“If it’s not there when we get to Cu Chi, and I find out who has it, they’ll learn about stealing from the wrong grunt.”
“Now you’re catching on,” Zeke admitted. “All those rear echelon motherfuckers are the same. They give a fuck less what we have to hump on our backs, or what kind of hills we have to climb to get there. They’re happy as long as they don’t miss the happy hour in their favorite Saigon bar at five o’clock.”
Doc looked over at John, who was trying to absorb the information. “Don’t pay him any attention, Polack. Zeke was never like this before. He’s just getting nervous because he’s going home soon. They say that you can be as fearless as a lion after your first month in country, but then feel like a Cherry again during that last month. I’d probably feel the same way if I’d been through the shit he has in his eleven months in this hellhole.”
“When are you going home, Doc?”
“I hope to board that Freedom Bird in six months.”
“By that time, Larry and I will be the only ones left from this group today. We’ll be the ‘old men’ in the squad.”
“Maybe not for long, haven’t you read the papers?”
“Not really.”
“They’re saying that Nixon wants to pull the GIs out of Nam and send them all home. You might not even have to spend a whole year in this god-awful war.”
“That would be great! This whole place just scares the fuck out of me. I’m ready to go home right now.”
“Aren’t we all?”
At 1700 hours, the company arrived at the same LZ where they had landed the previous day. They would bush there for the night and be transported by choppers to Cu Chi in the morning.
John moved to join Larry and Wild Bill.
“I’m fucking exhausted,” he said, after arriving at their position.
“Me too,” Larry added.
“Look at it this way. At least we did something different today. We didn’t have to hump our asses off all day long in this jungle paradise,” Wild Bill offered.
“That was the good part of it, but I’ve been thinking about what Frenchie said about the NVA.”
“Yeah, it’s unusual for them for be in this part of the country.”
“It’s not only that. Larry, you remember during training, they were always telling us that the enemy was smart and sneaky, but as a fighting unit, they were backwards and poorly supplied?”
Larry nodded, sharing the memory with John.
“Shit, Polack, you’ve been listening to the wrong people,” Wild Bill exclaimed. “Did you take a good look at that complex today? They have it better than we do. We hump our ass off to find them, and all they have to do is sit and wait for us. It’s no different from fighting in your own neighborhood: you know where all the safe hiding places are. It’s just not possible that a “backward” group of people built that place.” Wild Bill said.
“That’s what I mean,” John agreed.
“That place showed class and ingenuity. If Sixpack hadn’t stumbled across that cache, we would have walked right over them. You better change your attitude about the enemy right now. If you don’t respect them - and continue to underestimate them - you’ll never make it home alive.”
John pondered that thought before conceding, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“I know I’m right,” Wild Bill concluded.
“Look at the bright side,” Larry broke in. “Tomorrow we can get some rest and party in the rear.”
“You’re right! At least we can forget about this war for a couple of days.”
“I can’t wait to drink something cold.”
“Man, you know I agree with that!”
John thought back to Junior’s remark on the firebase. He was right about a person being willing to pay ten dollars for an ice-cold pop or even a piece of ice in the bush; they had been drinking lukewarm water for three days. Suddenly, it seemed worth ten bucks for the privilege of swirling ice-cold liquid around in your mouth. They could not wait until tomorrow.
~~~~~
CHAPTER NINE
At daybreak, the atmosphere within the NDP was at a frenzied pitch as everyone prepared for his return to Cu Chi.
“Who wants to trade a can of fruit cocktail for some pound cake?” Frenchie asked.
“I will!” Doc replied. The two men tossed cans through the air to one another.
“Does anyone need extra water?” Wild Bill held two full canteens in the air.
“You guys can have all my shit!” Zeke emptied the contents of his rucksack onto the ground. Several eight-ounce green cans of fruit cocktail, peaches, pound cake, and some smaller tins of peanut butter, crackers, and cheese, fell in a heap.
“Why are you doing this?” Scout asked from his position a short distance away.
“I won’t need them anymore.”
“What do you mean?” We’re only staying in the rear for three days. Those cans are a grunt’s most prized possessions. You’ll be sorry, Zeke.”
“You’re wrong, Doc. My infantry days are over. Sixpack informed me last night that the colonel had honored my request to be the mail clerk for my last three weeks in country. From now on, I’ll be sleeping on soft mattresses in Cu Chi. No more humping for this guy.”
“Congratulations!” Doc announced.
“I’m happy for you too, Zeke,” Frenchie added.
“What luck!” Larry joined the others in snapping up Zeke’s discarded treasures.
“You bet your ass it’s luck,” Zeke declared. “In my eleven months here, I’ve been sniped at, ambushed, pinned down, and overrun by Charlie. My surviving is just pure luck. Now, all I have to do is lounge around in the security of Cu Chi for three more weeks, and I’m out of here on that Freedom Bird home.”
“I’m sorry,” Larry mumbled, “I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”
“Forget it, Larry,” Zeke replied. “If you’re lucky enough to survive as long as I have, then maybe a break will come your way too.”
“What’s your plan once you get home?” Doc asked.
“The first thing I’m going to do is sit on a real toilet and flush it a hundred times.” Everyone laughed. “Then I’ll go to a fancy restaurant and order the biggest steak on the menu.”
“Are your folks planning a welcome home party?” Wild Bill asked.
“Maybe. My mom said in her last letter that she was considering one, but would like to combine it with my twentieth birthday party, which is only two weeks later.”
“Twenty years old! I thought you were much older than that.”
“This war makes us all appear much older than we actually are.”
“I’ll second that.”
John selected a can of fruit cocktail from the dwindling pile in front of Zeke, then moved over by Doc and took a seat on the ground next to him.
“I can’t believe Zeke is only nineteen,” he said to the black medic.
“I’m just as surprised as you are.”
“He might be young, but he sure knows his shit.”
“He sure does! Zeke is the only old-timer left in this platoon. Our old L-T, who is now the XO, used to call on him for advice all the time. He’s seen most of the VC tactics, and could sometimes spot an ambush before the platoon walked into it.”
“Does Zeke have a sixth sense or something?”
“No. He has a special skill that has developed over the months. The same will happen to you down the road, you’ll know when it happens. Did you know that Zeke was awarded a Silver Star for Valor a few months back?”
“No, I didn’t. What did he do?”
“It happened back in May when our company was in Cambodia. An ambush caught Second Platoon off guard and pinned them down until help arrived. When we joined the fight, Zeke single-handedly took out two of the machine gun bunkers. Then he ran through the hail of gunfire and pulled two wounded men to safety.”
“Wow! Did he get hit?”
“No, he didn’t, but you know it had to be a miracle.�
�
“Why do you say that?”
“When I saw him later, his rifle had been shattered by bullets, his helmet had three creases in it, both his canteens had holes in them, and the heel of his right boot had been shot off.”
“No shit? Somebody must have been watching over him.”
“Amen to that.”
“We still have some time before leaving, so I’d better take this opportunity to write my folks.”
“Good move, Polack. There won’t be any time for writing in Cu Chi.”
“What do you mean? I thought we were going to have three days of rest and relaxation.”
“Call it what you like. Now let me enlighten you, my brother. Cu Chi is the next best thing to being back in the world. Hell, with all the beer parties, barbecues, movies, Service Club, and swimming pools, you won’t have time to do anything else.”
“Well then, I’d better get started right now.”
“Do you need paper or anything?”
“No thanks, Doc, I’m all set.”
“Say hello for me.”
“Will do.” John walked away.
“Where’s Sixpack?” Wild Bill asked.
“He and the L-T are over in the Company CP area,” Larry replied. “They’re probably making arrangements for our pickup on the LZ.”
“I don’t know,” Frenchie emphasized. “They usually don’t spend this much time planning a pickup.”
“What else can it be? We’ve been out in the bush twice as long as the other companies in this battalion. Alpha’s R&R is overdue!”
“Maybe the brass has canceled the R&R.”
“Why would they do that, Zeke?”
“I don’t know, but I feel like there’s something in the wind.”
“I hope you’re wrong.”
“Here he comes now,” Larry pointed to the tall soldier heading their way.
“He doesn’t look too happy!”
Sixpack inhaled deeply on a cigarette, threw it hard to the ground, and then drove the heel of his boot into the stick of smoking tobacco, grinding it in the soft dirt.
“Oh shit,” Wild Bill uttered, “looks like bad news.”
“Okay guys, come on and gather up,” Sixpack waved for them to join him. “I know this is going to break your hearts, but we’re not going to Cu Chi today.”
John dropped his pen before he was even able to write a first word.
“I knew it!” Zeke blurted.
“Why are they changing the plan?” Wild Bill was the first to ask.
“Battalion wants us to hump back to the trail we found a couple of days ago. They’re curious about that base camp, and they want Alpha Company to go and check it out.”
“Why do we have to hump?” Frenchie asked.
“The brass feels that since we left in choppers, we could surprise the VC by returning on foot.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“I know, but we have to follow orders. As soon as we are near enough to the camp, the artillery crews on Firebase Kien will fire it up again. All we have to do is go in and count the bodies. The whole mission shouldn’t last more than a day or two.”
“I’ll still be able to go in today, right?” Zeke asked hopefully.
“I’m sorry, Zeke, but the colonel has canceled all returns to the rear until after this mission is over.”
His dreams now shattered, Zeke leaned back against the narrow tree, feigning a weak smile, and then laughing hysterically. Each member in the squad glanced over at him, offering a silent look of sympathy.
“Fuck it! It’s only two days. Don’t you guys worry about me,” Zeke hollered, donning his warrior face.
“How far is it to the trail?”
“On the map, it looks like about seven clicks, but the terrain is hilly and the jungle thick. It will be a long, hard hump. We’ll be lucky to get there by noon tomorrow.”
“Are we getting resupplied before we leave?” Doc asked. “I do need a few supplies for my medical bag.”
“Yes, we are. In fact,” Sixpack looked at his watch, “the birds will be here in half an hour. Just take enough supplies for two days and be ready to move out by nine.”
When the resupply chopper landed, a soldier jumped from the doorway to the ground.
“Junior!” Somebody called from the vicinity of Third Squad.
John turned toward the noisy helicopter and recognized the black PFC as he waved warmly to shadows in the bush. John dropped his gear and moved quickly to intercept him.
“Hey, stranger,” John called when he was within earshot. Junior turned his head to see John exiting from a clump of bushes.
“Polack, my man! I see you’re still with us.”
“My luck has been holding up. What brings you out to the bush?”
“The lead medic on Kien said that my leg is strong enough to hump. So here I am.”
“I bet you couldn’t wait.”
“To be honest, Polack, I missed the bush. Bunker guard was getting to be pretty damn boring. Besides, I have to get rid of these extra pounds,” Junior rubbed his belly with both hands.
They both laughed, Junior’s dimples flashing deeply.
“You have a long way to go before getting fat, my friend.” John pushed a finger into Junior’s stomach.
“I hear we’re moving out shortly, so I’d better be going. Let’s get together when we have a little more time, Polack. Have to talk about getting together in the hometown sometime.”
“Okay, bro, take care of yourself.”
“You too!”
John slapped the palm of Junior’s outstretched hand, and the two men parted company.
Alpha Company was on the move by nine. They had not yet moved one-hundred yards before some of them started voicing their disapproval.
“Why didn’t they let us walk part way before getting resupplied?”
“All they think about is body counts.”
“It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Don’t these people in the rear know what it’s like to hump in the bush?”
“They’re assholes!”
John followed Zeke once again in the column of men. He found the camouflage cover on Zeke’s helmet intriguing. On one side, the word “Short,” was written in large block letters and colored in with a black marker. The term referred to ‘short-timers’ who had only weeks or days to go before going home. John was not able to make out the saying written on the opposite side. He quickened his pace and closed the wide gap between himself and Zeke, trying to read the evasive words. He was only one-step away and stumbled, plunging headfirst into a bush. When he looked up, Zeke’s eyes glared at him.
“Do you have a problem?”
“No, no problem, Zeke. I just tripped, that’s all.”
“Be more careful. Charlie can hear that kind of shit.” Zeke offered John his hand and pulled him to his feet.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be fine.”
“Check the ground quickly and make sure nothing dropped from your ruck, then hurry and catch up.”
As Zeke turned to resume humping, John caught a glimpse of the phrase on Zeke’s helmet. ‘Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity,’ John read quietly. ‘That’s heavy,’ he uttered to himself, repeating the saying a couple more times, as he followed along.
After moving two-thousand meters, the soldiers halted for a break. John moved to the side of the trail and sat next to Doc.
“This is a bitch!”
“It’ll get worse.”
“I can’t keep my pack in a comfortable position. Just when I think everything is okay, a vine snags onto my pack and stops me cold. How many times did you have to unhook me, Doc?”
“At least a dozen”, Doc smiled. “But don’t let those wait-a-minute vines get you down.”
John laughed. “What did you call them?”
“Wait-a-minute vines. Haven’t you ever heard of them before?
Every grunt who has ever humped in the b
ush has heard of them. The name’s catchy, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” John chuckled. “What else do I have to look forward to?”
“Just wait until we hit some bamboo thickets. We’ll have to remove our packs and push them in front of us while crawling on our bellies.”
“You’re shitting me. Wouldn’t it just be easier to go around them?”
“Sometimes we do, but most of the time they’re so wide, we don’t have a choice. I’m not bullshitting, you’ll see,” Doc promised.
“I hope you’re wrong.”
Suddenly there was a snapping of fingers and Zeke said, “Let’s go!”
The men before him were already on their feet and moving forward. Doc and John helped each other up and joined the procession.
In the next four hours, the company only moved a thousand meters through the thick, musty jungle. The point man had come across a shallow, ten-foot wide stream with slow-moving green and brown water. Captain Fowler decided to have his company follow the stream in an effort to make up some lost time.
While standing in the ankle-deep water during the next break, John felt a stinging sensation on both his neck and waist. He passed it off as perspiration irritating the small cuts caused by the jungle vegetation. Raising his hand up to his neck, he suddenly felt someone grab his wrist.
“Wait a minute, Polack. You have a couple of leeches on your neck,” Zeke cautioned.
John panicked and tried to grab at them to pull them off.
“Hold on! Don’t do that. Let me squirt some bug juice on them. It’ll make them fall off.” John winced in pain as the bug juice soaked into his open cuts and sweaty pores.
After the second leech bloated up and fell from his neck, Zeke said, “All set. Check me over will you, Polack?”
“I don’t see any on you, Zeke,” John stated, taking a quick look up and down Zeke’s backside. “How in the hell did they get on me in the first place? Did they crawl up my pants from the water?”
“These are land leeches. You probably picked them up before we even entered the stream. Don’t let them scare you. They’re more of a nuisance than anything else. If you want to stop any more of them from hitching rides, cover your exposed skin with more bug juice.”
Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel - Revised Edition Page 15