Chapter 14

The following new characters appear in this chapter:

Kale

Senior Sergeant, 5’-6’’ tall, 135 pounds, 32 years old, short black hair, brown eyes

Hina and Inoke

Cooks for Second Platoon, older ladies, 5’-1’’ tall, 105 pounds, long black hair, brown eyes

Mike still has the Narrative

We arrived at our house in Sing a bit before 1700 hrs. The Amulets must have alerted Chanthra when we left as she and Yuang had a nice hot dinner almost ready for the three of us when we arrived. We needed to clean up first as our clothes and our boots were as muddy as we were. Bounmy also needed to pick up his other clothing and gear that he had stored here in Sing before returning. Yuang had cleaned Thao’s other clothing. His gear had also appeared here.

The meal, once we were cleaned up, was excellent, and there was more than enough for three hungry men. The ladies also ate with us. We explained what we had done while we ate. Later, Bounmy was ready to leave after everything was cleaned up.

“I thought you would spend the night here,” I told him.

“I need to talk to the Captain about the schedule for the visits to the villages to recruit the men. I want to leave most of my gear and clothes with you to take out to the barracks. They are too much to carry on the motorcycle,” he told us.

Chanthra already had a sleeping mat and a blanket laid out for him to sleep on, but Bounmy only smiled at it, and also at Yuang as she led Thao into her room again. We heard his motorcycle start up before Chanthra led me into our room for the night.

Even though we had retired early, neither couple slept the entire night. Chanthra allowed me to get a couple of hours of sleep before she woke me for a round of love and sex. By the light of the turned- down oil lamp, I could see that she had indeed started to show that she was pregnant. She was also very passionate, and we made love for a long time before getting to the sex which was just as long and passionate. My sweet wife had indeed missed me over the last couple of nights. Later, we slept very well for the remainder of the night.

In the morning, neither couple was up early. Yuang was up before Chanthra and I were. She was obviously happy, as she was singing when we came out of our bedroom. Thao was not there, and we later learned that he was still asleep.

The rice and eggs were ready, but I needed to shave, as I had several days growth of beard. Chanthra convinced me to wait until after breakfast to shave, as Yuang would make hot water for me to shave with. Thao did join us after we had started eating. Yuang had kept his breakfast separate and hot for him. He didn’t appear to need to worry about shaving though, as most Asian men seem to have little facial hair.

Following breakfast and shaving, Chanthra and I went to Wat Xieng Chai to meet with Abbot Phet to discuss which Wats we would be visiting and in what order. Thao had come with us, as he would have a good idea of where the various Wats were located. He would be coming with us to help me when I spoke to the men about joining Captain Vanh’s unit, and he would help in spreading the word. From what we learned, it would be a very busy ten days for us visiting the various Wats. Abbot Phet had grouped the Wats together so we could visit a number of them without wasting extensive travel time. It was still a lot of Wats to visit in the proposed time allocated.

Following our meeting with the Abbot, we returned to the house. Chanthra was going to pack our things for the trips to the various Wats, and I needed to go out to the unit to check on things there and to deliver Bounmy’s gear and clothing. Thao would go with me. We needed to see if Captain Vanh had sent any word on where the collection points would be, and when they would begin picking up recruits at those locations.

On arriving back at the house, we found that Yuang had prepared food for us to take with us when we left for the camp. We also learned that Chanthra had acquired another 20 liter water can, and that she had filled it with rain water yesterday during the downpour.

Thao and I were soon on our way. The road was a bit dryer today but hadn’t really improved any. We had loaded his gear on the truck with Bounmy’s, but his clothing would remain at our house since he would be traveling with us.

At the camp, things were quiet. Sergeant Ai had the men working on sanitation, as he understood the need in the Military for good sanitation when a large group of men are involved in anything.

We unloaded Bounmy’s gear and things as well as Thao’s gear. Ai had an area set aside for each of them in the headquarters barracks. I had checked on everything, and we were just preparing to leave when Bounmy arrived on his motorcycle. He had news for us and the others as well.

“The officers have determined what order the various areas will be visited in. The villages in each area will be visited together. They have also designated certain villages as pick up points. I have the lists with me, as there are too many to remember otherwise,” he told us on joining us, after he finished parking his motorcycle.

“They have included the villages with Wats that you will be visiting,” he added to Thao and me. He had several copies of the list, and we received one. The others went to Lt. Kham who would make out the daily list for the drivers. I noticed that he still had a separate list that he kept and presumed that it was his instructions.

“All of this is to begin tomorrow,” he told us following that. Lt. Kham was looking at the lists with a frown.

“All of this traveling will require a lot of fuel. There is no money left for fuel,” he told us just before a large roll of Baht bills appeared and rolled down the front of his shirt. It hit the ground before he could catch it. Mr. Nai scooped it up off the ground and started counting it. His eyes grew larger as he counted it.

“There is money here for a lot of fuel ... even for the lorries,” he told us before handing it to the Lieutenant.

“It appears from these lists that a number of us will be going out to do the recruiting. Sergeant Ai and Mr. Nai from here will be going out tomorrow. They will be picking up the other officers in Sing town to go with them. Those going out will be visiting multiple sites each day. I will be making out lists of the sites to be visited each day and also a list of the collection sites,” the Lieutenant told the others. Thao and I had our list, so we left following that. I wasn’t worried about fuel money, as I was sure the Amulets would take care of that. The ride back to Sing wasn’t any better, but we were becoming accustomed to it.

The next ten days were very busy. We were away from the house more than we were there. We would visit two Wats a day and sometimes three if they were small and close together. While Chanthra and Yuang spoke to the monks or spent time in prayer, Thao and I would talk to the men of the village near the Wat. We would listen to what the men thought and mention that Captain Vanh was recruiting those with Army experience for a special mission. We encouraged them to spread this news, and told them where volunteers could get a ride to join the unit. There were some nights that we never got home but stayed in one of the villages. At other times, we would arrive home late in the day. There was always hot food there for us at those times. After a night’s sleep, or at least half a night’s sleep, we would be off again in the morning. It was also a good thing that the truck had a large fuel tank, and that we carried extra fuel with us, as we often needed to drive long distances to reach that day’s Wats.

After ten days, the visits to the Wats were finally finished. We were all worn out, especially the ladies. We now had two glorious days before the pick-up of the new recruits would begin. Arriving home on finishing the last of the Wat visits, we only showered and then all fell into our beds. After four hours of sleep, we awoke hungry. In the main room, we found Yuang and Thao having a meal. There was more food on the small table, and Chanthra and I quickly sat on the floor and had a meal. We all returned to our separate beds for more sleep after eating.

The next day, there were clothes to be washed, all of the clothing we had worn over the previous ten days. Thao and I carried water for the women to wash the clothes with. We also strung lines for the wet clothing to dry on. Later, there was a trip to the market for food. We spent the remainder of the two days relaxing.

Thao and I were up early on the morning of the third day. This was the day that the pick-up of recruits for the unit was to start. We were responsible for three of the six pick up sites. Mr. Nai would be visiting the other sites. We would all be armed in case of problems. The pickup trucks were being used for the initial runs, as we weren’t expecting a very large turnout initially.

We were correct in this. On visiting our three locations, we picked up a total of six men. One was a senior sergeant, and he rode in the cab of the truck while the others rode in the bed of the truck along with their gear and the other things they had brought with them. Having started early in the morning, we arrived at the camp around 1500 hrs. Mr. Nai arrived about 45 minutes later. He had picked up seven men.

As soon as the men were unloaded, the problems started. Some of the new men spoke the Akha language, others spoke Tai Lu, and one man spoke Hmong. Most of them spoke only a little Northern Lao or Thai. Fortunately, the new Senior Sergeant, Kale, spoke Tai Lu and some Hmong as well. Sergeant Ai spoke a passable Akha. Both NCOs spoke Northern Lao also.

Among the officers, Lt. Soak spoke Tai Lu, Lt. Kham spoke a passable Akha, and Lt Keo spoke Northern Lao and Thai. This pretty well set where recruits speaking those languages would be billeted. It also turned out that Sergeant Bounmy spoke or could get by in Akha and Hmong as well as speaking Northern Thai and Lao. Each of the Officers and NCOs gathered the men whose language they spoke and explained what platoon they would be in and where they would be billeted.

Fortunately, Captain Vanh or someone had already arranged for two more cooks to start work that day. They had set up their kitchen in the center barracks. They were two older women, and their names were Hina and Inoke, I learned. Mr. Nai had apparently made a trip to the market in Sing the previous day, as they had charcoal and meat from Sing, as well as vegetables and fruit supplied by those in the valley. For now, all of the new men would be eating at that one location.

It was also time to start preparation of the training schedule. There were obviously things that would not need to be covered. Since we had no radios, radio procedures weren’t required. Neither was drill and ceremonies, but basic unit formations would be necessary. Weapons familiarization and firing was also necessary. There were plenty of banana leaves available as well as bamboo for target frames. Paper and paint or ink were available in Sing. (See Amulets V for more about target frames and weapons firing.)

There would need to be basic unit movement and fighting formations taught and practiced both at the squad and platoon level. Basic first aid would need to be a necessity as well as finding anyone who had medical training. There would also need to be cleaning of all of the weapons that we had. The one thing that I was worried about was the men’s uniforms and gear. How old were they and what condition were they in?

From what I had seen so far, they varied greatly just among the few men that we had presently. It appeared that the Thai Army had changed what they issued over time. We would need to see what could be worked out, and what Captain Vanh thought. It would be several days before we had enough men to have to worry about beginning training. Still, these things needed to be worked out and agreed upon.

There was another thing that needed to be taken care of before it became a major problem. This was a list of all of the men’s names, when they joined the unit, where they were assigned, and what position they held, like squad leader or machine gunner, if we had any. I thought that would be the extent of the records being kept. Their arrival time and position would need to be taken into account if there were any kind of rewards or prize money to be distributed to those in the unit or their dependents in case of their death.

While there was paper available in Sing, I doubted there were any kind of forms. They weren’t the sort of thing that most of the people here would have any use for. We would need to see what was available. I was sure that Thao would make an excellent records clerk as he spoke Lao and Thai very well and could read and write both languages.