Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Thailand
Posts: 104
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The 3rd day was a winner
It started off bad, right from the first briefing. Target was a road watch. Not bad in itself, but no team had been able to survive in the target area for more than 24 hours. Then there was the AAA overlays - wall to wall pasties on top of pasties. Nice...
Looking over the area we could only find one approach to the road that we liked. There was a ridge line that ran north away from the target, then turned east and hooked south again over looking the road. It was a long hike and we couldn't see any LZs along the route of march. If we got into trouble along the way, it would be a sting extraction in triple canopy (I HATE that). But it was the approach that the enemy wouldn't be expecting.
So we brief back the intel guy (he wasn't an oxymoron - just a plain moron), SUPRISE! He said the Col. had his own plan. (The Col was the famous Col Donahue - famous for looking at a target on his one over the world map and telling you to break contact and continue mission). His plan matched his genius...
We would insert north of the road on the same LZ that we picked. But we would then march 2 Kms down the hills through elephant grass (no other cover) to the road and see what was going on. GREAT IDEA.
So we brief back the Col. - Yes Sir! Brillant idea! We are going to march right down there across 2 kms with no cover and see what them bad boys are up too. Col and Intel smiles - they are happy, another Recon team bends to their wisdom and experience. Meanwhile the 10 and I have Big Shit Eating Grins ....
Big day comes and off we go. Insert went well no fire. A few minutes later we hear the LZ watcher's signal shot, he either located our tracks or saw the touchdown, guess the game is onl.
RON the first night was tense, set bolt upright in the middle of a bad dream about incoming tracers but nothing was stirring on the perimeter. We crawled out of the RON at dark 5 and changed directions again.
Day 2 was slow and hot, terrain was sharp hills and dense jungle and going was slow. Slower still spending time wiping tracks and covering the back trail. Midday we get a call from COVEY - what the hell are you doing? Tell them "Just running a mission down here boss man". Guess they figured out that it is the ground commander that runs the mission not the REMFs! Keep trucking north, things are looking good. No trackers, no dogs and no signal shots.
RON of Day 2 we hear choppers, lots of choppers to our north, seems like it goes on forever. Large Unit insert. WTF Over! No one told us of anything scheduled in our AO.... we are pissed. We've been sneakin and peakin and being real quiet and now they start playing games.
Day 3 I think we did it, we have been going away from the target for 2 days now and if all goes right they will not interested in us anymore. We doing as we originally planned, go away from the target, intersect the U shaped ridge line and come back into the target on the less obvious route. We had no signal shots since the first hour that we on the ground. We went through a ravine that a blind man with a BB gun could have wiped out the entire team. We are sure that nothing is following. We finally make it to the top of the hill which is part of a long ridge line that hooks back in the target area.
There are large boulders scattered about the hill top, so we spread out the team to cover the approaches. This trip we had a heavy team, we had a third American along and he was a big boy, so we added a couple more Bru just in case.... In the center boulder area was the 10, myself, the 12 and the tail gunner. The tail gunner was watching our back trail. The point man and another Bru was in the nearest rocks on the forward point and the M79 gunner and another Bru was on the flank facing the slope of our back trail. Things looked good and for the first time on this mission the 10 and I relaxed.....
Bam! the 12 is hit, second shot takes out the front site blade on my CAR. Shit is definitely in the fan now. These boys are both serious and good, definately not local yokles. They are on full auto the whole time, disciplined fire and maneuve trying to close on our perimeter. But lucky for us they didn't see our flank guys, and our boys are starting to pour it on them. We have them in a stalemate for now.
Just then the tail gunner comes around the rock. TONSI gun not work! Claymore no good.. Shit! Hand him my CAR. Got my hands full anyway. Got the 12 on the ground doing my IV thing, Radio is up and calling Covey or anyone else that might be listening. Still have my sawed off 79 and a snub nosed 38.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, while the tail gunner's fire zone was down, a couple of the sneaky bastards get pretty close. Hand grenade close! First grenade lands about 10 feet from the three of us. Waruump! I think, "Well I am dead. I have shrapnel wounds all through my torso. Better not look down just keep working until the shock wears off". What the hell - have to look! NO HOLES! "Thank God for that, maybe it was a dud... "Waruump! Second grenade... "Can't be that lucky twice- Check Torso! No Holes! "Whew what are the chances of that?"
Then the 12 looks up at me and says."Hey I don't mean to bother you, I know that you are busy, but could you not squeeze the IV bag so hard? I can feel the IV going through my veins and it really hurts!" I started laughing, still laugh everytime I think about it. Real polite guy even in the shit...!!
Finally covey comes back asks for location. Good question! Old French maps and terrain don't match that well. No 8 digits here boss, maybe 6 in a WAG.
Covey says Spads enroute at max haste. But where exactly are we? Well 3 days under triple canopy and french maps don't help. I give it an educated WAG. Covey comes to my coordinates. He is overhead from the sound of his engine but he hasn't got a clue where we are under the canopy.
But lucky me, I have a new 79 round for combat testing. Smoke with a parachute! Take my sawed off 79 and put it straight up through the canopy. Wunderbar, does just like they thought it should, straight up through the top of the canopy and then hangs in the tree tops on the way back down. Covey has a fix. Just one problem. NO LZs.
After 30 minutes or more of burning serious ammo, the Bad Boys finally decided to take a break and wait for reinforcements, Apparently they were after that group that made the big chopper insert the day before and just bumped into us on the line of march by chance, otherwise they would have never stood down. The fact that they are carrying concussion grenades and AP ammo adds to the evidence.
Now we have to get out of this place, the sooner the better. But how? Funny about things, you get into it this business long enough, sometimes you get the "sense"....you just know things..... I got it. I tell the 10 there is an LZ over there (pointing). He says "You sure?" - I am sure. (Don't ask me how, he didn't ask either. It ain't on the maps and covey can't see it from the air).
Time to move, we form up and move out (glad we had the extra Bru along - just in case) moving east. We move about 2-300 meters and break into a one ship LZ!
Covey says the Spads are now across the Blue line, so I have them drop the nape right there (me and fire do NOT get along). A few minutes later they are on station. I bring the first ships in with CBU real close (35 meters - I give them my initials and my forgivness in advance, Just in case....). Lead Spad comes in one wing low and I can count the front teeth in his shit eatin grin.... Beautiful! No one going to play "tighten the belt" with me today! Put enough ordance out there to discorage visitors and would be heros.
First chopper comes in but refuses to land. So I rig 12's STRABO with hanging IV and off he goes. I worry he will bleed to death on the 45 min ride back. He hears rounds going by his head as he is lifted out. I lay the last of the ordance back in the approach area where I figure the reinforcements have to be by now. A parting gift to fellow warriors. (Hope they enjoy hell.)
Second and third ship comes in LANDS and picks up the rest of team. Back to launch site.
The 12 makes it, lucky for him the STRABO rig cuts the circulaion off to his pelvis and he doesn't bleed to death. He medivaced back to States and I lost track of him.
Then after 30 years I found him again. I reminded him of what he said to me laying on the ground that day. I will never forget it. He said when he got my email it brought back all his missing memories of that day like a flood.
I still laugh about it everytime it comes to mind.
Oh yeah, it wasn't all rosy. The REMFs got their revenge on us for running the mission OUR way. STITCTAJ!
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Robert "Bru" Taylor
"Fortune Favors the Bold!"
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