It was night In Dak To, and Trautman and Garner were standing on the terrace of one of the many buildings down town.
“We’re still using too many resources to search, Colonel” Garner said.
“And with every day that passes the chances of finding them goes down, while the probability of some type of diplomatic incident, on the other hand, goes up.”
That was the truth.
The search for Rambo and Jorgenson had been scaled down once already, but it was still very active, as well as very expensive. What’s more, as Garner had already said, all that commotion they were making in Laos looking for them would, sooner or later, get noticed by someone.
Trautman looked down towards the city, which was now dark thanks to the night curfew.
“Why Trautman? Why risk that much?” Garner asked, perplexed, but quickly corrected himself.
“I mean, I got to know them both really well personally so it obviously hurts me too. But in the end it’s only two men, and we have to keep a whole war going.”
Yes, Rambo and Jorgenson were only two men out of almost a thousand other men, both American and South Vietnamese for whom Trautman was personally responsible for.
Trautman sighed.
In the dark landscape in front of him, where in times of peace there would have been lights and life, there was now nothing instead, all because of that bloody civil war, of course.
Trautman ran his hand through his hair, in an effort to fix it.
He had made great strides in recent months, especially with both the Baker Teams having done their first missions, but he couldn’t win the whole war on his own and was still only half way through his personal mission to change the generals' minds.
He might even succeed in eliminating all the VC infiltrators, an effort that was already underway and proceeding successfully thanks to the Phoenix program. Through SOG he could even succeed in destroying the entire Ho Chi Minh trail. That would finally turn this civil war into the kind of conventional war the US actually had a chance at winning.
What really worried Trautman that night however, was not being able to save South Vietnam from itself.
Yeah. Because that...
That could actually end up being impossible.
Dammit...
Why was he so negative that night?
Maybe because he had to quit looking for Rambo and Jorgenson?
Probably.
That was the best explanation for his outright pessimism, given that Black Spot and Point of No Return had both been such a success.
Driven by the grief he felt over his two lost men, he reflected further about the potential dark outcomes to expect in the future.
He was making significant progress on the American side. The fact that the Baker program was successfully achieving its objectives made a lot of generals see Trautman’s new strategic proposals in a whole new light. The American presence wasn’t Vietnam’s only problem however.
Trautman also feared that South Vietnam would never have a strong army or valid government therefore never having a fair chance at becoming a truly democratic country.
The Vietnamese weren’t the only ones to blame for all of this because, honestly speaking, it wasn’t just them.
Giving democratic rule to a country like South Vietnam that not only battled with civil rife and civil war but also had human rights issues, was equivalent to playing Russian roulette.
What seemed to happen in Vietnam was, the minute someone around you sensed fear you’d get disposed of, mercilessly, right then and there. The same way a martyr would.
Even best friends turned into arch-enemies at the first sign of weakness.
The reason being an unquenchable thirst for grandeur. Everybody wanted to become a dictator, an emperor or a king. You were hard pressed to find an exception, and those who have had little or nothing in their lives, dream it even more than the rest.
That’s when Trautman realized Garner was right.
Going to all that trouble for the sake of two men made absolutely no sense.
The same way there was no point in going to Laos by helicopter or plane in hopes of picking up a radio-signal or whatever else either. After all that time, it was more like looking for a needle in a haystack than anything else.
Until then, Trautman had let his judgement be influenced by the fact that he knew them personally. An unquestionable lack of professionalism on his part he had to admit.
Johnny and Jorgenson knew perfectly well what the rules of the game were when they decided to join SOG and they knew the risks they would be up against when they signed up.
Being left behind was a just one of a long list.
They had signed and accepted back in the day.
“Colonel?”
He had let himself go a little, been less vigilant because he had gotten to know them both personally.
It was only one case example that would now be a case in point however.
It wasn’t going to happen again.
“Colonel?”
What’s more, Jorghenson had already made a miraculous escaped once before.
There wouldn’t have been a second time.
“Colonel? Are you all right?”
“Yes, Garner.”
“So?”
“You’re right of course. I guess I just got a little carried away with it. Go ahead and call off the search.”