The Amulets of Power V A New BeginningChapter 7
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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 eyes
The following characters reappear from the previous stories in the series:
CSM Sawyer
Command Sergeant Major 46th Group, 6'-6" tall, 275 pounds, 43 years old, black hair, brown eyes
LTC Philip Hawkins
Executive Officer, 46th Group, 6'-1" tall, 185 pounds, 46 years old, brown hair, blue eyes
The patrols returned on the evening of the fifth day. They were tired but happy to be back. They had all found water – apparently a lot of water since they had all showered and also washed their clothes before returning. Additionally, they had brought a good bit of fruit and vegetables with them.
"There are nam tok (water falls) everywhere," the returning team leaders told us.
"Did you see any signs of the bandits or their camp?" I asked.
"No camps, krup, but many signs of wild animals including elephants, tigers, and bears plus many snakes," they replied.
The next day, we moved our camp forward to be closer to the areas that the next group of teams would be covering, and set up a short distance from a river that flowed in a generally northeastern direction.
The day following that, three new teams sent out to recon the area. My team and I made good time and covered quite a wide area. On the third day, we came across signs of human involvement. There were several patches of vegetables that had obviously been cultivated by someone and were not growing wild as were the others that we had seen. There were also a number of trees where the fruit had been picked and there was little or no rotting fruit under them.
I had been using my compass to make a strip map of our movements, and was sure that I could find this area again. We turned around then and headed back toward our new camp. We would have needed to return tomorrow in any event.
There was great rejoicing when we reached camp the next day, but there were also a number of things that needed doing. We had been here for ten days and were in need of rice and other things. We had an operations meeting that night to discuss what needed to be done and just who was best suited to do it. It was finally decided to send Sergeant Chuang back to Korat to get the remainder of the unit. Sergeant Jatuporn would take the buffalo cart to Pak Chong to purchase rice. Five men would go with him but only two of them would enter the town with him. The remaining three would set up a camp farther from Pak Chong than Lieutenant Chatchai had. Jatuporn would join them and they would wait for the remainder of the unit to arrive. The cart with most of the rice and the other two men would return to our camp.
While those things were being carried out, I would take Corporal Wiwan and four other men who he selected for their skills in the jungle, and we would scout the exact location of the bandits' camp before returning. When the remainder of the unit arrived, we would plan our attack and the disposition of our forces.
We knew exactly where we were going, because I had my compass and the strip map that I had made, so we should have been able to cover the distance to where we had found the evidence in less than a day. Naturally there was a problem to interfere with this plan. It seems that we weren't the only ones moving around in these mountains, and around noon, we had to go into hiding when a herd of elephants came our way. Wiwan and I counted 24 elephants of all ages and sizes in the herd.
We waited for a time after they were gone to move out again. Consequently, it was very late when we neared the area where the vegetables were growing. It was well that we approached it carefully, as there were several men there. They had apparently been tending the plants for at least a part of the day, and they had gathered a large basket of the vegetables to take with them.
They departed as we watched, and Corporal Wiwan who was in the lead signaled for us to wait there and hide.
"I and one man will follow them and see where they go," Wiwan whispered to me. "The rest wait here. Six are too many for this." He and the other man slipped away like ghosts while the rest of us set up camp and picked a few vegetables and some fruit. We had brought Kao-neow (Sticky rice) with us as it keeps better in the heat than regular rice.
Wiwan and his companion reappeared among us about an hour and a-half or so later. It was amazing how silently they could move.
"We have located the camp. It is near a waterfall not too far from here. There are many men there and a few women. It didn't appear that some of the women were there by choice, as a number of them are kept in a cage," he told us in a very quiet voice.
"How many men did you see?" I asked.
"Enough to fill three platoons," he told me, as he wasn't strong on numbers but was familiar with how many men were in one of our platoons.
"You should go back to prepare the others, Chief Trainer, and we will check out the area around their camp before returning in a couple of days," he suggested.
"Yes, I will return and prepare things. Are you sure that four of you will be sufficient for the reconnaissance of the camp?" I asked.
"Yes, four will be fine. We will move where we stay each day, so they will not be able to find us," he assured me. It appeared that he was trying to get rid of me – perhaps because I wasn't as quiet moving in the jungle as he and the others were, or because he feared it would be too dangerous.
The next morning, one of the men and I started back to our main camp. Fortunately, we didn't run into any elephants, or other dangerous wild animals on the way.
Back at our main camp that evening, we found the men quiet, but enjoying a meal of rice, vegetables, and meat – a lot of meat. They had trapped and killed a good size wild pig. I was initially upset with Lieutenant Chatchai.
"You allowed them to shoot a pig? What if someone had heard the shot or shots?" I demanded.
"Certainly not, Chief Trainer, there are other ways to catch wild animals. We used a trail of cooked rice and some vegetables to lure the pig into a trap that the men had built. Once it was trapped, one of the men used his big knife to cut the pig's throat after we hit it in the head with a large club," he told me with a smile. I smiled too on hearing his explanation.
The pig had been roasted whole for many hours in the ground so that little smoke or smell was released to give away our position. The meat was a fine addition to our somewhat bland diet of rice, fruit, and vegetables.
"The man have done very well with their traditional way of doing things," I told him, recognizing that this method wasn't new to some of them.
The next morning, some of the men went down to the river to retrieve the fish from the bamboo fish traps, called Sai, that they had placed in the river yesterday afternoon. The fish would be baked the same way the pig had been prepared but not as deep or for as long a time, and not fried which produced too much easily detected odor.
Corporal Wiwan and his men returned after three days. They had scouted the entire camp area and its surroundings, and were able to draw a representation of the area in the dirt which I copied on paper and then reproduced several times after asking a number of questions about the area.
While waiting for them to return, I had rearranged the men of the First and Second Platoon into four groups to act as guides for the remainder of the unit when they arrived. The groups would be led by Corporal Wiwan and the men who had done the scouting. They in turn went over the area they were responsible for with their group, answering questions and pointing out various things on the approach to their area of responsibility.
I also increased the security patrols around the camp to insure that we weren't detected by the bandits. Fires and cooking were held to the minimum necessary. On the sixth day after Sergeant Chuang had left for Korat, I sent out additional people to watch the trail leading to our camp from the main road, but it wasn't until late on the seventh day that Captain Prawit and the remainder of the unit arrived. They had several carts with them, one carried food – mainly rice. A second carried much of the prepared ammunition from the armory. The third one carried a part of the men's equipment, as did the second cart.
That evening there was much quiet celebrating, but those arriving were tired and turned in early while those who had been here pulled guard around the camp. The following morning, I had a briefing for all of the Officers and the Sergeants where I went over how we had found the bandits' camp. Captain Prawit also briefed me on their trip here.
"We had prepared for the arrival of a messenger and had carts on hand but only partially loaded. Sergeant Chuang arrived on what he said was the evening of the second day since he departed here.
"We departed early the next morning after loading everything. We ran into rain on the way here and it slowed us down somewhat. Also a lot of people in the various villages noticed us on the way here," he finished. We had received rain here also but didn't consider it unusual. Of course, we didn't have carts and a muddy road to contend with.
Following that, I went over the plan that we had developed for the attack, and I explained about the reorganization and the guides. It was also necessary to reorganize those who had arrived to have four balanced groups for the attack. That was quickly accomplished, and each group was assigned a Platoon Leader and a Platoon Sergeant. Each group went over their route to the camp and their responsibilities with their guides and the Platoon Leader. Weapons were cleaned and ammunition was issued that afternoon. Everyone went to sleep early that night following a good meal except those on guard duty, and they were changed often so everyone would get enough sleep.
The entire unit was up before dawn the next morning and had a quick breakfast before collecting their field gear and carbines. The cooks and a few men who had developed blisters on their feet or had other problems would remain to guard the camp. The remainder of us set out when it was just light enough to see the trail that we would be following.
I led the unit out with Captain Prawit and my compass. There were security elements out on each flank, and we didn't encounter any elephants or other wild animals as nearly 80 of us made enough noise moving to alert the animals in the surrounding jungle. The monkeys were especially quiet that day.
We arrived at the staging area near the field of vegetables by mid-afternoon, and each platoon again went over their assignments and the approach to their area. The platoons responsible for the southern and western parts of the camp departed first, since they had the longest approaches. The operations Officer and his Sergeant went with them. The northern and eastern platoons left later due to easier, shorter approaches to the camp. The attack was scheduled to take place one hour before sunset.
I moved with Captain Prawit and the northern platoon. Lieutenant Chatchai and Sergeant Jatuporn had the eastern platoon. We arrived early and I got my first look at the camp. It was located near a waterfall which provided a continuous supply of fresh clean water. There were a number of what can only be described as temporary farm-type shacks of bamboo with thatched roofs that had been raised a couple of feet off the ground. There was a main house that was of much better construction than the others, and it resembled the panel-construction used for houses on the central plains and was built on piers some six feet above the ground.
The entire area was covered with grass and there was an area where fires had burned visible but whether for cooking or other purposes wasn't clear. Lastly, there was the large cage area made of stout bamboo where a number of bedraggled looking women sat or lay on the ground. There were also several carts and a number of buffalo visible behind some of the houses.
The wind now brought to us the scent of fires and food cooking. A closer inspection of some of the houses revealed people cooking in front of them or on their verandas.
I checked my watch and as it neared 1745 hrs, I tapped Captain Prawit on the shoulder, he stood up, and stepped out of where we were concealed. I fired a shot in the air from one of my revolver to get everyone's attention.
"This is the Siamese Army. You are surrounded, surrender immediately or else," he shouted, as the sound of the shot died away. The shot had definitely gotten the bandits' attention, and they swarmed out of their houses with machetes, swords, and spears. An older man had appeared on the veranda of the main house also.
"There can't be many of them or we would have heard them coming. Attack and kill them all," he shouted to his men who immediately rushed towards the area where Captain Prawit had been.
The men of our platoon were arranged in two ranks of ten men each with the Platoon Leader, Platoon Sergeant, Captain Prawit and myself making up the third rank. We allowed the bandits to get within 20 Yot or 40 meters of us before the kneeling front rank fired their carbines into the bandits. The second rank stepped forward of the first rank, knelt, and fired their carbines into the remaining group of bandits many of whom appeared to be very confused by how fast the second volley of shots had followed the first. Some of them had continued to advance however.
After the second rank had fired, our third rank moved forward past them, knelt and fired. After firing my carbine, I drew one of my pistols and fired six rapid shots into the remaining bandits who were now strung out for some distance. Firing my pistol was also the signal to Lieutenant Chatchai for his people on the east side of the camp to open fire. They only had six men in a rank, but had three full ranks in addition to a couple of our best shots working as snipers to pick off any bandit leaders.
This new source of fire really confused the bandits, many of whom broke and tried to flee to the south or west. Several men had also emerged from the main house with old muskets. The snipers and our better marksmen immediately targeted them while the platoons concentrated their fire on the fleeing bandits but they were firing more slowly than they had initially.
The older man who I had identified as their leader was one of those who emerged with an old musket. He managed to fire a single shot before he was taken under fire by several of our men and went down.
The platoons on the west and south sides of the area had also opened fire on the bandits by now as they moved in those directions. The bandits had really turned crazy by now and only thought about escaping. None of them were interested in surrendering and they charged right into our guns in a bid to escape. We continued to fire until all of them were down. Some of our people had even needed to draw their machetes when the crazed bandits charged into them while they reloaded. Out of nearly 70 men and a few women, we eventually took four prisoners who had only been slightly wounded.
It was 1815 hrs before Captain Prawit gave the 'Cease fire' command, and we moved out of our positions to check on the dead and wounded. All of the bandit's bodies were checked and the four still alive were taken prisoner. A check of our men revealed some bumps, bruises, and abrasions but no serious injuries thanks to the Muay Korat training that they had received from Sergeant Kruu Bua. I thought that we had sustained no serious casualties until Lieutenant Chatchai was carried out by several of his men. It seems that the one shot that the old leader had fired had hit Chatchai in the thigh. It was only a flesh wound but it bled quite a bit. His men hadn't been able to apply a tourniquet to the area, so I went quickly to work on the wound. I had purposely brought several bottles of Makhong with me to take care of wounds. I gave the Lieutenant a stiff drink and soon had his wound taken care of.
"Well Lieutenant, it looks like you will be riding back to camp," I told him while the Sergeants treated the wounds of the prisoners.
In the meantime, Captain Prawit had gone to check on the women in the cage. None of them had been injured in the firing, as they had all fallen flat on the ground on hearing the first shot. They were all very thankful when released.
It was now after 1830 hrs and would soon be dark. There were a number of things that needed to be accomplished yet and little time in which to do them. I called all of the Officers to me for a quick meeting.
"We need to get organized since it will be dark soon. The moon set this morning at about 1030 hrs or so, and it won't rise again until much later tonight.
"We need to set up fires to see what we are doing and then move these bodies to the outer edges of the clearing. The buffalo need to be checked and secured for the night. We can check the carts in the morning. Someone also needs to be preparing food or collecting what the bandits were cooking. We will also need to set up the guards for the night, but that can be done after eating," I told them. Some of the women had followed Captain Prawit to the meeting and spoke up now.
"We know where the large kettles are kept and can make food for your men," an older woman who appeared to be their leader told us.
"Yes, that would be very helpful," Captain Prawit acknowledged and set everyone in motion. The bandit's food was brought to the burned area to finish being cooked, and the women soon had a fire going and water heating to make rice while others worked on finishing the other food.
Several fires had been started around the camp for light, and the dead were moved to the perimeter of the clearing, but not near the buffalo. The food was soon ready, and the men ate in shifts so there were always some of them on guard. Some of those on guard were responsible for keeping the fires going in the clearing until most of the men went to sleep. The majority of the women slept in the cage but locked it from the inside. I did notice that a few of the women slept with a Ranger that they had selected. I especially noticed that a very pretty young woman shared Captain Prawit's ground cover and mosquito net for the night.
In the morning, the women prepared a thick rice soup and steamed some of the remaining vegetables for the men's breakfast. The carts were inspected and hasty repairs made where necessary while the buffalo were watered and then hitched to the carts. Several of the kettles and woks were loaded on one of the carts along with the remaining rice. Lieutenant Chatchai was on a cart with several of the women. The other women and their meager possessions were on other carts along with the prisoners. The women had stout sticks with them, so the prisoners were very quiet and caused no problems to insure that the women didn't have an excuse to use their sticks – not much anyway.
The bodies of the bandits were stacked in the various buildings before we left. The lead platoon and the carts had set out before the trailing platoons set fire to all of the buildings before leaving. It was very late that afternoon when we finally arrived at our camp. Sergeant Chuang had made sure that the cooks had a meal ready for us when we arrived. There was rice, vegetables, fish and some fruit. That night there was much talking around the platoon campfires, as men recounted what they had done to those who were in other areas during the battle. Most of the women slept apart from us that night except for the few who had selected someone the previous night.
Following breakfast the next morning, all of the weapons were checked and those found loaded were discharged before weapons cleaning was started. The two large kettles that the women had brought with them were used to heat water to clean the weapons. Corporal Wiwan and two other men left camp to hunt meat and returned after a few hours with three Indian sambar deer. These were quickly drained, cleaned, and skinned while spits were set up to roast them on. There would be a grand meal tonight.
I met with the Officers that day and it was decided to leave tomorrow, since we would soon be short of supplies. The men had found quite a bit of money and jewelry in the main house when they searched it, but it wasn't ours to spend – yet.
Everyone was up early the next morning, Monday the 6th of August, to finish final preparations for moving out. All of the buffalo had been allowed to graze overnight and had been taken to the river this morning to soak in the water and to drink their fill. Breakfast was quickly eaten, the buffalo hitched to the already loaded carts, and we set out for the main road just after 0700 hrs. after policing up the area and making sure that all of the fires were out and cold.
That evening we stopped and made camp in a field southwest of Si Khiu. In the morning Captain Prawit accompanied by six men took those women who wished to leave us into the Army Garrison at Si Khiu to be cared for, and they would also help them locate their relatives. He returned with some rice and vegetables by using the decree that Prince Krom Luang Wongsa had issued us. The unit was waiting for him outside of town when he and his men returned with the cart loaded with provisions.
We continued on to Korat for the remainder of the day, but were a good ten kilometers short of it as sunset approached. We again camped in a field near the road for the night.
Everyone was up early the following morning, the 8th of August, and we were soon ready to set out for the Army Camp there and our barracks. As we neared Korat, the men were formed up into their regular platoons, and we marched through the outskirts of Korat and up to the gates of the Army camp where we paused to get everyone lined up before marching to our unit area as proudly as any Army unit ever had.
While the Platoon Leaders and their Sergeants took charge of their men to have them begin cleaning up their equipment and then storing their weapons, Captain Prawit, Corporal Wiwan plus five men, and I escorted the remaining women and the four prisoners to the Camp Headquarters. The greeter there was shocked when we marched through the doors and proceeded directly up to Major Werachon's office.
That gentleman was also surprised to see us, but the Captain explained things to him quickly, and we were soon admitted to see the Camp Commander.
"You were gone for four weeks and all you have to show for it are these four bandits?" the Colonel demanded when the Captain introduced everyone following the usual greetings.
"These four are the only ones to survive our attack," the Captain pointed out, but his lady friend, who I had learned was named Sisuda, immediately spoke up in his and our defense.
"There were over seventy bandits at the camp. I had been a prisoner there for three months and had counted their numbers several times. These soldiers caught them before the bandits were aware that they were there. It was good to see those who had abused us die for all of their crimes.
"That isn't a charitable thing for a Buddhist to say, but you have no idea what we went through," she finished in tears before turning to Prawit for comfort. The Colonel was shocked by her outburst and her remarks as well as her actions. I spoke up then to cover their embarrassment.
"I will have each Officer submit a written report on the actions that he and his Platoon took during the battle and afterwards. They will all be sent to you so you have a good understanding of what occurred.
"I will also send you a separate report on the conduct of the entire operation," I informed the Colonel.
"I understand that is done in the Fa-rung (foreign) armies," the Major remarked.
"Yes, it allows commanders who were not at the scene to better understand what occurred," I admitted before asking, "Do you have a place to keep these prisoners?"
"We have a place to keep prisoners and those accused of crimes," the Major told us, and sent an assistant to get some guards. Several men in the uniform of the Commander's guard soon arrived and took charge of the prisoners.
"What of the women?" the Colonel asked when the prisoners were gone.
"A number of them stayed in Si Khiu. Most of the remainder have attached themselves to members of our unit," Prawit told him, as Sisuda had moved away from him and now stood facing the Colonel again.
"Yes, we would not trade one abuser for another, even one in a uniform," she told the Colonel. We departed after that following the usual greetings.
The next several days followed the now familiar routine of repair, cleaning, and storing of equipment and weapons for everyone in the unit. The afternoon of our return, Captain Prompan, the Supply Chief, was surprised to receive back more buffaloes and carts than he had lent us.
That evening Chanthra was ecstatic to have me back, and Ratana nearly fainted when I brought Lieutenant Chatchai to the house. He still couldn't get around very well with the healing gunshot wound to his thigh. Ratana did everything for him except eat his food. She even volunteered her bed for him to sleep on.
"Where will you sleep then?" Chanthra asked her.
"There is plenty of room on the floor, Pee" she replied, but Chanthra and I both doubted that she would spend a lot of time on the floor.
Chanthra also had some news for me when we retired to our room.
"I'm pregnant. I wasn't feeling well while you were gone, and the Amulets informed me that it was because I am with child, a girl they told me," she confessed. I wasn't all that surprised, and didn't consider it unusual with all of the sex we'd had since meeting. I gathered Chanthra in my arms and we kissed for a long, long time before needing to come up for air. The rest of the night was very passionate, and we made love and had sex twice before falling asleep for the night very satisfied.
By the end of the third day back all of the cleanup chores were finished, and the men and the officers had been paid, since we had missed payday at the end of July. The officers had all submitted their reports and Chanthra had helped me by writing what I dictated to her in Thai. All of the reports had also been forwarded to the Camp Commander.
What had been left out of all of the reports was any mention of the money and jewelry that we had found. If those in charge of the camp knew about it, they would have confiscated it and kept the money and everything else for themselves. The money was split up between the Officers and the men based on what they had contributed to the operation. Corporal Wiwan and his associates received more than most of the men because they found the bandits camp and did the scouting on it. The men were all happy to receive the extra money. The jewelry would be sold and those proceeds distributed later. The entire unit was given the next three days off upon completion of the cleanup chores.
Captain Prawit and the other Officers still had their original quarters here in the camp and had moved their possessions back there upon completion of the operation. Sisuda had also moved in with him there. The other women who had selected members of the unit had moved to quarters near Korat to await their lovers.
We had been off for three days when Chanthra came to me mid-afternoon on the 13th of August with a concerned look on her face.
"Those at Army Headquarters in Bangkok have sent men to arrest you. They have discovered that the King did not send you here. They have not told Prince Krom Luang Wongsa of this, and they know nothing of the Amulets. They will be here in a few days. The Amulets have told me that it is time for us to leave," she informed me.
"Will we have time to pack, and what about the house and the horses?" I asked her.
"We can leave the horses here for Ratana and Lieutenant Chatchai, also the remaining money. There will be more money when we return to your time," she told me.
"You'll be returning to my time then?" I asked with a smile.
"Yes, and we will be married shortly," she answered with a smile before turning to the wicker chests where our things were stored and began removing our clothing. My backpack was there in our room and I began loading it with my clean uniforms, boots and sandals. The pistols in their boxes went in on top of that along with the poncho liner. Chanthra had recently bought a small wicker box and quickly packed her things in it, while I changed into my uniform.
She then went to speak to Ratana about our leaving. I had given her the remaining money and the gold. She returned in a short time with Ratana behind her in tears.
"She is upset, but will soon recover. The Amulets have assured me that there will be no trouble for her, or for the men who you have trained. The elimination of the major bandit gang attacking travelers on the way to Korat has assured that," she told me. Lieutenant Chatchai had followed Ratana to our room, and I had some final instructions for him.
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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...
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...
Friday morning, it was late before we got up and took Lesia to breakfast. Tweed, Phesila, and Dang were having breakfast when we arrived at the small restaurant near the hotel. We didn’t see anything of the Starlings until that afternoon. This morning there had been a notice on the bulletin board that there would be a formation at 1400 for both A-Teams. We didn’t have any shopping or touring to do, and just stayed in our rooms. Our daughters played together some and after lunch both took a...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
"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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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,...
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...
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...
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,"...
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...
I had just started to open the shipping case in the commo bunker when Meadows came in. “I want to see what this thing looks like,” he told me, as I opened the locks on the case and removed the top. The main unit was in the middle of the case surrounded by foam and the other modular units. Spare parts, manuals and tools were in the bottom under these units. “Are you just running code here?” I asked Meadows. “Yes, that’s all we can do with the GRC-109. What will that baby do?” “You can run...
Characters introduced in Chapter 5 “The A Team”: SFC Meadows -Senior radio man SFC Morris and SSG Hadley - Heavy and light weapons SSG Tweed -Engineer and demolitions SFC Walls and SSG Johnson - Medics SFC Barlow and SSG Engles - Intelligence Captain Warren and 1st Lieutenant Sykes - Commander and XO MSG Sawyer - Operations and Team Sergeant The Thai Special Forces (TSF) Team: 1st Lieutenant Tamusarit - Commander Sergeants Mon and Thu - TSF NCOs The airfield was still on a...