Civilian Hospital Dak To
Danforth was lying in bed.
He had a drip stick in his arm and a bandage over his left eye which at this point covered half of his head.
Trautman had already been standing there beside him for a while, but at least they were finally done the mission debriefing.
It had lasted over an hour and been exhausting for them both, but in the end, Trautman had a thorough understanding of everything Baker Team B had done.
“What Johnny did was... Unbelievable” Danforth said.
“I heard son. Now get some rest”
Trautman was about to leave when Danforth stopped him.
“Colonel”
“Yes?”
“There's something else”
Danforth told him about a moment of uncertainty that he’d had as a team leader. He’d hesitated about whether to go on with the mission – and leave his teammates behind – or stay to protect the helicopter wreckage. Messner had been the one that time, who had helped him make the right choice.
“Would it have been such a serious mistake, sir?” Danforth asked.
“You were on the field, not me. There’s no way I can know. You tell me”
“I did wrong. You told us that all we had to do was find them, nothing else and to not take any risks. It went without saying that we weren’t dispensable for that mission. I really don’t know what the hell came over me”
“Of course you weren't expendable, that’s obvious, but the situation which was unfolding on the field wasn’t as obvious. Anyhow, to answer your question, yes that was a mistake”
“I... I couldn't see anything except the mission's objective, sir... I didn’t care about anything else. I think that Ortega might be better at this than me. I think under certain circumstances he can think straighter than I can. Maybe he should be our team leader.”
Danforth sighed, and then said:
“Jesus Christ, does that ever sound horrible aloud.”
“By telling me this you are only doing your duty soldier, nothing more and nothing less. If you think that your team could get stronger with Ortega as its leader, yet you decide to continue as such, for pride’s sake, then you’re making a mistake, Danforth. Those kinds of mistakes weaken teams. In Vietnam as you well know, there’s a price to be paid for every mistake you make, whether it be sooner or later. Usually that price to pay is someone's life”
Trautman put his green beret on before leaving.
“Anyway, spitting something like this out can’t have been easy for you to do, so I appreciate it. What you did was true to Baker team 'style', and I don't expect anything less from you, nor from any of my other men. Is that clear?”
“Yessir”
“Very well then. Ortega is the new team leader, effective immediately, and you’ll be his vice-leader. Now then soldier, get yourself some rest.”
“Yessir”
Danforth stared quietly at Trautman as he made his way out of the room.