Drowning in Her Eyes (39 page)

“Don
't complain
,
Riley,
” said Minelli,
“You
'll get a Purple Heart. You might even get to go home.
”
Sergeant
Bell was rallying the troops.

“Stand fast, check ammo, lock and load!
” Jack
ordered
,
“Do you think they
'll come again?
”

“I think so,
” said Bell
.
“
T
hey
've lost a lot of men, and they
'll want some blood. Why do you think they waited so long, Boss?
”

“I
've been thinking about that. My guess is
they
'
re part of the mob attacking the ARVN. They probably sent a few back to finish off our Huey. They probably thought it would be an easy job. They may have been expecting most of us to be dead; but the chopper didn
't burn, so they waited for some more of their pals to turn up.
”

“Well
,
then,
” said Bell,
“We
have
put a spoke in their wheel. There must be at least thirty dead out there.
”

“I
've got an idea,
” said Jack,
“how dry do you think that grass is?
”

Bell smiled,
“You
're a devious bastard, Cap
'n, if you don
't mind my saying so. It
's long and it
's yellow on top. If it had a good ignition source, it might burn well.
”

“Okay, that
'
s what we
'll do
…
”

Jack left them at stand to. He thought the next attack was not far away. His sentries to his rear reported no movement.
Funny
, thought Jack,
I would have wagered they might have tried to sneak around behind us
. He found Reuben, the man with the grenade launcher, and explained what he wanted. They waited.

It took an hour, not long before dawn. The clouds had lifted and there was a quickening breeze blowing across their front from right to left.
“You bloody little beauty!
” said Jack to himself. They came at a shambling run, illuminated by the flares, scythed down again by the M60s.

“Ok
ay
,
” said Jack,
“do it!
”

PFC Reuben began firing grenade after grenade at the wreck of the helicopter. It took four rounds; then the remaining jet fuel ignited with an explosive
‘whump
'. Driven by the breeze the flames raced across the top of the yellow grass, illuminating a scene from hell. NVA were running hither and thither. Many were on fire, some of their grenades exploding on their bodies. The M60s continued the slaughter. Soon there were no enemy in sight.
“Cease fire,
” shouted Bell,
“change magazines, lock and load!
” They stood to until dawn. The clouds had lifted; there was sunshine. In front on a blackened field were the smoking bodies of more than 100 of the NVA soldiers.

* * *
*

Mendez was working at his radio, fiddling with the tuner. Suddenly, there was a burst of ground noise, some static, some music. Then he found their regimental net. They had communications again. The heavy cloud that had caused temperature inversions all
day
yesterday had blown away on the breeze.
“Delta Ten,
” the set squawked,
“come in Delta Ten, how do you read me?
”

Jack grinned at Reuben, with his M79.
“Piss poor, Private Reuben, you wasted three!
” Reuben grinned back.
“Practice makes perfect, sir.
”

Their problems were not over. Delta told them there would be a three-
hour delay for extraction. A medivac was on the way. The others would have to wait. The NVA had been repulsed from their forward positions and the ARVN was counter attacking. Jack realised immediately that this meant they might have some very nasty visitors before too long as the NVA fell back. He called a conference with his NCOs. He told them of the latest intelligence, and then he asked for comment. Corporal Minelli said,
“They will know exactly where we are now and our approximate strength. That is, if there were any survivors from last night.
” There was general agreement on that.

“Right,
” said Jack.
“I reckon we should abandon the ruins and move into the tree line. We can leave a fire burning in the church and other equipment to make them think
we
'
re still there. Then we can set up a good position in the trees where
we
'
ll be able to enfilade them.
” He turned to Bell.
“Get the men up there right away, Sergeant, set up the M60s. You may have to cut some smaller trees down to give them a better field of fire, and make sure the fields overlap. Send me Reuben as you go. Go out the back of the church and head away from the ruins for a hundred yards into the jungle. Then double back and set up your positions. They might have somebody watching.
”

“You got it
,
Captain.
” Bell was on his way. Reuben came down the rise.
“
H
ow many grenades do you have left?
”
Jack asked him.

Reuben chuckled,
“Them boys done bought me a whole case. Must be at least a dozen left.
”

“Ok
ay
,
” said Jack,
“go and help dig in, and then I want you near me.
” Reuben ran off. As he did, the
wop, wop, wop
of rotor blades announced the arrival of the medivac chopper.

They carefully loaded the wounded pilot into the machine.
“Right,
” said Jack,
“You go next
,
Baker, then Riley.
” He turned to the co-
pilot.
“Ok
ay,
mate, you had better go too, this is not your fight.
” The WO said,
“I didn
't hear that, sir.
You
'
re going to need as many men as you can get. I can shoot too. Give me a rifle and I
'll help out.
”

Jack did not argue. He was glad of the extra man and proud that he had inspired him to put himself in harm
's way when he could have taken the easy way out.

Jimbo protested that he, too, could stay. Jack knew he was too badly wounded for that and ordered him aboard. Before he boarded, Jack could not resist his long awaited questions.
“Jimbo, where is Susan? What happened to the baby?
”

Jimbo said,
“Worcester Massachusetts. You have a little girl. Details later.
” He climbed reluctantly into the aircraft.

PFC Riley said,
“What the hell, this is my chance to be a hero. I
'm staying too. You are the best officer I ever served with, Cap
'n. I won
't fly away and leave you here to do my fighting for me.
”

The medivac chopper rose and darted away towards safety. Jack thought of the young pilot who had gotten them down safely despite his wound.
I hope he makes it,
he thought
.
I hope he sees his Momma soon
. He walked through the ruins to the tree line. Sergeant Bell had done a good job with his dispositions. Now all they had to do was bait their trap and wait. Sweet Jesus, he prayed, bring us that Huey first.

They had set a fire in the church and left a number of ration-
packs on top of the remnants of the stone wall. A helmet and a water bottle sat a short distance away. It was the best they could do. They settled down to wait. An hour later, the flank scout spotted movement off to their left. The enemy came into view in skirmish formation, about platoon strength, thought Jack. Two NVA scouts came into their field of fire. They halted. One turned and scuttled back to the main body of his comrades. A few minutes later, four men came forward carrying a tube and base plate.
Shit
, thought Jack,
a mortar, just what I do not
need
. If they toss a few of those at us, the tree bursts will cause havoc
. He crept down the line to the left hand M60. Minelli was on the gun, with the diminutive cowboy from Billings his number two.
“Ok
ay,
Corporal,
” he said,
“
line up that mortar crew. When the shit hits the fan, hose them down immediately.
”

Minelli nodded. Jack went back down the line telling each man to hold his fire. No matter what, they were to wait until he gave the order. To Reuben he said,
“Can
you hit that mortar from here?
”

“I reckon so,
” he replie
d.

“Good, when the M60 opens up, throw every grenade you have at it.
”

The other NVA were approaching the church now, crawling towards the blackened field. One of them put up a hand, and bought it down in a chopping motion. The mortar crew went into action. They rained about ten rounds down on the church. The remains of the roof imploded, sections of the old walls teetered and collapsed.
Shit
, thought Jack,
thank God we weren
't still in there
.

The NVA rose, and charged at the ruins. Twenty yards brought them into Sergeant Bell
's killing zone.
“Fire!
” roared Jack.

He saw the mortar crew jerk like puppets on strings and go down in a hail of bullets. Grenades began landing among them, throwing bits of metal into the air. Then both M60s began to sweep the field, Most of the NVA troops fell in the first fusillade, the remaining dozen or so fled past the burnt out Huey and down to the cover of the river. They had hardly fired a shot at the Americans.

Only then did they
hear the helicopter. It arrived along with a gunship to provide cover. It
wasn
'
t needed.

Ninety minutes later, they were back at their base. As they landed, Jack could see about fifteen officers drawn up to watch. Jack was last off, making sure all his men were together. They were a sorry looking lot. Blackened faces, bandages, some limping from their heavy bruising. As they began to walk away from their Huey
, t
he officers came to attention and saluted them
.

One of them
was a General.