Repurposed
Copyright© 2020 by Yob
Chapter 33: BRING EM BACK
Not only did Colonel Robinson recommend I be decorated, he praised and promoted me on the spot.
“A young man with your courage and presence of mind under such difficult circumstances needs to be in the lead. You are a full pilot as of now and you’ll have the very next ship available for your own.”
Would he believe me if I told him the truth? Probably Colonel Robinson would misinterpret and wrongly accuse me of modesty as well.
On the bright side, with my own ship, I get to decide if the risk is to great and if I need to abort the mission. I suspect most missions will be too risky.
First day, yesterday’s fiasco was touch and go. Land the reinforcements who are to enlarge the force on the ground, and as soon as they’ve hopped off, take the chopper away fast. Blink and you missed it.
Today is my first full day in country, first full day on the job, and they changed the mission parameters on me. Now the Slicks are spread farther apart, arriving at the LZ in a more leisurely sequence. Today’s cargo’s of fresh young faces are replacements. Fresh meat for the grinder.
The choppers come in less frequently to allow the time necessary while the already ground meat is loaded on before we can zoom off to safety. Means sitting on the ground for several minutes or longer, instead of several seconds. A sitting duck!
The ground meat I refer to is, of course, the dead, dying, and wounded! They’re being evacuated. Medevac. They’re the former recently healthy young soldiers the replacements are here to replace.
It’s an indication things aren’t going too well for our side. Usually, I quickly learn, it means an even hotter LZ. Consider this tidbit as well. Don’t you think the VC have figured out by now, which side the pilot is sitting on? Who would you aim at? It also means you can’t refuse the mission. The wounded can’t wait for fairer weather or a less risky situation. It’s do or die trying.
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