Chapter 15

This morning I shaved before going to eat, as I knew that Phillips had started the water heating after getting off guard and it would be hot by now. Also the cook had just arrived as I was getting off guard, and breakfast wouldn't be ready for a little while yet.

Breakfast at around 0700 was very quiet and everyone took care of last minute things after that. Then they finished loading their jeeps with their rucks, ammunition, weapons and at least one five gallon can of water. De Foor came to see me at about 0800.

"Do you know where the Coke bottling plant is?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered; realizing what was coming.

"Sawyer said you would be the one to get the water trailer refilled from now on. We're supposed to take it over and get it refilled after the first two Teams leave for the airfield. Oh, and you're supposed to take the 5/4 out there to pick up another drum of gas after that," he informed me.

It looked like I was now the errand boy. Oh well, my only real duty was using the radio in the evening, so these things would keep me busy during the day. Besides, with only six of us here a trailer of water would last a good while.

Suenee and the other women had all left for the market by now and De Foor and I waited until the CO and Teams 1 and 2 had cleared the courtyard before moving one of the 5/4 over and hooking it up to the water trailer. It was still about a quarter full, but I would need to meet the people at the plant so they would know me the next time.

At the plant, De Foor introduced me to the manager, Mr. Dubious, who really did speak Thai/Lao with a terrible French accent. Since I don't speak French, and had only taken a year of German in high school, I was left out of the conversation. Everything seemed to be all right though, as the manager smiled at me before we left his office.

His people filled our water trailer and I spoke with the Thai supervisor there to be sure that he remembered that I would be making the pickup from now on. He was OK with that. We had paid for the water at the office and I had spoken with the accountant there also.

After parking the trailer in its place and unhooking it, I left for the airfield to get the drum of gas. It would be our fifth and we would need to order more. I could see the two Teams still waiting on the loading apron when I arrived. It seems that their transportation was late.

The Air Force Sergeant with the small forklift loaded one of our two remaining full drums of gas in the back of the 5/4 for me and we secured it near the front of the bed. I stopped over on the loading ramp to see what the hold up was.

On arriving there I learned that one of the choppers had a problem, but it had been addressed and they would be here shortly. The CH-47s arrived while we were still talking. It was 1000 hrs when they landed. They taxied over to the loading ramp and dropped their rear loading ramps. The pilots and the crew chiefs came out to talk to us. The crew chiefs soon had the jeeps ready to load and got them on board.

The pilots of the two helicopters talked to the CO and Sawyer, and I listened in.

"We were told that we would get the final destinations from you," the pilot of the first helicopter, a Captain, told the CO.

"Yes, we have the destinations, but we thought your Operations received them from Lop Buri," the CO said.

"NO, we were told that we would get the final destinations here," the pilot of the second helicopter, a CWO 3, confirmed.

"Do you have maps of the area up here," Sawyer asked.

"Yes, we have maps for the two eastern provinces here," the Captain answered.

"Let's go over to the jeep and we'll go over the destinations with you," the CO recommended.

They soon had maps spread out on the hood of the jeep and the CO was explaining the destinations and where they were for the four teams to the pilots. The pilots marked their maps and started to figure routes and times to the destinations.

"Muang Et (H-11) is the furthest. I'll take it," the Captain said, as he twisted his distance/time/fuel calculator. "It looks like forty minutes flight time to cover the 130 km and figure twenty minutes on the ground and another forty minutes for the return flight. So say and hour and forty minutes plus or minus."

"Figure about the same for Team 2 to Phang Xang (H-21)," the Warrant Officer said.

"So you should be back here by noon?" the CO asked.

"Yes, that sounds good. I'll pick up some fuel before starting the second round of deliveries. Chief you take Team 4 to Phou Khoun (H-41) and head for the barn after dropping them off. I'll take Team 3 to Ban Hatep (H-31), but will be a while getting back as I can't fly over Lower Laos," the Captain said.

"OK, that suits me," the Warrant Officer confirmed.

"Baker, let Teams 3 and 4 know to be here by 1130 hrs," the CO told me.

I headed back to the compound after that to let the waiting Teams know. They were anxious for any news as they hadn't heard the helicopters come in. They helped me get the drum of gas out of the truck, but decided to leave by 1115, as they were anxious to get on the road.

The parking area in the compound sure looked empty with all of the jeeps and their trailers gone. A drum of gas should last us quite a while now. I went into the house and made a note to order more gas tonight.

Suenee returned from the Wat just past noontime, but we waited for the CO and Sawyer to return before having lunch. I had already filled Phillips in on what I knew.

"I take it that they all got off OK," I said, when they came in.

"Yes, everything went smoothly after the aircraft got here," the Captain told us.

"Did the pilots say anything about the first two sites?" Phillips asked.

"No. They didn't take any fire going in or coming out, but did say that the terrain is really steep up along the border with North Vietnam," Sawyer told us.

"We'll hear something tonight, I'm sure," I told them. After that we all had lunch. Ela was surprised that the others were gone. We managed to convey to her that they would be gone for a long while.

After lunch I started measuring to see how much wire I would need to rewire the radio room, the S-3 Operations room and the dining room. I also checked how many switches I would need and their placement. It kept me busy until I left early for Carstairs's, so I could stop at the hardware store on the way.

Things had apparently been very quiet for the last twenty-four hours, as there was little new information available from Carstairs today.

After typing a brief report for the journal, I started running wire, but didn't make any connections yet. I would need to get everything ready first, as I would need to turn off the power coming into the house to make the final connections and to replace the fuse wires.

We had dinner early as the Team reports were scheduled to start coming in at 1800 hrs. I had the generator fired up before that and was ready for the first one. Right at 1800, I heard the first call.

"Young Cowboy, Young Cowboy, this is Cowboy Tango 1 Alpha, over."

"Cowboy Tango 1 Alpha, this is Cowboy 3 Alpha, over."

"Three Alpha is Cowboy 6 there, over?"

"Cowboy Tango 1 Alpha, this is 3 Alpha. Roger. He says to proceed with your report, over."

"Roger, 3 Alpha. We arrived at site Hotel-11 OK. The locals seem friendly, but were disappointed that we hadn't brought weapons and ammunition for them with us. There are a number of individuals here with previous military training. Some of them are wounded who are home on leave. There is even one oldster that claims to have been with the French at Diem Bien Phu. They seem to have the locals pretty well organized. The road from here to the border is dirt and will be impassable come the rainy season. The locals claim the road is in better shape as you get further into the province, but we will need to check on that.

"Tomorrow we are going to try traveling road 6A to the other sites to see how things are there, and just how much the road does improve. Is there anything for us, over?"

"Tango 1 Alpha, this is 3 Alpha. Keep us advised on road conditions and any needed supplies. There is nothing further for now. This is Cowboy 3 Alpha, out."

The other three Teams reports were pretty much the same as Tweed's (Tango 1 Alpha) had been. All except Tango 3 Bravo's (Quincy's) that is.

"They landed us outside of the village on the road, such as it is. It's mainly dirt with some gravel mixed in and ox or buffalo cart tracks in it. The pilot wouldn't land close to the village, as he claimed they had anti-aircraft guns there. It turns out what he thought were anti-aircraft guns were the metal chimney pipes on some of the local barbecue setups.

"Tango 3 Alpha is over there now. They're big on barbecued pork, chicken and duck here. Tango 3 Alpha says it's almost like being home only they don't have re-fried beans here.

"The locals seem pretty friendly, and there are a number of them with previous military training. There hasn't been much action here, other than Tango 3 Alpha's appetite, out."

"Sounds like Ramirez is right at home," Sawyer said with a grin.

All of the Teams radios seemed to be working well and I hadn't had any trouble hearing them or they me.

Later we talked to Desk Rider at the usual time about getting the Teams in the field resupplied. They would check on the timetable.

In our bedroom that night Suenee and I talked.

"Things are going well so far," she stated.

"Yes, so far," I answered

"When is your appointment at the clinic?" I asked her.

"On Monday at 9:30 in the morning," Suenee told me.

"Do you feel all right?"

"Yes, the baby hasn't been much trouble."

"Will you be able to continue giving your classes?"

"Oh yes, but I may need to start taking a samlor to and from the Wat. Walking is getting a little difficult. Poor Sophie, she has an appointment also, but she can hardly walk at all; she has gotten so big," Suenee told me before we cuddled up and went to sleep.

The next day, I continued working on the rewiring project. By the end of the day I was ready to cut the power and make the final connections, but put that off until the next morning, Sunday, so I would have plenty of time, in case there were problems. Carstairs didn't have anything of interest today either.

That night Tweed reported that the road was somewhat better as you got further away from the border, but the thing was like a snake because of all of the curves, hills, and mountains.