A few words from the author: Thank you to all who read my story, and a bigger thank you to all who reviewed it. I am also taking suggestions for the next chapter.

Notes on the text: The beginning of this chapter contains some dark irony. 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.

Enjoy

Febuary 2, 1968; 1050 local time; Saigon, Vietnam

Ichigo woke up to find himself in a hospital ward with little idea of where he was. He sat up and winced slightly at the small pain. His entire torso was wrapped in bandages and he had bandages on the upper area of his right leg. The hospital had white walls and bright lights, beds lined both sides of the long ward. There were doors at both ends of the large room.

He looked to his left and saw a man propped up in his bed. The man's whole upper body was covered with bandages, his arms were held up by slings hanging from a complicated metal structure. Someone had put a helmet on him, the cloth covering on it read "God Bless DuPont Chemical Plant".

On Ichigo's other side was a sleeping man, everything from his elbow to his shoulder of his left arm was wrapped in bandages. Everything below the man's elbow was gone. The man turned fitfully onto his right side. "Jones... where are you... Stan... Stan... wake up... please wake up..." he said weakly.

The door on the far end opened up and in came Urahara and Renji, accompanied by a young-looking nurse with grey hair. They walked over to Ichigo and smiled at him.

"Welcome back you lucky bastard." Urahara said.

"They gonna send you home?" Renji asked.

"Nope, they won't even give me a Purple Heart." Ichigo said somewhat dissapointedly.

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Febuary 10, 1968; 1850 local time; Saigon, Vietnam

Ichigo and his squad sat inside an APC heading towards the forward command post in the hostile area of the city.

The outside of the APC resembled a brick with tank treads, the front of the vehicle was slanted slightly inward. The vehicle had a .50 cal. machinegun mounted inside what appeared to be a metal box with no top. The APC's inside was little more than a big metal box. The men sat on benches attached to the sides of the machine. It was not the most comfortable way to travel, Vietam was a very humid country and today the air seemed so thick that one could take a knife and cut it. This humidity was intensified by the small area of the APC. Some of the men were a little on edge, taking the joke the driver made as truth.

One hour ago...

"Wow, the M113 "ACAV", 275 horse power 6 cylindar diesel engine, 24mm armor plating... man you guys sure know how to travel." Ganju commented to the driver.

"You kidding? This thing's made of aluminum," The driver said, hitting the side of the vehicle for emphasis. "you scratch off the paint it'll say 'Budweiser' on it. Besides, when they break out the RPG's, 24mm of aluminum don't help much."

"So? how much protection do you think I get from this GI shirt?" Ganju responded pointing to his shirt.

The men arrived in front of the CP a few minutes later and got out. The CP was situated in a requisitioned building made out of concrete that stood about two stories tall, there was a 3 foot sandbag wall surrounding it. Small depressions made by bullets could be seen all over the building's outer walls. The eight windows on the top floor and the eight on the bottom floor had been taken out and had sandbags piled behind them. The inside of the building was one room that had tile floors. The floors were strewn with rubble, shell casings, cigarette butts, and various other discarded items. There were also red stains where bodies had fallen. There was a staircase in the middle of the of the wall on the end opposite from the entrance. Ichigo's squad entered the building. Soldiers were sitting on the floor, some against the walls, others on their helmets. Some were smoking, sleeping, cleaning their weapons, writing letters, talking, playing cards, reading books, or any combination thereof.

Urahra led his men up the stairs and was slightly suprised at who he saw. Two MAC-10's and a full ashtray rested on a makeshift table, next to them they saw the hunched back of a soldier. The solder wore faded green fatigues and a helmet. He stood up and turned around, revealing a light complexion marred by dirt and stress, he had a 5 o'clock shadow and brown eyes. When he saw Urahara he smiled and walked over to greet his old comrade.

"Mac, long time no see buddy!" Urahara said, shaking the other man's hand.

"Too long, Sandal-hat, too long." The man responded in a cordial tone.

"So, what happened to the cushy desk job?" Urahara asked.

"I'd still be pushing papers if Charlie hadn't dropped in to say 'hi'." He responded.

The two men then started to talk about old times, Ichigo wandered over to a nearby corner and sat down propping himself against the two walls and slowly drifted to sleep, unaware of the trials he would be put through in the coming weeks.

DuPont: the company that manufactured Napalm and the defoilant Agent Orange.

APC: Armored Personel Carrier

ACAV: Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle

Budwieser: A popular brand of American beer

GI: Government Issue

5 o'clock shadow: light facial hair growth

Author's notes: the M113 APC really was made of Aluminum. Specifically Aircraft-grade Aluminum, which is as strong as steel but lighter.