Yesterday, my son, James, and I were driving to an outdoor/camping supply shop, when I told him about an incident that happened to me one night while I was on duty in Vietnam (55 years ago this coming December)...
---I was assigned to a massive machine gun bunker on top of a sandy hill overlooking Cam Ranh Bay, about six miles from the Defense Control operations center...
This night, I was alone -- I had no ammo feeder with me to help feed the 200 hundred round belts of 7.62 tracer rounds into my big M-60 machine gun. Which meant, among other things, that when the supervisor dropped me off at the base of the hill to start my overnight shift, I had to crawl up that sandy hill, making several trips to carry all my weapons and gear. The sand was very fine, powder-like, if I can make that analogy... Which meant that for every two steps up that hill, I slid back one foot! Keeping in mind that the M-60 weighed about 24 pounds, and the cans of ammo -- 200 rounds each -- added a lot more weight, not to mention my M-16 rifle, rain gear, gas mask, poncho (to protect me from rain; in reality, I used the poncho to protect the machine gun from wind-blown sand during the monsoon season), C-rations, etc. In addition to all that, I had to carry my 190 pounds of self up that hill!
The point is, is took at least a few minutes to get up that hill, set up the M-60, then settle in and watch and listen for any bad guys that wanted to take me -- and my brothers -- out, and do harm to our aircraft and our overall mission to support our embattled brothers in the field...
I wrote that I was six miles from the control center... In other words, I was "OD" -- out there... It was pitch black: no perimeter lights, no perimeter fencing, nothing. The only other cops were two K-9 handlers spread hundreds of yards apart, plus another machine gun bunker also about two hundred yards away from my bunker... Across the bay was an army base with its perimeter lights, that, at times, would interfere with my ability to use my "starlight" scope efficiently because of the sensitivity of the scope. In fact, in one instance I requested Defense Control to have the army shut off the perimeter lights temporarily so I could identify "an object" floating in the bay... In other words, the lights from the army base were no help to me to see or detect anything within my area of responsibility...
And with no ammo feeder, and only a two-way radio to contact Defense Control, I was literally alone... The "overnight shift" was not just from 11 to 7, or 12 to 8, no, my shift was usually from sundown to sun-up... And during the 1968 Tet Offensive, the tour was over when the danger was over, or neutralized, period.
When there was little enemy activity around my base, I could still see the stuff hitting the fan in the distance with tracer rounds going in all directions; red "contact flares," and Puff the Magic Dragon gunship letting loose with 3,000 to 6,000 tracer rounds a minute on the doomed enemy below, or helicopters (choppers) firing rockets as well as Army and ROK (South Korean) firebases lobbing in 105 Howitzer rounds to support our troops (and allies) fighting for their lives. Plus, jet fighters from several Air Force bases would join in the strafing and bombing of the commies... This was especially true when the Marine base at Khe Sanh was under siege for 77 days, nonstop, desperately depending on the Air Force C-130s to bring in supplies and evacuate the wounded. In some cases, C-130s were hit with rockets and mortars on the runway as they touched down, destroying the planes and their brave crews...
On most nights, the real enemy for me, was staying alert, fighting the mosquitos, snakes and the like, and watching for enemy sampans trying to come ashore and infiltrate our invisible perimeter to do us harm...
During one, long (can I say, boring?) night, I began to hear some movement just in front of my post and down the hill somewhat... (I should note that in front of my bunker, there was a considerable drop-off that led to the shoreline below where the K-9 cops and their dogs patrolled.)
Was it an animal? Was it the Viet Cong? I listened intently... The movement continued... I called Defense Control -- in a whisper, I identified my post: "Defense Control, this is Oscar 57, I have movement on my post"... My whisper was just that -- a whisper and a wee bit too low... Defense Control came back... "Oscar 57, repeat"... "Defense Control, I have movement on my post..."
From that point on, it took a few minutes to get my supervisor and the "strike team" up to my bunker... During those minutes, I looked over my shoulder constantly, to make sure that no enemy was sneaking up behind me... (The bunker had a steel roof, but was open on all sides, so anyone could sneak up, penetrate the bunker and do me in.) What I'm saying is, I had to have eyes in the back and sides of my head... Remember, I was alone; no bunker-mate; no ammo feeder...
I felt vulnerable---
If I had to fight and die for my brother cops, I would, but that lousy feeling of vulnerability tied my stomach up in knots, at least until reinforcements arrived.
When the strike teams and other units arrived on my post, we pulled the K-9s out of the area and opened-up with everything we had: M-60 machine guns, .50 caliber heavy machine guns, grenades, rockets, M-16 rifles... Nothing could live through that devastating display of firepower... So, whether that original movement was a wild boar or a Viet Cong, it, or they were dead.---
Why am I bringing up this true-life story of my time in Vietnam? Because I am beginning to get that vulnerable feeling again, this time, I'm feeling vulnerable for the future of my country and our young, growing families, and what America will look like -- especially for them -- in the near future.
Sometimes, I can no longer recognize my beloved country...
I have embedded the following video of Tucker Carlson drawing a "line in the sand" concerning the overreaching tentacles of the fraud in the White House and his demonic plans to kill the First Amendment...
If anyone doesn't feel vulnerable after watching the video, then something is very wrong...
(5281) Tucker: This is the point where we have to draw the line - YouTube.
Pray for strength and honor -- and pray for our country!
Viva Cristo Rey! Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...
Gene DeLalla
