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Anonymous
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I remember asking Rock where the Starlights came from, and he just grinned, saying, "they're on loan". See, normally I am the scrounger for the unit, whatever we need, I beg, borrow, trade, or steal. As we went out, nobody had any idea , of how much we would change this night. Sure we had had firefights, exchanged fire before, but that was all against someone
out in the bush, nothing up close, just spray and pray.
But this would be different.
There was constant shooting, off in the distance, both red and green tracers filling the night air like some kind of fireflies. Jonesy and I take the lead, while everyone else squates down on one knee. Must have travelled 200 meters without seeing anything, before we stopped. Then Jones said, "I'm going back and get them." He had my .45, because he managed to come up with an M-79 grenade launcher and left his M-16 back at the A.O., and he needed something else, because those grenade launchers leave you defenseless; he told me the guy he got it from would't miss it, he'd never miss anything again. I'm squatting down on one knee, constantly scanning everything. By myself. I figure this is as good a place as any... Well Jonesy comes back with Rock, and we stay put. Marc and Starr [the other sniper team] take the lead and go out front, then Bill Star, comes back and leads the group forward, and Zolar and I walk drag. I'm having trouble seeing the compass, but the scope has messed up my night vision, and I can't get a reverse azimuth, so Zolar takes it, looks at it and says something, and I tell him, "keep it." We catch up with the group, and its our turn, to lead out. This goes on for a long time, how long I don't know. Time
can be a funny thing. When you live to die, it has no meaning. You are living for the moment, which can be an eternity. You find only 2 days are important in a person's life, today, and tomorrow.You know, I had been engaged, but from everything I had heard, I changed my mind. I broke it off. The last thing I wanted to do was have my young bride turn into a young widow. I had seen the stacks of aluminum coffins in Saigon, all marked, "not for public viewing." It wouldn't be fair to Connie. She didn't understand then, and I'm sure to this day she still doesn't.
As we are moving forward, we start to hear things, the sounds of engines, and yelling. Then the strangest thing happened. I heard an airplane, and then there was a gigantic flash of light, and this happened several more times.When Rock shows up, I ask him about it and he said, I hope you were smiling, because they were taking pictures.
He decided this was the point where we split up. Marc and Starr went with him, and we got to roam. We could have just taken a nap, but we were feeling adventurous. Off in the distance we see flashes of light, big flashes, followed seconds later by very low pitched booms, followed by strings of tracers, from the air down. Charlie was getting stepped on, but I couldn't help but wonder how many hits we were taking. More shooting, this time followed by explosions that were probably from grenades. And it was from behind us, from where we had left 3rd squad,
dug in. Third squad had 5 draftees, who didn't care about anything except getting high. I hoped they were alert, because they might get a lot higher than they wanted.
I can see what looks like 2 long humps ahead, could have been about 150 meters, and I said , "Jonesy come take a look-see." He said he thought it was trucks parked, under camo nets. And we can see cigarettes glowing, only to me it is as bright as a street light. I said, "Jonesy, you got any H.E., high explosive rounds for that thing?" He said, I got a couple. Then I said, "why don't you put one right in the middle of that first truck." There was a 'thunk', followed by........the biggest explosion I've ever heard in my life. BAD MISTAKE. We just started WW-3,
because what we hit was not trucks. It was an ammo depot. And I was absolutely night blind, because I didn't close my eyes. And I could't hear anything, but one continuous roar. There are live rounds coming down from the sky, very big rounds, like artillery shells, and some were going off when they hit. Zolar is screaming, let's get the hell out of here, but I can't hear anything, and he grabs me by the collar and starts dragging me until I figure out this is not a good place to be. Zolar told me later he could see flashes as shells rained down and exploded 400 to 500 meters away. Meanwhile Rock is on a squad radio, screaming "what the hell is going on?" Jones tells him, "Gee sarge, I don't know, something just blew up,
could have been a rice cooker."
There was a lot of screaming, and shooting but not from that ammo dump. Then I see someone,real close, like about 50 meters, and I'm whispering, "can you hit him [ meaning with the .45],he's over by the tree," and he says, "hit him, hell I can't even see the tree."
I look through the scope acquire my target, and then shot him through the head; and 2 more, one after another. Then we move 25 meters, hunker down, and more are coming into sight, and I'shooting as fast,
as I can. Each time I fire the muzzle flash overpowers the intensifer tube in the scope, and for a second it "whites out", only it's green. Then when it
stablizes, I shoot again, and I am shooting the person farthest in the rear. Those in front of that person hear a bang, but none of them see anyone drop.
I pulled that trigger 14 times, and every time someone went down, shot through the head, because generally speaking that is a guaranteed kill, everytime.Then jones lays a ' honey-comb round [this is a grenade with individual pockets of space in the nose, and when it hits the ground, it bounces up in the air about 3 or 4 feet, THEN explodes] into several people that are back lighted by the fire at the ammo dump. Everyone of them goes down. I say, "Jones is that .45 pistol ready," but he's already ahead of me,'Cocked, and Unlocked'. Rock is on the radio telling us to meet him at a particular rally point. But no one will be able to get inside the perimeter tonight. There's shooting all over the place. We are on our on.
" I'm changing, arranging, I'm changing"
" I'm changing everything, ah, everything around me"
" The world is a bad place, a bad place"
" A terrible place to live, oh, but I don't want to die"
" All my sorrows, sad tomorrows"
" Take me back to my own home"
" All my cryings, feel I'm dying"
" Take me back to my own home"
But you can never go home, it only exist in your
heart........
out in the bush, nothing up close, just spray and pray.
But this would be different.
There was constant shooting, off in the distance, both red and green tracers filling the night air like some kind of fireflies. Jonesy and I take the lead, while everyone else squates down on one knee. Must have travelled 200 meters without seeing anything, before we stopped. Then Jones said, "I'm going back and get them." He had my .45, because he managed to come up with an M-79 grenade launcher and left his M-16 back at the A.O., and he needed something else, because those grenade launchers leave you defenseless; he told me the guy he got it from would't miss it, he'd never miss anything again. I'm squatting down on one knee, constantly scanning everything. By myself. I figure this is as good a place as any... Well Jonesy comes back with Rock, and we stay put. Marc and Starr [the other sniper team] take the lead and go out front, then Bill Star, comes back and leads the group forward, and Zolar and I walk drag. I'm having trouble seeing the compass, but the scope has messed up my night vision, and I can't get a reverse azimuth, so Zolar takes it, looks at it and says something, and I tell him, "keep it." We catch up with the group, and its our turn, to lead out. This goes on for a long time, how long I don't know. Time
can be a funny thing. When you live to die, it has no meaning. You are living for the moment, which can be an eternity. You find only 2 days are important in a person's life, today, and tomorrow.You know, I had been engaged, but from everything I had heard, I changed my mind. I broke it off. The last thing I wanted to do was have my young bride turn into a young widow. I had seen the stacks of aluminum coffins in Saigon, all marked, "not for public viewing." It wouldn't be fair to Connie. She didn't understand then, and I'm sure to this day she still doesn't.
As we are moving forward, we start to hear things, the sounds of engines, and yelling. Then the strangest thing happened. I heard an airplane, and then there was a gigantic flash of light, and this happened several more times.When Rock shows up, I ask him about it and he said, I hope you were smiling, because they were taking pictures.
He decided this was the point where we split up. Marc and Starr went with him, and we got to roam. We could have just taken a nap, but we were feeling adventurous. Off in the distance we see flashes of light, big flashes, followed seconds later by very low pitched booms, followed by strings of tracers, from the air down. Charlie was getting stepped on, but I couldn't help but wonder how many hits we were taking. More shooting, this time followed by explosions that were probably from grenades. And it was from behind us, from where we had left 3rd squad,
dug in. Third squad had 5 draftees, who didn't care about anything except getting high. I hoped they were alert, because they might get a lot higher than they wanted.
I can see what looks like 2 long humps ahead, could have been about 150 meters, and I said , "Jonesy come take a look-see." He said he thought it was trucks parked, under camo nets. And we can see cigarettes glowing, only to me it is as bright as a street light. I said, "Jonesy, you got any H.E., high explosive rounds for that thing?" He said, I got a couple. Then I said, "why don't you put one right in the middle of that first truck." There was a 'thunk', followed by........the biggest explosion I've ever heard in my life. BAD MISTAKE. We just started WW-3,
because what we hit was not trucks. It was an ammo depot. And I was absolutely night blind, because I didn't close my eyes. And I could't hear anything, but one continuous roar. There are live rounds coming down from the sky, very big rounds, like artillery shells, and some were going off when they hit. Zolar is screaming, let's get the hell out of here, but I can't hear anything, and he grabs me by the collar and starts dragging me until I figure out this is not a good place to be. Zolar told me later he could see flashes as shells rained down and exploded 400 to 500 meters away. Meanwhile Rock is on a squad radio, screaming "what the hell is going on?" Jones tells him, "Gee sarge, I don't know, something just blew up,
could have been a rice cooker."
There was a lot of screaming, and shooting but not from that ammo dump. Then I see someone,real close, like about 50 meters, and I'm whispering, "can you hit him [ meaning with the .45],he's over by the tree," and he says, "hit him, hell I can't even see the tree."
I look through the scope acquire my target, and then shot him through the head; and 2 more, one after another. Then we move 25 meters, hunker down, and more are coming into sight, and I'shooting as fast,
as I can. Each time I fire the muzzle flash overpowers the intensifer tube in the scope, and for a second it "whites out", only it's green. Then when it
stablizes, I shoot again, and I am shooting the person farthest in the rear. Those in front of that person hear a bang, but none of them see anyone drop.
I pulled that trigger 14 times, and every time someone went down, shot through the head, because generally speaking that is a guaranteed kill, everytime.Then jones lays a ' honey-comb round [this is a grenade with individual pockets of space in the nose, and when it hits the ground, it bounces up in the air about 3 or 4 feet, THEN explodes] into several people that are back lighted by the fire at the ammo dump. Everyone of them goes down. I say, "Jones is that .45 pistol ready," but he's already ahead of me,'Cocked, and Unlocked'. Rock is on the radio telling us to meet him at a particular rally point. But no one will be able to get inside the perimeter tonight. There's shooting all over the place. We are on our on.
" I'm changing, arranging, I'm changing"
" I'm changing everything, ah, everything around me"
" The world is a bad place, a bad place"
" A terrible place to live, oh, but I don't want to die"
" All my sorrows, sad tomorrows"
" Take me back to my own home"
" All my cryings, feel I'm dying"
" Take me back to my own home"
But you can never go home, it only exist in your
heart........
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