John Dunn

English 119
9/1/22

As the sun set on his seventh day of deployment, Charlie Johnson was battling a deep
melancholy. When he was stateside, veterans of the war told him that the jungles of Vietnam
were a sight to see…when they weren’t shooting at you. However, seven days of mud,
mosquitos, and snakes had him longing for home. The light from the sun slowly dimmed and
then disappeared altogether leaving only the light from his lantern to illuminate his tent. He
was exhausted but knew that today he was scheduled for the first shift of sentry duty. He
looked at his watch. 9:47PM. 13 minutes until he would be called to his post. Charlie laid back
into his bed, which was little more than a cot, with a hearty sigh. Staring up at the peak of his
olive-green canvas tent for a moment, he allowed himself to close his eyes. He knew he would
not sleep, not after what he had seen.

Laying on the cot Charlie couldn’t help but relive the memory from this morning. The combat
veterans in the unit had gotten a good laugh at Charlie’s expense when the stretcher had been
walked past him. He had just finished breakfast and was moseying back to his tent when he
heard shouts coming from the camp perimeter. Snapping his head towards the commotion,
Charlie saw two American soldiers emerging from the jungle waving their arms. Soldiers rushed
for their rifles, Charlie included, fearing that the Americans would be followed by a wave of
North Vietnamese soldiers. As the soldiers emerging from the jungle came further into camp,
the gathered group of soldiers from camp realized the approaching men were frantically calling
for a medic. By the time the two groups reached each other, the medic was already being
alerted. The soldiers coming into camp assured the armed and uneasy soldiers in the camp that
they had made no contact with the enemy, but one member of their patrol had fallen into a
booby trap and was critically injured. A few minutes later the rest of the patrol emerged from
the jungle. Four men were carrying an obviously wounded man, and six others were protecting
them through the jungle.

The medic finally rushed forward as the beleaguered group staggered up to the inside camp
perimeter. The wounded, unconscious man was set on a stretcher that had been brought with
the medic. The medic immediately called for an ambulance and set to work trying to assess the
situation. The wounded man had many wounds, but two grievous wounds, one in the torso and
one in the left thigh. The torso wound had was covered by a makeshift bandage, but the
uncovered thigh wound erupted with blood after every heartbeat indicating that an artery had
been at least partially severed. As the medic worked frantically to stop the blood loss, Charlie
heard the voice of Lieutenant James Baker and First Sergeant Jeffery Applewood who had
apparently wandered up to the scene behind him. In a gruff voice Baker, a grisly middle-aged
man seemingly devoid of all sympathy and compassion, said, “Poor son of a bitch, probably fell
into a spike pit. He ain’t gonna make it. Let me tell ya, he is good as gone.”

The First Sergeant, who had always struck Charlie as beetle-like, pushed his thick circular
glasses back up his nose and calmly replied. “I know it, the bastards set some nasty traps out
there in those woods. It’s a shame too cuz that soldier… uh… Richards is his name. He was
supposed to get married when he gets back. Lovely girl. He showed me a picture of her just last
week.”

“Well… I guess ol’ Jody can keep ‘er then.” The Lieutenant dryly smiled and turned to leave the
group of men watching the scene, with the sergeant on his heals.

They continued to talk, but Charlie could no longer hear them. Charlie looked back towards the
man on the ground who was rapidly becoming paler and noticed the pool of blood beneath the
wounded man. Unable to control his gut, Charlie lunged desperately towards the nearest bare
patch of grass and regurgitated the breakfast he had recently consumed. When he looked back
up the Lieutenant and the First Sargent were both chuckling and the Lieutenant Baker quipped,
“If that’s all it takes to make you hurl boy, then you best not eat anything before they send us
out there.”

Reliving the memory on his cot Charlie was horrified the two veteran members of his unit
would find humor in such a horrific situation, but it was not the first time veterans had
exhibited a morbid sense of humor. The unit mess hall, which was in the center of the camp
and was surrounded by tents, had a North Vietnamese helmet hanging on a pole outside the
entrance. The helmet had a bullet hole in the dead center, and underneath it was written Hole
in 1 - #25. The helmet was supposedly a token collected by the previous unit commander after
his 25th claimed kill. He let the unit keep it when he was sent back to the states early, missing
two legs from the knee down. Charlie had noticed that many combat veterans laughed at brutal
jokes that many of the green soldiers could not find the humor in. When Charlie asked one
soldier what was so funny, he grew deadly serious, pulled the cigarette from his lips, and said,
“Let me tell you something son. The stuff you see out there… you just can’t… well you will see
what it’s like eventually. It either makes you laugh, or it makes you cry. And good soldiers never
cry.”

Charlie felt extremely lonely in is new unit, having been randomly assigned to replace combat
losses, he knew no one in the unit. The veterans all seemed almost unhuman and were more
stoic the longer they were into their deployment. Charlie knew he was seen as a liability. No
one wanted to be next to him if fighting broke out, and no one wanted to get to know him that
well, because they knew the odds of him surviving the first fire fight were not very high. The
odds were never very good for green troops. To limit the sting of losing a friend many of the
veterans wouldn’t take the time to get to know a new unit member very well until they had
survived combat.

There was a rasp on the tent flap, and Charlie snapped his eyes open. He had not been sleeping,
but the time had flown by as he laid there contemplating his new surroundings and situation.
Standing at the entrance to the tent was his partner for the first shift of watch this evening.

Patrick Russell was sort of an enigma. He was obviously very intelligent and had been promoted
twice within the first half of his tour of duty, but was later demoted back down to private, and
nearly court marshaled from the army. No one, besides the commanding officer, knew what
happened, but rumors were never in short supply. Private Russell was at times extremely
energetic and always seemed to have a natural charm about him that drew the other men in,
yet, he also never let anyone get too close, and often preferred to remain in his tent working on
puzzles and reading books when he had time off duty. “Come in.” Charlie mumbled as he swung
his legs off the cot and began lacing up his boots.

“It looks like you and I have watch together today,” Russell stepped into the tent wearing a
white tank top, military issue green pants and a cowboy hat. Not exactly a standard military
outfit, but it was an unspoken rule that veteran soldiers didn’t follow the same rules as the
fresh troops. “I was wondering how your stomach felt after that little incident this morning.”

Charlie’s face turned red. He didn’t think this morning’s episode was funny in the slightest, but
he knew the older soldiers enjoyed poking fun, hoping to get a reaction from time to time.
Denying Russell that satisfaction Charlie said, “It’s fine. Which post are we at tonight?”

“Well Private Johnson… Charles, isn’t it?”

“I go by Charlie.”

“Ah… I see. Well Charles, it says that today we are to…,” Russell lifted a piece of paper that had
the sentry duty schedule written down on it. He continued, “Ah there it is. Today we are
standing post near the north entrance next to the howitzers from 10PM to 1 AM.”

Charlie finished tying his boots and stood up. He was wearing full combat greens and a standard
issue helmet. Charlie reached across the tent for his rifle, slung it over his shoulder, and met
Russell at the edge of the tent. “Well. Let’s get this over with.”

The two soldiers made their way to the north entrance of the encampment, following the main
road of the entire way. There were some attempts at small talk between the two men, as
though the two men both felt obligated to say something, but neither one of them cared
enough to sustain a real conversation. It was hot, Charlie would have guessed it was in the low
90’s, and it was extremely humid. His forehead was dripping with sweat by the time they got
getting close to their destination. There was still a quiet buzz around the camp as soldiers began
settling in for the evening. The tents where they lived were all grouped by company and tended
to be closer to the south side of the encampment, while the command post, howitzers, and
quartermaster’s depot all were on the north side which was higher in altitude, and generally
more defensible. Charlie’s breath labored as the trekked up the hill towards the north side of
the camp. Russell seemed completely unaffected by the heat and incline. Charlie could tell that
the man was in considerably better physical shape than himself.

As the north entrance became visible, Charlie was relieved to see the road leveled off at the
peak of the hill. Officers’ quarters, which were much nicer than the NCO quarters, were
similarly quieting down for the night. Quartermasters made their last rounds, locking down
equipment to protect it from espionage or theft. Charlie and Russell approached the guard
tower and climbed up the ladder. The men on watch they were replacing were eager to leave
and climbed out of the tower without making any significant conversation.

The watch tower was made of metal and was about 20 feet tall. The square cabin sting atop the
metal legs was made of breast high, thick steel to protect the watch men if they should come
under fire. The floor was made of wood and there was a wooden roof above them. On the wall
facing out toward the jungle there was a powerful spotlight, and a 30-caliber machine gun. On
the back wall there was a switch, that if pulled would raise the alarm throughout the entire
camp.

Charlie rested his rifle against the nearest corner of the watchtower cabin and sat back on one
of the two backless stools in the watch tower. Russell had already done the same. Russell made
a comment about how the chairs didn’t have backs so they wouldn’t be able to fall asleep.
Charlie forced a smile and a nod, but neither of them talked again for a significant period of
time.

The first 10 minutes of watch duty were always enjoyable. Charlie felt intrigued by the new
perspective, at least for a little while. Underneath the watch tower a 10-foot-tall steel fence
with barbed wire on top stretched out around the entire camp. Every thirty yards, there was a
bright light that illuminated the area on both sides of the fence. To the very left of the watch
tower was the north gate, which had been closed for the night, but could be opened by
whoever was on watch in case of an emergency. The main road continued out the north gate
and into the darkness ahead. Behind the watch tower, the howitzers and other heavy guns
were in dug into position. Infantry trenches, anti-tank traps, and concrete barriers were
organized in a defensive position around the entirety of the northern hill. If the base was to be
attacked in force, which was unlikely due to overwhelming American firepower, all personnel
would assemble on the defensible northern hill.

The view towards the jungle was considerably more eerie and unsettling. There was a 100-yard
clearing around the entire perimeter of the camp. The clearing had recently been jungle, but a
combination of fire and chainsaws had pushed the jungle back so that the enemy could not
sneak up to the very edges of camp undetected. The jungle itself was menacingly dense. Charlie
occasionally saw some signs of large wildlife, but the noises that emanated from the depths of
the jungle was more convincing that the trees were packed with life. However, the jungles, as
every American soldier knew, were not scary because of the jaguars and tigers. They knew that
right now it was possible, even probable, they were being watched. The North Vietnamese
scouts were likely watching them and could even have a sniper trained on them just waiting to
pull the trigger. Looking into the jungle, Charlie couldn’t help but feel they were the predators,
and he was the prey.

As the hours passed, Charlie drifted from thought to thought, before eventually settling into a
thoughtless blank stare out into the darkness. “You ever wonder if they are watching?”
The words so jolted Charlie out of his tranquil state that he nearly fell of his chair. After
recovering and regaining his ability to speak, Charlie responded, “Oh… uh… yeah, I guess so. To
be honest I haven’t really been thinking about anything at all for a while now.”

Russell noticed that he had flustered his companion and responded, “I am sorry to have
disturbed you, normally I would have made more of an effort to talk to my watch partner,”
Charlie barely had time to assure him it wasn’t a problem before Russell continued. “Today is
the six-year anniversary,” Russell paused to look at his watch and continued, “12:14 in the
morning. That’s when it happened. Six years ago, this very moment.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Charlie responded, genuinely confused.

“Ah old Dick Taylor. He was more like a brother to me than a friend. He was a veteran by the
time I got assigned to this unit, but for some reason he took a liking to me and took me under
his wing. He was the only guy who would stand next to me when we went out on patrol, cuz the
rest of the guys thought I would get them killed.” Russell chuckled and stared off into the
darkness as if fondly remembering the experience. “Dick was buddies with the CO at the time
and requested that he and I be put on watch duty at the same time. We sat up in a watch tower
just like this one at least once a week for almost eight months. We had it all planned out. He
had about 3 weeks left on his tour of duty, and I had four months. When I got done, I was going
to go back to the states and he and I were going to start an auto shop. We were both from the
same town, El Paso, Texas.

“Anyway, one morning, the CO gave us our briefing, and he was more tense than usual. We
were going on a big offensive within the coming two weeks, and he told us all what we were
going to do. The day finally came, and we loaded up on helicopters and flew to our drop point,
which was just outside a small farming town. There was supposed to a high-ranking counsel in
the town, so it was our job to surround the town and search all the houses as fast as possible.
Dick and I’s squad had a certain number of houses that we were assigned to search, and when
we got to the edge of the town we approached very slowly, cuz we were told we might have to
fight our way into the town. We didn’t see anything but confused farmers, so we slowly let our
guards down. Then all at once gunfire erupted from all the windows in the huts. Instantly five
members of our squad were gunned down, and we all dove for cover. Dick and I rushed into a
house, and I shot a Vietnamese man with a gun at the window.

“After we cleared that house, Dick and I barged into the next house. Dick almost immediately
got shot in the side and crumpled to the ground, but me and the rest of the squad cleared out
three more soldiers in the house.” A tear welled up in Russell’s eye, and he paused a moment
before continuing his story. “Well one of the farm families was sitting in the corner, and they
were so quiet that we didn’t even notice them in the heat of the moment. But when we finally
saw them around the corner, we saw that they were being held at gun point. There was a
Vietnamese soldier, no older than 15 or 16 that was holding a rifle aimed at the family. He
yelled ‘STOP… I SHOOT!’ in broken English and motioned not to come any closer. The boy was
physically shaking with fear. From behind me I could hear Dick say, ‘Ah shit, he is just a kid.
Lower your rifles.’ So, we did. As we did the boy seemed to relax a little bit but didn’t totally
drop his rifle. An American soldier running down the street looked in the window and without
hesitation raised his rile and fired a burst from his rifle, hitting the boy in the temple.

“Well, I ran over to the family to make sure they were okay, but our squad had to move to the
next house to keep supporting the assault. I ran back to Dick and carried him outside the house,
laid him behind some cover and called for a medic. Then I ran to re-join my squad in the assault.
The fighting only lasted about 15 more minutes, but it was particularly bloody and I was the
only soldier of our 10-man squad who escaped the fighting without serious injury. I staggered
back to where I left Dick to make sure he was alright. But as I approached, I could hear him
talking, but couldn’t understand what he was saying. I heard a bang, and a shiver ran down my
spine. I sprinted to where I had left Dick and saw the boy from the family we saved. He was
standing over Dick with an American pistol he had picked up from a soldier. Dick lay propped up
against the side of a hut with a red circle of blood welling up from his forehead. The boy, who
couldn’t have been older than 7, noticed me and turned to shoot at me too, but I fired a burst
into his chest, and he fell instantly. Well, what was I supposed to do then? I walked over to
close Dick’s eyes, and then I went to find the CO. More soldiers were arriving as reinforcements
when the CO gathered the survivors for the assault. We got on helicopters and left.”

Charlie sat in his seat, almost too stunned to speak. “Russell… I am so sorry. That happened 6
years ago?”

“Yep, six years ago. About 6 years and 7 minutes ago to be exact,” Russell replied. “Well, I went
back to the States, but I couldn’t ever stop the nightmares. I kept living the moments. I kept
seeing he deaths. So, I came back again and again. This is my fourth tour of duty. I have killed so
many people that I feel nothing when I do it. I almost never sleep, and I just go through the
motions. Combat is the only time I ever feel anything at all, which is why I keep coming back.
Deep down I guess I was hoping that eventually one of them would hit me and I could finally
sleep. Hasn’t happened yet though! Ah well tonight’s the end.”

Russell pulled his pistol out of his holster and placed in gently against his right temple. Charlie’s
eyes opened wide with shock. “No wait! Don’t do that!”

Russell turned his head and meet Charlie’s eyes. “Let me tell you something kid. I don’t even
know why I killed all the people I did. I never hated them personally; I just did what I was told to
do. You are here to suffer, and you will never leave. When you go home, you come back here
every night. You might be alive, but the moment you got here you got an early ticket to hell.
You’ll see. You will always be here… I guess what else can I say. Welcome to Hell. Welcome to
‘Nam.”

Then he pulled the trigger.