Chapter 20
It was 0400 in the morning. The jungle was quiet except for the soft sounds of the four squads of the Cong Crushers waking up from their sleep.
The squads of Cong Crushers ate Meals, Combat Individual (MCI) rations. Preservatives are so yummy!
A few minutes later, the four squads of Cong Crushers had the area cleaned up from any signs they were there.
The four squads of Cong Crushers headed through the jungle to attack the village.
Kevin was scared while his squad made its way through the thick vegetation.
It was 3:20 in the afternoon back in Glendale, California at the Coogan home. Kevin's mom Lucy poured a cup of coffee. She sat down at the kitchen table where stationary and a pen waited. She took a sip of coffee then set the cup down. She grabbed the pen.
"Dear Kevin," she wrote down on the piece of stationery.
Over at the Grayson home, Elaine sat on the couch in the living room drinking a cup of hot tea. She had one of her family photo albums out and was looking at pictures of Michael. She turned to the last page and glanced at the photo of Michael and Eric she took at graduation day at Fort Rucker. Her eyes welled up, knowing her baby was in the war.
Back in Vietnam at LZ Lola, Michael was sound asleep and started a dream.
In his dream, Michael stood in the middle of the jungle. He looked worried while he looked around the area.
"Kim!" he yelled out.
The only sounds that responded were jungle animals.
"Kim!" he yelled out again.
"Michael," was the faint sound of Kim when she replied.
"Kim!" Michael yelled out again to zero in on her location.
"Michael!" Kim yelled out again from the jungle.
Michael looked in the direction where her voice came from.
He bolted in that direction.
He jumped over a downed tree trunk.
He dodged around vegetation while he bolted through the jungle.
"Kim!" he yelled out while he ran through the jungle.
"Michael!" Kim yelled back, and the sound of her voice was closer, indicating he was heading in the right direction.
"Kim!" he yelled out while he hurdled over another downed tree trunk.
"I over here!" Kim yelled out, and her voice was closer.
Michael ran through some vegetation and came to a clearing.
He saw Kim standing in the clearing with her arms extended out wanting him. "Michael!" she called out in a loving tone.
Michael ran to Kim, and they immediately engaged in a hug.
"I love you, Kim," he said while he hugged her hard.
"Me love you," Kim replied while she hugged him hard.
Michael and Kim kissed. It turned passionate.
Bullets danced around by their feet.
They continued to kiss, ignoring the bullets.
"Marry me, Kim," he asked while he gazed into her soft brown eyes.
She nodded in agreement that she would be his wife.
They kissed.
More bullets zinged around by their heads.
They continued to kiss, ignoring the bullets that zinged inches from their heads.
A bullet hit Michael in the middle of his back. His eyes widened in a panic.
He looked at Kim, and she looked confused with Michael's panicked stare.
Back to reality.
Michael shot up in his bunk, thinking he took a bullet in his back. He gasped for air in a panic and looked dazed and confused. Then it dawned on him that he had a dream about Kim. He missed her.
He looked at his watch and saw it was 0450 in the morning. He lay in his bunk and stared at the ceiling. He tried to go back to sleep in hopes his dream of kissing Kim would return.
Back in the jungle, the four squads of Cong Crushers inched through the thick jungle. They arrived to the east side of the VC village.
The other squads were closing in on the village to the north, south, and west.
Kevin felt he was going to vomit thinking a battle that would start any second. Gunfire echoed in the jungle while VC guards spotted the threatening Americans.
Kevin and his squad dove for cover in nearby vegetation.
He shook in fear while bullets took out some vegetation inches above his head. Kevin almost crapped in his pants. He took a deep breath and started shooting in the vicinity of the village. He wasn't aiming.
Back at LZ Lola, Michael finished with his shower and got dressed in his fatigues. He believed that today would be quiet for him.
So he headed off for some breakfast and coffee at the Eloquent Army Cuisine tent.
Back in the jungle, the battle between the Cong Crushers and the VC got fierce.
Kevin watched in horror while two members of his squad were shot and lay in the dirt with blank, lifeless stares.
There were many killed VC. But the call came for the Cong Crushers to retreat. There was a gross underestimation of the VC in that village. It was another screw-up by military intelligence.
The officers called in air support to destroy the village.
The Cong Crushers picked up their dead buddies and retreated away from the village.
The Cong Crushers were a safe distance away from the village. The sound of two F-5 Tiger II jets approaching filled the air.
The F-5 jets got closer to the village.
The Cong Crushers felt the heat of the Napalm bombs going off while the village was destroyed by fire.
The VC screams while Napalm burned their bodies.
Kevin ran through the jungle with the other Cong Crushers. He tried to block out those horrible screams.
Back at LZ Lola, Harrington called a surprise briefing in the Operations tent. This was for Crushers 7, 8, 9, and 15 pilots and X-Ray's.
Back in the jungle, Kevin and the other squads of Cong Crushers were making their way through the jungle. Their destination was LZ Walrus, which was about two miles away.
Back in the Operations tent at LZ Lola, Michael and the other air commanders got a briefing by Harrington. They had orders to get airborne ASAP and head to LZ Walrus to pick up the Cong Crushers. They were also briefed that there were casualties.
Michael got a lump in his throat and prayed that Kevin was not one of the casualties.
Michael and the other pilots ran out of the Operations tent and rushed to their Hueys.
Five minutes later, the rotors of Crushers 7,8, 9, and 15 were spinning and ready flight.
Crusher 7 lifted off the ground and ascended into the sky.
Crusher 8 lifted off the ground and ascended into the sky.
Crusher 9 lifted off the ground the ascended into the sky.
Crusher 15 lifted off the ground and ascended into the sky.
Back by LZ Walrus, the four squads of Cong Crushers hid in the vegetation near the clearing.
Keith sat in the dirt with the PRC-10 radio on his back. Brian listened to the headset. "Look for yellow," he replied into the headset then shoved it back in Keith's backpack.
"Our rides are on the way," Brian told everybody.
That information spread around from squad to squad.
Back up in the air, Crushers 7, 8, 9, and 15 were flying in formation heading to LZ Walrus.
Michael was in command of the controls of his Huey, as Bruce was still green his experience. But this was part of flying in Vietnam he hated with a passion. He was not looking forward to hearing the screams of men in pain, or watching them plop dead bodies into the back of his Huey.
Fifteen minutes passed. It was quiet in the jungle while the four squads of Cong Crushers waited for their rides.
Jeff got up and walked over to some vegetation to take a piss. A bullet came out of the jungle and pierced his heart. Jeff did not know what hit him when he dropped to the ground and died with his penis poking out of his zipper.
George got tired from sitting in the dirt, so he stood up and stretched. While he stretched his back, another bullet came out of the jungle and penetrated his back. He dropped to the ground, face-first stunned with what happened.
Sergeant Bobby Kendall looked over at George who lay in the dirt with a dazed and confused look. "What the fuck is wrong with you Sheldon?" he asked.
"I can't feel my legs," George and was still stunned to why he lost the feeling in his legs. The bullet hit his spine.
Bullets started zinging all over the place.
"Shit!" Kendall yelled out.
"VC" a Cong Crusher cried out.
The squad of Cong Crushers took cover. They started shooting in the direction of where the bullets were coming from.
Nearby, Kevin hid behind a tree while bullets zinged above his head.
The members of his squad were hiding and firing their M-16s at the VC.
The VC inched their way to the Cong Crushers while firing their machine guns. Some of the VC fired M-16s. Stolen M-16s.
Kevin peeked over his vegetation cover and saw a VC coming toward him. He fired his M-16, and the VC dropped dead to the ground.
Crushers 7, 8, 9, and 15 were flying one thousand feet above the ground in formation getting closer to LZ Walrus. The air commanders were not aware that the LZ was now hot.
Then the calls came across the radio, and they now knew they were flying into a hot landing zone.
Back at LZ Walrus, the fighting got even fiercer. All Kevin heard was gunfire, bullets zinging all over the place. And the occasional screams of Cong Crushers while they were being shot.
Four Hueys descended to the yellow smoke that marked the landing zone.
The gunfire slowed down while the Cong Crushers were gaining control of the area.
The gunfire stopped.
The sounds of the four Hueys were louder while they descended to the landing zone.
Kevin stood up from his hiding place. He looked around and saw two of his buddies wounded. They would survive. Kevin heard a twig break from someone walking in the jungle.
He looked in the direction of that sound.
His eyes widened in shock. "What the fuck is going on?" he asked and looked scared. He raised his M-16.
The sounds of the four Hueys were louder while they descended to the landing zone.
Up in Crusher 15, Michael watched while Crusher 7 touched down in the field. Five Cong Crushers ran to Crusher 7. Two Cong Crushers who carried one of their wounded squad members.
They were inside Crusher 7 within seconds.
"Crusher seven taking off," Timmy said from the radio.
"Crusher eight coming in," Chris the aircraft commander said from the radio.
Michael watched while Crusher 8 started descending to the LZ. He saw Crusher 7 ascend into the air while Crusher 8 touched down on the ground.
The squad of Cong Crushers ran out of the jungle, and they all appeared uninjured.
"Crusher eight taking off," Chris said from the radio the second all the Cong Crushers were inside his Huey.
"Crusher nine coming in," Butch said from the radio.
Michael watched while Crusher 9 landed. Then he saw five Cong Crushers ran to that Huey with two Cong Crushers carrying a body.
"Crusher fifteen coming in," Michael said into the radio.
"Crusher Nine taking off," Butch said from the radio.
Michael landed Crusher 15 in the field.
He watched while two Cong Crushers carried a wounded soldier out of the jungle and ran to his helicopter. He then saw two other Cong Crushers carry another injured soldier out of the jungle.
Two other Cong Crushers ran out of the jungle. They stopped, turned around, and fired their M-16s into the jungle.
Michael heard the first wounded soldier screaming in pain when he got loaded in the cargo area. He looked back, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw it was Kevin. "Kevin!" he cried out at his friend.
The two other Cong Crushers loaded the other soldier into the chopper. He was dead.
They jumped inside the cargo area.
The last two Cong Crushers continued to fire their M-16s into the jungle while they ran to Crusher 15.
They jumped inside the cargo area of Crusher 15.
"She!" Kevin screamed out in pain.
Chaz started firing his M-60 machine gun at the jungle.
Michael stared in horror at the sight of Kevin, who had a gaping hole in his chest.
Bullets from the jungle started penetrating his Huey.
"Michael. Let's get the fuck out of here!" Bruce yelled out while bullets continued to hit the Huey.
Michael stared at Kevin in disbelief.
Bruce grabbed the cyclic and collective controls and lifted the Huey off the ground.
Kevin's screaming quieted down. He stared back a Michael. "She, she cut off my finger," he screamed out in pain.
"What?" Michael replied.
Kevin stared at Michael and did not utter a word from his opened mouth with a blank stare. He was dead.
"Some fucking female VC shot him then she cut off his finger. I tried to kill the sick bitch, but she was too quick," Kenny called out to Michael.
"Did you get a good glimpse of her?" asked Michael.
"By the time I got here, all I saw was her the back of her long black hair. I shot at her, missed, and she slipped away through the thick vegetation," Kenny replied.
"Is he?" Michael asked and feared the truth. "No way."
Kenny felt for a pulse on Kevin's neck. "He's gone," he said then closed Kevin's eyelids.
Michael turned around, and his eyes welled up while he thought about Kevin. His best friend since they started kindergarten together.
Bruce flew Crusher 15 in formation with the three other Hueys. Michael sat in a daze and stared out the front.
Twenty minutes later, Crushers 7, 8, 9, and 15 landed back at LZ Lola.
Michael watched while they carried Kevin's lifeless body out of his Huey to a waiting truck. It felt so surreal that Kevin was dead. Michael pinched his arm to make sure he did not have a dream. The pinch hurt.
He looked sick and ran to the nose of his Huey.
He dropped to his knees and vomited into the dirt.
Bruce and Chaz knew Kevin was Michael's friend from back in the states and felt sorry for him.
They walked over and brought Michael up to his feet.
"I'm fine," Michael said while he shrugged off Chaz and Bruce's hands.
Michael walked away and moped back to the Lola Hilton.
Michael moped into the Lola Hilton and went straight to his bunk.
He sat down and looked stunned. "He's dead," he muttered to himself. "He's dead."
He removed his wallet from his flight suit. He opened it up and removed an old faded black and white photo.
It was the photo his mom took back in the summer of 1957. Michael sat on the clothesline, pretending to be a helicopter pilot and Kevin on his bicycle. They recreated a scene from the Whirlybirds TV show they watched the night before. His eyes welled up while he looked at the photo and remembered that day like it was yesterday.
A few tears dropped on the photo.
He wiped the tears away and shoved the photo back in his wallet.
He lay on his bunk on his stomach. He covered his head with his pillow. He started crying.
The next day arrived. Harrington found out Kevin was Michael's friend from back home he gave Michael five days of R&R in Manila. He figured Michael would not be worth a shit behind the controls of a Huey anyway.
Michael spent five days in Manila on some R&R with four other Cong Crushers.
While those four Cong Crushers got some Intoxication and Intercourse, Michael drank. And he drank.
So he drank from bar to bar in the seedy area of Manila. He came close to being arrested by the MPs when he passed out drunk in the doorway of a building. But some other Cong Crushers picked him up in the nick of time and carried him off to their place to sleep it off.
He woke up the morning vomiting and spent the whole day popping aspirin.