RATS!!

Talking about rats!!  I had two encounters with rats. When I first got on  the hill, they put me in a hooch with some other guys, on the bottom bunk.  I woke up one night and there was this big ass rat setting on his hind legs, looking at me. I took a boot and knocked the crap out of it and it ran out the door.  This other guy (I don't remember his name) started yelling at me because I had hit his pet rat with a boot!  Come to find out this guy had been feeding the damn rat in the hooch with crackers from the C-rats. 

The second encounter was when I was on watch on gun 4 one night at about 0200 or 0300.  This rats charges me, and I kick him.  He turns around and comes at me again.  So I kick him again.  He come back at me again, so I grab my M-16 by the barrel and hit it with the stock like you would a golf ball.  He didn't come back after that.  If he had I was going to shoot him.  It seemed to me the rats over there were as big as opossums! 

The Night of Feb. 25, 1969

I was on gun 4.  Those 1st rounds hit in the wire, they walked twelve up,  some hit our bunker.  We were outside and I asked the LT., on the headphones, if he wanted us to get in the bunkers.  He said yes, which I think was a mistake.  They came by with satchel charges and threw them in the bunker. 

It was a mess the next morning.  Gun 5 took a direct hit with a 130, 155 or 8 incher.  So did their bunker. We were on the bottom of the hill facing north.  We should have seen it coming when they hit India Battery.  I got hurt in March '69 and spent a year in the Naval Hospital, in Tenn. 

It's taken me a long time to try and figure it out.  Out of the everyone in the Battery there were 6 of us left.  They left 6 of us on that hill the next night, with 3 working 105's, which were on top the hill, by the LZ.  They had Carroll (sp?) and India, and Gulf Batteries firing in the wires all night around the hill.  They got some hits, we could hear them yelling out in pain, but they didn't overrun us the night after.

Back to the World

I didn't know what PTSD was.  I think it was so hard for us adjust that it seemed like I missed out on four years of my life. 

Back in the 60's when we grew up things were at a slower pace.  When I got home everyone was running around like helter skelter, but not knowing where they were going.  No body wanted to hear about the war.  My parents didn't, my friends that went to college, or joined the weekend worriers, didn't.  Everyone used to asked me why I didn't smile, and about that far away look in my eyes, or why I was starring at them.  I told them there was nothing to smile about, and if they had seen what my eyes saw they wouldn't be smiling either. 

I flew back on leave from Camp Lajune.  Still had a cast on up to my hip. I could fly cheaper wearing my uniform.  They would put me in 1st class because it was such a hassle getting on and off the pane.  Well there was this big fat guy in a three piece suit. He looks at me and said, "I guess you were a big war hero, how many babes did you kill". Well, I looked him in the eye and said, "well I guess I killed my share, and your share too.  If it weren't for assholes like you, people like me wouldn't be in Vietnam."  They called security and escorted him off the plane.

Then there were the college girls I dated.  All they wanted to do was tell me how wrong it was that we were over there, or talk about how the National Guard shot up college kids at Ohio State.  I didn't want hear all this bullshit. 

We lost a lot of good people that night. I still think the officers should have seen it coming with Golf Btry getting hit before we did.  They must have sneaked in the wires while we firing support for Golf Btry. 

I don't know if I would want to go back to the Country are not.  Might have a flashback and have to kill one of the little f-----s ha,ha.  Or they might have a flashback and kill me!  You know there has to be some messed up people over there.  As much shit as we dropped on them, and stuff.  If I was them I, would be a little pissed too. 

I blame old Johnson for losing the war.  For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know. This was taken off a notice board  at Khe Sanh: "No nation should put the bur