Charley Don't Surf-

[KILLADEUCE]

I could hear the sharp, staccato sounds of the communist bloc 7.62 rounds pinging off in the distance... Then... A flare went off about 400 yards to my left... Remembering my training i closed one eye to retain some form of night vision... The flare made a large popping sound, followed by the swooshing timbre of the phoshperous igniting. At that same instant it's parachute deployed allowing it's illumaniting properties to slowly drift down into the jungle canopy.

I dare not move as i watched this glowing orb drift down mere yards from my ad-hoc position. The flare easily turned this darkened night into day for a few moments- leaving all under it a liable candidate for bieng shot. And the enemy was way too close to make such a minor mistake. Finally, after what seemed like restless eternity, the flare drifted down onto the damp Jungle floor and sizzled- the White phospherous fighting to remain ignited as it devoured itself- Finally out of fuel, the flare sputtered and all was dark again.

I waited and listened. Slowly taking in a deep breath and holding it as a i closed my eyes. The Firing had stopped but i knew things were far from safe. After waiting about 15 seconds, i relaxed a little... I could hear life returning to the jungle, the rustling of feathers as unknown birds shifted wieght inside their roosts, trying to get some sleep on this hellish night... To my rear i could hear the coughing sounds of a Great tiger, no doubt enroute to it's dinner. "Hopefully not me", I thought to myself... Nothing can be more humbling than bieng alone in a jungle, stranded from you're platoon with the prospect of a becoming a tigers next ill-fated meal.

Shaking these fearful thoughts from my fatigued mind, i broke out my compass from a cargo pocket in my blouse. The eery incandescent light did little to quell my nerves. I had some idea where i was, but i would have to wait till first light to get an Azimuth to follow back to the firebase.

I still had a hard time comprehending what had taken place in this single night. It is amazing how the winds of fate can change course in mere milliseconds.

I slowly backed myself into a huge mound of elephant grass, making sure to disturb as little as possible. Once i was content i wouldnt be seen, i slowly laid down and prepared for sleep. It was extremely hard to get confortable in the humid dampness, but luckily at this time of night, it was cool enough that i wouldnt have to take any salt tablets from loss of fluids.

Finally I found a Sweet spot and closed my eyes, letting my mind drift back to the event's that got me in the mess in the First place....

- To be continued

[KILLADEUCE]

-Con'td from above-

It was one of those mornings where you just did'nt want to get out of bed. I awoke to the cacophony of our First Sergeant Romain, who was screaming at the top of his lungs ,"Get the fuck outa bed you shit for brain bastards!!!". I checked my watch, as i wiped my red rimmed eyes. "7 am, sheeit" I said to myself. We were promised a day off after what we had just gone through in Ashau Valley as a support element to the 2nd brigade that had fought so hard for that godamned hill. It was hands down one of the bloodiest engagements i had ever been a part of, one that i wished to push far from my mind. It was easy to remove such thoughts into the depths of my conscious, with Romain running amok in the barracks....

A very non-bullshit taking individual, Romain was a man that pulp novel authors could easily fill volumes about. Legend has it he was on his 3rd tour in country, and that he declined DEROS and a cushy little deskjob in the states to remain in the action. Just thinking about the man made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Luckily his attention was currently on Summers, a private that had just moved in from battalion. Apparently Summers had a hard time rousing from his slumber after last night's bout with 2 fifth's of Red label and that petite young prostitute he had proposed to.

Romain, looked down at Summers and smiled maniacally, the evil grin accenting the sparkle in his grey-blue eyes... The kind you would look into and instantly look away from, as all you could see was death in them; And beyond that -if you stared hard enough- You may even see you're own reflection. Slowly moving to the side of summers' cot , Romain got a grip on the frame and flipped Summer's out onto the Hard floor. Summers hit the deck with enough force to bounce him up about 2feet into the air. Needless to say Summers was awake at this point...


I quickly exited my cot, already pulling on a fresh pair of camo pants and halfway into my boots. Romain moved to me and looked down. "Morning, Top.", I squeeked... Looking over at summers who was still in a daze and rubbing his head. Last thing i needed was a boot in the ass this early in the morning. "We move out in an hour. Get you're gear, get fed and meet on the line" Romain retorted sharply. I could tell he was a little pleased with the Cot stunt and I sighed in relief as he crisply moved out of the hooch.

By this time everyone in the hooch was wide awake and in varying forms of dress. I pulled on my shirt and grabbed my Ruck and threw it on the cot. Not having any idea what the hell was in store for us, i decided to pack light. No sense in carying all types of shit i wouldnt need through the jungle. I opened up my locker and tossed a couple of pairs of fresh socks into the Ruck. -A bad case of jungle rot was not a prospect i wanted to worry about, and in the Steamy jungle if one didnt get a dry pair of socks on daily it could cause serious issues. Beyond the socks, i broke out 3days of rations, my poncho and liner, compass, knife and other essentials. I could already feel the heat of the morning sun as it's fiery rays heated up the tin siding that was used to make the walls and roof of the hooch. It was going to be a long day...

After Grabbing my rifle and webbing, I opened the Hooch door to a blast of heat that almost seemed to suck air out of my lungs. Squinting my eyes I looked around. The Firebase i was stationed at was no more than a month old and still being built up. Various sand bag emplacements, covered artillery positions and hooches could be seen in View. I looked over at the command post, it had our company crest, and a newly painted small sign that read "LRRPS- First in Last out". "Lrrps," i thought to myslef and chuckled. It seems the army can find an acronym for anything. In this case it was reffering to our newly formed unit of Long Range Recon patrol, something i volunteered for to get out of my last outfit. I figured filling sandbags in the rear area's of Dak-to was a pussy way out. I was forced into this mess as due to the draft an i would make the best of it. Doing REMF work in a rear area was about as appealing to me as a stomach pump.

My father used to have this saying "It is always better to live on you're feet than die on you're knees", it used to scare the shit out of me as a young child, but as a young man, the pressure to live up to my father standards was too great. After boot camp, i somehow managed to get by AIT and then ultimately into the Special Forces, where i became well versed in weapons, munitions and communications. After being sent over to Vietnam, i had been placed first in a forward area near the city of Hue, where we helped train the South Vietnamese Army in the fine art of efficient killing. After that was completed, they rolled a number of us back to the rear as advisors. Ultimately it was not the life for me, so when my Commanding Officer at the time asked for members to join this new "LRRP" outfit i jumped at the chance...

The loud swooshing sound of a F4 phantom flying low in the distance snapped me out of my thoughts, I had other things that needed to be taken care of. After a quick meal of powdered eggs for breakfast, i went to the armorer to stock up on grenades and ammo. The Armorer was a cheerful sort named Jefferson, a strong brother from the streets of detroit. For some reason we always seemed to get along quite well... "Wassup Deuce?" , Jefferson said with a smile, (using a nickname i was given in training) "What you think you'll need today?". Pondering his question for a moment, I said back casually, "The usual, plus some WP and a few frags". Quickly and efficiently Jefferson walked in the back and handed over the Goods, He must have known about the mission before i did, as he did'nt make his usual small talk. I looked over the equipment. The WP -White Phospherous- grenade was an anti-vehicle grenade, which could be used in a number of roles. Mostly used on the engine blocks of jeeps and tanks, the White Phospherous burned hot enough to melt almost completely through even the biggest Hunks of metal. I personally liked to use them to mark positions for napalm as the white smoke given off could be seen for miles and seemed a little better than our colored smoke grenades, which we used mostly for extractions and dust off's. The frag grenade was a standard mark-29 pineapple grenade which looked almost identical to ones used in world war 2. I guess a good design stands the test of time.

Along with my grenades were two bandoliers of 5.56 amunition that was preloaded into clips. I had about 16 clips in all with about 20 rounds per clip. It seemed like it might be alot, but that ammo gets burned up fast in a fight. The 5.56 was a nato round that our M16 rifles used, my car-15 (a shorter version of the m16) was chambered in the same round. I preffered the Carbine over the M16 because it came out of the box with a aluminum plated reciever which helped against jamming. The Current M16 models where still being replaced or retro-fitted with this aparatus, and it was badly needed. Combined with the humidity and dirt of the jungle, the smokeless powder used in the m16's easily gummed up and jammed rifles. It was a rumor among the enlisted that jammed guns caused more deaths than actual Viet Cong Kills, I did not wish to learn the hard way.

I slung the bandoliers around my neck, clipped my grenades to my webbing and eased my rucksack onto my back. I jumped up and down in place a couple of times to make sure it was firmly seated and then moved over to meet up with Romain and the rest of the squad for orders....

[KILLADEUCE]

-Con'td from above-

We mustered about 50 feet from a lone makeshift helicopter pad. The red clay of the area was plowed down and then built up to form a plateu-like lip that was reinforced with steel grating that the combat engineers flew in from Tang son Nhut. Romain had not yet arrived at this point so we all used the time to chat, smoke and relax. LRRP teams are considerably smaller than most platoons, usually formed into 4 man or 6 man squads called "Sticks" My squad was a 4 man team composed of PFC Summers, CPL Stevens, Myself and Romain.

Me and Romain held the highest ranks in the stick do to our Training. Steven's Was the Radio Operator, a young youth from Minnesota with an accent that defintely gave away his birthplace. Summers was sipping from his canteen. I could already see black and blue marks on his elbows where he rolled up his sleaves, I looked away and kinda chuckled...
"Any word on what the hell is going on?" i asked to Stevens, pondering our current situation. Stevens looked up from checking his radio , "Not that a know of, Romain kinda came out of nowhere with this one... I thought we had the fucking day off." I nodded in agreement, nothing is worse than going back into the bush with a hangover.

Before i had time to retort, Romain moved up on us. "Alright Gentleman, here is the Situation report. Word from intel says there is a brigade sized unit with what apears to be North Vietnamese regulars. Also confirmed may be the presence of chinese advisors." He paused a moment to let it sink in... "Chinese advisors?!" i thought to myself almost shocked. Diplomatically speaking this could be cause for concern. If Officially recognized as helping the North Vietnamese, China could seriously break a number of politcal ties in Washington. It was already well known that the Russian's were helping out the North, but nothing as of yet could be proven. As to the the mission it didn't take much to put 2 and 2 together.

After his pause, Romain continued "We are going to be flown about 2 clicks behind where intel confirmed this troop movement. From there we are to observe and report any enemy positions, troop sizes and types of weapons, etc. As usual we are not to engage unless absolutely necassary. If anyone gets lost, follow this vector back to the firebase" He said showing us the topographical map he had broken out. I shuddered at the thought. After folding up the map and putting it back into his breast pocket, Romain returned to the briefing. "I want all gear that could rattle or make noise taped down. Last thing i need is to be compromised by some Fucking mistake." We all grunted in agreement to that one, when going into battle it is absolutely essential to check and double check all equipment. Men have been killed for something as simple as a broken shoe lace, and I would be damned if i would go out like that.

"Chopper should be coming any minute, use this time to check gear and get one last cig, there wont be any smoking out in the bush!" Romain finshed, he really didnt need to say much more. We all knew what was expected of us, and he had already decided on the mission particulars. It was his show and we would follow him into hell if we had to. I used this time to tape down most my gear, paying special attention to my webbing and the O-rings on the pins of my grenades. Once i was satisfied that was completed, i double checked my canteen was full (Half full canteens swish around making an enormous amount of noise) and stretched. I knew this would be the last bit of rest i would get for at least 24 hours so i tried to make the best of it.

Then, as if almost on cue a Bell UH1 helicopter bearing a First Cavalry isignia on its nose came swooping in low and fast. The force of the rotor blades nearly blew me off of my feet. I stood my ground however and squinted as dust and other debris swirled in seemingly all directions at once. It finally gently landed in front of us, and idled, allowing us to get close enough to board. With one big leap i hopped into the door, and sat down on one of the canvas seats. I took my rifle and cradled it my lap, checking for any dirt and grime. Now was the time. Everyone boarded in what seemed like mere seconds, and Just as Romain entered and sat down the Helicopter Revved engines and took off. The force of the lift of planted my ass firmly in the fragile seat.

With one hand on my helmet and the other on the rifle in my lap, i could'nt help but feel the adrenaline and fear of men about to head into the unknown... I looked over at Summers and Stevens. They both were in various forms of deep thought, contemplating numerous scenarious as to what would happen over the next 24 hours. I glanced at Romain, he had a block of wood and pocket knife out carving away, humming some unkown tune. I couldnt beleive how cool-headed he was in this situation, i could barely compose myslef and this guy was humming a fucking song! Romain caught my look and smiled back. I suddenly felt almost safe... If anyone was gonna make it through this war it would be him, I made a mental note to keep as close to him as possible. I shifted gaze out the open bay-door and watched the trees and jungle canopy below. The droning of the engines almost hypnotic. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, I thought to myself , "Once again into the breach"

To be Continued-

[FartinMowler]

Army stuff seems kinda stale but overall I liked the crafting of the story. :)

[Big Papa Goat]

I liked the name of this thread. Apocolypse Now makes gives me a nice warm feeling inside.

[UtterParadox]

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Wow...

[Protoclown]

CHARLIE DON'T SURF BUT WE THINK HE SHOULD >: