The Amulets of Power IV the Burma ConflictChapter 3
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The following new characters appear in the remaining chapters:
Richard Starling (Rick)
Commo specialist, SP/4, 5’-10” tall, 145 pounds, 23 years old, blond hair, gray eyes.
Harry Williams
Commo specialist, SP/4, 5’-7’ tall, 155 pounds, 21 years old, brown hair, brown eyes
Noon
Thai girl from Chiang Rai, 5’-0” tall, 100 pounds, 32C-20-31, 19 years old, long shiny black hair, brown eyes, very cute
The next morning, the 19th, I was up early and fired up the AN/VRC 47 radio after the generator had stabilized. I sent Broyles to breakfast when he came in, and also turned on one of the PRC-77 radios for any local traffic.
Operations came to life around me shortly after 0700, and I went to breakfast when Broyles returned to watch the radios. There was a notice of a briefing at 0900 for all U.S. personnel in camp posted in the mess tent. On returning to Operations, Captain Paribetra was there talking to the Major.
“We need to do something about the bodies on the river bank,” he was saying, as I entered the tent.
“What’s the problem?” the Major asked.
“They are starting to decay, even in these cool temperatures, and flies are gathering on them,” the Captain told him. SFC Bill ‘Doc’ Fleming, the Senior Medic, came in then to also speak to the Major. He heard the last part of Captain Paribetra’s remarks.
“Yes sir, they are quickly becoming a health hazard,” he said. “I was just coming to speak to you about them.”
“What preventive measures can we take, Doc?” the Major asked.
“We can use the same lime that is used in the latrines on them to keep down the smell, and cover the bodies to keep the flies off of them,” ‘Doc’ Fleming told him.
“Cover them with what?” the Major asked, unsure of what to use.
“We have a number of canvas covers that the tents were delivered in. Some of them could be used. They can be washed and disinfected later,” Fleming told him.
“Make it so,” the Major told them. “I don’t know when the village headman will have the timber available to cremate the bodies. If he takes overly long, we’ll burn the tent covers with them.” Both Captain Paribetra and SFC Fleming left to take care of it.
Apparently, the Major had spoken to Sergeant Lee about assuming part of the duties of radio operator while I was at breakfast, as he came over to talk to me when things had calmed down in Operations.
“What additional do I need to know about the radios,” he asked me.
“Not a lot more than you are already familiar with,” I told him. “Broyles and I will take care of turning the sets on and off, and changing the frequencies. We’ll also take care of the generator, although you will need to keep an eye on the fuel when we are aren’t here.
“The log is to keep track of the calls, and only requires a few notes. It’s fairly self-explanatory. Other than that, it’s just listening for calls, and we normally don’t get that many calls here. It’s when things go wrong that there will be additional calls, or when there are arrivals like the courier that is coming in today,” I finished, as the light came on in my mind. “Aviation personnel,” I kept hearing in my mind, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to the Major before the briefing at 0900 hrs.
Just before 0900, all of the U.S. personnel had gathered outside of the Operations tent. There were all of the members of the A-Team who were in camp. One was in Man-Namlet with the observers. Even the Medics had closed down for the meeting. The personnel from the Red Tigers were here also. I hadn’t realized how many of them there were until now. Captain Paribetra and several of his Officers had also joined us. They were wearing the Browning Hi-Power pistols that I had found and were as proud of them as could be.
MSG Sorenson called everyone to attention at 0900, and the Major appeared from the Operations tent to receive his report of ‘all present’. The Major then gave ‘at ease’ and then ‘take your seats, such as they are’. He waited while we got settled before he began to speak.
“As most of you are aware, there was quite a bit of activity yesterday. There were debris and bodies spotted in the river by our people at Man-Namlet north of here, and we retrieved some of the bodies and debris last evening.
“Among the bodies that were recovered was that of a Lieutenant Colonel who had a waterproof dispatch case with him. Inside it were orders and maps in Chinese. After a lot of effort by SFC Lee, two Ranger Sergeants, and an elderly civilian from town, we believe that we know what those orders say. I would like to extend my personal thanks to all of those who helped in the translation effort.
“Basically what the orders said was that the unit that the Chinese Army’s High Command had sent here was to check on all of the supplies that had been pre-positioned here in the Shan States and determine if they had been discovered or removed. If they determined that they had been discovered or were missing, they were to determine who had done that and were to eliminate the people in that town, or the unit if they were Military. There were to be no survivors. They were not to return until they had fulfilled their mission.
“Now the good news: there were no instructions for them to report their progress until they returned to their base in China. There were also no additional supply sites indicated on their maps.
“Finally, the bad news is that their maps had everyone of our observation posts located as well as our camps. Are there any questions?” he finished.
“Have we any idea how they located all of our positions, sir?” one of the pilots asked.
“There are several possibilities that suggest themselves,” the Major answered. “Since we have been in contact with all of our locations, they could have located them by triangulation of our radio signals. Secondly, they could have agents here who are keeping an eye on us and sending reports of our locations to their superiors in China, or both of the above. Anything else?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” SFC Fleming, the Senior Medic, asked. “Do we have any idea what happened to them? The bodies that I examined all appeared to have already been dead when they reached the water.”
“We know that Man-Namlet reported seeing fierce lightning and hearing very loud thunder at around 0400 hrs yesterday morning. How that affected them, and what it may have caused we don’t know, and may never know,” the Major told him.
“What will happen when they don’t return, sir?” SSG Lewis, the light weapons specialist, asked.
“We don’t know, Sergeant, and that’s what worries me. We also don’t know how long they were given to complete their mission, or if they were to contact any agents here. That information wasn’t in the orders. The Political Officer may have had that information, but we didn’t recover his body,” the Major told us.
“What are we going to do with the bodies that we recovered, sir, and what about all of the other bodies that will be washing up on shore all along the river?” SSG Taggert, the Junior Medic, asked.
“The bodies here will be cremated as soon as the village headman delivers the wood that he has promised for the cremation fire. I believe a few gallons of jet fuel and gasoline added to it will help things along. As for the other bodies that wash up along the Salween, I don’t know what will happen to them. We saw some on the shore during our reconnaissance flight yesterday. Most were in inaccessible locations. The vultures will get most of them, I would imagine,” the Major finished.
I had sent Broyles in to monitor the radio after the Major had answered the first couple of questions. I was hoping to be able to talk to him before everyone left, but that wasn’t possible. It wasn’t until after we returned to the Operations tent that I was able to speak to him.
“Sir, about that extra man for Commo,” I said approaching him. I could see that he was vexed at my initial statement, but I continued. “Would it be possible to get someone from the Aviation people in here to help out?” I finished. He became very thoughtful looking over the last part.
“I don’t know!” he said at last. “Let me speak to Captain Rust at lunch, and see what could be arranged.”
Just before 1045, the radio came alive.
“Old Hand, Old Hand, this is Black Horse 210. We are approaching with a VIP visitor, and will be landing in about ten minutes. I repeat one zero mikes. Do you copy? Over.”
“Black Horse 210, this is Old Hand. Roger. We copy, and will be ready to meet the visitor. Over,” Broyles sent.
“Old Hand, Black Horse 210. Roger. Out.” We had all heard the transmission and were looking at each other.
“Is this the courier?” MSG Sorenson asked. “They said a VIP visitor!”
“Maybe they sent someone important to pick the stuff up,” Tweed suggested.
“I suppose that’s possible, so let’s get ready to meet them,” the Major told us, and he and MSG Sorenson left in a few minutes to greet the visitors over at the helicopter landing pad. The rest of us made sure that Operations was presentable for the visitors.
The Major and MSG Sorenson returned in about twenty minutes with Major Carlson, the Group S-3, and a Captain, who I didn’t recognize. Tweed called attention just before they entered the tent.
“At ease. Return to your duties,” Major Carlson said, as he entered. He stopped to shake hands with Tweed and also came over to shake hands with me.
“If you’ll have a chair facing the map board, we’ll explain what has occurred over the last thirty-six hours or so, sir,” Major Del Vecchio told our visitors. Once they were seated, he launched into an explanation of the events of yesterday, and finished with an explanation of our attempt to translate the documents last night.
Major Carlson asked some of the same questions that had come up at our briefing: Cause of the accident; what would be done with the bodies, etc. Major Del Vecchio gave him the same answers, as they were all that we had. Major Carlson sat there in thought for a few seconds before he looked up.
“I noticed that you very carefully refrained from mentioning the Amulets,” he said, and then looked from Major Del Vecchio to Tweed and me. “I seem to remember a similar occurrence in Cambodia in 1966.” Major Del Vecchio turned to look at me and shrugged.
“Yes sir,” I answered. “It was similar in many ways. I believe it was blamed on “Jungle Spirits” at the time.”
“Yes, and I suppose it’s ‘River Spirits’ this time!!” Major Carlson said, sarcastically.
“I haven’t actually heard the local people speak of ‘River Spirits’, sir. Of course my Hmong is rather poor,” I told him.
“I see, and all that we DO know about the cause is a report of lightning and thunder?” Major Carlson asked.
“Yes sir. It is the dry season, and those are unusual occurrences now, which is why the observers reported it,” Major Del Vecchio told him.
“So we don’t know where they were when this unfortunate ‘accident’ occurred then?” Major Carlson asked.
“No sir. My people only reported that it was up river, north of them,” Major Del Vecchio replied.
“What about this debris?” Major Carlson asked next.
“Pieces of broken boats, broken boxes, and a few whole but empty boxes were retrieved. All were things that could float. Anything with any weight appears to have sunk long before it reached us, or was destroyed in the many rapids on the way here. The gorge that the river flows through above Man-Namlet is rather narrow and the sides are very steep. We flew up there yesterday morning looking for answers, but could see little in the turbulent water from the height that we needed to fly at because of the narrowness of the gorge,” Major Del Vecchio explained.
“All right!” Major Carlson said after a few seconds, sounding rather tired. “Let Captain Wakefield examine those documents. He is an expert on the Chinese written form, and is on loan to us from USARPAC. He will leave a translation for you before we leave. We’ll be taking the documents and maps with us to be forwarded to USARPAC for further scrutiny.
“While he is doing that, let’s go down to the river, and look at some of this debris. Maybe we can make some sense out of it,” Major Carlson finished.
The following characters appear in the rest of the story: Captain Paribetra Thai Army Ranger, Suenee's cousin from Amulets II and III, 5'-10" tall, 145 pounds, 28 years old, black hair, brown eyes, he has been promoted in the intervening years Lergong Pengdith Captain, Thai Army Rangers, 5'-8" tall, 135 pounds, 35 years old, black hair, brown eyes Captain Tamusarit, Thai Special Forces, returns from Amulets II, 5'-9" tall, 138 pounds, 32 years old, black hair, brown eyes, He too...
At home that evening, I gave Tweed a general outline of what went on during our meeting with Colonel Page. I didn't disclose what was in the letter or who it was from, as the Major had asked me not to. "So what did you do all day besides wait for us to get back?" I asked, as I finished my explanation. "Oh, I spent some very informative time with Sergeant Daniels. I originally went to see him to find out what he might have of local interest. I got more than I bargained for," Tweed told...
"Sergeant Baker, you and Sergeant Tweed see me immediately after we all check in!" the Major said in a strained voice when he had recovered from the sight of Suenee and Phesila standing outside the hotel with our children. Captain Tamusarit had already walked over to Suenee and greeted her and Phesila with a traditional Thai greeting. "Sawat Dee krup," he said with a smile, as he waied. "Sawat Dee ka," both women replied with a wai and a smile. "It is good to see you again, Suenee...
Things remained quiet for the next week and a-half. The 25th was Christmas, and while it felt a lot more like Christmas up here in the mountains, there was no big celebration. The cooks had received extra food on this week's shipment, and prepared a very nice meal for us on Christmas, but there was no real celebration, no trees or gifts. Of course the Thais don't really celebrate Christmas, but they were happy to join in eating the extra food provided. Payday, the 31st, was on a Wednesday...
Starling had left Operations when I returned, but was soon back with the pieces of his Army Green Class A uniform. Suenee took them and placed them on the chair that she had been sitting on. "I will have these ready when you come on payday for your wedding," she told him. As quietly as she had spoken, the Major had picked up on it, and turned to look at both of them. "What wedding?" he asked. "Sergeant Starling and my student, Noon, will be married on payday when he returns to Chiang...
On returning home on Saturday afternoon after the briefing and the meeting in the backroom of the club, Suenee announced that she, Phesila, and the children would be leaving on Tuesday, the 14th, for Chiang Rai by train. "By train!?" I asked, shocked. "Yes, there is a train to Chiang Mai that we can take from here in the afternoon. We will go as far as Lampang on it. It will be morning when we arrive there. There is a local train that goes from Lampang to Chiang Rai on Monday, Wednesday...
The following characters will appear throughout the rest of the story: Phil Del Vecchio Major, OIC of Team, Bill was on his Team in Luang Phrabang, 5'-7"tall, 175 pounds, 39 years old, black hair, hazel eyes, very muscular Fleming, Jack Captain, Advisor to the Thai Rangers, 5'-11" tall, 170 pounds, 32 years old, blond hair, blue eyes Stills, Ken SFC, Advisor to the Thai Rangers, 5'-9" tall, 155 pounds, 36 years old, Brown hair, gray eyes Wesley 1LT, Team XO, 6'-0" tall, 165...
We moved as quickly as possible toward the Aviation area in the near total darkness of this moonless night. Chinese New Year is celebrated on the new moon, and it was very dark here in the Shan States at night without the moon. There were no lights showing in the town either. The Aviation people that we encountered on the way were very nervous, but we managed to get to their command bunker without getting shot. "What were those explosions? We couldn't contact your Operations," Captain...
Captain Tamusarit (Cowboy 6) was early with his report that evening. "Old Hand, Old Hand, this is Thai Cowboy 6. Over." "Thai Cowboy 6, this is Old Hand. Over." "Old Hand, this is Cowboy 6. Is your Six available? Over," I handed the mike to the Major who was standing next to me now. "Cowboy 6, Hand 6. Go." "Hand 6, Cowboy 6. My people are all back from their patrols. The site near my location was the first one checked. They found a large crater in the mountain side above a small...
When Sergeant Tweed returned from Chiang Rai, he was very busy for the first hour or so. Later he took me aside to talk. "I spoke with Noon while at the house. She is very lonesome and anxious for you to return. She asked me to tell you that," Sergeant Tweed informed me. I had been thinking about her a lot also while on watch with nothing more strenuous to do than listen for a call on one of the radios. I had decided that I needed to see her again. I certainly liked her a lot, and not...
The payday bird arrived pretty much as usual at around 0900 on Friday the 28th, and we were setting down in Chiang Rai just after 1030. Sorenson reminded everyone to stay alert in case of a recall before we were all released to get paid. Starling and the others from the Red Tigers headed for their unit here on the Airbase, while Tweed, I, and the other Special Forces people headed for the Team House. Suenee, Phesila, Noon, and our daughters were waiting there for us when we arrived. Noon...
Friday, the 2nd of January, 1970, started out just as cold as the previous day had. After sending the daily report to the B-Detachment last night, I had returned to bed for another two hours of sleep before relieving Starling just after midnight. I re-tuned my radio to the 20 meter shortwave band and listened for any signals that could be originating here in the Shan States, as I believed this was the most likely wavelength that an agent here would be using to contact his superiors in...
Our flight arrived at Nawngh Kam just after 1030 hrs. Captain Paribetra immediately posted guards while the rest of us busied ourselves unloading the chopper. In the meantime, MSG Sorenson and SFC Lee started laying out the camp from a plan that they and the Major had constructed. Our helicopter was on its way back to Chiang Rai before the next one arrived just after 1130 hrs with more troops and tents. The Operations tent had been the first one erected. When the additional troops arrived,...
On Monday, the 30th of March, the Major called all of the Section Chiefs in for a meeting. "Tomorrow is the last payday that we will have requiring a split shift, as next payday we will all be on our way to Chiang Rai, and then back to our regular assignments, at least most of us. What will the Red Tigers be doing?" the Major asked. "We'll be rotating also, sir," Captain Rust told him. "But it will be on the First of May. They will hold our pay till then," he assured us. "So, I am...
Note: All of the names of places in the Shan States are actual towns there located along the Salween River. The names of towns in China are actual towns located near the border with the Shan States. Tweed and I left for home after the Major finished. I locked the commo room and returned the key to the CQ. We returned to the hotel to drop off our LBE and picked up a clean set of tiger fatigues to change into in the morning. We didn’t run into, or see anyone on the way to the house, but were...
Chinese New Year had been at the end of January in 1968. There had been an uprising in South Vietnam by the Viet Cong. They called it the “Tet Offensive”, and it was a colossal failure. They had too few personnel and weapons for the grand offensive that they envisioned, as they had counted on the civilian population rising up to join them along with major units of the South Vietnamese Army. That didn’t happen, and they were easily defeated by the South Vietnamese Army with the aid of some...
I awoke just after 0430 hrs. As tired as I had been when I turned in, I felt fine now and crawled out of my nice warm sleeping bag to be greeted by a very chilly morning. I dressed quickly and headed for Operations, the coded messages, and the code book. Williams was on radio watch. He looked a little tired and cold. The radio was quiet, and the generator was the only sound to be heard. "You can go to bed, Williams. I'll take over," I told him as my eyes grew more accustomed to the...
Just after 1600 hrs a call come in over the radio. "Old Hand, Old Hand, this is Red Tiger 110. We are zero five out from your landing pad with a visitor. Over." "Red Tiger 110, this is Old Hand. Roger. Will advise Red Tigers here. Will you need fuel? Over." "Old Hand, Tiger 110. Negative. We're just on a short hop, and will be waiting to return the visitor. Out." I called the Red Tigers on the land line to advise them of the arriving bird. "Who's coming?" Sergeant Lee...
Colonel Page left for Bangkok late on Sunday morning along with a Thai driver for his rented Toyota Corolla. It was only he and his wife who were traveling to Bangkok, as his two children were attending college in the states. They stayed at the Capitol Hotel in Bangkok, and Mrs. Page went shopping on Monday, while the Colonel took the car to JUSMAG for his meeting that morning. This was just the excuse that he had used to draw TDY pay for the trip. The meeting itself wasn’t of any great...
The following new character appears in this and other chapters: Phara Hemsamahan, Governor of Korat Province, Sonsri's father, 5'-7'' tall, 165 pounds, 45 years old, Black hair, brown eyes Keofeh house owner, Amulet devotee, an older woman about 5'- 0'' tall and rather thin. Black hair and brown eyes "You cannot do that! She is dedicated to the Amulets and is also my friend," Sonsri told him in a loud voice. On hearing this, the new guards shrank back in fear of touching one...
Soon the only ones left there in the mess hall were the CO, Sawyer, Barlow, Morris and me. We all had a second beer. “What the hell is causing these ‘Ammunition Malfunctions’, as everyone is calling them?” the CO asked of no one in particular. “Sir, it has to be sabotage. That much explosive just doesn’t go off by itself. Even if someone were careless, it wouldn’t set off everything like that and apparently at the same time. Although how a saboteur could arrange it all to go off at the same...
Arriving at the unit just after 0730 hrs, there was quite a surprise waiting for me. First, a good number of the students were there and looking at the surprise. Secondly, the cooks were there and making a late morning meal for the men present. Lastly there was what everyone was looking at. A new building had appeared, apparently overnight. It was located at the far end of our building from the road and was centered on the middle barracks and about 12 feet from it. It was a one story masonry...
The following new character appears in this and other chapters: Ratana Also called Noi, house girl, 5'-0'' tall, 98 pounds, 15 years old, 28A-20-25, long black hair, brown eyes, a thin quiet girl We found a small open air restaurant not far from our hotel and had a light lunch. During the meal Chanthra insisted that we change clothes before going to Wat Sala Loy. "Our clothing is wet from sweating and would not be appropriate for a visit to the Wat. It would also be best if we ride...
Back out on the village street, we continued toward the Wat, as the sun was close to setting. We reached the masonry walls around the Wat while the sun was still visible, making it about 1815 hrs. The walls had been painted or whitewashed at some time in the past, but portions of the paint was now peeling. There were gardens of various types of vegetables on both sides of the Wat and presumably behind it also, which were tended by the monks. We passed through the gate into the Wat and looked...
“Uncle!” Suenee said very quietly. The Thai Colonel instantly turned to see who had uttered the word and appeared to be shocked when he saw Suenee standing there. “Suenee! Little Suenee!” he asked in amazement. We were all surprised at this, also. The Colonel then turned back to us. “Suenee isn’t really my niece. Her father has been my friend and adviser since I was a young man. I met him through my father who was his friend and adviser for many years. “I often visited him and his family...
There was no mortar attack that night either, and I made the regular 2100 hrs. report on the new radio. Lt Sykes was there to ask about the chopper. It turned out that all of the aviation assets were busy up north in the Louang Phrabang area, and we would have to wait. Again I went to bed early, as no one had assigned me anything else to do. In the morning at breakfast, Sawyer announced that Sgt Morris would lead a patrol out to one of the nearby villages with Doc Walls along for a medical...
"Must you wear the guns here in town?" Chanthra asked looking at me with a frown on her face. That stopped me dead in my tracks. I had never considered not wearing them. Having a weapon at hand had become a way of life for me over the last nineteen plus years that I had been in the Army. It had been reinforced significantly in Korea during the war, and became a way of life when I joined Special Forces a short time after leaving Korea. "Is it necessary, my Champion Mike?" she asked again...
The following new character appears in this chapter: Prince Krom Luang Wongsa Dhiraj Snid Thai Physician and Diplomat, 49th son of King Rama II, 5’-7’’ tall, 165 pounds, 47 years old in 1855, a receding hair line going gray and brown eyes As we neared the camp headquarters building, we could see a very impressive looking coach parked outside of it along with a number of horses that were larger than the normal Thai horses. We also saw that their tack appeared to be of very expensive...
New characters appearing in chapter 10 and after: Phil Del Vecchio Captain, Bill met him in Bangkok, 5’-7”tall, 185 pounds, 36 years old, black hair, hazel eyes, very muscular Tweed SSG, Engineer, Bill’s friend from Cambodia, 5’-9” tall, 155 pounds, 32 years old, blond hair, blue eyes Carson SSG, Infantry, 5’-11” tall, 170 pounds, 32 years old, black hair, gray eyes Williams SSG, Infantry, 5’-9” tall, 150 pounds, 30 years old, Brown hair, hazel eyes Colby SSG, Artillery, 6’-0” tall,...
The following new characters appears in this the last chapter: Sisuda Captain Prawit's future wife, 5'-2'' tall, about 100 pounds, 32B-21-30, 20 years old, long black hair, brown eyes Master Sergeant Sunsarn Master Sergeant 1st Class, Custodian of the Ranger Museum, 5'-7'' tall, 140 pounds, 48 years old, black hair going gray, brown eyes Ratana Sunsarn's wife, a descedant of the original Ratana, 5'-2'' tall, 112 pounds, 34C-24-34, 42 years old, long black hair, brown...
I went up to the room and checked my AK-47 and its magazines. Mike was there checking his weapon also. "You ever been in a firefight?" he asked, nervously. "No, have you?" I asked. "Me, neither," he answered, and sounded scared. "I wish that I had been able to sight this thing in," I told him. "They told me not to worry about that," he said. "Spray and pray is what they told me. You can't see shit at night." "I could see pretty well last night after the moon came up," I...
The following new named character appears in this and other chapters: Sergeant Chuang The Sergeant from Sonsri's guard detail, 5'-6'' tall, 125 pounds, 30 years old, brown eyes, black hair I led the horses back to the open shed-like structure where the water buffalo had previously been kept. One glance inside convinced me that it was not ready for the horses to occupy it. I unsaddled them and took the saddles to the area under the house where they would be dry and reasonable cool...
After breakfast at the PX cafeteria in the morning, I went over to finance. They went over my records, while Suenee went back to the room to wait for me. "Damn Sarge, you've been all over the place," the SP/5 clerk said before he got to the Command Sponsorship paper work. He went over that very carefully, and it took some time. "It looks like you have a bunch of money coming," he finally said. "This Command Sponsorship is effective from the date you got married, which was in...
The following new characters appears in this and other chapters: Ronnaring Corporal, Clerk, Ranger Trainee, 5'-4'' tall, 120 pounds, 24 years old, black hair, brown eyes Kwaikai Lance Corporal, Clerk, Ranger Trainee, 5'-3'' tall, 117 pounds, 22 years old, black hair, brown eyes Jatuporn Sergeant, Ranger Trainee, 5'-6'' tall, 130 pounds, 31 years old, black hair, brown eyes Prawit Wongsuwan Captain, Ranger Trainee, 5'-4'' tall, 140 pounds, 32 years old, black hair, brown...
It was nearly sundown when I heard the commotion coming from the front gate and went out to see what it was. The three Chiefs had returned with the holy man. He was an older man dressed as a Buddhist monk, but his rob was very faded and worn, and he seemed very agitated about something, as they came through the front gate. “What’s up?” I asked Tweed, as I walked up to him. “Don’t know yet. The old guy seems really upset,” Tweed said, as one of the interpreters came toward us. “What’s...
The following new characters appears in this and other chapters: Kampon Sukondhapatipak Senior Colonel, Royal Siam Army, 5'-8'' tall, 175 pounds, 48 years old, black hair with a touch of gray, brown eyes Werachon Adireksombat Major, Royal Siam Army, 5'-9'' tall, 165 pounds, 34 years old, black hair, brown eyes "What have you done NOW?" the Governor roared rising from his seat upon seeing us in the doorway, again without so much as a Sawat Dee or a wai. "Several of the...
The following character appears in this chapter and the remainder of the story: Chatchai Sarikalya Lieutenant, a tall thin young Officer, 23 years of age, one of the Platoon Leaders The roosters were very vocal again this morning, and we were up early. On arriving at our area on the camp, I found far fewer men there today than yesterday. Still there were a number of them there and the Sergeants already had them in groups of ten, but hadn't started any processing yet since I had all of...
We continued until about noon. The cart only made three or four miles an hour where the road was in good condition, which wasn't always the case. There were a few places where it was so bad that we had to get out, and push the cart from the back while Ute encouraged the buffalo from the front. Thankfully those places were few, but less bad spots than that were frequent. Around noon, Ute pulled the cart off the road, and under the shade provided by some tall trees and stopped. "We stop...
The unauthorized patrol returned just before sundown. They had two wounded with them and three extra weapons. "Doc" Walls was ecstatic. He finally had some real wounds to treat and not just the usual run of boils, bites, fevers, sprains and malaria that he saw here. Neither wound was life threatening, but in this heat and humidity, they needed to be treated promptly before they became infected. The CO took Lieutenant Tamusarit, the Platoon Leader and an interpreter into his office. They...
Wednesday the first of March 1967 dawned the same as every other day had. I spent the early morning hours after breakfast straightening up the radio room. It was something I had been putting off since the Teams had left on Friday, but I had decided to get it done this morning. About 1000 hrs 'the Radio' came to life all on its own for no apparent reason. "Any station, any station, this is Cowboy Tango 1 Alpha, over," I heard immediately. In my hurry to get to the radio, I tripped on a...
We filed out of the front gate toward the saddle. I handed Tweed the smoke grenade, as we hurried down to the LZ. In just under five minutes, I was in place and ready. I called the chopper again. "Air Cobra 17, this is Golden Badger 3 Zulu. I am popping smoke now," I told him as I signaled Tweed. "I identify green smoke. I say again green." "Roger, Air Cobra 17. I'm down wind of the smoke and ready to guide you in." The chopper that approached then wasn't a Huey either. I...
We left the hotel following that for a restaurant which turned out to be the largest and most expensive one in Pak Chong. It was certainly more impressive than the places where we had eaten previously. The building was masonry with a wooden second story. There were many types of meat on display such as roast chicken and duck, there was red barbecued pork cooking over coals still. Just the smells were delicious. There was also the smell of freshly cooked rice and the other items being...
New characters appearing in the remaining chapters: Lieutenant Paribetra Thai Army Ranger, Suenee's cousin from Amulets II, 5'-10" tall, 155 pounds, 27 years old, black hair, brown eyes Phesila Tweed's girlfriend / wife, Governor's daughter, 5'-6" tall, 120 pounds, 20 years old, 36C-23-35, long shiny black hair, brown eyes, stunningly beautiful Monday was fairly easy, as there wasn't much going on. The CO arranged for Carson to get on a TSF flight on Tuesday that was going to...
We formed up the unit on the company street at 0900 hrs, and marched off in a column of platoon shortly following that. The march to the exercise area required more than an hour before we reached the location where we dropped off the First Platoon to begin their portion of the exercise. The other platoons followed in order. Captain Prawit and his assistants would be grading the First and Second Platoons initially, while Sergeant Chung and I would have the Third and Fourth Platoons. We would...
Fields dropped me off at Ploenchit Road and continued back to the Team House, while I walked the few blocks to the Nana. I was soaked when I got there from Bangkok's heat and humidity. The air conditioning in the lobby felt really great. I went up to the room where I found Suenee talking to two of the women who worked at the hotel. The women left just after I arrived and Suenee took one look at me and said, "Shower." I knew better than to argue by now and collected my other clothes and...
The rest of the morning was pretty dull with only a few good bits of conversations to be captured. It wasn't until after lunch that we picked up the Attapu station again. John went to get Ernie while I recorded it. There was shouting again at both ends of the transmission. Ernie was laughing his ass off after he came in. They finally signed off, and Ernie eventually managed to stop laughing enough to talk to us. "What the hell is so funny?" John asked, as he turned from his receiver to...
The following characters return from Part 1: Sgt. Bill Baker Radio Operator, 5'-10" tall, 170 pounds, 24 years old, Auburn hair, Hazel eyes MSG Sawyer Team Sergeant, 6'-6" tall, 275 pounds, 42 years old, black hair, brown eyes Suenee Sa Bill's girl friend and wife, 5'-2" tall, 108 pounds, 34C-23-35, 21 years old, brown eyes, long black hair, oval face, very cute Sophie MSG Sawyer's girlfriend, 5'-10" tall, 140 pounds, 38C-25-37, 25 years old, brown eyes, long black hair The...
I was awakened again by Suenee shaking my shoulder. There was barely enough light to see in the room. "You must return now," she said, when she saw that I was awake. I reached out and pulled her to me. She offered no resistance and came into my arms for a long kiss - but not too long. "Shower," she told me in a no-nonsense voice. We adjourned to the shower again. I was better prepared this time, but that water was still cold. We both showered and dried off. When I came out of the...
When Captain Prawit and I arrived at the firing range, Lieutenant Chatchai had the men at work already repairing the area of the tam-nop (embankment) to be used for firing and the area on the next dike or embankment where the targets would be placed. With the rain that the area had received lately, the space between the two locations was filled with some eight inches of water, and it resembled a rice paddy – if a small one. The taller embankments were very visible now with the areas between...
A new character introduced in this chapter: Sonsri Daughter of the Governor of Korat Province, 5'-0" tall, 98 pounds, 32B-22-32, 18 years old, long black hair, brown eyes, cute On leaving Muak Lek, we had ridden for over two hours without much talk. Chanthra had purchased two large conical hats made of straw and bamboo before we left the village. I had wondered why at the time, but the reason soon became apparent on the ride. "Here put this hat on," she told me handing me one of the...
Arriving at our unit area earlier than the previous morning, I found the cooks preparing breakfast for the men who were already up. Kwaikai took my horse to have him graze in a new area. Captain Prawin greeted me immediately after that. "Chief Trainer, yesterday evening while talking with the Sah meeuhn (clerk), I asked him what provisions there were for writing letters or keeping a journal. He showed me the paper that you had provided and mentioned that there was a writing box here, but...
New characters appearing in the next few chapters" Luang Silapakom Bill's landlord and teacher, 5'-6" tall, 130 pounds, 53 years old brown eyes, black hair going gray John Bill's co-worked, MOS 98G (Voice Intercept Operator), 5'-9" tall, 150 pounds, 23 years old, blond hair, blue eyes, SP/4 Ernie Translator (Vietnamese), MOS 04B, 5' 8" tall, 160 pounds, 24 years old, brown hair and eyes, SP/5 The entrance to the Operations area was the red guard-shack we had been to last...
The trip from Bangkok back to Korat is about 260 km, more or less by road. We pulled out of Seri Court just after 0830 and made good time once we got out past Don Mung airport. We took the turn to Sara Buri and headed up Friendship Highway. I had a much better view of the trip from the elevated cab of the deuce and a-half then I had had from the pickup truck coming the other way. It was shortly after passing Sara Buri and before we reached the climb to the Korat plateau that I started to...
Characters returning from Part 1 of the story: LTC Hawkins Executive Officer, 46th Group, 6'-1" tall, 185 pounds, 45 years old, brown hair, blue eyes MAJ Carlson S-3, 46th Group, 5'-9" tall, 160 pounds, 39 years old, sandy blond hair, gray eyes The road from the airfield was straight as an arrow and our maps showed that it intersected Highway 4 / 13 roughly half a mile before that road split. One part went through the town and was designated as highway or road 1, and the other part...
New characters appearing in the next several chapters: Short Round Friend of Bill’s, 5’-9” tall, 145 pounds, 21 years old, brown hair, gray eyes Ear Company clerk, tall thin young man, 20 years old, red hair and freckles SSG Williams, Willie S-2, 83rd RRSOU, 5’-8” tall, 170 pounds, 31 years old, very short blond hair, blue eyes First Sergeant Never named other than his rank, tall, thin, balding, reddish completion 44 years old Major Taylor Commander, HQ Co, 83rd RRSOU, 5’-4” tall,...
New characters introduced in the next two chapters: Colonel Thuathao Senior Colonel, Thai Special Forces, Suenee's 'uncle', 5'-10" tall, 170 pounds, 48 years old, black hair going gray at the temples, brown eyes I arrived at the airfield while they were still unloading the C-130 aircraft, as it is only about a four mile drive. I pulled up on the unloading ramp near the plane and walked over to the Air Force Loadmaster who was supervising the unloading. "Howdy," I said as I...
This morning I shaved before going to eat, as I knew that Phillips had started the water heating after getting off guard and it would be hot by now. Also the cook had just arrived as I was getting off guard, and breakfast wouldn't be ready for a little while yet. Breakfast at around 0700 was very quiet and everyone took care of last minute things after that. Then they finished loading their jeeps with their rucks, ammunition, weapons and at least one five gallon can of water. De Foor came...
When we returned to our house shortly after midnight on New Year's day, Suenee seemed very distracted. I was sitting on the bed when Suenee came over to me. "Can we do something different tonight," she asked, but seemed worried. "Sure. What would you like to do?" I asked. "I ... I have been talking to some of the younger women, the ones that work in the bars," she said nervously. "They have told me that it is not a big thing to do." "What is?" I asked, confused. "Smoking,"...