Most of our time in Vietnam was not all that exciting. And that's the way we liked it. At the boot meets the ground level, most armies would gladly trade medals for a day of humping from here to there. Kinda fits with the old canoeman's saying of "No Indian ever died on a portage." Happily, in the Delta, fire fights didn't happen all that often. Unhappily, that didn't stop us from losing men one or two at a time. Give me a day of mindless fatigue with sixty pounds on my back and I was a happy soldier.
When the paddies were dry our night positions were almost pleasant. We were lucky enough to never be infiltrated. Rumor had it, and rumor was everything, that Charlie Company had their sleep interrupted one night. Neither the number of VC involved nor casualties were ever known by us. That was normal. But the idea of hand to hand combat in the dark was real enough to get us thinking about what it would be like. Gun butt, knuckles and knife time. You open up with a pistol or rifle in the dark and the odds of shooting your best friend were about the same as gunning down an infiltrator. The thought alone was enough to keep our eyes open when on watch.
Charlie also figured in on my favorite combat story. Gets me to thinking there wasn't actually a Charlie Company besides the one made up by the division's psychological warfare crew. When they figured us grunts were gettin' slack about keepin' awake at night, they started up the infiltration rumor. When we were down in the dumps they fired up the following one:
Not too far from FSB Moore sat an ARVN fire base. Don't know what the hell they did there. Supposedly they had an artillery unit inside to provide all the cover fire an ARVN unit could wish for. But as far as I could see, the ARVNs didn't venture out very often. Once they strolled along with Bravo Company on a bushmaster. Yup, that's about all they did, stroll. Didn't carry any water or rations with them. When they got hungry or thirsty they tried to borrow from us. Like that was gonna happen. That's why, in an earlier entry, I said South Vietnam would tumble like a house of cards when we pulled out. Seemed we were fighting their war. Or, more accurately, it was our war and they were dragged into it whether they wanted or not. Screwed up for sure.
On a bushmaster we'd walk back to Moore. Simple enough. Unless it was gettin' near the end of the day. Seemed like four o'clock was cocktail hour for the ARVNs in their FSB. And when they were a little lit they felt the need to fire a couple of rounds over the heads of a passing grunt unit. That much I know for sure, seein' as how it happened to us on occasion. Pissed us off but we always let it pass.
Not so Charlie Company. I remember it being soon after they were infiltrated. That's how I recall it but after forty-four years my recall might be a tad off. Anyhow, on the evening in question, one way or the other, Charlie Company was a little high strung and ready to snap. All it took was a couple of alcohol inspired rounds to set them off.
As the story reached us it had them assaulting the ARVNs. The result was a few ARVN wounded, maybe a KIA or two. Charlie Company was untouched. And no doubt feelin' a whole lot better.
Whether the assault actually happened is up for grabs. Like I said, we got it through the rumor mill. On the other hand, it sure made us feel good and that said a lot about how we felt about our allies.
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