Death in the Jungle by Gary Smith (most inspirational books .txt) 📕

pocket and let him crawl around in my lap and on Funkhouser’s neck while he was asleep.

All went well until we reached Barbers Point Naval Air Station on Oahu. One of the crewmen had snitched to U.S. Customs that there was a snake on board. We were not allowed to depart the plane until we had been questioned and searched by Customs. Naturally, I denied having a snake with me because I knew my teammates wouldn’t give me away.

Finally, the Customs men gave up the search and departed. Apparently, Hawaii didn’t have snakes. And they didn’t want any.

Mr. Meston, my platoon officer, came over to me afterward and asked, “Where is that damn snake?”

I could tell he wasn’t in a mood for humor. Without hesitating, I replied, “Right here in my coat pocket, sir.”

Obviously irritated, he ordered, “Never do this again! You almost got us all into trouble. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I replied as I stood at attention. I decided that I had better leave Bolivar in my coat pocket the whole trip coming back, unless, of course, I put him in Funky’s coat pocket. Now that’s what I’d call a good, covert scheme, I thought. After Lieutenant Meston walked away, I looked over to Funkhouser, grinned, and said, “How would you like for me to buy you a beer?”

“Lead the way, matey,” was his cheerful reply.

I bought him the beer, which was one of our last in the States. Two days later, we arrived at Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon. Nha Be Naval Support Activity was to be our home for the next six months, and the VC were to be our targets for assassination.

My platoon, Foxtrot, relieved Kilo Platoon. The Kilo Platoon members were: Lt. E. D. Gill (OIC), Lt. (jg) D. Mann (AOIC), SM1 Wilson, DC1 Mack, EM1 Christensen, GMG2 Swepston, MM2 David Lee Sitter, BUI Payne, TM3 Haldeman, RM3 Neal, IC3 Boston, PH3 Kelmell, SN Cary, and HM2 Lappohn. Alpha Platoon relieved Juliett Platoon. The Juliett Platoon members were: Lt. (jg) Grabowsky (OIC), ENS Seiple (AOIC), HMC “Doc” Jones, BT1 John Fietsch, BM1 Donald L. “Goody” Goodman, EM2 William T. Doyle, SFP2 Wash Moore, ABH2 George Raacke, ETN3 Robert Schaedler, BM3 Richmond Cleem, SN Frank Toms, RM3 Robert Cramer, IC2 Michael J. Scrafford, MM3 Art Streeter, and FA Coy Ray Humphrey.

Echo Platoon had previously arrived at Nha Be in June and wouldn’t be relieved until December by Bravo Platoon. Echo Platoon members were as follows: Lt. R. G. Brereton, Lt. (jg) R. F. Redding, QM1 D. D. Daley, BM2 J. S. Cirardin, SM1 Tommy L. Hatchett, MR2 C. D. “Tobacco Lou” Lewis, HM1 H. C. Marshall, GMG1 H. F. Matthews, PR2 Gary W. Shadduck, EMC W. A. Tobin, and BM1 R. Tullas.

It was really good to see the guys again. We were soon told the details of what had happened last April 7th, when members of Juliett and Kilo Platoons were aboard the Mighty Moe (a modified Mike-Six boat) deep in the Rung Sat Special Zone. Frank Toms stated that they were ambushed by a well-armed VC/NVA unit with automatic weapons and shoulder-fired B-40 rocket rounds. Of the sixteen SEAL platoon members aboard (not counting MST casualties), thirteen were wounded and three killed. Kilo Platoon lost Mr. Mann, Neal, and Boston. Sadly, Mr. Mann had been married only a year at the time of his death. Boston had married a couple of weeks prior to Kilo Platoon’s deployment to Nam in early April ’67. It was to have been Boston’s last trip to Vietnam before his discharge from the navy. It’s easier to be brave when you don’t have a wife and kids to worry about, I thought.

CHAPTER ONE

Mission One

“Valor is a gift. Those having it never know for sure whether they have it till the test comes. And those having it in one test never know for sure if they will have it when the next test comes.”

Carl Sandburg, December 14, 1954

DATE: 18, 19 August 1967

TIME: 180400H to 190830H

COORDINATES: YS074634, 077644, 083643, 086639, 086633

UNITS INVOLVED: Foxtrot, 1st Squad, MST-3 (Mobile Support Team)

TASK: Reconnaissance patrol and overnight ambush

METHOD OF INSERTION: LCPL MK-4

METHOD OF EXTRACTION: LCPL MK-4

TERRAIN: Defoliated swampland, mangrove swamp

TIDE: 0905H Low, 1309H High, 2023H Low

MOON: Full

WEATHER: Cloudy with rain

SEAL TEAM PERSONNEL:

Lt. Meston, Patrol Leader/Rifleman, M-16

Lt. Gill, Ass’t Patrol Leader/Rifleman, M-16

RM2 Smith, Point/Rifleman, Shotgun

MM2 Funkhouser, Automatic Weapons, M-60

BT2 McCollum, Grenadier, M-79

HM2 Brown, Radioman/Rifleman, M-16

ADJ3 Bucklew, Rifleman, M-16

AZIMUTHS: 000 degrees-500m, 045 degrees-175m, 035 degrees-350m, 090 degrees-500m, 135 degrees-500m, 180 degrees-800m

ESCAPE: 180 degrees

PHASE LINES: Tijuana, San Diego, Los Angeles

CODE WORDS: Challenge and Reply—Two numbers total 10

This was it—Foxtrot Platoon, our first mission. We had a good bunch of guys in the squad, but we were all green. We were untested. Still, we were ready. This is what we’d been training for, and now the time had come.

I was keyed up and excited. If I was scared, I didn’t notice it. My excitement overwhelmed all other emotions. As I glanced around at the others, none of them looked scared either. Of course, their faces were covered with green-and-black camouflage paint, but even that couldn’t hide their eyes. And their eyes looked clear and confident.

Personally, the fact that a SEAL had never been captured made everything black-and-white for me. No SEAL had ever been captured, and I wouldn’t be the first. I would never surrender. I would fight to the last breath. I would never leave my platoon; rather, I’d stay, and if death came, it would come to us all or to all who attempted to kill us. Do or die: That gave me courage. Knowing I wouldn’t allow capture, and consequent torture, took away my fear of the unknown. I’d make it back alive from this mission, or I’d flat-out die trying.

Since this was our first time out, Lieutenant Gill had agreed to come along to make sure we didn’t do anything stupid, like getting killed. He was experienced and was finishing up his tour of duty. He’d advise our OIC (officer in charge), Lieutenant