Five months into my Vietnam tour, I was beginning to understand a little bit of the Vietnamese custom like dont tap a child on the head because it would like tapping your dog on the head; When a Vietnamese tells a soldier You numba 10 G.I. means that they dont like you - but if they said You Numba One G.I. it means you are okay with them. But one thing I learned was that they were Friends by Day but Enemy by Night. To this day I still feel the Vietnamese people just wanted to plant and harvest their rice. They didnt care about the war. And they sure didnt care whether we were there or not. We were destined to lose one way or another with the Vietnamese people. As the months lapsed, I actually became more relaxed...but maybe too complacent. Where I use to run to the bunker for cover during a rocket attack at the beginning of my tour - I was just walking to the bunker. Many of our soldiers moral were so low that the feeling was If its my time - its my time - only the Lord will know. I now felt I let my guard down a few times because I started to volunteer for dangerous details which was out of my character. One Saturday they asked for volunteers to go into a village called An Tan Village just outside our compound. It was designated as a friendly village. The mission was to take a quick trip to the village an get some ice for our company barbeque. I asked to go on this what seemed like a simple mission. I was thinking maybe a platoon size would go into the village and get some ice. But I find out later it was the driver of the jeep and I. I rode shotgun and really, really felt stupid for volunteering. I was asked to lock and load. Upon entering the village, the driver knew some of the village members as he ran into a store to fetch the large bag of ice. Just before the driver left he told me to guard the jeep and if he wasnt out in five minutes to come look for him. My thoughts turned to My God what did I get myself into. I had my M-16 locked and loaded and stood by the jeep. My nerves became unraffled as little Vietnamese children started to come towards me asking for candy. Now young people were gathering around me saying like You Same, Same As Me..meaning since I was Filipino-American they wanted to know why I was an American soldier. I asked them to Halt and not to advance. I looked at my watch and it was pass the five minute mark. I was really screwed now because the driver had taken the keys with him. I hesitated to look for him so I stood fast - believe me my life past before me. Then out came the driver sprinting to the jeep and telling me - Hey, Ive got the ice - Lets get the F@#K out of here. I was so glad to see him and hurriedly jumped into the jeep and we were headed back to our compound. About a month later, a command letter came out that An Tan Village was now off limits to all soldiers because 3 of our GIs were beheaded. After hearing that news, I had to take a pause to thank my creator that he was looking over me and the driver. Another reason why I am here to write about experience.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 06:53:12 +0000
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