"CIVILIANS KILLED IN FIREFIGHT!"
These headlines, whether true or not, create a BLACK MARK for the military, and places it between a rock and a hard place. And soon enough, fingers start pointing. To save face, an investigation takes place and usually ends with a COURT MARTIAL, with one or more military servicemen convicted. Guilty or not, their military career is FINISHED. Their lives are reduced to SHAMBLES, and they will be haunted by these turn of events for the rest of their lives. That's such a waste.
A "CAN CUOC" or identification card is not a guarantee. I've checked HUNDREDS of "CAN CUOC"'s every day during our patrols ands I STILL COULD NOT DISTINGUISH a CIVILIAN from the ENEMY. As hours passed by, all of them started to look ALIKE, and I'm as confused as when I started. It seems ALL their names were "NGUYEN".
It was a rainy November afternoon. The "poncho" was never enough to keep us dry. The weather was humid, and the FLAK JACKET issued to us didn't give an ounce of comfort at all. We had inspected enough SAMPANS, cargo and passenger boats for the day, so I decided to take a break. I swung my boat, PBR-142, towards the middle of the river, shut the engines off, and just drifted with the current.
The CU DAI is the WIDER side of the MEKONG RIVER. The middle part is a long distance from the North and Southern banks, well out of a SNIPER's range. Nevertheless, vigilance cannot be taken for granted. Being the Boat Captain, it was my prerogative to allow some brief RELAXATION for the crew, with that being a QUICK DIP in the waters of the Mekong River. Often times, it's the MEDIOCRE swimmer that takes this break. The forward twin .50 Cal. remains manned. With a ROPE tied to his waist, the swimmer treads water at the STERN of the boat with one crew membertending the rope.
In the midst of WAR, anything that could erase or soothe a warrior's worries and pain are a blessing. This brief swimming event gave us joy and moments of laughter.
Within a few minutes, however, we heard full blast on the boat's radio a message coming from My Tho HQ: "RVN's OUTPOST AT MOUTH OF CUDAI UNDER ATTACK! PBR's IN AREA PROVIDE SUPPORT!!!" This was within our patrol area and within seconds, the patrol aboard PBR-139 was sending coded messages to proceed and meet at the vicinity of the outpost.
Ah, well. It was good while it lasted.
All guns were manned and PBR-142 was underway. PBR-139 was closer to the area under attack, and as soon as she was in sight, her GUNS were LOUD and sounded like an invitation for PBR-142 to join in the firefight. And join in we did! We made several FIRING runs and these were ENOUGH to supress the enemy's fire. When the firing had ceased and all was calm and clear, the Patrol Officer radioed the outpost Commander and requested permission to set foot on his outpost. The request was granted and both PBR-139 and 142 started our approach towards the wooden pier at the mouth of the outpost. As soon as we tied up, we were met by the outpost Commander, our friend DAI WI BU or CAPTAIN BU.
We made occassional stops at this outpost before. At times, our stop was for an update briefings of VC's activities in the area. Needless to say, some of our stops was to simply shoot the breeze with Dai Wi Bu and his troops. And, these visits often ended with my FAVORITE "Vietnamese Coffee". That is, coffee with ICE.
As we set foot on the pier, it was obvious and quite EERIE to see LIFELESS BODIES lined up on the pier. Nonchalantly, I asked Dai Wi Bu "Who are these people?" With a puzzled look on his face he looked at me and said "They are VIETCONGS." I fired back "How did you KNOW?" HIS FACE TURNED GRIM and said "They're DEAD, aint they?"
All I could say was a simple "Oh." I didn't DARE to ask anymore after that.
Being RUDE as those words sounded, I can honestly say that THAT was the BEST LESSON I learned on how to DIFFERENTIATE a CIVILIAN from the ENEMY. A BULLET has no name written on it. A firefight isn't TARGET PRACTICE where all the firings are for effect and are towards a stationary target.
When the ENEMY socializes and mix with CIVILIANS, there's just no apparatus that can tell them apart. They're from the SAME FLOCK, AND SHARE THE SAME COLORS.
In these situations, is there ANY ALTERNATIVE left for AMERICAN G.I.'s? My answer is YES, and that is..."If they're in the SAME flock and have the SAME colors, then, they're the SAME BIRDS." THIS is the TRAVESTY of WAR.
In all it's technicalities, the words of Dai Wi Bu connotes the BASIC mechanism of WAR: Killings come first, NEGOTIATIONS come later. How I wish that American fighting men and women can candidly say those VERY words without HESITATION nor FEAR of a backlash...
Inside a body bag, you become merely a NUMBER or STATISTIC which denotes LOSS rather than VICTORY. I never liked this idea at all.
NEXT: The COMICAL side of WAR...
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