Chapter 12

The unauthorized patrol returned just before sundown. They had two wounded with them and three extra weapons. "Doc" Walls was ecstatic. He finally had some real wounds to treat and not just the usual run of boils, bites, fevers, sprains and malaria that he saw here. Neither wound was life threatening, but in this heat and humidity, they needed to be treated promptly before they became infected.

The CO took Lieutenant Tamusarit, the Platoon Leader and an interpreter into his office. They were in there for around half an hour. At 2100 hrs., the CO talked to Tasty Rabbit 3 about the incident, and I had a pretty good idea of what had happened before Lieutenant Tamusarit came into the commo bunker after the CO departed.

"I must speak with you, Sergeant Baker," he said in a serious tone. "You heard Captain Warren's report to your headquarters?"

"Yes, sir. I was right here when he sent it."

"Good, you know some of the facts then. There is more to it. You see the Chief was greatly offended that someone from his people would shoot at a holy man during a ceremony, or at any time actually. He could not allow that insult to go unpunished. He only took members of his own clan with him to avenge this. They reached the village near dawn. There were still three men sitting at a fire drinking in the middle of the village. They were Pathet Lao and not of his people. His people were all in their houses and were afraid of those men.

"He and his men snuck into the village and shot the three men. When they went to check the bodies, one of the men, though wounded, was still alive but pretended to be dead. How is it you say, 'playing skunk'?"

"I think you mean 'playing possum', sir"

"Yes, I believe that is the term. When the men approached, he shot two of them with a pistol he had on him. Those were the two that were wounded. The Chief and his men emptied their weapons into all three of them in case the others were 'playing possum', too.

"He called all of the villagers out of their houses after that and told them the terrible thing that the man from their village had done. He told us that the villagers were shocked and horrified that someone from their village would do that. He said that the villagers told him that the man had gone off with the Pathet Lao a year before and had only just returned a few days ago. They said that he left again but the three that returned with him stayed. They ate their food and drank their liquor, but had no respect for any of the villagers and threatened to shoot them if they disobeyed them. The villagers are no longer in favor of the Communists, they told him.

"Captain Warren threatened to send the Platoon Leader and all of his clan back to their village if they disobeyed him again. However, I think if you were to go to him and explain that it was wrong to go off and do what he did without permission, that it would have a greater effect on him than the Captain's threats. These people respect you and he would value your words more than the Captain's threats," the Lieutenant finished.

"Yes, I can do that, sir, if you think it would do some good. Should I go tonight?"

"NO, wait until morning. I will speak to him and his men again later tonight. You go and speak to him alone in the morning. I think that will settle things," the Lieutenant finished.

Suenee was waiting for me when I returned to the bunker. She had seen the patrol return and was anxious to know what had happened at the meeting. I explained what had happened and what Lieutenant Tamusarit had asked me to do.

"Yes, I will go with you in the morning. I'm sure that the Chief will listen to you," she said.

After that we went to bed and made love. Suenee was as good as her promise of the other night, and we didn't stop until we were both worn out and unable to move.

The next morning, after breakfast, I went to visit the errant Platoon Leader. He was somewhat surprised that I had come to see him. I hadn't brought an interpreter, as Suenee assure me that she spoke enough of his language to explain what I said to him.

The meeting lasted about a half-an-hour. I explained about the need to do things correctly in the military and that he should not do things on his own, but to seek permission and any needed support from the Captain or Thai Special Forces. He agreed to do as I asked in the future. Suenee also spoke to his wife before we left.

That day I wrote my folks. I had been pretty remiss in writing the last few months and needed to let them know that I was OK, where I was, and what I was doing. I also asked them to send me a really big air mattress, as I was tired of making love on the cot. That wasn't the reason that I used to ask them however. It took a month, but I finally did get a really big air mattress. By then we were used to the cot, but it was still great to sleep on with Suenee.

The rest of my stay at Camp B 457 was relatively quiet. The mortar attacks never resumed. In fact there was very little trouble. There were occasional explosions out in the jungle and patrols would go out to look at the new holes in the ground there, but there were no more battalions of dead NVA soldiers. There was another explosion in the direction we now knew Attapu was but the sound never reached us. The B Detachment did confirm that there had been another explosion and fire there. The source of the explosion was unknown.

The supply chopper made its regular runs and wasn't fired on anymore. 'Docs' Walls and Johnson went out on medical assistance visits, and regular patrols were run to look for signs of enemy activity but it seemed that the area was now very quiet - almost too quiet - almost.

I had been there a little over three months when Sawyer called me into Operations one day.

"Well, how have you enjoyed your tour here?" he asked.

"After the first couple of weeks here, it's been very unexciting," I replied. "Why?"

"We leave here in another seven days. Our replacement team is due here in a couple of days. You leave here on the chopper they come in on. I have your orders right here. They came in on the supply chopper yesterday.

"WHAT?" I asked, shocked, "Where am I going? What about Suenee? What about the radio? Just damn!"

"Hold on young Troop, and I'll explain. Here are your orders," and he put the orders in my hand, "you will notice that you are assigned to the 83rd RRSOU in Bangkok. You will also notice that your radio is included in the orders. Notice too that the reporting date is a little over a month from now and you are authorized thirty days leave in Bangkok.

"Now when our replacements come in, you will board the chopper with the radio. Suenee and Sophie will be with you, but will be wearing TSF tigers stripes. When you get to Ban Lung, you will be met by a jeep from the Team House to take you and the radio there.

"Lieutenant Tamusarit has arranged to have a TSF jeep there to take Suenee and Sophie to Major Kung's compound. You can meet up with them later. Kelley in Operations will arrange transportation for you to Korat. You'll need to process out there and get paid. Arrange to meet Suenee somewhere there. She will have to find transportation to Korat, but I'm sure Major Kung can see to that. Report to the 83rd RRSOU on the date specified. It's as simple as that," Sawyer finished.

To hear him talk about it, it sounded simple, but I knew better. It was never that simple. Something ALWAYS went wrong or got fouled up.

Suenee told me later that day that she knew about the orders and the plans. She assured me that things would be all right. That evening I started checking my uniforms and other things, and started packing. My uniforms seemed to be in remarkably good condition for having been packed so long in this hot, damp climate.

Suenee was waiting for me when I returned to our bunker after sending the daily report that night. We made long passionate love on our big air mattress again that night, but tonight just seemed more special than usual. When we both had recovered afterward, I was ready for the big question but nervous as hell.

"Suenee," I started. "Will ... will you marry me?" I finally managed to get out.

"Of course, Bill. That is why the Amulets sent me to you," she replied with a smile. We had a small candle lit and I could see her large smile by it. God, she was the most wonderful girl in the world, and I hated to be separated from her for even the short time the trip to Korat would take. At least, I hoped it would be short.

"I don't have a ring here, but we can get one in Korat or Bangkok if you prefer," I told her.

"Our love needs no ring, but I will wear one for you," she whispered as she came back in my arms for a really long kiss before we went to sleep for the night.

The next day everyone in camp was busy. They were getting ready for the change of command ceremony in just under a week and everything had to be strack or squared away for the new commander. The Platoon Leaders had also gotten a pig (a small one) from a local village and it was being roasted for that night.

That evening just after sunset, there was a party for the entire Special Forces Team, but especially for Suenee and me, as we were leaving tomorrow. The whole team sat around the fire that evening with the Chiefs, the Platoon Leaders, the interpreters, and their wives. I noticed that all of their wives had amulets similar to Suenee's and wondered how they had gotten them. That was when my amulet warmed up against my chest and I stopped wondering. I had already figured out that they could do a lot of things that no one could account for.

Roast pork was on the menu along with rice, a local variety of yams, and long beans. Of course later there would be plenty of the local fermented rice liquor. Near the end of the meal, the senior Chief got up and made a speech to the others. Then he turned and looked at me and said, "Bill - number one GI; number one shoot gun." Everyone was grinning at that.

I managed to get up and waied and bowed to him and told them, "Korp - Koon - Mahk - Khrap" which is Thai for 'thank you very much'. In three months I still hadn't mastered Thai fully and certainly not the various languages spoken here, but they all seemed to know at least that much Thai because everyone smiled.

I sent my last daily report later that night to the B Detachment and then tore down 'the Radio' and packed it in its shipping container and locked it.

In the bunker that night Suenee and I just hugged and kissed for a while and fell asleep. We had both finished packing that day and everything was ready but the air mattress. In the morning, I helped Suenee collapse the air mattress and pack it in the case it came in. She would take it with her, as I had my ruck, web gear, and weapon to move as well as the duffel bag and the shipping container. Suenee returned the things lent to us by various women.

One of the 5/4 trucks came by about 1030 hrs. and we loaded our things on it. We went to commo with the truck and several of the local troops helped get the shipping container out of commo and onto the truck along with the hand truck. Sophie brought her things over and we put them on the truck also which we left parked in front of commo.

"Well Baker, it's been amazing," Meadows said as we shook hands. The commo bunker sure looked empty now without the shipping container and radio filling one corner. The other members of the team came by to say good by and wish me luck that morning also. Many of the women came over to say goodby to Suenee also.

The choppers came in just after 1300 hrs. It really felt strange not being on the radio to bring them in. Just standing there while someone else did my job was nerve wracking, but I was on my way out and that was the way it had to be.

We got Sophie's and our stuff off of the 5/4 when we reached the LZ in the saddle with the help of the local troops. The arriving team would need both vehicles to move their things up to the camp. It would be crowded for a while with two teams living there.

After the arriving team was off the choppers and were being greeted by Captain Warren and the others, we got our things and the radio loaded on the first chopper with the help of the local troops. No one seemed to take notice of the two women in TSF tigers, although with their hair up under bush hats, they were hard to tell from the men.

We were all soon loaded and the others had moved away from the choppers. The crew chief of our chopper handed me a helmet and I put it on. Right away I could hear the voice of the pilot.

"That you and that radio again, Baker?" he asked. It was the same Warrant Officer that had brought Sawyer and me out here some three plus months before.

"Yes, it's me again, Chief, and I'm still lugging this radio around," I told him.

The trip back to Ban Lung seemed a lot shorter than the one out had been. When we landed, there was a jeep with a trailer there to pick up me and the radio. The crew chief and the gunner helped load the radio in the trailer.

Suenee and Sophie had been met by her cousin, the Thai Army Lieutenant, and he had left with them shortly after we arrived. I had watched as they disappeared down the road. We had agreed to meet at the San-Ma-Kee that evening. I sure hoped that would happen, as I missed Suenee already.

When we arrived at the Team House, there were people there to help unload the radio and I pushed it down the hall toward the S-2.

"Welcome back, Baker," Sgt Kelley from Operations said, as I came up to the S-2.

"I'll need to leave this here over night again," I told him.

"Yes, Daniels will be back in a minute. After you turn the radio in, go over to supply and turn in the stuff you're signed for there. Then come back here and see me. We'll get you scheduled on a flight out of here."

I went out back after signing the radio over to Sgt. Daniels. The Supply Sgt. Kelley was there waiting for me.