Vietnam January 1st 1968 U.S. Army Master sergeant Patrick Keith is waiting to have a meeting with his commanding officer, Colonel Robert Randolph. After a short nerve racking waiting Patrick is permitted to enter the colonel's office.

"Master sergeant Patrick Keith reporting to the Colonel as ordered!" The Colonel finished his cup of coffee then he said "At ease sergeant at ease."

"Sergeant you're probably wondering why I asked to see you, the reason that I asked to see you is because Army intelligence has found out that there is a lot of active down the Ho Chi Minh trail, and they suspect that the enemy is planning something big. But we are not sure what it is their planning."

"ALL we know for certain is there is a whole lot of enemy movement down the trail lately this movement consists of men and material, your mission is to go out and use your sniper skills to slow down this movement and thin the enemy's ranks."

"your mission will last for 5 days and 5 nights also I have yet to find you a new spotter and I know about that S&W Revolver, that your uncle Elmer sent to you, please take it with you it might come in handy. Now unless you have any questions, concerns or comments you are dismissed."

After he was dismissed Patrick left the colonels office and went straight to the base's armory and he retrieved his M14 Sniper rifle, as well as several magazines of ammunition for the weapon."

After loading a magazine in the rifle Patrick adjusted the wind age and elevation settings on the scope and he fired several magazines of ammunition through it. Between firings he adjusted the scope settings until they were just right."

After letting the rifle cool off for a few moments he picked it up loaded in another magazine and proceeded to shoot the rifle some more. Halfway through the magazine the scope mount fell off the rifle and hit the ground with a slight thump.

Patrick picked it up and he saw that the scope mount, scope rings and the scope itself where damaged. So he unloaded his rifle, slung it over his shoulder, and walked to the armory.

H cleared his throat and said to the base armorer sergeant Dave Daniels "Dave my scope mount fell off of my rifle, when it fell off, the mount, the rings and the scope where damaged can you fix it please." Then he handed the scope mount to Dave.

He took it into the back room of the armory and a little while later he came back to the front area of the armory with bad news really bad news. "Patrick the mount the rings and scope are damaged beyond repair, and it will be 4 days before I can get a new one for your rifle, I am sorry."

Patrick took a deep breath let it out, then he ran his fingers through his hair and said "Unfortunately I can't wait 4 days I have a mission in the morning and I will be in the field 5 days and 5 nights."

"While I am gone will you please order me a new mount, rings, and scope and when I return from my mission, please mount the new scope onto my rifle."

Dave looked at Patrick and he said to him "Patrick I will put in the necessary paperwork and I will have the new mount, rings and scope waiting for you when you return." Then the two friends shook hands and Patrick returned to the range.

Patrick fired magazine after magazine 7.62X51MM rifle ammunition through his M14 Sniper rifle, when he was done with his rifle practice he did some shooting practice with his .45 caliber service pistol, and his S&W Model 10.38 caliber revolver with a 4 inch heavy barrel.

Which was sent to him by his beloved uncle rancher hunter firearms expert and writer Mr. Elmer Keith, when all of this shooting practice was completed Patrick returned to the base armory and he politely asked Dave to clean his M14 Sniper rifle and his .45 service pistol.

Patrick returned to his bunker and he cleaned his S&W Model 10.38 caliber revolver with a 4 inch heavy barrel. Once the revolver was clean he spent the rest of the day preparing for his 5 day mission. Making sure to eat between these mission preparations, the next morning Patrick woke up got dressed and went to the mess hall for breakfast.

When he was done eating he returned to his bunker put on the mahogany brown shoulder holster that held his Model 10 then he loaded the revolver and put it into the holster, once that was done he put on the rest of his mission gear which included a Pioneer Swiss Army knife and a pocket size new testament bible.

When all of that was done Patrick worked his way over to the armory and retrieved his M14 Sniper rifle, his .45 and extra ammunition for both these weapons, before leaving the armory he shook hands with his friend Dave. Then he made his way over to the helicopter pad where a Huey helicopter was waiting for him.

When he reached the helicopter pad he shared a prayer with the base chaplain, then he boarded the helicopter the pilots revved the engine and lifted the chopper off of the pad and headed out with Army Sniper Master sergeant Patrick Keith on board.

After short but never racking flight the pilot landed and Patrick got off of the chopper and went into the jungle, he made his way through the jungle until he reached a small hill that over looked the Ho Chi Minh trail.

He climbed the hill and setup snipers hide on the hill after the task was done Patrick placed his rifle against his shoulder, lined up the rifle's sights and started scanning the area in front of him for enemy personnel.

Shortly before sundown Patrick took a few sips from his canteen and quietly ate a few tootsie roll candies, making sure to put the empty wrappers into the pocket of his fatigue shirt. For 3 days and 3 nights he scanned and he scanned for the enemy.

Shortly after sunrise on day 4 Patrick was scanning for targets when he saw a large enemy force walking down the hill, lined up the rifles sights onto the body of the first enemy soldier and he slowly squeezed the truck.

When the soldier dropped Patrick went to the next target all day long he dropped enemy soldiers left and right. By night fall there were so many enemy dead in front of his position that Patrick quietly moved to a new sniper hide. Shortly before midnight some enemy soldiers came out to retrieve their dead comrades.