Going Home (Soldier Up Book 3)

by Steven Linde

  The Marines loaded up into the trucks and took off heading over to the I-94. Civilians were beginning to line the side of the roads to see if what they were told was true that the United States Military had returned to the area to kick out the Mexican Army. There weren’t thousands of people, maybe hundreds along the road, which was a lot considering that the Marines, had been told that most of the civilian population had left the area. They continued to drive on. It was a thirty-five vehicle convoy. It didn’t take them long to travel the five miles or so, and exit the I-94 at Euclid where the Marines abandoned the vehicles, regrouped into companies and began a long road march north. The Marines spilt the formation with one line of them on either side of the streets, and the civilians looked and some ran up and gave them hugs, kisses, or simply shook their hands.

  The Marines started to break down into platoons and squads and entered residential areas. Once in those areas, which were mostly deserted, they did encounter small groups of people that had recently returned or had hidden from the Mexicans. The Marines were being handed bottled water in most case, but the Marines handed it back noting that they didn’t need it and they were sure the civilians needed it a lot more. As the teams began to engage them the civilians had lots of questions. Where have they been? Are they here to stay? What happened (EMP event)? Is more help to come? The questions went on and on.

  The military teams were authorized to answer the questions as honestly as possible, this was a lesson they learned over a period from other areas they had gone through in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and some of the Midwest states. They explained that when the EMP event hit, the military was hit just as hard and it took time for them to regroup and then start to project power out from their own locations. That there was no federal or state governments right now, however local governments were being set up and flourishing in some areas. To varying degrees they were here to stay. The local Navy and Marine Corps bases would remain and begin outreach programs as soon as they are stabilized. Once that happened they would also begin setting up local governments with civilian security forces, as far as many of the forces that were in the AO would not remain. As for help to come, that was a tough question. They answered, as far as food and water, not anytime soon, sorry to say.

  They would be able to supply with seeds to grow vegetables with, and there was plenty of land to do it. They would also be able to provide some livestock, but that was limited for the time being. Fresh water and food was limited, and there wasn’t much they could do. Many people still failed to understand that the government wasn’t going to come and help them, even now it was a tough pill to swallow and they were looking for handouts, which weren’t going to happen anytime soon. As far as the military teams go all they wanted to know was where the bad guys were. The answer was generally that the Mexican Army had cleared out all of them; they had either killed them or took them as slaves. They felt lucky that they weren’t captured. As the Marines pushed forward they found this to be true, and there wasn’t anyone challenging them. The Navy scout planes weren’t seeing anything that signaled danger either, but commanders weren’t going to be lulled into a sense of security.

  One of the things the Marines had to get used to, and the 184th had already adapted to it, was that there were a lot of human skeletons all over the place. They could be found on front lawns, backyards, in bed at home, stores, you name it. They could tell that many had died a violent death. They had come up on mass graves too. The civilians in the area said it was the Mexican Army trying to make a point, either you work for us or you die.

  Occasionally they came upon a crashed airliner, which the scout planes warned them about. For most of these Marines it was their first combat because they were new recruits that signed up after the event. All of them, however had seen some sort of death right after the event, as there were a lot of people in trouble within the first couple of months, and people were dying for various reasons. Marine commanders did their best to have a nice mix of combat veterans with the FNG’s.

  On other side along the I-5, the paratroopers were having a nice ride, but then word came down that they wanted them to check out downtown San Diego because the scout planes had noticed large gathering of people and it didn’t look good. Every single man in the 184th was a combat veteran, and all of them had been with the Regiment since the event and had fought in the capture of Northern California and the Midwest States. The men and woman of the Regiment were professionals, but they weren’t happy about heading into downtown as there were a lot of places for bad guys to hide.

  1st and 2nd Battalions of the 184th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) moved cautiously down Market Street, E Street and F Street toward Broadway. They were moving single file down each street, with paratroopers on either side of the streets. As they approached the large tall buildings of downtown, it was eerily quiet, which spooked many of the paratroopers because in their experience, when it was too quiet, it was a sign that the shit was about to hit the fan. They kept moving. They weaved their way through the buildings and neared the community concourse where the large groups of people were reported.

  The Paratroopers halted and sent out several elements to recon the area forward of their positions. It didn’t take long for those elements to return and report what they found: it was an open market where people had gathered to sell produce, as well as other items. Regardless, the paratroopers were ordered to move forward, both Battalions, to the market.

  There were probably two hundred civilians in and around the market when the Paratroopers first showed up, and there was a bit of chaos. They at first believed it might be the Mexicans coming back, and if that were the case they would take all of the food, as well as the young women and men. They would use women as sex slaves and men to work the fields. The Mexicans had been here couple of times after the initial invasion. The civilians were difficult to find once they dispersed into the buildings around downtown, and the Mexicans, like the paratroopers, were not going to search every single building. As the civilians in the market saw Soldiers they started to pack things up as quickly as they could. However, the first thing they noticed was that the Soldiers approaching were not chasing anyone and were engaging in conversation with the people they met. Word started to spread that they spoke English, and on the uniform was the United States flag.

  Could it be many of the civilians thought were they American Soldiers? The paratroopers moved into the areas around the market and set up a perimeter. The ones that weren’t need in that particular area where sent to patrol out further all the way down to the bay where they ran into people fishing. Those people were startled at first sight of the Soldiers, and like the people in the market, began to panic at first then realized that the Soldiers were not attacking and spoke English. The ones that approached them just wanted to know how the fishing was and where could they get a pole.

  It didn’t take long for the 184th commanders to order the paratroopers out of the downtown area and back to the I-5 and begin to head north. As they reached interstate 8, they dismounted the vehicles and started heading west on the 8 and into the residential area of Ocean Beach. Like the other communities, it was sparsely populated, with only a handful of people coming out to meet them. They moved through Ocean Beach, Mission Bay, and Mission Beach where they took a break and ate some chow. More and more people had come out to meet them, and they were happy to see the Soldiers and had a lot of questions, which were the same ones the Marines were encountering on the other side of San Diego. The big difference was that the Paratroopers, all of them, had been through the question and answer drill many times over the past several months. Each man had been schooled on what to say and how to handle the situation if it turned negative.

  After some chow, they picked up and began moving through Pacific Beach and into the hills, around La Jolla. Once in La Jolla 1st Battalion was ordered to turn east, headed out of La Jolla and into San Clemente Canyon. Once in the canyon, 1st Battalion was calling it a day and setting up sec
urity for the night, and a couple of squads were sent out a bit further east in the canyon. 2nd and 3rd Battalion stopped at La Jolla Shores, where there was a large parking lot and the beach plenty of room to set up a camp. It was a nice break for the Paratroopers, except for the ones that were pulling security. The rest were given permission to go swimming in the Pacific Ocean. After the past few months, it was nice to get some downtime, even though they were supposed to be in the middle of a combat operation.

  The Marines on the other side had pushed their way to Miramar Marine Air Station. They sent in several scout squads to make contact with the air base. The Marines on the air base had held off the Mexican Army, and they were proud of what they had done considering that they were not a ground combat unit. The Mexican Army had left a company behind to remind the Marines on the base, and they were still there and would be coming for them soon. The scout squads made early contact with the Mexicans, catching them totally by surprise. They were looking towards the base, not south or west of it.

  On base, the Marines were alerted to a firefight not far from them, and they wondered who the Mexicans were engaged with. The main Marine force wasn’t far behind scouts, and hustled up to where they were engaging the Mexicans. The Mexican Army company consisted of a couple hundred men, and their own scouts saw that a much larger force of at least four to five-hundred Marines were on their way. One of the Marine scout squads was able to make contact with the Marines inside the wire at Miramar. They were immediately brought through the wire and to the base’s CO Colonel John Cuddy. To say he was shocked to see the Marine squad would have been an understatement.

  “Son where the hell did you come from?” asked Colonel Cuddy of SSG Hermosa.

  “Well sir, it’s like this, the easy answer is North Island, in Coronado.” said SSG Hermosa.

  “Go on…” replied Colonel Cuddy.

  “Sir we started off as a company and were transported half-way down the silver strand, then humped it to the border where we hooked up with the 184th Infantry.”

  “What’s the 184th?” asked the Colonel.

  “Army Airborne unit, sir, they jumped onto the border crossing and cleared the Mexicans out. It was all said and done by the time we got there.”

  “Alright son go on.”

  “We then made our way north through Chula Vista and National City with the Paratroopers and halted at Barrio Logan for a few hours. We were then joined by more of the 184th and another Marine Battalion which came over the Bay Bridge.”

  “Where are all these troops coming from?” asked the Colonel.

  “North Island like I said, sir.”

  “No Staff Sergeant where did the Soldiers come from and the rest of the Marines from your original departure point?”

  “Yes sir, we came from Camp Parks near San Francisco.”

  Colonel Cuddy knew there was a lot more to this story and was going to find out, but this wasn’t the time. “Staff Sergeant where’s the rest of the Marines that came with you?”

  “Sir, they’re fighting off the Mexican Army right outside your gate right now that’s why I’m here. I have this message for you from my CO.” SSG Hermosa handed the message to the Colonel.

  “Next time Staff Sergeant you might want to lead with that,” said the Colonel.

  “Aye sir.”

  Colonel Cuddy took the message and read it over carefully, and then he quickly called out to his commanders. “I want all Officers and Senior NCO’s in my conference room now!” he barked.

  “Aye, Aye sir,” as people scrambled to execute the Colonel’s order.

  “Within ten minutes the conference room was standing room only, and then the Colonel walked in. “Atten-HUT!” as the room was called to attention.

  “As you were,” said the Colonel. Those that had seats sat back down and the ones standing relaxed.

  “We have a two Battalion Marine element at our front door knocking to come in, but there’s going to require a bit of our help!” said Colonel Cuddy. At that quite a bit of chatter started through the room, and at that the Sergeant Major yelled, “At EASE! AT EASE!” to quiet the room.

  “I’m sure all of you have been hearing the small arms fire around the base over the last hour or so. That’s our brethren coming to see how we’re doing and right now there out there kicking the shit out of the Mexican Army or what there is out there. They want to know if we want to come out and play.”

  There were many nods, and a few hell yeas could be heard. “That’s good to hear Marines because I’m tired of sitting on my ass on this base. I’m ready to get out there and take our country back.”

  More nodding in the room with some applause and again with the Sergeant Major yelling, “At EASE!”

  Colonel Cuddy went on to explain to the Marines in the room exactly what he wanted, and he told them they had fifteen minutes to get ready because at that point we’re joining the fight. He then dismissed the room and everyone left at a run, they were excited to be getting off base and doing something constructive. Most of the service members were aviation Marine and Navy and were not ground combat troops. When the Mexican Army moved through the Marines and Navy, those on base were mauled by the Mexicans. They were able to retreat back onto the base and hold the base from being overrun. Eventually, the Mexicans left a small force to contain the Marines and Sailors on post for when they were able to return and finish them off.

  The Marines on Miramar did send out patrols to constantly gage the state of the Mexican forces in the area, but were always overwhelmed by numbers and firepower. However, over the last week Colonel Cuddy and others did notice a change in the Mexicans’ tactics. Generally throughout the day the Mexican Soldiers would mortar the base to keep heads down and discourage them from sending out patrols. The Mexicans had all major avenues of approach to the base covered as well as secondary avenues. The Marines did attempt to explore other avenues off the base but the problem was that some of the areas were off-limits because of unexploded World War II ordinance. During that war, much of the area around Miramar was part of Camp Elliott and was used for various types of target practice with mortars and artillery.

  The plan was simple the Marines on base would move to the primary and secondary gates and take the Mexicans on, firing at them to keep their heads down as the much larger Marine force could attack and overwhelm them. It was a good solid plan for the most part, and when the Marines moved to the gates and advanced through them the Mexicans were gone they had abandoned their posts and left. It looked as though they could see the writing on the wall with the Marines now attacking from the South and the Marines preparing to attack from within the base, and they realized there was no way they were going to be able to hold on.

  The Mexicans that had been there simply disappeared and just about all of the resistance that they had first encountered evaporated. The battle the Marines had been expecting was over as quickly as it had begun. There was some sniper fire, but that was quickly snuffed out by quick reaction squads that had been designated to hunt down snipers. Outside of that the Mexicans for now melted away into the nearby neighborhoods. Colonel Cuddy and the other Marine commander would send out squads to search the area and ensure it was secure and the Mexicans couldn’t counter attack. For now the Marines from down South made their way onto post and were very welcomed by the Marines and Sailors that had been stuck there for the past several weeks.

  As the Marines came on base, they were led onto the runway where there was plenty of room for them. Everyone was amazed to see vehicle and vehicle driving onto post, and it was good to see the United States Marine Corps in action again. Colonel Cuddy walked around to the various Marines and shook their hands heartily, welcoming them he was a happy man and the Marines were happy to be appreciated.

  As the Marine squads pushed into the neighborhoods, they did encounter some Mexican Soldiers. They were easy to hunt down and kill, and there were several that tried to surrender, but they weren’t taking any prisoners, not now any way. They had he
ard horror story after horror story from civilians as them moved north regarding how the Mexican Soldiers treated them. There was going to be hell to pay and they would have to answer to the Marines for their crimes. The only justice they knew was to kill them.

  After two hours of filtering through the neighborhoods and taking on what Soldiers they found, many of the civilians that had been in hiding started to come out. They realized these were United States Marines, and at first they thought they were from the base but then learned they were from an entirely different area of California altogether. By that evening the squads had returned to base and found that a large security perimeter had been set up around the bases exterior. There were several heavy machine gun emplacements now built out with sandbags to deter the Mexican Soldiers if they returned. They also set up three hasty minefields in areas that might look inviting to the Soldiers. LP/OP’s were set up and the Marines that manned them prepared what might be either a long boring night or one of excitement if the Mexicans returned.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Colonel Tekana’s men regrouped from the attack by the Marine vehicles, although he still wasn’t sure where they came from. He was certain that the Marines on Camp Pendleton didn’t have many of those vehicles remaining. They had destroyed all of them at the onset of the initial engagement weeks ago, but never-the-less there they were. They must have killed at least two hundred or more of his men. He also thought it was strange that they didn’t pursue, but then again they had no way to make it down to the beach from where they were all.