Chapter 22

Just after 1600 hrs a call come in over the radio.

"Old Hand, Old Hand, this is Red Tiger 110. We are zero five out from your landing pad with a visitor. Over."

"Red Tiger 110, this is Old Hand. Roger. Will advise Red Tigers here. Will you need fuel? Over."

"Old Hand, Tiger 110. Negative. We're just on a short hop, and will be waiting to return the visitor. Out." I called the Red Tigers on the land line to advise them of the arriving bird.

"Who's coming?" Sergeant Lee asked.

"Someone from Nawng-awn," I told him. "Probably Captain Tamusarit."

"I better wake the Major then," Lee told me.

"How much sleep has he had?" I asked.

"I don't think that he slept any last night, and only went to bed after Tweed returned. Maybe four hours max," Lee told me looking at his watch.

"Wait till the visitor gets here. If it's not Captain Tamusarit, there isn't any need to wake him. He looked wasted when I went to bed," I told him. It was only a short time later when Captain Tamusarit arrived, and Lee went to wake the Major and Sorenson.

"I didn't mean to wake you, sir," Captain Tamusarit said when the Major entered a few minutes later.

"If it's important enough for you to make a trip up here, then I need to hear it first hand," the Major told him.

"Yes sir. I didn't want to send this over the radio, so I brought it myself. It's the report on the attack at our camp last night. We typed it and I brought it with me. Basically, I'll just hit the highlights and you can read the entire report later.

"From what we have been able to determine, there were about one hundred enemy on the way to our camp when we mortared their convoy. Six of their trucks are still useable. I saw on the way in that you have acquired a number of trucks also," the Captain noted.

"Yes, Baker and the 2nd Platoon tracked down their Command Group, and brought the trucks in. The Command Group was already dead when they got there, but they had to deal with the guards," the Major told him.

"We had a similar experience. Out trackers followed the tire tracks back to a small valley where the Command Group had set up before the attack. They and a few guards were all dead when we arrived also, and had been for some time. We found orders on the Officers of the Command Group, but they are in Chinese. One of my men was able to read enough of them to determine that, but that was all," Captain Tamusarit told us.

"I had sent our Aviation assets to check on Hlkanbon with two squads of Rangers. They found that an enemy unit had been there, and destroyed what was left of our installation, mostly just sandbags. The enemy had interrogated the villagers before leaving, and the people there were very frightened.

"My men located their three trucks a few kilometers north of town. The trucks were stopped in the road, and all of the soldiers were dead, but we couldn't determine the cause. There was fuel in the back of one truck, and they used part of it to burn the bodies before returning the trucks to Hlkanbon, and parking them in our old area. The particulars are in the report," Captain Tamusarit finished.

"Did you get any pictures, sir?" MSG Sorenson asked.

"Yes, we did, Top. I have the film from both sites with me," Captain Tamusarit told him and handed over two rolls of film in their containers. Both were marked as to the site.

"Excellent! Thank you, sir," Sorenson told him, and placed them with the other two rolls there on his field desk.

"That fits pretty well with what Sergeant Tweed found at Man-Namlet," the Major said, as Tweed entered the tent yawning.

"I'll let him tell you in person," the Major said.

"Tell what?" Tweed asked, surprised.

"Your adventures of this morning," the Major answered.

"Oh, those!" Tweed answered, as if he had forgotten about them already, and didn't consider them important.

"After we returned from stacking the bodies by the river, I was sent off in the chopper to find the site the mortars used last night. We soon located them. It wasn't hard. There was a large new crater on the mountain a couple of klicks south of here across the river. It appeared that they had two 107 mm mortars set up there with enough ammunition to reduce the entire area to dust.

"They must have had an 'Ammunition Malfunction' as both mortar tubes had been destroyed, and all of their other ammunition had gone off. There wasn't anything left worth policing up.

"From there we headed north to Man-Namlet. The enemy had been there also. They destroyed what was left at our camp site - just some sandbags and concertina. They intimidated the villagers and then left. We found their vehicles a couple of klicks out of Man-Namlet headed back to Route 34.

"The trucks were stopped in the middle of the road, and all of the enemy troops were dead in their vehicles. No cause of death was evident, but there were some burns where they had been touching the metal of the vehicles. It was the same type of burn that we saw in Cambodia, sir," Tweed finished.

"Yes, we too found a crater where the mortars had been fired from last night. I should have mentioned that," Captain Tamusarit said. "Just like in Cambodia," he added also, and looked over at Tweed, who just shrugged.

"Just like old home week," Tweed said after a few seconds. "And dead-eye got all of the shooting action again, too," he added.

"All of the shooting?" Captain Tamusarit asked. I related how we had tracked down the Command Group to him.

"We used part of the fuel that Baker brought in with the trucks to cremate the bodies of the enemy here," the Major added before turning very serious.

"All of this information needs to remain here in this tent. It will be classified, and is not to be repeated to anyone. Sergeants Tweed and Baker, I want written reports, make that typed reports, from both of you, and I need them ready to go to Lop Buri in the morning. Destroy all of the carbons, as I intend to classify the report 'TOP SECRET', and send it directly to Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins. He'll know how to break the news to Colonel Page, and get it sent up the line," the Major told us.

"I really need to get back, sir. I don't like flying in these mountains in the dark," Captain Tamusarit told us.

"Yes, I can understand that. Thank you for bring the report up here personally. I appreciate it. This is definitely something that I don't want to discuss on the air, even with the encryption equipment that we have," the Major finished.

"What about the alert status for tonight?" Captain Tamusarit asked.

"I think just normal vigilance and the regular guard rotation should be sufficient unless there are signs of trouble, and I don't expect any. Our people are going to need plenty of sleep after last night," the Major told him. Captain Tamusarit was on his way home shortly after that, and Tweed and I started on our written reports.

Later that evening, Captain Tamusarit called in a 'No further incident' report. Broyles had relieved me for dinner, and Tweed and I had been busy typing out our reports until it was time to send our report to the B-Detachment. I knew that this would be interesting from what the Major had said earlier. At 2200 hrs, I sent out our call to the B-Detachment.

"Desk Jockey, Desk Jockey, this is Old Hand. Over." It was answered almost instantly.

"Old Hand, this is Desk Jockey. Stand by for Jockey 3. Wait one." After a few seconds Jockey 3 came on the air.

"Old Hand, Jockey 3. Put your six on the air. Over," came the demand.

"Jockey 3, Hand 6. Are you ready to receive our updated report? Over." the Major sent very calmly.

"Hand 6, Jockey 3. Send your report. Over," came the impatient reply.

"Jockey 3, Hand 6. Today we collected the bodies of the enemy soldiers killed during the attack on our camp last night, and located their Command Group. We also located the unit that had been at our northern site.

"Our people at the southern camp also located the Command Group of those that attacked them, and those that had been to our middle location. All of the bodies have been cremated. Over."

"Hand 6, Jockey 3. Your report is totally lacking in details and specifics. That is not, I repeat NOT, sufficient. I want to know exactly what you found, where, and in what quantity. Do you hear me? Over," Jockey 3 demanded indignantly.

"Jockey 3, HAND 6. What is your level of security clearance? Over." The Major sent with emphasis on just who he was.

"Hand 6, Jockey 3. What does that have to do with anything. I'm the headquarters that you report to, and I demand that you provide that information. Over," Jockey 3 demanded in exasperation.

"Jockey 3, Hand 6. Unless you have a Top Secret clearance and a need to know, that is all that you are getting. I will be sending my report to our Headquarters stamped 'TOP SECRET - Provisional'. I have no intention of discussing it over the radio even with the use of encryption equipment. Do I make myself clear? Over," the Major demanded.

"Hand 6, Jockey 3. We'll see about that. Jockey 3 out," he closed out in a snit.

"That little bastard will try to crucify you, sir," Tweed said, as soon as we were off the air.

"He'll only try, Sergeant. I intend to have this report hand carried along with the film, and those orders in Chinese, down to our Headquarters tomorrow morning," the Major told him. "We only need to decide who to send."

"I believe it's Sergeant Lee's turn, sir," MSG Sorenson injected. "Tweed has already been on a trip, and Lee is feeling a little left out."

"All right, I'll go along with that. Sergeant Lee, be prepared to leave for Lop Buri in the morning. Count on being there at least over night," the Major told him.

"Yes sir!" Lee answered with a smile.

I had already contacted the Black Horse that evening and arranged to have a flight in here by 0900 hrs in the morning to carry the courier to Chiang Rai.

"How is he going to get to Lop Buri?" Sorenson asked next.

"That is a detail that needs to be worked out yet," the Major told him, as I made adjustments to the Radio.

"I'm going to take care of that right now, sir," I told him.

"Desk Chief, Desk Chief, this is Old Hand. Over," I sent using the Radio in single side band mode. Shortly there was a reply.

"Old Hand, this is Desk Chief. I read you four by four. How me? Over."

"Desk Chief, Old Hand. I read you the same. I have a message for Chief 5. It is imperative that he receive it tonight. Over."

"Old Hand, Desk Chief. Who is sending this? I'll need approval to get this to him tonight. Over."

"Desk Chief, Old Hand. This is the hero up here in the chilly north. Message follows: 'Imperative we have a Porter at Chiang Rai in the morning to carry a courier with Top Secret report for your eyes only.' Sign that Hand 6. Do you copy? Over."

"Old Hand, Desk Chief. Roger, hero. I have a good copy. We'll get this delivered tonight. Chief 5 will probably be grumpy, but it will do him good. Desk Chief, out."

"How the hell did you do that?" Sorenson asked in amazement when I was done.