Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel - Revised Edition

by Podlaski, John

  Doc glanced at Zeke’s feet. “Looking much better, my man, keep up the good work.”

  Zeke nodded his head in agreement, continuing to rub in the ointment. John could not fathom that Zeke’s feet could have looked any worse.

  “Bob, the L-T’s RTO, will be going with us,” Sixpack said.

  “What does the brass know about this trail?” Scout asked.

  “Not a thing, I’m going to sketch the trail on my map as we go along. Everyone should bring a claymore. Zeke, you, and Frenchie take enough supplies to build a mechanical ambush. We’ll find a good spot and set it up before heading back. If we run into an ambush, break contact as fast as you can, and work your way back down the trail to regroup. Remember, nobody leaves anyone behind if he’s hit.”

  “How soon before we leave?” John asked.

  “In thirty minutes.”

  At seven sharp, the First Squad left the defensive perimeter and set out for the trail, walking along the same path created the day before. Men in the column should have been spaced evenly apart, with at least ten feet separating them. However, the dense, tangled jungle did not allow for this without each man losing sight of the person to his in front.

  On this patrol, rucksacks stayed within the NDP. The grunts wore only suspenders and web gear, which held a canteen of water, ammo pouches, grenades, a claymore, and smoke grenades. Without the added weight, the ten men maneuvered quickly through the tunnel of foliage, covering the two-hundred meters to the trail in less than thirty minutes.

  “Look at the size of this thing!” Larry exclaimed, peering down the width of the trail. “I bet you can drive a semi-truck through here.”

  “They can make it wider yet by smashing down this elephant grass,” Wild Bill added.

  “Yeah, then it would be a three-lane highway,” Zeke said, glancing up and down the trail.

  “It sure didn’t look this big yesterday.”

  “Hell, we didn’t have this much time to admire it.”

  Nung walked through the chest-high elephant grass, then squatted near the oversized trail. The dirt was packed solid from heavy use; most likely it was a route to Cambodia.

  “No wonder it isn’t on the map,” Wild Bill speculated, “There’s no way a plane could spot it through these tall trees and heavy overhead cover.”

  “It’s natural camouflage,” Zeke added, looking upward into the canopy.

  “I wonder if we’re the first GI’s to stumble across it,” Larry remarked.

  “I doubt it, but the last time had to be a while ago,” Sixpack replied.

  “Sergeant, come for one minute!” Nung called from a spot thirty feet up the trail.

  “What do you have?” Sixpack asked when reaching him.

  “Look!” Nung parted some shrouds of elephant grass and held them apart so Sixpack could see the Ho Chi Minh sandal footprints along the trail. This style of footwear was most common to the Viet Cong, who produced them from old truck tires - the tread marks on the soles plainly visible in the dirt of the trail.

  “How old do you think they are?” Sixpack asked.

  “They short time, maybe two hours.” Nung felt along the impressions; the edges of the footprints collapsed when he pressed down with his finger. Something older would be stiff and hardened by the hot sun by now.

  The two men rose to their feet and walked back toward the squad.

  Sixpack whispered to the others, “Nung found some fresh prints in the elephant grass about thirty feet forward and to the side of the trail. We will keep to this side of the trail and move through the elephant grass. Do not use machetes; this way the breeze will help cover any sound of our movements. Stay within sight of the person in front of you and keep your eyes and ears open.”

  Sixpack then faced Nung and patted him on the shoulder. “Nung, lead the way,” he ordered in a hushed tone.

  Nung moved through the now head-high elephant grass with his M-16 ready to fire. He was hunched over and stalking through the jungle with the agility of a cat, head turning slowly from side to side with each step, making certain not to miss anything. Walking three feet behind him, Scout scanned the treetops and overhead cover for trail-watchers and snipers.

  Larry had found two extra belts and fashioned a sling for his M-60, allowing it to hang from his shoulder. Holding the heavy weapon at hip level, he could pivot from side to side and fire instantly.

  Sixpack stopped the column periodically to check his bearings, duplicating the route of the trail on his map with a grease pencil.

  Bob, the RTO, followed closely on Sixpack’s heels with the short whip radio antenna folded over and tucked into his ammo harness. To ensure noise discipline, Bob had the volume so low, it was necessary to hold the handset to his ear while moving.

  John tried to be as quiet as possible. He fumbled along, attempting to place his feet into Bob’s footsteps. His head swiveled from side to side, and his eyes darted in all directions watching for the enemy, which he suspected were hidden everywhere around him.

  The squad soon arrived at the location of Zeke’s night ambush site. It was there that Nung decided to stop the column for a break. Each member stopped in his tracks and put a knee on the ground. Except for a few flattened areas in the elephant grass, there were no other signs of the ambush team having been there.

  John turned and looked at Doc, who was wiping sweat from his face with the towel hanging around his neck. When the medic saw him watching, he flashed a bright smile and gave a thumbs-up sign. John silently returned the gesture.

  Frenchie stood ten feet beyond Doc, aiming his M-79 Grenade Launcher at the trail, watching the jungle behind the column. A beehive round - a special shell that fired pellets like a shotgun – was chambered in his weapon. Each round resembled an oversized bullet, one and a half inches in diameter and three inches long. Frenchie’s special vest held a combination of beehive rounds, high explosive rounds (like grenades), and white phosphorus rounds, thirty in total.

  Zeke was the last man in the column. He sat down in the high grass between the column and the main trail, a spot which offered the best view of the trail behind them. He watched the trail intently, periodically scanning the canopy above.

  When the patrol resumed, the pace was slower and more cautious. Twenty minutes later the column stopped suddenly. Nung was agitated as he moved back along the column toward Sixpack.

  “Sergeant, please come,” he whispered upon reaching him.

  Sixpack turned to John. “Stay put and pass it on,” he whispered, then departed with Nung to the front of the column.

  Five minutes later, they returned with Scout in tow. Sixpack circled his arm over his head, and then pointed toward the rear. The squad performed an about-face and began moving in the opposite direction the way they came. After walking three-hundred steps, Sixpack halted the men and called them together.

  “There’s something big back there, but we don’t know exactly what. It could very likely be a base camp. Nung found another trail crossing ours; we followed it for about fifty feet and stopped after hearing Vietnamese music and people talking. We spotted a lookout on a platform in a tree; they were watching for movement on the main trail. I don’t know if anyone saw us, but I know our squad wouldn’t have a chance in a place like that. I’m going to call the L-T, then request some artillery. Meanwhile, Zeke and Frenchie, set up the mechanical on the trail right here. Spread out five mines along the trail and place the tripwire in the center. Polack, you can give them a hand and learn how to build one. Larry, take your gun to the side of the trail and blast anyone who comes walking this way. Scout, cover the other end of the trail. Zeke, you let us know when you’re done.”

  As the squad deployed, Sixpack called on the radio, “Romeo-one actual, this is Romeo-one-six, over.”

  “This is Romeo-one actual, go,” the L-T replied.

  “Romeo-one actual, be advised that we may have located a major base camp along the trail and I’d like permission to call in artillery on that position.” />
  “Wait one.”

  While Sixpack spoke on the radio, Bob used the daily code sheet to cipher the coordinates so Sixpack could pass them over the radio without a delay.

  “Romeo-one-six, Romeo-one actual,” the L-T called after a few minutes.

  “Go ahead, Romeo-one actual.”

  “Permission granted, over.”

  “Roger. I will send the coordinates to Wolfpack and request the fire mission. You can listen on their net to pick up my location.”

  “Wilco. Do you plan on leaving a mechanical en route?”

  “That’s affirmative. We’re working on it now.”

  “Roger. Keep me informed. This is Romeo-one actual, out.”

  John assisted in placing a claymore mine every ten feet along the trail and covered them with leaves and branches as instructed; the mechanical ambush covered seventy feet of the trail. Meanwhile, Frenchie unrolled the detonation cord, and cut off pieces at twelve-foot lengths. Zeke took them next, attaching blasting caps to both ends. After he completed two of them, he handed them to John.

  “Start connecting the mines,” Zeke ordered.

  “How do I do that?” John asked.

  “Go to the furthest mine on the left and stick the blasting cap from one end of a detonation cord into the right side hole, and then take the other end and stick it into the left hole of the fourth mine. Do the same thing with the second cord and connect number four to number three.”

  John connected the two mines and returned to where Zeke continued working on the blasting caps. “Okay, I think I’ve got it now.”

  “Good,” Zeke said, handing him two more cords, “Now connect number three to two and two to one with these pieces. They call this ‘daisy chaining’. When you finish, cover all the white cord with grass and leaves, but make it look natural.”

  John returned, satisfied that he had camouflaged the cord to Zeke’s specifications.

  “Okay, we’re all set, announced Zeke. You two wait here and I’ll double check everything.”

  Once he was sure that everything was positioned correctly, Zeke called out to Scout, who was securing the area and hidden from sight, “Scout, we’re good to go. Come on, time to head back.”

  “I’m with ya, bud!” Scout replied. The two men hurried back through the elephant grass to Frenchie and John, who had already unrolled the fifty feet of wire to its full length behind and perpendicular to the row of mines.

  Frenchie looped the end of the wire over a tree branch and the four men rejoined the rest of the squad.

  “It’s ready to go, Sixpack. All we have to do is hook up the battery.”

  “Good job, Zeke! Take Polack and Frenchie with you, connect the battery, and get back here on the double. We’ll move back down the trail a ways and call in a fire mission on that base camp and get the hell out of here.”

  Frenchie produced a six-volt square battery and the three returned to where they had left the end of the long wire. Once there, they lay prone on the ground while Frenchie secured each of the two wires to the battery posts. Both he and Zeke breathed a sigh of relief when no detonation occurred.

  “It’s ready to blow,” Frenchie announced with a smile.

  “How does this mechanical work?” John asked.

  “That’s right, I forgot you’re a Cherry and don’t know shit yet.” Zeke and Frenchie connected with a smile. “The fishing line running across the trail is pulled taut and only one end - the one with the plastic knife - will give if somebody trips through. Now the knife is keeping two pieces of metal from touching. As you know, the mines are daisy-chained so they will blow after mine number-five gets an electrical charge. To make that happen, you ran that last brown wire with a blasting cap to number-five so it will be the first to blow and the others will follow in succession. I took the two ends of that cord and attached one wire to each lid. Then we took the two ends of this cord,” Zeke shook it for John to see, “and secured each wire to the same two metal lids like we did the first one. Now that Frenchie hooked these two wires to the battery, the ambush is live and deadly. With an electrical charge running to both halves of the metal lid, only that plastic knife is keeping them apart. When something trips the wire, the knife will pull out and allow the two halves of metal to touch. Then, BOOM.” Zeke raises his voice enough to startle John. “The five mines explode in sequence and in three seconds, it’s all over.”

  “We’re a pretty good distance from the mines, so why did we have to lay on the ground to hook up the battery?”

  “That’s so a malfunction won’t kill us. Some of these blasting caps can be defective, or the knife might pull out and we wouldn’t know it. If the mines blow, you can still get hurt standing behind them, even from this distance.”

  “Has that ever happened before?”

  “I’ve heard of it happening before, but I’ve never personally had it happen to me.”

  “Come on, guys, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Frenchie insisted, “We can play twenty questions later.” They quickly got to their feet, allowing Frenchie to lead them back down the trail.

  When joining up with the squad once again, Sixpack took the radio handset from Bob and called the artillery unit.

  “Wolfpack-one, this is Romeo-one-six. I have a fire mission at coordinates x-ray, papa, mike, lima, tango, tango, alpha.”

  “Roger, Romeo-one-six. What is your target?”

  “This is Romeo-one-six. We have a suspected enemy base camp. Fire one round Willie Pete and wait for correction.”

  “Roger. We’ll notify you when shot is out, over.”

  “Romeo-one-six, standing by.”

  After a moment of silence, a voice called out from the radio, “Romeo-one-six, this is Wolfpack-one. Shot is out.”

  The sound of the 105mm artillery gun firing from Firebase Kien reached the squad a few seconds before the round whistled by overhead. They looked in the direction of the enemy base camp and watched for the White Phosphorus shell to explode in the air. If Sixpack calculated correctly, it should explode three-hundred meters away.

  A bursting white cloud materialized just above the canopy a split second before the report of an explosion reached the squad. Sixpack studied his map and looked at the spreading smoke a couple more times, before getting back on the phone with the artillery crew.

  “Romeo-one-six, add two-hundred feet and fire six rounds of hotel echo (high explosive).”

  Seconds later, Wolfpack-one called, “Romeo-one-six shot out.”

  They heard the distant firing again, but this time, tremendous ear-shattering explosions shook the ground following the whistling overhead.

  “This is Romeo-one-six, left two-hundred feet, and add one-hundred,” Sixpack requested.

  “Roger.”

  Fifteen seconds later, Wolfpack-one called, “Shot out.”

  This time the explosions triggered a secondary explosion.

  “Goddamn!” Zeke exclaimed. “If it was a basecamp, it sounds like we hit their ammo dump.”

  “Wolfpack-one, Romeo-one-six. We heard the report of a secondary explosion. Traverse the area and fire for effect,” Sixpack then tossed the handset to Bob. “Okay guys; let’s get the fuck out of Dodge.”

  They moved just short of a full sprint. Overhead, the rounds whistled as they continued toward the target. After fifteen minutes, it suddenly quieted.

  “Romeo-one-six, this is Wolfpack-one. Fire mission is complete,” the voice over the radio relayed proudly. “Do you need anything else?”

  “Negative, Wolfpack,” Sixpack replied into the handset while running. “Nice shooting, and thanks for your help. We will let you know what we find when we check it out. Romeo-one-six, out.”

  When the squad arrived at the hacked out trail leading to the company NDP, the sound of a loud ripple explosion from the trail stopped them cold.

  “Whoo-weee!” Zeke cried out. “That was our mechanical! I would sure like to know how many of them we killed.”

  “This is not the time; w
e’ll find out as soon as we finish with Charlie Company,” Sixpack replied. “But you can bet your ass we won't check it out with any less than a full company,” he announced.

  Bob called to the CP on the radio, “Romeo-one, this is Romeo-one-six, returning to NDP. ETA is five minutes.”

  “Roger, Romeo-one-six. Welcome back.”

  The First Squad had not been in the perimeter for more than thirty minutes before Sixpack gave the word to saddle up.

  “Get your shit together,” he ordered. “We have to hump to yesterday’s resupply LZ and catch choppers that will take us to join up with Charlie Company.”

  “How about giving us a break?” Larry moaned. “We haven’t even caught our breath yet.”

  “I know, but the captain says we have to link up and be on the move with Charlie Company by 1400 hours, so get the lead out. Let’s go, let’s go,” he repeated.

  Second Platoon had taken the point during the return procession, which took them across the same terrain they passed through the day before.

  The column humped the entire distance without a break. After reaching their destination, they had to wait another twenty minutes before the birds arrived. Many of the soldiers took this time as an opportunity to eat something.

  First and Second Platoons would be extracted first. Each platoon moved onto the extensive LZ, and then split into smaller elements as they moved across the large, grassy meadow. The seventy soldiers boarded the ten awaiting helicopters for the short flight to link with Charlie Company.

  “ETA of the birds is three minutes,” yelled a radio operator from the CP.

  Upon hearing the announcement, one person from each group of seven moved to a predetermined position thirty foot away from their respective groups. When the time came, these ten men raised their rifles high overhead to signal the location for the chopper pilot to land. This protocol, used for every extraction, was the most efficient way to load a helicopter and get it airborne again.

  A green smoke grenade popped in the center of the LZ, signaling, and then confirming that it was the correct location. The gaggle of helicopters was approaching in a similar formation to the men standing on the ground. During their final descent, two Cobra Gunships arrived and circled overhead like mother hawks keeping an eye on their chicks, shadowing the formation en route to the next LZ and back for the second sortie.