop now. All I wanted to say is that I love you so much. Oh, tell Peter I love him too.
PS: If you're reading this letter, it means I'm safe and sound in here. If not, this letter probably won't reach you.
Love,
Jack
(Back to Jack)
Spring 5, 1967,
Routine Patrol, 30 KM South of La Drang Valley,
1000 hrs
I stuff the letter I've wrote in my pocket as the chopper hover above the LZ (Landing Zone). We finally reach the LZ where my 4 men squad will be drop off. This is my first patrol, and my first day in Vietnam.
"C'mon! What are you waiting for? The Congs ain't gonna whait all day!" Kowalski jumps first off the chopper, a few meters before it touches down.
"Kowalski, you know nothing around here! I suggest you stay back, or you might end up in one of those pungi pits or whip traps my former squad fellow ends up with." Short Timer was out next. He's armed with the STG-15 or the M-16 as it was called these days.
"Pungi pits and whip traps?" I question as I hop off from the chopper.
"You don't know? Those VC bastards construct pits or whip traps with sharpened bamboos on em'. You don't wanna' know if you caught one."
"So….you lost all of your squad Short Timer?" Perry hops out last from the chopper; armed with the Remington 870 shotgun.
"Yeah……, I lost my squad on a midnight ambush. The Lieutenant and I were the last survivors. The Lieutenant died on the field Hospital."
"Why's that?"
"He's shot right by the kidney……., and runs out of blood when the doctors where trying to save him. You got a good doctor back home Jack?" What makes him ask that?
"Yeah, I got one."
"Good for you……..invite him here someday." I chuckle, we all chuckle.
"Funny Shorty…." The chopper lifts off, leaving us and the dense jungle.
The jungle was no fun at all. Ants, spiders, snakes, and buffalos? Not including some fucking Vietcong (VC for short) who tries to ambush us from tree tops. But we've kicked their asses well. Most VC were armed with the Russians ex-WW II weapons like the Mosin Nagant, the PPSH-41, PPSH-42, Tokarev SVT semi-automatic rifle, and the Tokarev TT handgun. Some fortunate VC got the pre-war weapons like the French MAT-49, SKS Simonov semi-automatic carbine rifle, and the double barrel hunting shotgun. Luckily, no VC we encountered were armed with the PU, or the Scoped Mosin Nagant. We hike for a few hours until we come up on corpses of a U.S patrol squad who come earlier than us.
"What do you suppose killed them?" Kowalski, staring at the corpses
"Wasn't old age, I knew that!" I joke around a bit, cheering my squad members
"Damn…..poor fellows….." Short Timer examines them, hoping there would be survivors.
"Damn VC wasted em' good….." I examine the corpses. One guy died clutching his family photo.
"Yup, you got that right….." Kowalski starts to search the corpses and takes their ammos.
"Kowalski, what the fuck is you doing?" Perry stares at Kowalski, confused.
"Always make good use of the dead. Go and grab some ammo from em'." This doesn't surprise me since I used to do this back in Italy at 1943. I lost my friends on the assault on Monte Casino; most of them were carrying Thompson Sub-Machineguns.
"Kowalski's right. Go ahead and grab what you need." I scavenge 3 extra 'Grease Gun' magazines from one of the dead G.I.
"What about the body? We can't just leave em' here!" Perry
"Take the dog tags. Make sure no Congs take them and counts our loss." Short Timer examines the bodies and snatches the dog tag off from the dead soldier. We did what he told.
"Okay guys…..lets continue, it won't be long till' we reach a small stream in a clearing. We'll take a rest once we reach there."
We continue the patrol for a few kilometers. The jungle was much clearer than our first assault; no Congs in sight. While hiking, we talk a bit about our families (once again), friends, and other stuff. Short Timer knows a lot of good dirty jokes I never heard before. We were laughing all the way to the stream. Along the way, we found a dead VC which seems to have rot.
"That's the way a VC supposes to look! Good as dead!" Kowalski piss on the corps and scavenge a soldier medal from the VC.
"That medal would worth 3-5 chits, so keep looking for those." Short Timer
"What about U.S dog tags?"
"They'll worth 8 chits for scavenging lost patrol."
"Does living dog tags worth it?"
"Yup…, but they'll put your name in the KIA list."
"Ooh….."
"Let's continue. The stream is just a few clicks from here."
After walking a few more kilometers, we could hear water running and small splashes of em'. We could also hear……..gunfires? What the hell is going on out there?
"Whoa LT……it doesn't sound like a safe place to rest out there." Kowalski
"Yeah…..it doesn't sound like it….. (Damn, I need to piss…)" Perry talks in, while scratching his balls
"I know Perry…, I know. Lock and load! Once we clear those damn VC, you can have yourself a good long piss in the stream."
"I won't go drinking from there….." Short Timer shook his head and continues towards the stream.
Once we reach there, we were quite surprise on the amount of Vietcong assaulting; men and women. I just know that even women join the VC and starts killing U.S soldiers. While back at camp, U.S soldier were 'killing' the women in the boom-boom house.
"Damn! Look at that! It's a full assault! They're heading towards us!" Kowalski panics and start firing his M-14, sending 2 VC down. We ourselves open fire towards the ambush crowd.
"Calm down Kowalski! You won't get a good shot if you don't slow down!" Short Timer fires his M-16 in 3 shot burst and sends 1 VC down.
"Slow down my ass! I even make more kills than you!" Kowalski continue firing his rifle like mad. I don't know whether he aims it or not….
"Think they're attacking something or someone down by the stream. Should we go and take a look and start assisting?" Perry doubt too much.
"Hell no! LT, make the call for artillery barrage!" Kowalski just can't get his nerve down.
"Right! Shorty, hand me the radio."
"Roger!" U.S military is still using ex-WW II radio?
"Got maps?" Shorty rambles his small pack.
"Got em'!" I grab the map and pinpoint the target. Short Timer instantly picks up the phone and dials the artillery.
"Arty base three, this is scout eight; requesting artillery strike, over."
"Roger, this is Arty base three, give us the coordinates over." The guy over the radio replies. We'll be having barrage of em' in not time.
"Roger, coordinates is as follows……"
"Hurry up dammit! I don't want my ass got blown off over here!" If we ever get killed because of this, I swear I'll kill Shorty
"Shut up! I'm trying to talk over here!" Short Timer covers the phone for a second and continues
"Right……coordinates is as follows…, Charlie, 5, over."
"Roger, coordinates is as follows…, Charlie, 5. Is it correct? Over." This radio thing is taking so much time……
"Roger Arty base three! Scout eight out! It won't be long now Lieutenant!" Finally
We wait for a few seconds until a huge barrage of shells come flying over towards the stream. We watch, awe by the beautiful scene of Congs getting flunk by our boys from afar.
"Man down! Man down! Those fuckers take down my squad!" Who the hell? That sounds familiar!
I ran down to the stream to check out what had happened, and what had I just hit.
"Kai!" Kai stare at me in amazement.
"Jack! What the fuck are you doing here?" I chuckle, while giving signs to my squad, assuming its okay.
"What else? I volunteered to be sent here just to check over your condition! Glad to see you're okay…" He holsters his M-60 (How the hell he got that?) on his shoulder and sighs….
"Glad I'm okay….."
"Yeah……."
"Who the fuck calls in the artillery anyway?" Oh…..haha…..
"Let's just continue, shall we brother?" Thanks to Perry, our asses we're saved. Kai keeps on wandering about what he meant along the way
Continuing our patrol turns out into a huge battle. Just a few kilometers walk from the stream; we've already encounter a huge number of VC, man and women. This patrol is more than what we've expected to be.
"Goddamn it! Where the hell were these assholes comin' from?" We were pinned down in a trench, a few meters from a tunnel. Kowalski's was freaked out with the amount of VC attacking us.
"See that tunnel? That's where they came from!" I point over the distance as tracer fires flings around and over my helmet
"What are we gonna' do about it Lieutenant?"
"What else? Blow it sky high! That's for sure! Lay covering fire, I'm moving in! On my……"
"(Speaks in Vietnam)!" A female VC suddenly comes up on us with a Mosin Nagant
"What the fuck? Eat this!" Kai, startled, opens his M-60 towards the VC.
"Damn! That's the first time I kill a women! What else? Kids?"
"Next, you will kill a bunch of VC gay lords fucking their way up here! (chuckles)" Perry
"And that gay lord will fuck your black ass!"
"Shut up Shorty! Guys here don't discriminate blacks!" Short Timer chuckles on Perry's reply. It's no surprise we still can joke in this kind of situation.
"But I heard guys here discriminates Christians! How's that? Are you a believer?" Kowalski replies as e loads his M-14 and continue firing towards the hordes of VC
"Of course I am! Are you?"
"No…..I don't believe in something that's not true….."
"But He is true! He is the one and only……."
"Yeah, yeah; whatever!" I chuckle hearing that
"Okay…..keep it together guys……"
"Are you a Christian too LT?" I nod my head towards Kowalski's question
"Damn….."
"Alright! On my signal, I want covering fire! Cover me while I dash towards the tunnel!" They nod and start loading their gun
"Ready……." We gaze at the distant, tensed. I lift my hand up, getting ready
"Steady……" My squad starts cocking and aims their weapon of choice towards their target
"Covering Fire!" I dash towards the next cover, and into the tunnel; my squad were covering me. The VC coming out of the tunnel was pinned down by my squad as I dash towards the tunnel; all I had in mind was to Once I enter the tunnel, I eliminate every VC possible, and set a charge on the tunnel's mouth. The explosion causes the tunnel to collapse above their heads and buries them alive……it almost buried me alive as well.
"Whoa……that was cool! LT! THAT was AWESOME!" Kowalski pats me at the back as I re-enters the trench.
"Next time, send me! Not him! I got the Heavy MG!" Kai sighs, disappointed for it's not him who blows the tunnel
"C'mon Tomkins! It's not like everyday you're missing actions!" Perry seems to get along Kai real quick
"But I NEVER even got a chance to blow tunnels! How come all of my former squad members got to blow those?"
"Stop being a whinny! After all, you kill more VC than us!" Short Timer calms Kai as he examines the remains. I chuckle and give the orders to continue.
Tired, exhausted, and annoyed by some fucking bugs, we continue our way towards the designated location where we suppose to end our patrol. Along the way, we talk about VC and political causes why were here.
"Anyways Jack……do you know that my former squad members..?" Kai and I got lots of things we would like to talk about
"The guys that recently shelled?"
"Yeah…those guys…….they used to cut VC's ears off once they killed one. For charm…..or souvenirs, you know what I mean?" VC ears….? What kind of world are we living in?
"Umm….did you say ears?" Kowalski had been listening to our conversations
"Yup…….theses…." Kai wiggles his ears
"Oh….my GOD! Now I'm glad their shelled!" I chuckle hearing that
"Have you ever seen a group of VC got shelled?" Short Timer joins our conversation
"Nope….." Kai
"Never…." Kowalski
"I've seen someone got shelled, but never see a VC got shelled before…." I answer his question. He nods, smiling
"You know what the scene turns into, right Jack?"
"Right!"
"Then don't say a word!" I nod, smiling
"I once saw a VC got shelled. And you know what happened to him?"
"What?" Kowalski and Kai answers at the same time
"He was turned into bite-size pieces. You even could take his arm for souvenir! The bones were here, the heart was there…..all those sort of stuffs." Kai doesn't budge; so is Kowalski.
"O…..kay……" I laugh a long the way, looking at both of my squad members. Only Perry who seems to be a bit tensed.
We reach the suppose to be the LZ after a 3 kilometer walk and was surprise by the NVA (North Vietnamese Forces) preparing something big. There were machine gun nests, NVA soldiers with RPGs, and Vietcongs crawling everywhere! The whole LZ was crawling with em'!
"Get back! Take cover!" I give the command as my squad finds cover as fast as they could.
I examine the whole area for a glimpse and notice 1 MG position (DP), one sniper nesting in a tree (He's equipped with a new sniper rifle. A magazine attached to it makes it a semi-automatic rifle), and 5-8 NVA taking cover ahead with us (armed with an advance STG 44s (?) and MAT 49).
"These NVAs were armed with an advance STG 44…."
"Sir, with my respect, their AK-47; a new Soviet Assault Rifle with excellent stopping power, medium capacity magazine, loud, and are woefully inaccurate…."
"Keep that speech later fuck face! Right now, mind those guys! We gotta' flank em' or somethin'!" Kowalski
"He's right Jack! Tell us what to do, and we'll do it!" Kai starts unfolding his M60's bipod and starts firing towards the assaulting NVA
"Take cover damn it!" I jump towards Kai, slamming him to the ground as lead from the sniper flies by
"Don't act without my command! Now everybody! Open fire towards the tree on the left of your position! Suppressing fire!" I give the command; my squad quickly opens fire towards the sniper. Only Perry keeps his weapon safe
"Perry! I haven't seen you fire that shit one bit!"
"Sorry Lieutenant! I…I'm scared…..I don't wanna' die!" I'm not surprise with his reaction. Back when Cliff…..Cliff……I miss him…….back when Cliff and I were still private, I never fire my weapon since I'm afraid to die…..but once you come to a conclusion to swallow your fear, you'll get used to it…
"You better fire that thing, before I take it away from your hand!" Kowalski aid me to encourage him
"But Kowalski….."
"We're all gonna' get mother fucking killed if you don't fire that shit of yours mother fucker!" Kai….usual black accent
We stay in cover for an hour, fending off the NVA forces, and running low on ammo. Seems they got something big over there, and we accidentally discovered it. Perry finally able to swallow his fears and started firing his gun. Kowalski had wasted all his M26 grenades. All of them cause of 2-3 NVA taking cover in a crater. Short Timer keeps on trying to dial the Arty base, but fails because his radio was all shot up. Kai, however, enjoys this battle the most since he knock down more NVA than us with his M-60. While myself, I just discovered from Short Timer the sniper rifle the NVA using is called the SVD (Samozariy-adnyia-Vintokvka Dragunova; or Dragunov Semi-automatic Sniper) Dragunov. Another thing disturbs me…….why did I feel like my shots were starting to get inaccurate?
"Is it just me, or is my shot is starting to get inaccurate?"
"It's because you're a bad shooter Lt! (chuckles)" Kowalski still can joke in this kind of situation, knowing that he'd already run out of ammo, and is now using his .45 pistol
"Or, it is because that fucking cursed gun! Look at the barrel!" Kowalski points over the barrel of the grease gun
"It……bended….."
"Yeah…that gun is a bit easy to over heat! That's how my father died!"
"Well, guess I have to aim higher!" I fire a few round, aiming a bit high. Once it's time to change magazine, another problem occurs
"Damnit! This shit won't cock!" I keep pulling the cocking handle as hard as it could, knowing the situation
"I suggest not pushing that thing to hard LT! The cocking handle might….."
'CLANG' Oh shit!
"Broke off…….I said it too late didn't I?"
"Yeah you did Kowalski! Now I need to use my pistols!" I fold the metal stock back to its place so I could holster this crap
'CLANG'
No shit! Now the stock broke off! Fuck this thing! Remind me to send thousands of complaints about this shit to HQ, especially to that Sergeant in the shooting range! I'll pick the Thompson next time……" I sigh and holster the 'shit gun' on my on my back, replacing it with two of my .45 pistols
"Why don't you try using the enemy's weapon? Give them back what they have……military way!" Kai managed to grab himself one of those AK-47
"Let my try……" I grab the Assault Rifle from his hands and start firing towards them
"The recoils nasty! I can't get a good shot with this thing!" I toss the AK towards an NVA soldier, running to our position. It causes him to trip since the rifle hits straight to his head. Kai waste him afterwards…..
I continue the fight with two Colt M1911A1 (.45 pistol) I received. Although in times like this isn't a good time to test my new techniques, but I'll give it a try….
"Eat lead mother fuckers!" I draw my pistols and fire randomly at the NVA troops. Two of them were knocked down by my shots
"Wow….two hand pistol mastery! Your wife teaches you that skill huh?" Kai was impressed of my skill. Yup, my wife, Ann, teaches me this skill after the allies liberated our island
"Your wife?" Short Timer pause on the radio, listening to our conversation
"Yeah, my wife."
"What does she look like; her personality?" Kowalski joins our conversation, while firing his .45 pistol towards an NVA soldier running to our direction
"Well….she's a red head…"
"Red head? WOW! I always try to after women with redheads!" Kowalski
"Yeah, don't go after mine!" I answer him, chuckling
"And she's a tomboy….."
"Damn! I go after feminine girls….."
"Why's that Kowalski?"
"So I could ask for sex whenever I want too…."
"Pervert….." He looks at me, chuckling
"How many times you have physical with her LT?"
"Huh?"
"How many….."
" It's private business Kowalski…..you don't need to know…"
"Really? Let me guess……once a week….am I correct, LT?" He guessed it….
"How do you……"
"Heh……I knew it! Perv!"
"Shut up! Or you'll suffer the consequences….." I try to turn things back
"And that is….."
"Peeling potatoes with the canteen boys is enough for you?" I chuckles as he stares at me, confused
"Your one hard son of a bitch….."
The NVA forces keeps up their fire, while were being shot up like hell in behind the pile of dirt were taking over with. It had lasted for 4 hours already, and it aint' stoppin'; while on our side, almost all of us were out of ammo. I perform another technique I received before I flew here. Kai was quite amazed of the technique called 'Bandit Shooting', a technique I learned from O'Brien where you turn your pistol sideways and let the recoil takes care the strafing movements. Excellent when facing 5-7 rows of NVA.
"Damn Jack! We ain't gonna' hold long if we're staying like this! Let's get out of here!" Kai
"No retreat! Keep shooting! Keep up the fire!"
"If we have anymore; we're almost dry!" Kowalski check and counts his last rounds
"Use the NVA's weapon goddamn it!"
"Look over there! One of ours!" Perry shouts as he points towards the distance. A helicopter moves behind the NVA lines and drops a squad of soldiers. Once they reach the ground, the squad leader gives them hand signals to throw grenades while the M60 heavy gunner deploys his gun. Those guys save our asses just in time.
"Don't shoot! Friendly!" I got up from cover, waving my hand. The squad leader seems familiar….
"Lieutenant? Is that you?"
"Hawkins?"
"Yeah, it's me! You do remember! How'd you get here?"
"My squad were on a routine patrol; assigned once were arrived here."
"You know him Jack?" Kai tap me on the back, alerting me
"Yeah……we met in Saigon before being transported here. He was assigned to Special Forces."
"So…..we got the experts with us…." Kai mumbles as he scratches his chin
"Don't stop to talk…..we better get going. We've been informed that there's an NVA base ahead, and we've been assigned to take it out. It's a small village base, but I think we could handle it. It'll be a pleasure for us if you would join us." Hawkins notifies us about the situation. Now we know why lots of fucking NVA was crawling over here…..
"Umm……Hawkins……."
"What?"
"My squad had run out of ammo already….." Hawkins shook his head. What's up with him?
"Special Forces Policy: Make use of something around you. Go grab a weapon from these poor bastards…" Hawkins points at the remains of the once NVA force pounding us.
Eventually, we assisted Hawkins on taking over the whole village. With the help of NVA weapons, we're able to return what them NVA disserves: A ticket to Hell. I grab myself the MAT 49 Sub-Machinegun (I love SMG), while Kai Holsters his M60 and grab the RPD Degtarev Heavy Machinegun (Short Timer notified me of the NVA weapons while we're pinned). He says that the M60 is far more accurate than the Degtarev. But he enjoys both anyways. Kowalski, late of his action to grab the RPD, decided to grab himself one of those AK-47. Although the gun has terrible accuracy, and nasty recoils, he handles it well. Perry, who keeps his mouth shut all the time, picks up the SVD Dragunov. He says it's safer to take out target at a distance. Short Timer still uses his M16. He's been saving 1 magazine and 3-8 bullets in his pockets.
"U.S Weapons handles best!" He says……
Spring 5, 1967,
Aftermath of Routine Patrol, 15 KM South of La Drang Valley,
1800 hrs
We stack a whole lot of NVA bodies in the middle of the village, and burn it. The SF was chattering in one of the huts while cleaning their weapons. Short Timer is on the radio, asking for a lift back home……..back to base. Kowalski and Perry help me throw the bodies to the fire. Kai, however, uses his Combat Knife in each NVA bodies, checking their dead……or not. We got the airlift requested at 1830 hrs. But before we take the ride back, we torch the whole village. Arriving at the camp, I return to the firing range and slam the remains of the US-M3 to the Sergeant's table.
"THIS GUN IS SHIT! IT JAMMS, IT BREAKS, AND IT'S INNACURATE! Next time I'm on a mission or a patrol, hand me over the Thompson or I'll sew you for this you lousy piece of shit!" With that said I leave the firing range and return to my bunk where Kai, Perry, Kowalski, and Shorty waits.
(Jack's Letter)
Dear: Ann
I've just finished my first patrol, and am now safe back here in the camp. I just want to tell you that, Kai's here with me, alive and breathing. I almost got myself killed because of the Sergeant's advice of a lousy weapon. But just to let you know, I'm safe here. How's the farm? Is everything alright? I miss you…even if it's only my first night here……
Love,
Jack
Author's Note:
I finally was able to continue this chapter! Finally! More things will come up later on. I'll give you a little spoiler, just to make you, readers nervous. Later on, Jack will experience 3 almost death experience. Another villager from Mineral Town will be sent over to Nam. One by one, Jack's squad member will be killed brutally by the NVA. Some were shot dead. Kowalski will be killed by……. And Kai……I can't say much can't I? R&R please!