Chapter 18
It was another hot and humid night.
Kevin tossed and turned in his bunk while the thoughts of his next mission weighted on his mind.
Michael also tossed and turned in his sleep, as thoughts about Kevin filled his mind.
Would he go AWOL? That was the question running over and over in Michael’s mind.
The sun rose for the start of another day in the war. Today’s temperature high would be a tad cooler at 85 deg F.
Michael, along with everybody else, woke up and shaved and showered.
After breakfast, Michael went back to the Lola Hilton and got dressed in his flight suit.
He headed off to the Operations tent to get the scoop about today’s mission.
Twenty minutes had passed. Today Michael, along with three other Hueys would drop off four squads of Cong Crushers. They had a mission to attack a VC camp detected by the observation Bird Dog airplanes.
Michael headed off to Crusher 15. He stopped dead in his tracks the second he saw Kim walking toward the tents with a broom in hand.
He bolted after her.
“Kim,” he called out when he was fifteen feet behind her.
Kim turned around and smiled at the sight of Michael. “Hi,” she said with a loving smile.
“Hey beautiful,” Michael said then gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
“You go on mission?” she said when she saw his flight helmet in his right hand.
“Yeah, in a few minutes,” Michael replied but wished he could stay here with her.
“Where?” she asked and looked worried and reached out and held his left hand. “Me scared for you,” she said and seemed sincere.
Michael looked around, and nobody was within hearing distance. “About ten miles east of Kil Kout. We got word from military intelligence that some VC made camp there,” he replied. He felt he could trust her.
Kim was in deep thought while she thought about Michael’s response.
“Where you pick them up? I pray you be safe there,” she said and had a concerned look in her eyes.
“Landing zone Walrus, which is about fifteen miles east of Kil Kout,” Michael replied.
“Me better to clean tents now. They dirty,” she said and appeared to have something else on her mind.
“I gotta go also,” he said while he saw some Cong Crushers heading to the Hueys with their M-16s. He gave her a quick kiss on her lips then bolted off to the Hueys.
Kim looked around, then dropped her broom when Michael was out of view.
She rushed off toward the front gate of LZ Lola.
Michael rushed up to Crusher 15, where Chaz and Bruce waited inside.
“Where did you go?” Bruce asked while Michael got in his seat behind the controls, then buckled his harness.
“I had to see someone,” Michael replied with a smile.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t trust her,” Bruce said while he started to configure the Huey for starting up the engine.
“You will once you get to know her. She’s a sweetheart,” Michael said. He watched Kevin, and his squad of Cong Crushers headed over to Crusher 7 that started its engine.
Bruce did not reply since he would never trust Kim.
The engine of Crusher 15 started up. A squad of Cong Crushers equipped for their mission walked over and got inside the cargo area.
Michael saw Kevin get in the cargo area of Crusher 7 and worried about his friend.
Five minutes had passed. Crushers 7, 8, 9, and 15 lifted off the ground and ascended into the air.
The four Hueys banked to headed to the northwest. Michael did not notice Kim racing her bicycle down the dirt road below.
Crusher 1 descended to LZ Lola with Harrington returning from his meeting at Cam Rahn.
The blades of Crusher 1 whined down while Crushers 7, 8, 9, and 15 flew off to drop the Cong Crushers off in the jungle.
Harrington got out of Crusher 1.
Harrington rushed away and headed to the MP tent.
Five minutes had passed. Crusher 15 flew in formation a thousand feet above the ground with Crushers 7, 8, and 9.
Michael glanced over at Crusher 7 that was down to his left. He tried to see Kevin but could not tell since they all started to look alike in their green fatigues.
Twenty minutes had passed. They Hueys flew one thousand feet above the Vietnam countryside. It was time to descend to LZ Python.
All the Cong Crushers had their M-16s ready for some action.
Some prayed for a safe return, while some of them tried to soothe their nervous stomachs.
The Crushers descended closer to LZ Python.
“Crusher seven coming in,” Timmy said from the radio.
Michael watched while Crusher 7 landed. Eight Cong Crushers, including Kevin, jumped out.
Kevin and his fellow Cong Crushers ran to the jungle.
“Crusher seven taking off,” Timmy said from the radio.
“Crusher eight coming in,” Chris said from the radio.
Michael Crusher 8 descend to the LZ. Kevin and his fellow Cong Crushers already disappeared into the jungle.
He saw Crusher 7 ascend into the air while Crusher 8 touched down on the ground. The squad of Cong Crushers jumped out of Crusher 8 and ran to the jungle.
“Crusher eight taking off,” Chris said from the radio.
“Crusher nine coming in,” Butch said from the radio.
The second the skids of Crusher 9 touched the ground, the Cong Crushers jumped out of the Huey and ran to the jungle.
“Crusher fifteen coming in,” Michael said into the radio.
“Okay guys, who are we?” yelled the leader of this squad yelled out from the cargo area of Crusher 15.
“Cong Crushers,” the rest of squad yelled out then stomped on the floor of the cargo area in unison.
“Crusher nine taking off,” Butch said from the radio.
The squad of Cong Crushers jumped out of Michael’s Huey the second the skids touched the ground.
Michael looked around the cargo area, and it was quiet.
“Crusher fifteen taking off,” Michael said into the radio. He lifted his Huey off the ground and ascended to join the other three Hueys.
Five minutes had passed. Crushers 7, 8, 9, and 15 were in formation sixteen hundred feet above the quiet Vietnam countryside. They were heading back to LZ Lola.
During the trip home, all Michael could think about was Kevin. But he knew he would be in the loving arms of Kim later today, so that made him feel better.
Twenty minutes had passed. Crushers 7, 8, 9, and 15 landed back at LZ Lola.
Michael shut down his Huey, and the blades slowed down. He jumped out of Crusher 15 and rushed back to the Lola Hilton.
After Michael changed into a fresh pair of fatigues, he rushed out of the Lola Hilton.
Michael rushed around LZ Lola in search of Kim.
“Michael, Colonel Harrington wants everybody over by the Hueys,” Bruce called out.
“What?” said Michael
“Colonel Harrington is having a big pow-wow with everybody,” Bruce replied.
“What’s going on?”
“All I know is that it has to do something with his meeting in Cam Rahn,” Bruce responded.
Michael wanted to find Kim but knew he better show up for Harrington’s meeting.
Bruce and Michael walked along with some other pilots and headed to the parked Hueys.
They walked over and waited by Crusher 15.
A few minutes later, a Jeep drove up with Sarge behind the wheel and Harrington in the passenger seat. Sarge had a Camel dangling out of his mouth while Harrington puffed on a cigar.
Sarge stopped the Jeep by the entrance to the parked Hueys where everybody in the LZ waited. He turned off the Jeep’s engine.
Harrington stood up and faced his troops. He puffed on his cigar then exhaled.
“Thank you for coming and sorry for the short notice,” he said. He hesitated for a few seconds while he pondered his speech and puffed on his cigar. “I had a briefing at Cam Rahn. The other Commanders have been reporting similar problems like we’ve been having here a Lola. There have been reports of weapons, munitions, and radios going missing. Landing Zone Echo caught a Vietnamese that worked as a barber stealing an M-16. After interrogation, they learned the barber was VC. So, I had all Vietnamese citizens escorted off Lola never to return. We cannot risk one of them being VC. That’s all,” said Harrington, then he sat down in the cargo seat of the Jeep and puffed on his cigar.
Sarge started up the Jeep and drove off, leaving a trail of cigar smoke behind.
The crowd around the Hueys started to disperse and leave the area. They could care less if the Vietnamese civilians were kicked out of Lola.
“I didn’t trust those fucking gooks being around here,” a Sergeant told his Staff Sergeant buddy.
“Is that all? I thought we were going to have some massive battle in a day or two,” Bruce told Michael.
“Yeah, massive battle,” Michael said in disbelief that Kim was no longer allowed in LZ Lola.
Michael moped away from the parked Hueys and could not bear the thought of not seeing the girl he loved.
Michael sulked while he moped back to Lola Hilton.
Meanwhile, Kevin and his squad of Cong Crushers made their way through the jungle. The other three squads were nearby all headed in the same direction.
Eight miles away. Twenty-five VC made their way through the jungle headed toward the Cong Crushers. Six of those VC were young girls all itching to kill more American soldiers.
The rest of the day and evening was quiet in LZ Lola. Michael spent most of the night getting drunk to help cope with the thought that he might never see Kim again.
It was 10:00 p.m. and Michael staggered out of Party Place Two drunk off the eight beers he bought.
He staggered over to Shitter Way take a piss.
The second he walked into Shitter 2, he buckled over and vomited all over the wooden toilet seat.
Back in the jungle, Kevin and the Cong Crushers hid in vegetation to get some much-needed sleep.
Kevin had first watch. The first day out in their mission was quiet. But the noises from the Vietnam nighttime critters made him jump inside. He thought they were VC.
It started raining, and the Cong Crushers were soaked to the bones in a matter of minutes.
The rain stopped four miles away, and the VC decided to camp for a few hours of sleep.
Back in LZ Lola, Michael plopped down on his bunk. He was going to hate the morning.
It started raining.