After chow the next morning, we got word we were leaving in three hours for the bush. This time we were going on a resupply helicopter. This made me a little nervous inside, but I calmed down once I had all my gear ready to go. A truck came by the company command post (CP) to take us to the Quang Tri Landing Zone where the resupply helicopters left from. I guess they weren’t taking any chances we wouldn’t get there this time.
The chopper came in and we got on in hurry because the helicopter pilots didn’t like to stay on the ground long because they knew the longer the helicopter stayed on the ground, the more chance they had of getting hit by mortars or rockets. After we were on board the chopper, it lifted off the ground about twenty feet and they connected a pallet of C-rations to the bottom of the chopper and we took off toward the DMZ.
One of the men on the helicopter to me, “as soon as the chopper lands, run off and find a low place to jump into, in case the NVA start mortaring the LZ. When the helicopter landed, I was the second man out of the door. I ran down the side of the hill toward a hole I had spotted. I just sat there until the helicopter took off again.
Once the helicopter was gone, I asked someone where the company CP was and they took me to the Captain who was the commanding officer of the company. He asked me my name and told me his and said he was glad to have me in the company. This surprised me because an officer had never acted so open and friendly towards me since I had been in the Corps.
He told me I would be in the first platoon, and then he asked the radio man to call first platoon and tell them to send someone over to show me where first platoon’s CP was.
A few minutes later a Marine came over and took me to first platoon’s CP where I met the platoon commander who was a First Lieutenant. He seemed to be a friendly guy with a good sense of humor. He told me I would be in in second squad, and sent for the second squad leader who was a sergeant.
The squad leader came over and introduced himself to me and shook my hand. He was six foot two and seemed to be a very stern man. He showed me where all of the first platoon’s holes were and introduced me to my fire team leader. He was a smaller man than the squad leader and seemed to be a little more friendly.
Finally I got a chance to sit down and relax for a few minutes. It was then I realized that were on top of a mountain. I was told that the horizon was in North Viet Nam. I was also told that the company hadn’t been in contact with the NVA since the present operation had started. But we were going on a new operation near to Laoation border in a few days.
After I was there about two hours, my fire team leader told me I was going to stand lines on the other side of the perimeter in one of third platoon’s holes. He was also sending two more men to stand watch with me. We weren’t going to go over to the other hole until an hour before dark. Right after we got that word, it started raining and we up a temporary hootch (two or more ponchos snapped together to make a tent) and we got in it. The other guys in the fire team asked me about myself and what was going on back in the world and where I was from.
After about two or three hours of talking and listening, our squad leader, Sgt McCoy, came down to our hootch and told my fire team lester, L/Cpl Thomas, to send two men over to third platoon’s lines to stand watch for the night. L/Cpt Thomas said, “Johnson, you and Kitchens come with me and bring everything you need for the night. I grabbed my poncho, a C-ration meal and heat tab, rifle and ammo and my cartridge belt that had my canteens on it, and followed L/Cpl Thomas and PFC Johncon around the hill to the fighting hole where we would be standing watch. As I was dropping all my gear L/Cpl Thoomas handed me two grenades and told me to used them instead of my rifle if I saw anything moving in front of my hole after dark, so that if the NVA were out there, they wouldn’t see the muzzled flash from my rifle and that way know exactly where I was.
Hole
Hole, a hole dug into the ground large enough for at least three marines to crouch down in and have heads underground , for protection from incoming mortars
By the time we got settled down it was dark and I was hungry. So I decided to heat up my C-ration meal. I made a little stove out of my cracker can and lit the heat tab which gave off a blue flame about an inch high. Before I knew what was happening, PFC Johnson kicked my stove and heat tab in to the fighting hole and said, “Man you want to get us killed? A sniper could see that flame in the dark and zap us both.” I said “I just didn’t think.” He said, “Well, if you want to heat up your food, light the heat tab down in the hole and heat your ham and mothers down there in the hole.” I said, “OK” and “thanks."
As I was finishing my meal, a man from third squad, first platoon came over to our hole. His name was Frank and he was going to be standing watch with us. We decided to have three, three-hour watches and since I was new, I could have the first watch which started at nine o’clock.
As we were sitting there talking, I noticed a sound coming from the jungle. It sounded like a high voice saying, “fuck you- fuck you - fuck you.” I asked Frank what it was and he said, “It’s a fuck you bird, but that is just what we call it. It is really a lizard that makes the noise."
At nine o’clock, PFC Johnson and Frank each dug up a soft spot in the ground to make the ground more comfortable to sleep on. Once this was done, they both said good night and went to sleep.
I sat there through my watch paying close attention every sound and straining my eyes, trying to see the enemy who wasn’t out there. When my three hours were up, I woke Frank for his watch. He said, I could sleep in the soft spot that he had been sleeping in. I thanked him and fell asleep before he could answer me.
