Understandably, I was scared and nervous. This was my very first night on perimeter guard duty. I wondered if this night would pass without trouble and if trouble did happen, would I react as I was trained or would I disgrace myself in shame. I had been in-country for only a week and had not adjusted to the sounds and smells of war. “This shit is real!” I thought to myself.
I arrived at my post without ceremony. I carried my M-16 with a full bandolier of ammo and wore my flak jacket and helmet. When I arrived at fighting hole “A” of Bunker #5, the previous guard simply came out of the hole and told me it had been quiet. He didn’t look me in the eye but rather held his head down and spoke softly as he moved away from the post. That was it! There was no “bootcamp” rhetoric, no handshakes and no real exchange of information; just a tired acknowledgement of a completed mission.
I quickly slipped into the fighting hole and by that act alone; I had assumed the responsibility of base security at that location. I was nineteen years old! I had not yet lived but I was capable and ready to defend my post even if it required my life. This was not a “John Wayne” moment but rather the result of pride in having chosen to be a Marine. I didn’t know if my chest was swelling because of the pride or a rapid heart rate but I felt like my chest was soon to explode.
I placed my rifle on the parapet and took stock of my supplies. I had fragmentation grenades, illumination grenades and pop-up flares. I inserted an 18 round clip into my rifle and sent a round home. I checked to make sure my safety was on and then I began to settle down for my tour of duty. I had everything I needed with me. I had plenty of ammo and I was well trained. Perhaps my tour of duty in this hole would be quiet too.
Each bunker had two men on duty and each fighting hole was big enough to hold two men. Bunker #5 was at the corner of the base and had a powerful search light attached to the roof. The light could be rotated to shine on both sides of the berm. No one actually stayed in the bunker because, if the shit hit the fan, the gooks would take out the bunkers first. For bunker #5, we were in fighting holes on each side of the bunker. My partners name was Stan and he was from Alabama. Stan was a lance corporal (L/Cpl) and had been in Nam for about six months. I knew I could count on him if I needed any help.
Lt. Something (I changed his name to protect the innocent) was on duty that night as the Officer of the Day. I had been told he was a career officer and made it his duty to be hard on snuffy’s like me. His duty included checking all perimeter posts to ensure security measures were adequate. In the event of a problem, he would be making the decisions. Since I didn’t want any trouble from him, I was not only watching out front for gooks but watching inside the compound for Lt. Something! My watch was just beginning. Would I last long enough to be relieved?
Since I was watching inside wire and out, it was no surprise when I was a figure coming toward my post from inside the wire. I assumed the figure was Lt. Something. I put my helmet on, grabbed my rifle and Hollered HALT! At that point, I forgot everything I had learned about reporting a post. Lt. Something stopped and stood silently as I exited the fighting hole. I walked to the OD and held my rifle at the standard “Present Arms” as my salute to him. I did not speak.
After a lengthy pause, the Lieutenant said, well?”
Embarrassed by my blank mind I said “Oh, bunker number five is all secure Sir!”
Lt. Something returned my salute but I continued to hold my rifle at “Present Arms.” He then touched my rifle and told me I could be at ease. I suppose he quickly understood I was new to Vietnam.
He then instructs me in how I should have reported my post. “Sir, Bunker #5 is all secure. All orders remain the same, nothing has happened during my tour of duty except (this is where you would elaborate if anything had happened).”
He then asked about my supplies in the fighting hole. He was not the hardass I had been anticipating. He obviously knew I was new to Nam and he obviously knew I was shaking in my boots. He corrected me without demeaning me. He told me he would come back later and check me again to see if I remembered his instruction to me.
After Lt. Something left, I smiled as I mentally and vigorously kicked myself. I KNEW how to report a post and yet my mind went blank. I must have looked like a complete idiot to the lieutenant. I silently, yet audibly, told myself that I just needed to settle down and do the right things.
At this point, I knew I still had to watch inside the perimeter and outside because the Lieutenant said he would come back. I surely did not want to mess up our second meeting.
An hour passed without event.
“Halt! Halt!” I heard Stan say.
I thought to myself the lieutenant has come back. I put my helmet on and grabbed my rifle. I am going to be ready this time.
“Pick, Grab the Light!” cried Stan.
Suddenly it occurred to me that we have activity in the wire in front of Stan’s fighting hole. I left my hole and ran to the bunker. Since Stan’s position was opposite my position, I turned the light in his direction. My light has scarcely moved when I saw a gook in the wire.
The gook was standing there waving his arms and caught in our concertina wire. I brought my rifle to bear on the man and also commanded him to HALT! The man continued to move about but was still caught in the wire. I released the safety on my rifle and was preparing to shoot when Stan told me not to shoot.
The whole perimeter guard was on high alert now and 60 mm mortar flares were being fired to light up the whole area. It was exciting and my adrenalin was working at 100% capacity.
“The sergeant of the guard is on his way to check this out,” said Stan.
I can tell you now that I was shaking really bad. I had never killed a man before and here I stand ready to do just that. Even though I shook with fear, I was absolutely confident my shot would hit my mark. At that moment, I knew I was prepared and ready to kill. If I fired my weapon, this man would not survive. This was my moment of truth.
I maintained my aim on the man caught in the wire. If he moved, the issue would be settled.
Word came down the line that the Sergeant of the guard was going to go out into the wire and bring the man into the compound. Everyone should be on the alert and ready to respond if necessary.
“Damn, whoever that is, he must be the bravest man alive,” I thought.
I watched as our man moved through the lines to capture the man. The man made no attempt to flee. After a few minutes, both men began the trip back inside our wire. For awhile longer, I searched the area in front of our positions by moving the big light slowly across our front. Stan told me to secure (this means to stop) the light and go back to my fighting hole. I adjusted the big light to shine out to the front of the bunker and then slipped back into my own fighting hole.
Once back inside my hole, my senses much sharper, I realized my heart was still racing from the encounter. I was pleased with my actions and proud to be a Marine. I had survived my first encounter.
A few minutes after getting back in my hole, the corporal of the guard joined me. He appeared to be more shaken than I was. He told me he had less than two weeks to go before he went home. He wasn’t going to do anything stupid and get himself killed this close to his departure date.
As the corporal and I talked softly, we both heard a distinctive sound in front of my position. Concertina wire in front of our lines had cans tied to the wire with a couple of rocks inside. If someone or something hit the wire, it would cause the rocks inside the cans to make a noise. THAT was the sound we heard.
Proper procedure was to call up the command bunker and ask for permission to fire a pop-up illumination flare. Once permission was granted, we would illuminate the area and see what was making the noise. The corporal of the guard told me to call the command bunker on the landline as he prepared a flare. As I was asking for permission, the corporal fired the flare. He was not waiting for permission!
Right out in front of my position was another gook! Again, it appeared someone was caught on the concertina wire. This time, Stan went to the corner bunker and adjusted the light to shine on the person in front of my position. Once again, the whole perimeter was on full alert and once again, mortar flares were being fired to light up the whole area.
The corporal was really shaken this time. I thought I was going to have to knock him out to keep him from hurting himself or me. Like everyone who had survived that long in Nam, he had become afraid that he would not live to go home unless he was more careful than ever. Again the sergeant of the guard went out and brought this person into the base. Marines do that kind of thing. He was brave but bravery is expected in the Marine Corps.
After all the fireworks had stopped, the line calmed down. We were still on high alert, but we were all back to breathing normally. Finding someone in our wire was a very serious problem. The people we found in our wire could have been testing our strength or locating our mines or preparing to set off satchel charges in our holes.
The Lieutenant never came back to inspect my post. In fact, I didn’t see him again until I gave him a lot of trouble a few months later but that is another story.
I grew a lot older that night in Vietnam because I had survived my first challenge.
