Scars and Stars

by Dustin Stevens

  “A few low whistles went up from around us.

  “Why can’t the gunner just shoot when he sees the return fire?” Sims asked.

  “Again,” Rose said. “We don’t have enough ammo. We have to know that where he’s firing is where they are.”

  He didn’t wait for a response before turning to Marks. “Who’s your best shooter?”

  “Marks looked down the line. “They’re all pretty damn good, sir.”

  “I’ve got pretty damn good,” Rose said. “I need a deadeye.”

  “Roberts,” Marks said, not clarifying which one of us he wanted. We both rose from the dirt and circled around.

  “Not you,” Marks said, motioning towards me. “Just him.”

  “For a second I was offended before realizing he was right. I unslung the rifle from my shoulder and ejected the round in the chamber. The man to Rose’s right, Dixson, gave Jack and I both a handful of shells and we loaded them in.

  “Rose moved back a few feet from the edge and knelt down in the dirt. Using his finger he drew a rough outline of the ravine below and outlined where we were, where the men were and where he believed the shooters to be hiding.

  “Now I’ve told the boys above to be ready, we’ll be going live in just a second. Get into position, and I’ll give my guys below the signal.”

  “Jack crawled up to the spot Rose was just in and got situated. I laid my rifle on the ground beside him, a half dozen tracer rounds in the dirt by my knee.

  “For a moment everybody waited in tense silence as Jack got himself ready before nodding. “Give the word.”

  “Rose passed the command on through his radio and a moment later the opposite embankment came up. A half dozen muzzle flashes lit up the brush like firelights at dusk.

  “I looked back and forth between Jack and the ravine several times before he squeezed the trigger. The second he did a bright yellow light burst forth, shooting through the air like a flare gun. It hit right where some of the flashes were coming from, followed by a burst of machine gun fire from overhead.

  “Nice,” Marks muttered.

  “Again,” Jack said, ignoring the comment as he swapped out rifles.

  “Kneeling beside him, I loaded a fresh round into the chamber and placed the gun back beside him. Again the opposite wall lit up with fire as Jack cited in and let fly.

  “For the second time in as many minutes, the machine fun above cut down a Korean sniper.

  My grandfather breathed out and I could tell he was again breaking from the action in his head. He used the same detached voice he used that meant he wasn’t back there any longer, but he wasn’t really with me either.

  It was if he was a bystander in both worlds.

  “All told, Jack traced out five different snipers. By the time he was done, the rest of the Marine regiment was able to walk out of that ravine.

  “When they got there, Rose shook his hand and Marks clapped him on the shoulder. Buddy gave him a bear hug and the rest of our group joked about how the Army boys came along and helped out the Marines.

  “Even Dwayne managed to give him a nod.”

  My uncle motioned back towards the bag sitting on the ground and said, “Why don’t you go grab that for us?”

  I sprang to my feet and jogged to the book hidden inside the knapsack as my feet made loud clomping sounds along the floorboards. Lifting the whole thing from the ground, I carried it to my uncle.

  He placed it across his lap and opened it back to our previous spot before flipping through the pages we covered down by the water. I saw the homemade camouflage, the Chinese armband, and the corn label all pass by in a blur.

  My uncle turned his eyes up towards me and said, “The next page is a .30 caliber tracer round for an M-1.”

  As he spoke he flipped the page over and revealed a shell not much different than the one I had seen before.

  Turning back towards the water my uncle paused for several long moments, taking in the sights around us.

  “The next page is where things start to get interesting.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Interesting.

  The dictionary defines interesting as anything that’s engaging or exciting and holding the attention or curiosity. According to that definition, every word my uncle had uttered up to that point could qualify as interesting.

  I’ve often wondered why my uncle chose to use the word interesting when describing the events that were to come. It wasn’t until I was much older that I understood what he was trying to say.

  Common English syntax has taught me that there is a secondary form of the word, one that my uncle had in mind when he said things were about to get interesting. Instead of using it as a descriptor, it can be used in terms of a state of affairs.

  When my uncle said things were about to get interesting, he was politely telling me that things were about to go to hell.

  “That day in the ravine pretty well summed up our entire road from Hagaru to Koto-Ri,” my uncle said as we sat and watched the sun slip a little lower in the sky. “At least, what I assume the rest of the road from Hagaru to Koto-Ri consisted of.”

  I turned my head towards him and started to mouth a question, but his upraised hand stopped me.

  “Let me get to it,” he said. “Jacobsen was right about the impending force of the Korean Army bearing down on us. He was very wrong however about the numbers they had.

  “We’d plant ambushes, use explosives, do anything we could to slow them down. Each day they’d return with a fresh wave of soldiers even heavier than the one before.

  “Worse yet, every day our delaying action became a little less delaying. The first couple of go-rounds we’d entrench by night and maintain those positions by day. Within a week we weren’t even bothering to entrench ourselves. We’d take up positions behind whatever cover we could find and always be prepared to move on less than two minutes notice.

  “We’d heard rumors before about the rivalry between the different factions of the military, but the Marines assimilated us in as their own. Caldwell said it was because Jack saved their asses that first day; I tend to believe it was because we had an enemy facing us that was far greater than some petty rivalry.

  “The second day we were there we lost Francis and Avery, the third day Sparks, the fifth day Petersen. By the end of the week there were only eight of us left from the entire 5th Division, from all those boys we had joined up with at Fort Campbell.

  “Our losses were on par with the losses of the Marines around us. Each day a handful more soldiers fell and each day we’d collect their dog tags and move on the best we could. The Koreans looted and pillaged the bodies where they lay and more than once tried to use them as bait to lure us out of our positions.”

  My uncle paused for a second and exhaled. His elbows rested on his knees and he dropped his head and stared at the ground between his feet for a full minute before continuing with the story.

  “The eighth day saw the rising of the coldest sun I have ever felt. It was there and gave a faint light, but there was no warmth in it. I couldn’t help but remember being told to drop everything we didn’t need so many months before and thinking I’d give anything to have all that winter gear with me.

  “We had been in a steady backwards motion since we joined the Marines, each day our flight a little faster as the Koreans drew in closer.

  “Our attention was so focused on covering our rear, we didn’t realize that by midday we had backed ourselves into a corner. Our path was following a ridgeline moving east, never realizing it ended in a sharp canyon. The only options for us were to move due north and try to outrun the encroaching Koreans or to maneuver the canyon.

  “Many of our men were wounded and the rest of us were exhausted, near starvation and freezing. Jacobsen convened with his officers and decided the only reasonable action we could take would be to head north. He would leave behind a series of machine gunners, fanned out from the corner of the canyon to the northwest. By arranging th
em in a sweeping pattern, it would afford the most time to get everyone out.

  “Jacobsen asked each of his Lieutenants to pick their best gunners and to have them report to him as soon as possible for instructions. Rose picked two boys from his outfit and had them report while the rest of us helped get everyone ready for the evacuation.”

  My uncle paused again, his second time in the last couple of minutes. He hadn’t done that the entire time he had been telling me the story and I could sense this must be something important.

  “Jack and I had been helping a group of wounded soldiers along when Marks flagged us down. He asked us if he could have a word in private and we both knew it couldn’t be good.

  “When we were out of earshot, Marks looked at us and asked, “Either one of you boys ever fire a machine gun before?”

  “We shook our head in unison, neither saying a word.

  “Jacobsen has asked for a tenth gunner team to finish out the fan. He says he can’t very well call on a single Lieutenant for another team and has asked that it come from us.

  “There are only eight of us for crying out loud!” I objected .

  “Marks nodded his head. “I know it. Damn it I know it. Problem is, I can’t turn down an indirect order from a much higher ranking officer and we can’t have word getting out that the Marines had to save the Army’s asses.

  “You boys feeling up to this?”

  “Jack stared past Marks towards the horizon as I kicked at the ground with the toe of my boot. A full minute passed before Jack asked, “So how does this work?”

  “I knew full well there was no way we could or would turn down that assignment, but him saying it out loud was one of the hardest things I ever had to hear.

  “Marks looked from Jack to me and said, “One gun per team. One does the shooting; the other does the spotting and ammunition shagging.”

  “Ammunition shagging?” I asked.

  “Machine guns chew through bullets like you wouldn’t believe. In the event you run out, he runs to the other teams and gets more.”

  “Aren’t we all running low on ammunition?”

  “Marks ran a hand over the back of his scalp and turned away for a moment. He looked back at us and said, “Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you. It’s a shit draw and I hate that I have to leave my two best soldiers behind like this, but it’s all we’ve got.

  “All I can tell you is fire at anything moving and when that’s over, run like hell.”

  “Each of us nodded again, somewhat thankful for the matter-of-fact manner Marks gave us the news.

  “So where are we positioned?” Jack asked.

  “Marks turned again and pointed to a spot no more than fifty yards from where we were standing. “You’re on the corner of the ravine. You will be the last ones out and have the furthest to go to get there.”

  “Jack looked up to the sky for a moment and I cursed under my breath. Nobody said anything else for a long while.

  “Just bring us the damn gun,” I finally said. “We’ll do what we can.”

  “Marks nodded and shook each of our hands, then saluted us both. We returned the salute and walked over where we were to be positioned.

  “A Marine brought us our machine gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He shook each of our hands and thanked us for what we were doing and moved to join the others heading north.

  “You do the shooting, I’ll do the running and spotting,” Jack said once the Marine was gone. I have no idea why he decided to do it that way, but I didn’t say anything against it.

  “The next half hour or so we spent readying ourselves for the oncoming Koreans. I checked and rechecked the gun, familiarizing myself with the bolt action and the in feed of bullets. Jack walked back and forth between us and the nearest gun team, between us and the best route north.

  “Once we were both comfortable with everything, we waited. Moments passed with each of us lying there, waiting for what we were certain would be our death. I thought of a hundred different things I could have or maybe should have said to my brother, but I didn’t say any of them. We both lay in silence, knowing what the other was thinking.

  “Sometimes you can’t find the words.

  “Sometimes you don’t need them.

  “It took about an hour for the Koreans to catch up with us. We were well concealed between two large trees with a clump of low growing brush in front of us.

  “The first group of soldiers to come through was no doubt scouts, just a handful at best. They strolled along with their weapons loose in front of them, paying very little heed to their surroundings. Two of them broke off and veered to the right, towards where Jack and I lay.

  “A bundle of nerves, my finger began to tighten on the trigger, but Jack laid a hand on my arm and said, “Not yet. If we fire before the main force is here, we’ll alert them to where we are.”

  “But isn’t that the idea? To make them slow down and buy us some time?”

  “Jack shook his head. “Yeah, but if we’re going to do this let’s do it right. A dead Korean is better than a slow moving one.”

  “We watched as the two scouts in front of us walked past where we lay and went to the edge of the cliff. They stood side by side with their backs to us, each of them looking down over the edge.

  “Stay right here,” Jack whispered and rose from beside me. Turning my head I watched as he crept over towards them before breaking into a full sprint.

  “They heard the thudding of his boots as he ran and spun around just as he reached them. Without warning he dove feet first and caught them both square in the chest with a boot. Neither one made more than a muffled grunt as they tumbled backwards over the cliff.

  “Jack lay on his back where he had landed for a few moments, then picked himself and jogged back, shaking his head as he went. He dropped back down beside me and stared over the ground as if nothing had happened.

  “I peered out over the sight of the machine gun and whispered, “One of these days you’re going to have show me that move.”

  “I looked over to see a half smile cross his face. “You liked that huh?”

  “We both smiled out at the quiet forest, waiting for the Koreans to show up.

  “Within minutes, they had.

  “The main body of the Korean advancement was arranged six or seven across in rows marching through the forest. I’m assuming they had similar detachments fanned out in a wide arc, but all I could see was the group right in front of us.

  “Let them get as close as possible,” Jack whispered beside me. “We need to mow down as many of these bastards as we can while we still have the element of surprise.”

  “I nodded and watched as row after row came into sight. Beside me Jack placed both his and my M-1 on either shoulder and slid the barrels forward so they were facing the oncoming Koreans.

  “We waited for them to draw a little closer, but we never had the chance. Off to the right one of the gunners started firing and the sound jolted the Koreans to life. They jerked around towards the sound and many raised their weapons.

  “As soon as I heard the sound of gunfire, I squeezed the trigger as round after round burst forth from my gun. With each passing bullet the gun kicked in my hands and I squeezed it a little tighter. Beside me Jack fired quick rounds from each our rifles, then reloaded and fired again.

  “As I held the trigger and swept the gun from side to side, I could see Koreans catching bullets and jolting to the ground. Many of them moved in jerked motions and looked as if they had been electrocuted as one after another fell.

  “Some scrambled backwards for cover, others dove behind bodies already down, many stayed where they were and tried to find out where the shooting was coming from.

  “The gun clicked several empty sounds and I grabbed another sleeve of bullets from the ground and slammed it into the feed. Sweat dripped from nose and my shirt clung damp to me as adrenaline coursed through my entire body.

  “The first sleeve of bullets caught
the Koreans by surprise and almost every one found its mark. By the time I got the second sleeve loaded many had taken cover and it took much greater care to hit a target. Jack continued to fire off single shots and every so often I could hear him grunt meaning he’d gotten another one.

  “The second sleeve went almost as fast as the first one as I continued to fire at anything moving in front of me. As I broke to load the third sleeve Jack said, “Shit, where’d the other gun go?”

  “We both pulled up for just a second and could tell there was no longer any machine gun fire coming from the right. I slid the sleeve into the gun and said, “I’ll stay here and cover you, you go see what’s going on.”

  “I slid back down to the stone slab I was using as a base and fired shot after shot as Jack swung wide to the right. The Koreans were beginning to return heavy fire and all around me leaves and branches shattered as bullets ripped through them.

  “A minute or two later I heard the sound of machine gun fire pick up again and I knew that either the other team had gotten more ammunition or Jack had taken over for them. In unison we fired rounds into forest, holding the Koreans at bay.”

  My uncle paused as the front door swung open and another partygoer I had never met sauntered out and headed towards his car. He cast the two of us a look of disgust and made a point to bump each of us as he walked off the front porch, but said nothing.

  My uncle shook his head and waited until the man was in his car and said, “We stayed like that for over an hour. I figured when Jack never came back that he must have taken over for the other gunners. The problem with that was I didn’t have anybody left to shag bullets for me.

  “The first four sleeves went by fast, the next two I was pretty careful with. By the last sleeve, I only fired if I knew I could score a direct kill.

  “The afternoon soon started to give way to evening and Jack slid in beside me. “Those two over there didn’t make it. Looks like random shots got them; otherwise the Koreans would have taken the gun.”

  “I continued firing slow and steady, my eyes trained forward the entire time. “How you looking on ammunition?” I asked.