Chapter 11

The following new characters appears in this and other chapters:

Ronnaring

Corporal, Clerk, Ranger Trainee, 5'-4'' tall, 120 pounds, 24 years old, black hair, brown eyes

Kwaikai

Lance Corporal, Clerk, Ranger Trainee, 5'-3'' tall, 117 pounds, 22 years old, black hair, brown eyes

Jatuporn

Sergeant, Ranger Trainee, 5'-6'' tall, 130 pounds, 31 years old, black hair, brown eyes

Prawit Wongsuwan

Captain, Ranger Trainee, 5'-4'' tall, 140 pounds, 32 years old, black hair, brown eyes, a short powerfully built man

I dismounted and left my horse in the road but kept my eyes on the buildings in front of me.

"How did this happen?" I asked but wasn't really expecting an answer until I noticed that my amulet was very warm against my chest, and that sent a chill down my spine. Sergeant Chuang was quickly approaching me also.

"Chief Ranger Trainer, may I speak to you in private?" he requested in a loud voice for the other men to hear.

"Certainly, Sergeant Chuang, let's step over behind my horse," I answered in just as loud a voice and led the way back to the other side of road behind my horse.

"How did this happen and what are these buildings?" I asked very quietly when we were alone.

"I don't know how it happened, Guardian, but theses are not the same buildings that were here yesterday," Chuang told me very earnestly.

"I remained here after you left yesterday to check the buildings and see just how bad they were as these were some of the oldest buildings on the camp. I left after checking each one and was sure that we would need to replace major parts of the buildings to use them. It would also require time to clean up the area and cut or remove the grass and weeds.

"When I returned early this morning, I was shocked by what I saw here and couldn't understand how the buildings had changed. I inspected the first building very closely and the others to confirm what I had seen.

"Guardian, these are not the same buildings that were here yesterday. You don't need to be an expert in building construction to recognize that. The original buildings were poorly constructed. These are not only built better but are longer and wider. The area has also been cleared of the tall grass, weeds, and trash plus the ground has been compacted around and between the buildings. There is even a large sign in front of the first building that reads 'Ranger Training Company'. It has a set of silver wings as you directed yesterday plus there is a Siamese Army Insignia that I do not recognize under the words," he finished in a very quiet voice.

"We will inspect the new buildings once we have the men busy. Do you know if any of them can read and write well?" I asked.

"Yes, there are two men who I know who are well educated and can do both," he told me.

"Call them over here if you would, and I will explain what I need them to do," I told him, and he called two of the men over.

"This is Sip Tho (equivalent to a Corporal) Ronnaring and Sip Tri (equivalent to a Lance Corporal) Kwaikai. They both read and write Thai," Chuang told me after we finished the greetings.

"Good, is there another Sergeant here?" I asked.

"Yes, there is one other here, Chief Trainer. Do you wish to see him also?" Chuang asked, being more formal with the others present.

"Not presently. While I explain to these men what I want, I would like you and the other Sergeant to organize the men into groups of ten and by the unit that they came from. We'll begin processing shortly," I told him. Chuang went to get the other Sergeant and began organizing the men. I had instructions for the two who would be doing the writing.

"Are both of you here to volunteer for this new unit?" I asked them first.

"Yes, Krup!" they both answered enthusiastically.

"Good! Then I have an assignment for both of you, and it is a very important one. We need to get the names, ranks and units for all of these men so we can recall them when we are ready to start operations," I told them before explaining how I wanted them to do that. I had lined a number of sheets of paper yesterday to make forms and Chanthra had written in the headings for me in Thai. I showed them one of the sheets as I explained how to fill it out.

"Since both of you are volunteers, you may start the sheet for your unit with your names. I have the rest of the paper and the writing materials in my saddle bags. We'll collect it and then see what there is in the way of something to write on."

I removed the saddle bags from my horse, and we went to the first building to look for any sort of furniture that could be used as a desk. There was a lockable room on the open ground floor of the barracks where we found cooking equipment along with a couple of small low tables they could sit behind.

My two new clerks were soon set up to start recording the information on the volunteers. The Sergeants also had the men organized, and I had them send the first group to the clerks.

"This is Sergeant Jatuporn," Chuang told me once that was accomplished, and the Sergeant and I had exchanged greetings. There were nearly 50 men here now as others had continued to arrive as we got organized, and I was anxious to check out these buildings.

"Can you handle things here while Sergeant Chuang and I inspect the barracks?" I asked the new Sergeant.

"Yes, Chief Ranger Trainer!" the Sergeant answered quickly in a loud voice.

"Fine, keep the men here when they finish the paper work. I want to speak to them before they leave. We'll be finished shortly," I told him before Chuang and I headed for the stairs to the upper floor of the barracks.

A quick inspection of the upper floor revealed rows of sleeping platforms with storage under them. The construction of the walls and especially the roof trusses appeared very new, and it was obvious that metal fasteners had been used on them. This led me to believe that these buildings were either from a later time period or had been constructed for a very permanent installation somewhere here in Thailand, probably in or around Bangkok.

"Very interesting, are the others similar to this one?" I asked Chuang.

"Yes, they are all the same, and as I said they are larger than the previous buildings plus the construction is heavier. These buildings should last a very long time," he told me, and that was when I remembered where I had seen these buildings, or at least this building before. It was at the Army camp in Korat in 1965, and this building was then the Ranger Museum. A chill went down my back as I looked around and saw again this area as it would appear in 110 years.

"Yes," I agreed, "these buildings will last a very long time," but that was all that I said.

On returning to the ground floor, I had Sergeant Chuang assemble those men finished with their initial registration paperwork so I could speak to them.

"Thank you for coming to volunteer for Ranger Training. It will be a few days before we are ready to begin receiving men for training. Your current Commanders will be notified when to release you to begin training here. At that time, there will be a more detailed interview of each of you to determine what your background and experience in the Army is. You may report back to your units until we are prepared to begin training," I finished and had Sergeant Chuang release them.

A trickle of men was still arriving and Sergeant Jatuporn had been forming them into ten man units to await their turn with the clerks. Several Officers also approached a short time later, a Captain and three Lieutenants. I went out to greet them.

"You can join the other men at the end of the line," I told them after the greetings were finished.

"We are Officers and do not wait in line behind common soldiers," the Captain said in a snide voice.

"A Ranger Officer insures that all of his men are taken care of before he sees to his own comfort or well-being," I informed the Captain who only looked belligerent on hearing this.

"From your attitude and behavior, I don't believe that you are Ranger material Captain, and I will NOT accept you or others like you for Ranger Training," I told him to a startled look from him. The three Lieutenants had appeared shocked on hearing this, but a little voice had whispered in my head that he had been sent here to sow discord in the training unit.

"We will see about that," he remarked in a snotty voice, as he turned and left the area. The Lieutenants moved over behind the other men without saying anything. Sergeant Chuang came over and we moved away from the other men.

"There will be trouble from that one," he whispered to me.

"Possibly, but the Amulets whispered to me that he had been sent here to cause trouble by those in charge here," I told him to a shocked expression from Chuang.

"The Amulets!" he whispered in surprise. I reached for the necklace holding the amulet that Chanthra had given me and showed it to him. His surprise only increased.

"That is a very powerful amulet, Guardian. If it spoke to you, then there may not be as much trouble," he whispered before we returned to speak to and dismiss the next group of men. I then spoke to the clerks telling them to put all of the Officers on a separate sheet of paper.

Later we were down to only a few remaining men when another Captain and two more Lieutenants arrived. I went out to greet them and gave them the same directions. This Captain, Prawit Wongsuwan, didn't have any problem complying with my directions. He was a short powerfully built man and led the Lieutenants over to the slowly shrinking line.

By noontime approximately seventy men had been here to register and there was no one left in line. I went to check on the clerks.

"Have you entered Sergeant Chuang's and Sergeant Jatuporn's names on the sheets yet?" I asked them.

"No we haven't, Chief Trainer," the Corporal replied, obviously having been informed how to address me.

"There is a sheet labeled 'Training Cadre'," I told them, "enter their names on that and also your own names. All of you will be assisting me in getting the unit organized. It will mean extra work for you in addition to the training you will be taking the same as the other men, but I believe that all of you of capable of handling it," I told them to smiles before changing the subject.

"Will all of you still be able to eat at your unit for the mid-day meal?" I asked them.

"Yes, it is not too late. Should we return here when we finish?" Sergeant Chuang asked.

"Yes, return here. I have things for the clerks to do this afternoon, and I need to go over some things with both of you Sergeants, so you will understand what needs to be accomplished over the next week or so," I told them.

"We will return after our meal," Chuang assured me as they prepared to leave. I collected the completed paperwork and the unused forms and paper, and replaced them in my saddlebags. This was when I remembered my horse. I had been so busy on arriving here that I had completely forgotten about him.

I found him just past the third barracks. Someone had unsaddled him and secured his reins to a large stone so he could browse on the grass there but not wander too far off. The saddle was on the ground floor of the barracks. I needed to thank someone, but would need to find out who. I found several other items there with the saddle – things that I hadn't brought with me.

The first was a bag with grain in it for the horse in addition to a large jar of water plus a bucket for him to drink from. Next was lunch for me, a large serving of Kao put gai (chicken fried rice) wrapped in a banana leaf along with a spoon, but not one of the little white plastic spoons that came in American C-rations. Additionally, there was some cut up fruit wrapped in another banana leaf bundle.