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by Richard Shaffer CHAPTER FOURTEENJUST A MATTER OF TIME |
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JUST A MATTER OF TIME
We made it back to Cu Chi late Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving. The mess hall was preparing a large dinner. The CO had orphans brought in from the local orphanage to share dinner with the company. Everything turned out great. We even had wine on the table. It was good to be able to finally relax and feel good about life again.
After what we'd been through the last few weeks, it was a great way to relieve tension.
I had a talk with Sgt. McDonald about the resupply snafu. He said his men were called out to the bunker line for an emergency. When they returned to work at the resupply chopper, he saw that the other crew did not send out weapons platoons gear with the chopper. By then it was too late. He apologized for the problem with the platoon.
For the next week and a half we prepared to close down our base camp at Cu Chi. The 1st Brigade was moving out to a permanent base in Tay Ninh. The operation was called "Yellowstone" and would begin officially on Dec. 8. Our area of operations within the province of Tay Ninh would actually be south of the city.
Something happened in Cu Chi that I never thought would.
Sgt. Mac came to my tent to break the news to me.
"Hey Shaf, did you hear what happened last night?"
"No, what?"
"The CO and two other officers got `fragged' in their tent early this morning."
"Oh yea, they get killed?"
"No, all of them will survive."
"What happened? They find who did it?"
"The brass think that a subversive did it."
"How are they?"
"From what I hear the grenade went off under their bunks. One of the lieutenants bunking with them is pretty bad. They saved the CO's legs, but I think he may lose his balls."
"How the hell can he lose something he never had to begin with?" I asked.
"Hey Sarge, that sounds like a low blow to me."
"Yea, sure was, wasn't it?"
"Looks like Lt. Thomas will be acting CO until they find a new captain."
"Yea, he's a good officer. They ought to make him captain and a permanent CO."
"Maybe. Well, I thought you'd want to know. See you later at the briefing."
"What briefing?"
"The one at 1600 hours. Didn't you get the word?"
"No, nothing came in to me here. Okay, thanks for telling me, Mac."
"Yea, okay, see ya later."
I spent part of the day catching up on some letter writing. Mantley came in to see me; he was getting ready to leave tomorrow morning. He finally got his orders to go home.
"How's it going, Sarge? Catching up on your letters home?"
"Hey Mantley, how's it with you? You about ready to fly the big bird home?"
"You got that shit right. I can't wait to get the hell out of this place. Hey look, a few of us guys are getting together to sort of send me off right. Would you like to show up, maybe split a few beers?"
"Yea, I'd like that. What time?"
"Around seven or seven-thirty. Sorry, I mean 1930 hours, Sarge."
"Hey, don't worry about it. As much time as you've got left, seven-thirty sounds good to me too."
"Yea, I feel like a civilian already. Just counting the hours now. I'm so short that a clock's got more time."
"You're going to re-enlist for another six years, aren't you?"
"Shit man, who you say? You been smoking rag weed or something?"
"Don't talk that jive shit to me. I've got it from a good authority that you love the Army and want to re-enlist."
"Who gave you that line of crap? I ought to cut his balls off!"
"None other than Sgt. Sawyer himself."
"Bull shit! He hates this Army worse than I do. He's just feeding you a line of crap a mile long and two foot full."
"You mean you're really getting out?"
"Out? I'm going so far out that it'll take an Army mule with a magnet attached to its ass to find me. I don't want no part of the U.S. Army. My time is up. Speakin' of time, just how long has your butt got to go yet?"
"I've got a few days left yet. Remember, it's just a matter of time. Time is irrelevant. It's what you do with it that counts."
"Yea, I already know what I'm going to do with the time I've got left. I'm going to get shit-faced, that's what I'm going to do."
"Okay Mantley, if that's the way you feel, then I guess my talking to you now will never change your mind. But just think about it some more before you go off the deep end. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Right, see you later, Sarge."
The meeting at 1600 hours was mostly about the move to Tay Ninh. The other part concerned Lt. Thomas taking over as CO. We'd probably get a new captain up at Tay Ninh.
The next day we struck down the tents and broke camp at Cu Chi. I felt a special kinship to this place. I was going to miss it.
We packed up the five-ton trucks and trailers and headed north. It turned out to be a long, dusty trip. The barracks at Tay Ninh were exactly like the ones at Cu Chi. All we had to do was move right in. That's exactly what we did. The move to Tay Ninh was a major surprise. Finding everything there just like it was at Cu Chi was a greater surprise. It was like moving from one tent to another across the street. After we got moved in, we became acquainted with bunker line guard duty the next 10 days.
Word was out that we were going back out to look for Charlie. Before that happened though we received word that a new CO was arriving. His name was Cpt. Dial, a West Point graduate. Tough as nails and ready to fight at the drop of a hat. From what I heard he was a good officer.
Mac wanted me to take it easy and take over the resupply function. I told him that prospect was ridiculous, that my place was out in the field with the platoon. I had only 45 days left in Vietnam and I didn't want to spend it putting supplies on a chopper.
Little did I know that in about a week this situation with the resupply would piss off the new CO so much that he ordered me to take the job. He wanted someone who could do a good job and I was it. So that's what I did for the next 35 days, at least until the Tet Offensive started in the last week of January. I had less than two weeks left and the enemy decided to attack every major American installation in South Vietnam. The City of Tay Ninh was spared. For some reason the VC decided that attacking Tay Ninh would take too many men that he could use elsewhere. So when Charlie didn't attack Tay Ninh, we kept wondering when he would. Everyone around the perimeter was on pins and needles. The fact that he didn't attack surprised everyone. When I was ready to go home Feb. 1, the Tet Offensive wasn't ready to let me go. I had to wait another five days before they found an airport where I could catch a plane home. Ben Hoa Airport finally opened up.
I heard that one of the men from the weapons platoon was killed yesterday when a rocket came in the perimeter where the platoon was camped out. I later learned that it was Gerard.
The experience of war would leave an indelible mark on me for years to come. The men who I met and fought alongside for the last year would also leave their marks on me, emotionally as well as mentally and physically. To go as far as we did together and be able to work and live and even die together - it was a memorable experience not soon to be forgotten. I'll remember them all with affection and admiration throughout the remainder of my life.
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