Chapter 12

After breakfast at the PX cafeteria in the morning, I went over to finance. They went over my records, while Suenee went back to the room to wait for me.

"Damn Sarge, you've been all over the place," the SP/5 clerk said before he got to the Command Sponsorship paper work. He went over that very carefully, and it took some time.

"It looks like you have a bunch of money coming," he finally said. "This Command Sponsorship is effective from the date you got married, which was in September!!?" he asked in a questioning voice.

"Yes, we were married in September," I assured him.

"This is February! So you are owed a partial quarters allowance for part of September and part of February, plus the whole allowance for the months in between, so call it five months at the Bangkok rate of $300.00 a month. That's $1500.00 that we owe you, plus you are authorized Separate Rations for those four months and that comes to another $200.00," the clerk told me. You could have knocked me over with a feather at this point. I never dreamed I would have that kind of money all at once. That was when I noticed how warm my amulet was.

"Of course you'll only get $250.00 a month for quarters here in Lop Buri," he informed me next. Still that was a lot of money. We had rented the house in Bangkok for $75.00 a month. I wondered why the allowance was so high.

"The Thais see an American and they raise the rent. It's usually double what a Thai would pay," the friendly Finance clerk told me as he typed up a voucher for my money. I didn't have to wait long for the money either. I got part in dollars and part in Baht, both would spend in Luang Phrabang we had been told. Suenee was shocked when I showed her the money and explained where it came from.

Suenee said that she was going shopping in Lop Buri with some of the other wives she had met here. I gave her most of the Baht I had gotten. While she was gone, I went to the S-3 to arrange transportation back to Luang Phrabang and to see what I could scrounge of the things on my list. When I got to the S-3 (Operations section) Major Carlson was there.

"Baker, isn't it?" he asked as I walked in.

"Yes, sir."

"What can we do for you?"

"I'm here getting processed in, sir. I need to get back to my team in Luang Phrabang. Also Captain Del Vecchio gave me a list of things that they need," I told him and handed him the list. The Major looked at it and frowned.

"Some of this is doable and some isn't. A water trailer we can do. The Air Force has already asked SUPTHAI to set up a water point at the airfield there. Problem is there isn't any water at the airfield. SUPTHAI has recommended setting it up at the municipal water plant instead.

"Until they are set up, I suggest you try the local Coke bottling plant. They need clean water for making cola and will sell you some water I'm sure. It will already be purified.

"A generator we can do also, but what is this fencing for?" he asked.

"It's to secure the radio room. The safe and weapons are also in there," I explained

"OK. I think we can handle that and a container for storage of ammunition, also. You'll have to sand bag it once you receive it. Kerosene and gas delivery can be handled. What are the hasps and locks for?"

"To secure the radio room door, sir."

"And the immersion heater and trash can?"

"Hot water for shaving and bathing," I answered.

"OK. Some of the other minor stuff we can do, also. I'll see the S-4 and arrange to get this shipped up to you," he continued. My amulet was very warm at this point.

"What I'm not so sure about is the two extra jeeps with radios and trailers. I'll have to see what the S-4 can do there. He may know a source but I won't guarantee them," he told me. My amulet was still very warm and the words Pepper Grinder appeared in my mind.

"You'll need to check with the airfield daily for a while to see when this stuff shows up. You'll need to pick it up quickly, as the Thai Army will make it disappear if you don't," he cautioned me.

"All right, sir. We'll keep an eye out for it," I assured him.

"The Operations Sergeant will get you scheduled on a plane back to Luang Phrabang," the Major finished. They got me scheduled on a plane the next morning. A jeep would pick us up at our quarters at 0700 hrs.

After that I went to the PX, commissary and the Class 6 (alcohol) store. The Captain had given me the Team's ration card and money from the unit fund. I also had a list of things to get. There was everything from razor blades to deodorant. There were several requests for mirrors for shaving, as the house didn't have any mirrors in the latrines. Of course cigarettes and coffee were number one on the list along with alcohol, specifically Bourbon. There were a lot of other little things also like sugar and some candy. Chocolate wasn't on the list or popular here, as it melted in the heat. It took several trips, but I eventually got everything back to the room and had it squared away in boxes.

Suenee was amazed at all of the boxes when she returned. She seemed quite happy when she came in.

"Did you have a good shopping trip?" I asked.

"Yes, a very good trip, my Bill," she answered with a little smile. It wasn't until later that Suenee showed me the presents she had gotten for herself and me. She did show me the new clothes she had gotten and the shoes and a pair of boots. She really looked good in the clothes even with her large belly.

It was when we got back to the room, after dinner and a movie, that Suenee brought out the thick gold chain she had gotten for me to hang my amulet on instead of the bootlace I had used up to now.

"It is important that you wear the amulet on a gold chain now," Suenee insisted when she brought it out just before we went to bed. I noticed that she had her amulet on a much thicker chain also, but didn't remember noticing it before now. My amulet warmed up on its bootlace then.

"Is this something the Amulets have dictated?" I asked.

"Yes, my amulet spoke to me on the plane coming here," Suenee answered.

"SO, this is very important?"

"Yes. I have been assured that it is very important for us to do this," she answered.

"OK," I agreed, as I removed the amulet from around my neck and passed it to her. Suenee soon had the amulet secured to the center of the gold chain. It seemed to almost be a part of the chain now. I noticed that she put the bootlace away very carefully after that.

In bed that night we made slow passionate love before having wonderful sex and going to sleep. I held Suenee to me all night.

We were up early in the morning and took a shower with hot water. We finished packing all of our things and got ready to leave. Suenee had some rice treats called Kao Sum, for our breakfast. They were in the form of a pyramid, about two inches on a side and wrapped in a piece of slightly burned banana leaf. Inside was sweet, or as it is sometimes called sticky rice. It had been mixed with coconut milk and some coconut meat plus there was a piece of banana in the three that I had. The whole thing had then been roasted on a barbecue. They are turned out by the dozens. Suenee mentioned that other kinds of fruit were included at times. She had gotten six of them the day before and they really hit the spot. We washed them down with the last of the bottled water that came with the room.

We were just finishing up when there was a knock on our door. It was a young soldier with a jeep and trailer. Apparently the S-3 realized that personnel here from a team in the field would be picking up supplies for the team.

"Does all of this go, Sarge?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I'll give you a hand," I replied. We soon had everything loaded and set out for the airfield. The plane waiting there was the same one that we had arrived on two days before. There were also two Thai Special Forces officers waiting there. As soon as we arrived, the pilot, the same Lieutenant, directed us in loading the plane.

"Well, I see you're ready to return," the pilot said as we loaded the supplies behind the seats.

"Yes, sir. My business is all taken care of here," I replied, as we loaded the last of the boxes into the back of the plane.

We all boarded the plane then. I again got to sit in the co-pilot's seat while the Thai officers sat behind us. Suenee sat apart from them, but did talk with them during the flight. I didn't hear all of the conversation, but the part I did hear involved the Amulets. We were in the air by 0800 hrs.

As we approached Luang Phrabang, I asked the pilot about using his radio.

"Sir, may I change the frequency on the radio to make a call?" I asked.

"Who are you calling?"

"My team to let them know that we will be arriving."

"Yes, but use the secondary FM radio. It's the one we use to check on artillery fire when we go into a hot landing zone," he told me, as I set the radio to the correct frequency.

"Young Cowboy, Young Cowboy, this is Young Cowboy 3 Alpha, over."

"Young Cowboy 3 Alpha this is Young Cowboy, over."

"Young Cowboy, this is Cowboy 3 Alpha. We will be arriving shortly with packages, over."

"Cowboy 3 Alpha, Roger. Someone will meet you. This is Young Cowboy, out."

"Sounds like you're all set," the pilot said, and added, "you did that very well."

"Yes, sir. We set it up before I left. Radios are my job," I told him. The two Thai officers just looked confused at what I had done.

We were soon on the ground and I had our cargo unloaded. The two Thai officers had been met by someone from Thai Army headquarters here and were gone. Tweed arrived in one of the 5/4s a short time later. I had already thanked the pilot and he had taken off already for his next mission.

"Welcome back," Tweed said as he got out to help me load the supplies in the back of the truck. "Did you get everything taken care of?"

"Yes, I think so. Major Carlson promised to send most of the things on the list."

"No, I meant with your wife."

"Oh, yes. Colonel Hawkins was there, and after he talked to me and the people in Personnel, they took real good care of us," I assured him.

It turned out that I was in for several surprises when I got back to the compound.

Sophie appeared as soon as we pulled into the compound. She seemed very excited and began talking to Suenee as soon as we stopped. She soon had her out of the vehicle and took her off to show her something, still talking a mile a minute. It was too fast for me to follow.

"She's been waiting for Suenee to get back," Tweed said with a grin. We soon had the supplies unloaded and carried inside. That was when the surprises started.

"I'm glad that you're back," Sawyer said. "You have a lot to do. Since you have been appointed the S-2, you will need to go over to Carstairs's compound daily, he recommends the afternoon as the best time, and pick up any new intelligence information that has come in.

"We'll go over to Carstairs's about 1500 this afternoon. I'll go with you to show you where it is," Sawyer told me.

"Now tell me about what you were able to get from the list," Sawyer said, changing the subject.

"I saw Major Carlson when I went to see about the flight back. He promised to get us most of the things on the list, but wasn't sure about the jeeps and trailers," I told him.

"When is all of this supposed to arrive?" Sawyer asked, as the CO joined us.

"He wasn't sure. He had to talk to the S-4 (Supply Officer)," I told them.

"The S-4 is that LTC that came in the first night you were in Bangkok, Baker. He's a real by the book, stateside asshole," the CO said. "Don't count on getting a lot out of him."

I didn't mention then that my amulet had warmed up nicely when Major Carlson made those promises. I would wait and see what happened.