Death in the Jungle by Gary Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

in early April ’67. It was to have been Boston’s last trip to Vietnam before his discharge from the navy. It’s easier to be brave when you don’t have a wife and kids to worry about, I thought.

CHAPTER ONE
Mission One
    “Valor is a gift. Those having it never know for sure whether they have it till the test comes. And those having it in one test never know for sure if they will have it when the next test comes.”
    Carl Sandburg, December 14, 1954
    DATE: 18, 19 August 1967
    TIME: 180400H to 190830H
    COORDINATES: YS074634, 077644, 083643, 086639, 086633
    UNITS INVOLVED: Foxtrot, 1st Squad, MST-3 (Mobile Support Team)
    TASK: Reconnaissance patrol and overnight ambush
    METHOD OF INSERTION: LCPL MK-4
    METHOD OF EXTRACTION: LCPL MK-4
    TERRAIN: Defoliated swampland, mangrove swamp
    TIDE: 0905H Low, 1309H High, 2023H Low
    MOON: Full
    WEATHER: Cloudy with rain
    SEAL TEAM PERSONNEL:
    Lt. Meston, Patrol Leader/Rifleman, M-16
    Lt. Gill, Ass’t Patrol Leader/Rifleman, M-16
    RM2 Smith, Point/Rifleman, Shotgun
    MM2 Funkhouser, Automatic Weapons, M-60
    BT2 McCollum, Grenadier, M-79
    HM2 Brown, Radioman/Rifleman, M-16
    ADJ3 Bucklew, Rifleman, M-16
    AZIMUTHS: 000 degrees-500m, 045 degrees-175m, 035 degrees-350m, 090 degrees-500m, 135 degrees-500m, 180 degrees-800m
    ESCAPE: 180 degrees
    PHASE LINES: Tijuana, San Diego, Los Angeles
    CODE WORDS: Challenge and Reply—Two numbers total 10
    This was it—Foxtrot Platoon, our first mission. We had a good bunch of guys in the squad, but we were all green. We were untested. Still, we were ready. This is what we’d been training for, and now the time had come.
    I was keyed up and excited. If I was scared, I didn’t notice it. My excitement overwhelmed all other emotions. As I glanced around at the others, none of them looked scared either. Of course, their faces were covered with green-and-black camouflage paint, but even that couldn’t hide their eyes. And their eyes looked clear and confident.
    Personally, the fact that a SEAL had never been captured made everything black-and-white for me. No SEAL had ever been captured, and I wouldn’t be the first. I would never surrender. I would fight to the last breath. I would never leave my platoon; rather, I’d stay, and if death came, it would come to us all or to all who attempted to kill us. Do or die: That gave me courage. Knowing I wouldn’t allow capture, and consequent torture, took away my fear of the unknown. I’d make it back alive from this mission, or I’d flat-out die trying.
    Since this was our first time out, Lieutenant Gill had agreed to come along to make sure we didn’t do anythingstupid, like getting killed. He was experienced and was finishing up his tour of duty. He’d advise our OIC (officer in charge), Lieutenant Meston. Mr. Meston looked a bit like he needed some help. He wasn’t scared, but seemed unsettled. I’ll keep an eye on him, I thought; the jury’s still out on what kind of platoon leader he’ll turn out to be.
    Seven of us went out in the dark. That seemed like a lucky number to me. Seven. Maybe that was a sign this tour would go well, or at least this first mission. I hoped so. But where we were going wasn’t a place swarming with luck. It was the Rung Sat Special Zone, swarming with Communist forces. The Rung Sat was a thirty-by-thirty-five kilometer area of mangrove swamp located on the northeastern edge of the Mekong Delta and contained some of the most toilsome terrain in Vietnam. It was a haven for the VC and NVA, who used the area as a resting place after operations. The Vietnamese called the area “The Forest of Assassins,” due to its history as a hideout for pirates, outlaws, and contrabandists. And now we SEALs were invading the territory, ambushing the enemy in his own backyard.
    It was just past 0200 hours when we boarded the LCPL MK-4 that would take us to our insertion point off the Quan Quang Xuyen, which was a tributary of the Soirap River. The LCPL was a thirty-six-foot-long,