The next day a horde of entrepreneurs came out of the bushes, Vietnamese babysons. They hastily set up lean-to coke and beer stands for thirsty and weary GI's. This temporary respite from the war delivered some civility and normalcy back to the war...don't I look at ease in my straw hat? That is, if you don't notice the weapon over my shoulder...
Platoon medic Bryant............................^ in the straw hat, later saved my life, pulling me back from death to life. The soldier to his right had been wounded three times in heavy hand-to-hand fighting at Bong Song...note the knife scar on his shoulder.
The three amigos...Recognize me? I'm the soldier on your right.
The three young entrepreneurs pose, with C-rations boxes given them by recently resupplied GI's...
Only hours before this man's buddy had been shot and wounded severely in an ambush, but even in times of adversity and hardship, compassion and love for the little ones comes out of hardened GI's, rising above the inhumanity to man conflict that war has dealt them...
Deep in the area known as "The Killing Zone," GI's try to forget about war and hate, laughing and making light conversation with new friends...
Our sole piece of bedding, the poncho liners were used to make temporary leant-tos against the termite mounds to provide relief from the withering Vietnamese heat...
But anything like rest is too good to last for the infantry. We were picked up by a fleet of Hueys and carried to join in a sweep operation with three tanks near Phan Rang. We also delivered a captured Vietcong detainee for interrogation...a young girl caught carrying war supplies, including weapons and ammunition, suspected to be for the North Vietnamese Army...
