“There is our ride home.” Sgt. Collins said, pointing to the two jeeps.
“Are you suggesting that we steal the Colonel’s jeeps?” Mick asked.
“The Colonel told me to use available resources in getting back to Da Nang. Those two jeeps, I see as available resources.”
Sgt. Collins left his squad and approached the tall soldier who stood guard between the jeeps. “What’s your name, soldier?”
“Private Carl Sharp, sir.”
“Why are you just standing there?”
“The Colonel ordered me to stand watch over these vehicles.
“Are you his driver?”
“The Colonel ordered me to wait here until I am needed.”
“What about the second one?”
“That’s his backup. The Colonel likes to have a backup in case the first one breaks down.”
“Private Sharp, do you have a nickname?”
He thought for a moment as he looked upward. “Well, back home in Indianapolis they called me Shadow because I cast a long shadow.”
“Well, Shadow, the Colonel has ordered me to use these two resources as transportation to get my squad back to Da Nang.”
“I … I…” Shadow couldn’t think of a proper response. His brow furrowed from the pain of processing the sergeant’s logic. “I haven’t heard of any such orders from the Colonel.”
“Well, Shadow, you are a resource given to us by Col. Beck. Now are you questioning my words?” Mick, seeing the confusion on Shadow’s face, stepped beside Collins and asked his sergeant. “Sir, shall we start boarding these vehicles?”
“Yes, you take Dave and Ruben in the second jeep. Sparky and me will ride with Shadow in the lead.”
Shadow attempted to offer an objection. “No, Colonel never said anything to me about driving anyone to Da Nang.”
“Now, Private. You said your orders are to watch over these vehicles until needed.” Sgt. Collins didn’t wait for a response from Shadow. He promptly took the shotgun seat in the first jeep.
Shadow relented to Collins’ logic. He saluted, then took his position behind the wheel.
Sgt. Collins motioned C4 to pile into their rides. Without hesitation, Mick got behind the wheel in the second vehicle, along with Ruben and Dave. Sparky took the seat behind his squad leader and Shadow.
“Are the gas tanks on the back of both jeeps full?” Sgt. Collins asked.
“Yes, sir. I topped them off myself.”
“Good, do you know which direction to Da Nang?”
“That way, sir,” Shadow pointed to the east.
Like in the old western movies, Sgt. Collins waived his right arm in a forward motion, leaving his hand pointing in the direction they were to go.
In no time, C4, in their available resources, were cruising along the jungle road toward Da Nang. C4 had gone fifty miles before they came upon a Vietnamese man standing in the road, waving his arms.
Shadow stopped several feet from the man. Sgt. Collins raised his right fist, signaling for Mick’s vehicle to stop.
Mick walked up to Sgt. Collins with his rifle pointed at the stranger in the road. Sparky was the only one in the first jeep that had a weapon pointing at the stranger.
“Be careful. This could be an ambush.” Mick warned.
“Get the men out of the vehicles and take cover.”
Mick followed Sarge’s orders.
“What do you want?” Sgt. Collins yelled at the Vietnamese man.
“American soldiers, help me. Help me.” The Vietnamese man cried. As he approached.
“Stop right there,” Collins ordered. He could tell he hadn’t eaten or washed for days. Collins had heard stories of many a patrol letting down their guard for a villager requesting help only to be lured into an ambush.
Collins jumped out of his vehicle, still not pointing his rifle at the man.
The man pointed off to his left in the jungle. “My village. My family. Help me.”
Looking to his right, Collins saw gray smoke rising over the jungle canopy. Sgt. Collins sensed the man’s appearance and his cries for help were genuine.
“What’s your name?” Sgt. Collins asked.
“Me called Pham,” he said his name so fast, Collins tried to repeat it. It came out Fame.
Sparky came alongside Collins and said, “I’ve come across villagers who tried to escape the war and took their families into the jungle. The Viet Cong would find them and force the young men to join them. Sometimes they would be labeled traitors. A family or even everyone in the village would be killed and their huts burned.
“Is that your village?” Collins pointed to the distant smoke.
“Not village. Just me and family. We need help. They going to kill.”
“We should continue on.” Mick warned. “This could be a trap.”
“We were sent to this country to help these people,” Collins said. “I want to at least check his story out.”
“We’re not equipped to get into a firefight.” Mick protested. “We barely have enough ammo to hold off an ambush.”
“I brought a dozen grenades and a couple of Claymores.” Sparky offered.
“Mick, you stay here with Shadow and Ruben. I’ll take Dave and Sparky. We’ll check things out and won’t be long.”
***
Sparky followed a few feet behind Pham along a jungle path. The whole time he watched for snares and tripwires that Pham stepped over.
Dave followed behind Collins. He kept his eyes open for someone sneaking up behind him.
Collins seemed to be more concerned about what he would find when they get where Pham was leading them.
An hour later, they came upon a clearing. The smell of the burned hut overshadowed the smell of burned flesh. Pham ran past the hut to find the half-burned bodies of a woman and two children. Phram fell to his knees, weeping.
He turned to the soldiers and said in broken English. “I saw the Viet Cong coming; that’s when I went for help. They wanted me to be their soldier. They didn’t wait for me. They just killed my family.”
The three soldiers stood behind Pham. None of the three could think of any comforting words. Their emotions ranged from sadness to anger.
Sgt. Collins took a deep breath before turning to Dave and Sparky, “Let’s bury these bodies.”
While the bodies were being buried, Sgt. Collins noticed a recently used trail heading deeper into the jungle.
“How far do you think those VC have gone?” Collins asked Pham.
“This kind of VC doesn’t travel far. After they kill and steal, they go and rest. Next day they look for another family.”
“Well, we are going after them.”
“Sir, what about Mick and the rest of the squad?” Dave asked. “They’re waiting for us back at the road”
Collins looked at his watch. It was not even noon. “We’ll follow this trail for a couple of hours. If we don’t find these raiders, we’ll head back. Is that acceptable with you?”
Dave nodded.
“What about you, Sparky?”
Sparky nodded.
“Pham, do you want to make those VC pay?”
Pham didn’t wait; he headed on the trail that led deeper into the jungle.
