The general frowned at the aide and handed him a hastily written message. “Colonel, send this to the Chief of Staff.”
Lieutenant Loveless thanked the jeep driver and tapped his knuckles on the hood of the jeep as he hopped out in front of the main air terminal in Da Nang. He looked around at the hundreds of soldiers lying around on the benches and floors of the building, trying to get a few minutes sleep before they left on R & R flights or caught their planes back to the States. Jay wove his way through the crowd to the nearest check-in counter and handed the harried clerk a copy of his special courier orders. She gave him a boarding pass and a flight number. Jay folded the pass slip and pushed it in his rear pocket. He felt like having a cup of coffee, and he pushed his way through the mass of sweating troops to the large snackbar. The lines were wrapped around the room. Jay turned back and went to the boarding gate for his aircraft.
Three military policemen had a soldier standing spread-eagled against the wall. One of the MPs was patting down the man’s legs. A suitcase lay open on the inspection counter with the major components for a CAR-15
submachine gun spread out around it. A ten-inch-long clear plastic bag that contained a white powder was being looked at by another one of the MPs.
The soldier was a mule trying to smuggle heroin and an automatic weapon back to the States.
Jay shook his head and looked for an empty seat in the rows of benches filling the waiting area. He couldn’t find an empty one, so he carried his suitcase to a small open spot near the wall and shoved it up against a pile of duffel bags. A group of army nurses were sitting together near the bank of windows watching the drug bust.
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“Look, Natasha! They caught a drug smuggler!” one of the older nurses, a lieutenant colonel spoke to the younger woman sitting down on the bench.
Jay’s head snapped around at the sound of the woman’s name. The young nurse who was sitting was obviously pregnant. A soldier sitting across from her was leering at the nurse, with his thoughts written clearly on his face. A nurse joined the group carrying a donut box full of paper cups containing coffee and tea.
Jay shoved his way through the crowded waiting room until he reached the nurses. “Excuse me . . . are you Natasha MacReal?”
The pregnant woman looked questioningly up at the young second lieutenant who knew her name. “Yes . . . I am.”
“I’m Jay Loveless!”
She didn’t respond. He knew her through the letter she had written to Paul, but she had no reason to know who he was. Jay’s face turned red. “I mean . . . I was a close friend of Paul Bourne’s . . .” Jay looked down at the cement floor.
“Was?” The word was a whisper slipping from the woman’s shocked lips.
The nurses surrounding Natasha looked at Jay in shock.
Jay’s eyes shifted around the room; it was obvious she hadn’t heard of Paul’s death. “I’m sorry, Natasha . . . I shouldn’t have . . .” Jay turned to leave.
“Wait . . .” The deep hurt she had read in Jay’s eyes pulled at Natasha’s heart. “Tell me what happened . . . please?”
Jay turned to face her again, but this time the tears ran unashamed down his cheeks. “Paul was killed on patrol . . .”
“Girls . . . please excuse us . . .” Natasha held her own hurt. She slipped into her protective professional nurse’s shell. “Sit down, Jay, and tell me everything that’s happened . . .”
Jay told Natasha the whole story, even the classified portions. He left nothing out. Natasha sat back and listened, holding her hand against her stomach feeling the new life within her. She was very glad that she hadn’t had the abortion.
The sedan bearing the four white stars on the bumper tag pulled to an abrupt halt in front of the entrance gate. General Pick and Colonel Clewell exited the car and walked with long strides up to the doors of the terminal.
Colonel Clewell paused long enough at the entrance to locate Jay, who sat holding a young nurse in his arms. He tapped the general’s arm and pointed to where the pair was sitting by the windows. Soldiers came to attention as the four-star general strode past them, leaving the whole terminal in a state of confusion.
General Pick stopped in front of the lieutenant who was sitting with his back to the crowd. “Lieutenant Loveless?”
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Jay looked up from Natasha and saw the general. “Yes, sir.” Jay came to attention.
“I’m General Pick. Let’s go outside where we can have some privacy to talk.” The whole population pressed into the air terminal was staring at them.
The two officers left the terminal through the loading gate without being challenged by the guards.
The general stopped outside and turned to face Jay. “Let’s get right to the point. Lieutenant . . . You have a letter that could cause the army a great deal of grief. I want that letter.”
The general could see the lieutenant set his jaw in a determined pose.
“Before you answer me, let me assure you that the officers responsible for the letter will pay very dearly for what they have done . . . Hetten and his cronies are the type of officers that I personally detest!” The general knew that the young lieutenant standing in front of him didn’t give a damn about his own career, but he was hoping that the young man had a sense of honor and justice. “Lieutenant Loveless . . . don’t punish the whole army for the actions of a few bad officers. Think of Lieutenant Bourne . . . Do you want his image blackened? He’s a national hero right now, and there’re a lot of reporters back in the States that would love to find something to write about that would change that around. You know how they work . . . anything for a story.”
Jay stared deeply into the general’s eyes without any fear. He sensed that the general was fair and would keep his word. Jay unbuttoned his khaki shirt and tore the tape away that was holding the letter to his stomach. He handed the plastic-wrapped letter to the general.
“Thanks, son . . . I promise . . .” The steely general tried to grin but lost the smile somewhere between the thoughts running through his brain. He added, “I sort of liked Bourne myself.”
Pick nodded his head at Clewell, who was waiting on the other side of the glass windows. The colonel and the aide-de-camp joined the general as he strode over the hot tarmac to his waiting Lear jet. He needed to walk in order to release some of the anger that was building up inside of him.
The general paused on the bottom step of his plane and turned to speak to his aide before he boarded the aircraft. “I want Captain Hetten, Sergeant Dryman, and Lieutenant Colonel Bakersun waiting for me in my office when we arrive in Saigon!”
“What was that all about?” Natasha stuck her head through the doorway.
“Come here.” Jay held out his arm for Natasha to crawl under. “Let’s go over to the aircraft and make sure that Paul is loaded OK.”
The loading ramp was attached to the jet’s belly and two caskets were waiting on a cart to be loaded. Jay approached the metal caskets with Natasha 314
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at his side. He reached over and lifted an identification tag that was tied on the nearest bronze casket. It read: PFC Robert O’Toole, 173d Airborne Brigade.
Jay patted the metal box. “Take care of my buddy on the ride back . . . hear?”
Lieutenant Loveless and Natasha walked slowly up to the rear of the remaining casket. The tag was fluttering in the wind. Natasha caught it and looked down at the words written in bold letters: Lieutenant Paul Bourne— and under his name was, hand printed, MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER.
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Glossary of Terms
Airborne Command Center (ACC): Air Force aircraft used to control large operations in the air or on the ground. Aircraft carries advanced electronic and communications systems.
aide-de-camp: French term. Refers to an officer who is assigned to a general and pe
rforms the administrative tasks for the general during travel and social functions.
AK-47: Soviet assault rifle used by most communist countries.
APC: Armored Personnel Carrier. Designed to carry a squad of infantry into battle.
A-Team: The smallest Special Forces operational unit. Used during the Vietnam War to control camps bordering the Cambodian and Laotian countries that remained neutral.
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Glossary of Terms
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A1E: A World War II vintage fighter bomber aircraft that had a long on-station time and could carry a heavy payload of bombs. The A1Es were a favored aircraft for those troops who were in contact with the enemy and needed air support.
battalion: A formation of soldiers—American: Three companies and numbering around five hundred fighting men. North Vietnamese: Three companies and numbering around three hundred fighting men.
berm: Earth mound that was normally built around an A-Camp in the Delta region to prevent a direct line of fire into the camp.
BOQ: Bachelor Officer’s Quarters.
B-4 bag: A gray-colored canvas bag used by paratroopers to pack their parachutes in after a jump. Used by the Air Force to carry personal gear.
Brightlight Team: Code name for a small detachment of heavily armed soldiers who were assigned to rescue another team that was either in heavy contact with the enemy or so decimated that they couldn’t extract themselves.
Brightlight Teams operated out of Command and Control North (SOG) and were very dangerous missions.
B-Team: A Special Forces unit that is the Headquarters element for three or more A-Teams.
bull boat: A round boat three to six feet across used by Vietnamese fishermen.
Craft is very similar to American Indian bull boats.
Charlie: Slang word used for North Vietnamese or Vietcong.
Chieu-Hoi: I surrender.
Chief of Staff: Military duty position. Senior Army officer, (Top four-star general).
claymore mines: Antipersonnel weapon. Placed above the ground and pointed toward the enemy’s avenue of attack. Detonation discharges hundreds of steel balls at a high velocity.
click: Slang term for kilometer, one thousand meters.
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CO: Commanding officer.
corps: Military unit composed of two or more divisions.
C-rations: Combat rations.
Delta: The southernmost corps or section of South Vietnam. Terrain is very flat and is used for growing rice.
Distinguished Service Cross: America’s second highest valor award.
Division: American fighting unit composed normally of three brigades (total: 16,000 soldiers).
FAC: Forward Air Controller. Used by the Air Force to call in and guide fighter aircraft to a target.
Gook: Slang word for North Vietnamese.
Hoa-Hoa: Vietnamese religious sect with a strong anticommunist following.
hooch: Slang term for a temporary living space for soldiers in Vietnam.
K-Bar knife: Fighting blade used mostly by Marines.
LLDB: Lac Luong Dac Biet. South Vietnamese Special Forces.
LOLEX: Low level extraction of supplies from flying aircraft.
LRRP Rations: Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol rations. Dehydrated food packets.
LZ: Helicopter landing zone.
MACV: Military Advisory Command—Vietnam.
Mayday: Aircraft emergency call for help.
Medal of Honor: Department of Defense award for valor. The United States’
most coveted valor award.
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med-evac: Medical evacuation.
Mike Force: Three or four companies of highly trained commandos who were used to reinforce Special Forces A-Camps under attack.
Montagnard: Vietnamese “Indians.” Tribes located in the high mountain areas of Vietnam and very underdeveloped. Montagnards were looked upon as second-class citizens by the Vietnamese. Montagnards were probably the original settlers of Vietnam.
M-79 grenade launcher: Shoulder-fired single-shot weapon that fired small grenades.
NVA(PAVAN): North Vietnamese Army. People’s Army of North Vietnam.
Phantom: American jet fighter F4-E.
POW: Prisoner of war.
Purple Heart: American decoration for receiving wounds while fighting an enemy.
PRC-77: (Scrambler, secure voice radio set) Radio set carried by infantry and recon troops.
PSP: Perforated steel planking. Used originally for making runways, but also used for roof on bunkers and covered with sandbags.
Randall knife: Coveted handmade fighting knife made by the Randall family, Orlando, Florida.
recon: Slang word for reconnaissance.
RF-PF: South Vietnamese Regional Forces and Popular Forces. Used to protect villages. Similar to the National Guard concept.
R & R: Rest and Recuperation. A period of five to seven days’ leave for American soldiers to countries surrounding Vietnam, such as Australia, Japan, etc.
RT: Reconnaissance Team.
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sapper: A highly trained North Vietnamese soldier who was used to infiltrate American compounds and destroy equipment and supplies. Also used as the initial force during an attack on American positions.
scrambler: A device to alter radio transmissions so that they could not be monitored.
SF: Special Forces (Green Berets).
Silver Star: American award for valor (gallantry in action).
SKS: Soviet-made rifle.
SOG: Studies and Observation Group (changed to Augmentation). A top-secret reconnaissance unit. Selected Green Berets were chosen to operate highly trained teams.
Spooky: Code name for a C-130 aircraft mounted with mini-guns.
STABO rig: A device designed by Special Forces soldiers, used to extract a person from heavy jungle where a helicopter could not land.
time (military): 2400 hours = midnight; 0100 = 1:00 A.M., 0200 = 2:00 A.M., etc.
Viet Cong: South Vietnamese communists.
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About the Author
DONALD E. ZLOTNIK served during the Vietnam War for eighteen months with the ultra elite MACV-SOG
Command and Control North long range reconnaissance teams that conducted missions into Laos (Prairie Fire) and North Vietnam (Nickel Steel and Falling Rain). Members for the elite unit were selected from among the ranks of highly trained Special Forces (Green Berets) and navy SEALs.
Zlotnik also served in combat with two Green Beret "A"
detachments; A-253 Duc Co on the Cambodian border and was the first executive officer at A-426 in the Plain of Reeds during periods of heavy fighting. Zlotnik has written more than 300 columns for two Detroit newspapers titled;
"Thoughts From the Right." Zlotnik is the author of ten war novels and has written eleven more unpublished historical action-adventure novels. He says they will make good reading for his grandchildren someday. When recently asked by 60 Minutes II producers about war, Zlotnik was quoted as saying, "War is hell--Sherman was right about that part of it-
-but it is up to the leaders to keep it honorable." Currently, Zlotnik is the founder and administrator of The Seraphim & Angel Agency, specializing in treatment foster care agency.
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