The air thrumbed. If the unit chaplain had been here he would have said that Satan’s legions were marching up from Perdition to deliver a judgment upon all mankind. Sergeant Wright didn’t know about that. To him it sounded more like a squadron of Apache gunships warming up.
Sergeant Tom Wright had been up since “O’dark-hundred” getting the platoon ready, but he had a moment to himself now and he leaned against the UH-1H ‘Huey’ chopper and watched the sun rise in flames against the dust-filled sky.
A wicked black shape detached itself from the ground, rose some twenty feet into the air and then hovered there, silhouetted against the dawn. A moment later, five more insectoid shapes joined the first, and the whole unit hovered and bobbed for a few seconds in the crimson sky like a swarm of dragonflies from Hell before flying off into the sunrise.
Sergeant Wright, who was fond of reading Civil War histories, remembered his favorite quote from Robert E. Lee; “It is well that war is so terrible -- lest we should grow too fond of it.”
Reaching into the breast pocket on his flack vest he extracted a faded and cracked photo and looked at it. A pretty blonde high-school girl in butterfly braids smiled back at him.
The milling blades from the idling choppers blew dust into Tommy’s eyes causing them to tear up.
From three choppers away the outfit’s brand-spanking-new Lieutenant cupped his hands and bellowed:
“All right people, saddle up!”
------------------------------
The girl had been watching the boy for the best part of a half an hour. It wasn’t as though he was all that good looking. He was painfully young, and all rough edges and elbows in his baggy green Army Class A’s. He had a pair of ears like the handles on a 4-H trophy, but there was something about his eyes.
Tommy had been sitting out by the bus stop, watching her through the plate glass window of the diner, and pretending not to, for most of the same half hour. Finally he got up the nerve and walked in.
The head waitress, Mrs. Denny, who was old and fat and never saw anything at all, met the boy near the cash register and, taking a menu out of the hopper, led him straight back to the girl’s section. She seated him in a booth near the back. For just a second the girl could have sworn that Mrs. Denny had given her a quick wink, but that was impossible. She was old, and fat and never saw anything. There was no way she could know.
The girl busied herself rolling silverware into paper napkins until she saw that the boy had finish looking over his menu and laid it aside. Pulling her order book out of the pocket on her apron the girl approached the boy’s table with a bright smile.
“Hi! My name’s Donna-Sue. May I take your order?”
------------------------------------------
Sunlight glinted off the water in flooded rice paddies scattered here and there in isolated clearings as the company’s choppers flew low and fast over the jungle canopy. As far as he could see in every direction Sgt. Wright could make out boo-coo choppers, all racing in the same direction. Higher-higher had said that it was going to be an ‘eagle flight,’ a battalion-sized op and it looked it.
Leading the formation, a half dozen loaches were fanned out line-abreast, the tiny egg-shaped choppers jinking and bobbing, hoping to spot Charlie before Charlie spotted them. When Charlie was spotted the scout choppers popped smoke on his ass and a pair of Cobras would streak in to fire up the A.O.
Sgt. Wright, sitting in the door of the slick, wondered how things were back in the World.
-----------------------------------------
Donna-Sue was beginning to worry about the young soldier, afraid he was going to drown in coffee. She had topped off his cup five times, but every time she came to his table with the pot and offered him a refill he had looked at her with those puppy-dog eyes, smiled sweetly and bobbed his head in affirmation.
It wasn’t as though there was anyone else in the place at this hour, Donna-Sue thought as she strolled towards his booth again.
“I’m just going to see if he wants any more,” she told herself.
He looked up at her in bright anticipation as she approached with the pot for a sixth time. There was something about his eager smile that tore at her heart. He looked so damned lonely! She favored him with a big smile.
“Can I git you anything else Private?”
The Private thought she had the sweetest Southern drawl. His big ears burned red with embarrassment.
He returned her smile with a lopsided grin. “I am afraid that if I drink any more coffee I am going to float out of here.”
They both smiled awkwardly at each other for a moment and then the Private dropped his eyes to the table.
“I was wondering,” he mumbled, “if you would mind sitting down for a while and talking to me? I’m feeling a little low.”
The Private sat, eyes down, waiting for her to laugh at him but after a moment, when she didn’t laugh, he risked a glance in her direction and was greeted by a warm smile.
“I can’t sit with customers.” she said, “Its against the rules.”
The Private felt his heart sink into his stomach. His eyes fell back to the table in embarrassment, but then he felt a delicate touch on his shoulder and looked up again. He was greeted with a radiant smile.
“I git off in an hour,” she whispered. “I know a place we can go.”
------------------------------------------------
Rainbows danced in the spray off the paddies, thrown up by the blades of a half dozen choppers. From the tree line on the right and a small village on the far side of the clearing white tracers stitched the air, crisscrossing in an L shaped ambush.
“Great!” thought Sgt. Wright. “Just what I need when I am so short. Another fucking hot L.Z..”
“Lock and load people,” he yelled to his squad.
He stood on the runners of the slick as the chopper hovered low over the paddy. When they were close enough to jump, Sgt. Wright yelled to his men, “Alright ladies, un-ass this chopper, didi mau!”
He jumped with his M79 held over his head to keep from smacking himself in the face with it when he landed..
Tommy came to rest knee deep in the paddy and immediately crouched down. Bullets hummed like angry hornets close overhead.
Sgt. Wright saw the El-T and his R.T.O. about ten feet away on his left and called to him.
“Sir! We need some air support A-SAP!”
The butter-bar smiled vacantly at him and bobbed his head.
---------------------------------------------
Donna-Sue had run home and changed into a pretty little pink and white gingham dress and dabbed perfume behind her ears before meeting Tommy in
She found him with his elbows on his knees and his head down sitting on a bench next to the Confederate Memorial. Donna-Sue called his name and his head popped up, a look of happiness and relief washing over his features.
“Hi there,” she said as she came up to where he was sitting. “Been waiting long?”
Tommy jumped to his feet.
“Oh no, not long at all.” He swallowed hard, “Actually I was afraid you weren’t coming.”
She gave a little laugh, “I said I was coming, silly.”
Tommy thought she had the sweetest laugh he had ever heard.
“Its just that I am stationed at Fort Polk and I have been up here to Shreveport a couple of times on leave and most of the nice girls in town cross to the other side of the street when they see me coming.”
He suddenly realized what he had said and shot her a worried glance. He felt all warm inside when he saw that she was still smiling at him.
“Maybe I am not a nice girl,” she said.
“Oh no!” said Tommy a little too emphatically. “You’re the nicest girl I have ever met.”
He looked down at his spit-shined shoes.
“I guess it’s the uniform and the haircut. I tried wearing civvies, but most folks would take one look at my haircut and know what I was.”
“And what are you?” asked Donna-Sue. She reached out and took his left hand and held it in both of hers.
“I’m a soldier,” Tommy stammered.
“Oh I think you are a whole lot more than that,” said Donna-Sue. “Why don’t we go for a walk and you can tell me about all the other things you are.”
Tommy looked in her china-blue eyes and wished he could drown in them.
---------------------------------------
Sgt. Wright felt as though he were drowning. Although the water was only knee deep, his unit was still crouched in the L.Z. with the paddy water up to their noses while they waited for air support to arrive. The choppers were gone and Charlie was keeping up a steady fire on their position.
Finally a couple of ‘Flying Dumptrucks’ arrived.
“Thank God it’s the Navy,” thought the Sergeant. He knew that the Air Force’s idea of close air support was to drop two 500 pound bombs and then fly home with a feeling of accomplishment, but the Squids came strapped, packing enough ordinance to fuck up Charlie’s whole day.
Tommy fed a 40mm smoke grenade into the chamber of his M79 launcher and fired. A plume of bright red smoke appeared right next to the Charlie M.G. that had them pinned down.
The Navy A-1 Skyraiders must have seen the smoke because one of them broke off and maneuvered to line up on the signal. The big single-prop plane lumbered in low over the treetops and let loose a cigar shaped canister which ruptured on impact, painting a swath of flaming napalm across the village. A half dozen hootchs burst into flames.
----------------------------------------
The boy and girl walked down
Donna-Sue led the way out onto the bridge, skipping from one cross tie to another as nimbly as a goat. Tommy followed along behind trying not to look down to where the
“Won’t we get into trouble being out here?” asked Tommy?
“Oh I come out here all the time,” said Donna-Sue happily. “Nobody cares. Trains haven’t used this bridge in years.”
Reaching the midway point she produced a terrycloth bath towel from her basket and spread it on the grimy railroad ties.
“Now we can sit down without getting soot on our clothes,” she announced. Taking off her shoes she sat on the towel with her slim legs dangling over the edge of the bridge.
Tommy sat beside her. The towel was barely big enough for two and he sat with his hands firmly in his lap afraid that an accidental touch might be misinterpreted. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at the river until Tommy found his voice.
“Not many girls can tell Army ranks. Do you have any brothers or a…” he paused and started again. “Do you have any brothers in the Army?”
Donna-Sue looked at him sideways and smiled. “Why don’t you just ask me if I have a boyfriend.”
Tommy went scarlet and cleared his throat nervously. “A pretty girl like you? I’ll bet you got a boyfriend, but I don’t care. I am shipping out for
He stopped talking and stared at the river for a while. Without turning his head or looking at her he said, “I got no one to send a letter to. Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?”
Without a word Donna-Sue took Tommy’s hand and the two sat in silence watching the sun set over the
---------------------------------------------
Sgt. Wright watched the sun rising behind the burning village. It seemed like an eternity but really it had only been about a half hour since his unit had hit the L.Z. The Navy had finished its bomb runs and the El-T gave the signal to advance.
The unit waded ashore and spread out in open order to search what was left of the village, which was not very much. The whole first row of buildings nearest the paddies had been leveled and a few grizzly corpses of indeterminate gender smoldered in the blackened remains of the burned out hootchs. Behind the ruins of one building the scorched remains of a pig lay, the smell of burning Barbeque filling the air.
------------------------------
Donna-Sue opened her basket and produced a roll of paper towels and a baggy filled with cold Barbeque ribs. Smiling, she passed the bag to Tommy.
“I swiped these from the fridge,” she said. “Don’t worry, momma don’t mind. They’re leftovers from the church social yesterday. I thought you might be hungry. You didn’t eat very much at the diner but you sure drank a lot of coffee.”
They both looked at each other and then burst out laughing.
“Well it was mighty good coffee,” said Tommy
They both laughed again and then Donna-Sue grew pensive.
“So Private. Tell me tell me all those other things you are that are not a soldier.”
---------------------------------------
Sgt. Wright was a very good soldier. He had made corporal just out of A.I.T. and had received a battlefield promotion to Sergeant after only six months in country. He was conscientious and careful, very careful.
The ten men of his squad were deployed into a pair of four-man fire-teams with the cherry Lieutenant and his radio-man diddy-bopping along in the rear. Twenty paces behind them the second squad followed along to police up the prisoners, should there be any. Weapons squad had set up in the rear to guard the back door.
Each fire-team advanced through the smoking ruins of the village in bounding over-watch, two men rushing forward a few yards while the other two stayed put, ready to provide covering fire, should it be needed. When the first pair had finished their bound they would freeze in place, ready to provide cover for the other two as they bounded past them a few yards.
Each time the leading pair of soldiers approached a hootch they would shout “Chieu Hoi, Chieu Hoi,” informing any possible residents that their surrender would be welcomed with “open arms.” If they got no reply they would toss a grenade through a door or window, wait for the blast, and then step through the door to see what was left.
From time to time an elderly man or woman, or a very young child, would creep out of a hootch waving their hands frantically in the air and shouting, ‘Chieu Hoi.’ The pair of soldiers in the lead would frisk them and then force them to sit on the ground with their hands on their heads until second squad could come up and take charge of them. Soon a small knot of prisoners began to collect at the edge of the village nearest the L.Z.
Sgt. Wright was beginning to think that there was no one left in the village except the very young or the very old. Just before the platoon finished its sweep of the village a lovely young Vietnamese girl calmly stepped out of the door of a hootch and advanced steadily towards him with her hands held at shoulder height, a sweet smile on her face, calmly declaring ‘Chieu Hoi.’
As she approached she slowly brought her hands down to the sash that held together the crossover front of her short black jacket. Removing the sash she opened the jacket to reveal delicate pale skin and lovely breasts.
Tommy thought, “she can’t be any older than Donna-Sue.”
In a sultry voice the young woman murmured, “Hey G.I. Go boom-boom?”
---------------
Donna-Sue shivered slightly. Her pretty pink dress was demure enough to wear to a church picnic but it had been designed for muggy
Tommy noticed the shiver and was immediately filled with remorse for so failing in the gallantry department. He had been so lost in their conversation that he had completely failed to notice the night growing cold. Removing his heavy wool Class A jacket he draped it solicitously over Donna-Sue’s shoulders.
With firm self-control Tommy declined to take the opportunity to drape his arm over her shoulder along with the jacket. Politely returning his hands to his lap he contemplated the galaxy of electric lights reflected in the smooth surface of the
---------------
“Dung lai, dung lai!” Sgt. Wright yelled, ordering the young woman to stop.
Smiling sweetly and exposing her beautiful body the young woman continued to advance.
In a voice like crimson and cinnamon she murmured, “Hey G.I. Go boom-boom?”
---------------
The glare of the squad car’s searchlight blinded the young couple. An amplified voice announced, “This is the police! You are trespassing on private property.”
Donna-Sue peeked out from behind Tommy’s back. “Is that you Carl?” she called.
To Tommy she whispered, “Its O.K. That’s Carl. He dates my sister Daisy.”
“Donna-Sue?” Carl’s amplified voice echoed across the water. “Girl what in the Sam-Hill are you doing out here on a school night? Yo momma and daddy are beside themselves with worry. Girl you better git on home!”
Holding her shoes in one hand and clutching the uniform jacket closed in front with the other, Donna-Sue followed Tommy off the bridge.
When they got to the squad car Carl turned out to be a nice looking young man in his early twenties. He was wearing a well fitting brown police uniform and looked like he had probably lettered in football.
Donna-Sue met Carl’s stern look with quite self-confidence. “Don’t worry Carl, we were just talking.”
Carl eyed Tommy suspiciously. “You want me to give you a ride home Donna-Sue?”
“That won’t be necessary officer,” said Tommy in a firm voice. “I will walk the young lady home.”
Carl shook his head. “Either you got a lot of guts soldier boy or your plum crazy. Donna-Sue’s daddy’s the football coach over to the high school. He played tackle in college and he will take you apart if you’ve laid a finger on his baby girl.”
---------------
“What’s going on sergeant?”
“Stay back sir,” called Sgt. Wright to the young lieutenant who was approaching from his rear. “I’ll handle this.”
Slipping a flechette round into his blooper he brought the weapon to his shoulder and sighted on the young woman.
“Dung lai!” he screamed.
The young woman stopped and stood motionless, still exposing herself.
---------------
There had been quite a scene when they got to Donna-Sue’s home. The young people had been escorted to the parlor and seated in separate chairs. Donna-Sue’s daddy turned out to be a large, balding man in dark trousers held up by a dark leather belt and flowered suspenders. His white shirt had the long sleeves rolled to the elbows, revealing ham-like hands attached to powerful forearms.
He conducted the interrogation in a voice like a sonic boom.
Donna-Sue’s mother brought hot-chocolate. Tommy could see where Donna-Sue got her looks from.
Finally, the ordeal was over and Tommy was escorted to the door. Donna-Sue’s mother had packed a small bag lunch “for the bus ride back to base.” Although he continued to eye him suspiciously, her daddy shook Tommy’s hand at the door.
Tommy had reached the foot of the porch when he heard Donna-Sue’s mother, in a voice that carried a warning to daddy not to interfere, say “Donna-Sue, you go tell your young man good night but I want you back in here in five minutes. Ya hear?”
“Yes momma.”
A moment later the front door opened and Donna-Sue appeared. With delicate grace she ran down the steps and stopped a foot away from Tommy looking at him with upturned, smiling face.
“Promise you will write me every week?” she said pressing a slip of paper into hand.
Tommy felt his throat grow thick but managed to say, “I promise.”
Looking down at her upturned face in the moonlight he thought he had never seen anything so lovely in his life.
Reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled his face down to hers and gave him a long, slow, sweet, awkward, kiss. Tommy returned the kiss, awkwardly, but with all his soul. Neither had ever kissed before but both young lovers were prepared to swear than no kiss in the world could ever have been better.
---------------
“Sergeant lower your weapon!” the El-T commanded. Can’t you see you are frightening the young lady?”
“With all due respect sir,” said Sgt Wright with not the slightest trace of respect, “I think you had better let me handle this.” Out of the corner of his eye he could see the dumb butter-bar advancing on the woman with a big grin on his face and his hands out to his sides in a non-threatening manner.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said the El-T. “It is plain to see she is unarmed.”
---------------
Tommy had written Donna-Sue twice a week for the three months he had been in
Donna-Sue had been just as diligent. Every mail-call had brought Tommy a small pile of pink, scented envelopes, each one carrying the precious cargo of a young girl’s dreams. After about the third week in
---------------
The young woman stood smiling, her open jacket revealing delicate flesh and lovely breasts, their dark nipples hardening slightly. She met the young lieutenant’s hungry stare with a bold, knowing stare of her own.
Cocking her head to one side she whispered, “Hey G.I. Go boom-boom?”
The El-T walked as though in a trance, his unblinking eyes never leaving her exquisite body.
“Sir!” roared Sgt. Wright, “Get your fucking ass back here.”
The El-T had just turned his head to admonish his N.C.O. when the woman drew a small pistol from the waistband of her trousers and shot him through the temple. She then turned to face the sergeant, pistol in hand and body bare to the waist. The smile never left her lips.
Tommy’s finger tightened on the trigger of his grenade launcher and forty-five steel needles slashed through creamy flesh and left ground meat where a lovely young woman had been only a moment before.
---------------
Donna-Sue could hardly contain her excitement. Tommy’s last letter had announced the end of his tour. He would be home in little more than a week.
--------------
Someone in the squad yelled for the medic but Tommy could see that it was pointless. The El-T’s West Point-trained brains lay scattered all over the ground.
“Dinky dau motherfucker.”
He waved the R.T.O. to his side. “I guess that leaves me in command,” he told the radioman. “We’re done here. Call for an evac.”
--------------
Donna-Sue had been carrying Tommy’s last letter around with her for weeks. In it he told her how much he loved her and how he couldn’t wait to see her again. He had warned her that he would be out of touch for a little while as he went through the mustering out procedure so she wasn’t worried, but she did miss his constant stream of letters.
Well it wouldn’t be long now, she told herself, and in the meantime there was the big game Friday night to look forward to.
--------------
The sun was setting behind the palm trees by the time the evac choppers arrived. The sergeant was overseeing the loading of the El-T’s body when Corporal Williams came up to him. “What should we do with the prisoners sarge?”
Sergeant Wright looked at the forlorn knot of old people and children. “Let them go,” he ordered. “This whole op has gone totally FUBAR. Get everyone aboard.”
Tommy climbed into the chopper and called up to the pilot. “Let’s un-ass this A.O.” He smiled at the pilot, “The next flight I am on will be a Freedom Bird carrying me back to the World!” he announced.
He took out Donna-Sue’s picture and sat smiling at it as the chopper left the ground.
A small girl, maybe nine or ten, ran up to the chopper and tossed something through the open door.
--------------
Everyone had told her she was pretty enough to be a cheerleader but Donna-Sue didn’t like the idea of dancing around in a short skirt in front of a bunch of strangers. Besides she liked playing the piccolo and was proud to march in the school band.
--------------
Tommy looked down at the object that had fallen at his feet.
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Pastor Robertson had finished leading the audience in the Lord’s Prayer and the Band had finished playing the National Anthem. The teams were preparing to take the field when the announcer’s voice called for silence.
“Ladies and gentlemen, would you kindly bow your heads and join us in a prayer as I read this week’s list of our local
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A small green ball rolled past Tommy’s feet and his eyes went wide with terror when he saw what it was.
“Grenade!”
--------------
Donna-Sue’s mother went looking for her daughter the moment she heard the news. She found her under the bleachers holding Tommy’s letter and sobbing.
--------------
Twelve thousand miles away the cracked and faded picture of a pretty blonde girl in butterfly braids floated on the water of a rice paddy near the burnt out carcass of a Huey.
As the sun sat the waterlogged picture slowly sank out of sight.
