Chapter 5

The following characters will appear throughout the rest of the story:

Phil Del Vecchio

Major, OIC of Team, Bill was on his Team in Luang Phrabang, 5'-7"tall, 175 pounds, 39 years old, black hair, hazel eyes, very muscular

Fleming, Jack

Captain, Advisor to the Thai Rangers, 5'-11" tall, 170 pounds, 32 years old, blond hair, blue eyes

Stills, Ken

SFC, Advisor to the Thai Rangers, 5'-9" tall, 155 pounds, 36 years old, Brown hair, gray eyes

Wesley

1LT, Team XO, 6'-0" tall, 165 pounds, 25 years old, red hair, hazel eyes

Sorenson, Jack

MSG, NCOIC, 5'-10" tall, 180 pounds, 40 years old, brown hair, gray eyes

Lee, Charles

SFC, Intelligence NCO, 5'-8" tall, 140 pounds, 35 years old, black hair, brown eyes

Taylor

SSG, Heavy weapons, 5'-9" tall, 145 pounds, 30 years old, blond hair, blue eyes

Lewis

SSG, Light weapons, 5'-9" tall, 140 pounds, 28 years old, brown hair, gray eyes

Fleming, Bill

SFC, Senior Medic, 5'-10" tall, 165 pounds, 38 years old, black hair, green eyes

Taggert

SSG, Medic, 5'-11" tall, 170 pounds, 31 years old, dark blond hair, blue eyes

Broyles, Ted

SSG, Commo, 5'-9" tall, 145 pounds, 30 years old, blond hair, blue eyes

Lendry

SSG, Engineer, 6'-1" tall, 180 pounds, 32 years old, brown hair going bald, hazel eyes

Tweed

SFC, Intelligence NCO and Engineer, Bill's friend and teammate, 5'-9" tall, 155 pounds, 35 years old, blond hair, blue eyes

Tuesday, 16 Sept '69

I was in Commo when the call came in just before 1030 for me to report to headquarters. When I got there I was directed to the conference room. Arriving there, I was surprised to see a number of strangers plus a couple of people that I recognized sitting in there. The first of course was Tweed, who was smiling at me. Next was Captain - now Major - Phil Del Vecchio. I didn't recognize any of the others, but there appeared to be too many of them for an A-team. Of course Sawyer was there along with LTC Hawkins, MAJ Carlson, and COL Page.

"Come in and close the door, Sergeant Baker," LTC Hawkins told me.

"Now that we're all here, would you introduce your team to us, Major Del Vecchio?" COL Page asked. Phil stood and started the introductions.

"The first two men are attached to my Team as Liaisons with, and Advisers to the Thai Army Ranger units that will be supporting us. The first is Captain Jack Fleming, and second is SFC Stills. They are both fluent in Thai. Next is my Executive Officer, First Lieutenant Wesley." He went down through the entire team giving each man's name, rank, and position before revealing the real shocker, at least to me.

"And last is the young man that just joined us, SFC Baker, who will be our Commo Chief," Phil finished. I just sat there in shock for a time. What the hell was going on here?

"And what can you tell us about your mission, Major?" LTC Hawkins asked.

"You understand that the details are classified, sir, but in general our mission is to eliminate the threat posed by Communists insurgents in the Thai Shan States. There has been a substantial increase in attacks in that area over the last two years. We will be assisted in this by the attachment of a Thai Special Forces A-Team and two companies of Thai Army Rangers," Phil informed him.

"Where does Sergeant Baker come into this?" Major Carlson asked, confused.

"It was Sergeant Baker's radio that first intercepted the communication between the Chinese and the Burmese rebel forces in 1966. We are hoping that he and his radio will be able to help intercept further transmissions between them. Also he and his radio were invaluable when we were together in Luang Phrabang. That is another reason that I requested him for my team," Phil told them.

"When do you expect to be operational, Major?" COL Page asked.

"We have been ordered to attend your Pro Course before we go operational, sir. So it will be after completion of the course," Phil told them.

"Our Pro Course!?" the Colonel asked in surprise.

"Yes, sir. Our Headquarters at Bragg was quite intrigued when they learned about it, and we were sent out early to attend it before going to the Shan States to begin our operations," Phil informed him.

"That's good in a way," the Colonel said. "It will give us time to set up a Team House close to the Shan States. Our nearest B-Detachment is the one in Chang Mai. Major Carlson will see to getting that set up."

"Yes, sir," Major Carlson acknowledged. "I'll also see about getting them into the Pro Course. We may need to schedule a special class for them. I'll check with our people running the course. Will you need to take the Jumpmaster portion also, Major?"

"No. All of my people went through HALO training before deploying," Phil told him. (HALO - high altitude parachute jump with free fall to a low altitude chute opening)

"Baker has already completed the Pro Course," Sawyer told them next.

"Yes," the Colonel replied slowly and then added, "Sergeant Baker, remain here after the others leave. I want to talk to you about another matter. Is there anything else we need to discuss presently, Major?"

"Yes, sir. There is. We will need to draw the AK-47s that were left here in storage. My team turned them in when we returned from Luang Phrabang in August of '67. We'll need them on our operations as we'll be working with Thai Special Forces, and the Thai Rangers," Phil informed him. "The rest of our equipment should be here in a few days, as it was shipped by boat over a month ago."

"We'll also need to draw the four PRC-77 that we left in storage here when we returned from Luang Phrabang," I reminded the Major and the others.

"All right. The S-3 will arrange that with the S-4 people," COL Page told them and added, "I want to see all of your officers after you finish whatever the Sergeant Major may have for you, ... Sergeant Major?"

"Sir, they all need to finish processing in through the S-1 (Personnel), S-2 (Security), and Finance. The Officers will be assigned temporary billets in the BOQ, and the NCOs in the NCO billets. Sergeant Tweed's wife will be glad to see him at home, I'm sure," Sawyer finished with a grin.

"Thank you, Sergeant Major. Perhaps we should schedule that meeting with your officers for tomorrow morning, Major Del Vecchio. It looks like you will be busy the remainder of today," Colonel Page suggested.

"Yes, sir. That will be fine," Phil answered.

"Well if that's everything for now, let's get back to work," the Colonel told everyone. Sawyer opened the door, and we all filed out. I followed the Colonel to his office. I was very familiar with it by now.

"Have a seat, Sergeant," Colonel Page said after I had closed his door, as I didn't believe this would be an open meeting.

"What can you tell me about this message that Major Del Vecchio referred to," the Colonel asked.

"There isn't much to tell sir. I was off duty when it came in. Apparently my radio turned on by itself and recorded the message. Later, I heard the message, but it was in Burmese and some Chinese dialect, and I don't speak or understand either of them.

"After that my Commander put me on a special watch for a time, hoping to intercept more messages, but no more messages came in while I was assigned to the 7th RRFS. (See Amulets III for the story) That's all that I know about it, sir, except that the people at the 7th felt it was important," I finished.

"Yes, we have been getting increased reports of attacks and unrest in the Thai Shan States, and now this A-Team shows up and they are going to be joined by a Thai Special Forces A-Team and two Companies of Thai Rangers. Most unusual," the Colonel finished with a frown.

"Thank you, Sergeant. That was all I wanted to know," the Colonel finished just as there was a knock on his door.

"Come," he called, and Sawyer opened the door and looked in.

"Sir, Major Carlson wants to see Sergeant Baker when he is finished here," he told the Colonel.

"Yes, that's fine. We were just finishing," the Colonel told him. I saluted and headed for the S-3 shop to see Major Carlson.

"Ah ... there you are Baker!" Major Carlson said as I entered the S-3 area. "Join me over at the Training NCO's desk."

"Can you teach the commo and crypto part of the LRRP Course this week to the new A-Team?" Major Carlson asked when we got to the Training NCO's area. "I realize that it will be out of order, but we can't get them into the course until next week, and this will keep them busy till then."

"Yes, sir. I can do that, but won't it mess up the schedule?" I asked.

"We can work around that. It will be a small class anyway," the Training NCO said. "When can you start the classes?"

"Thursday and Friday would be good. They are going to need to draw field gear and weapons for the course tomorrow, I would imagine," I answered.

"All right, schedule it for 0800 Thursday, Sergeant," the Major told the Training NCO. "Thank you, Baker," he added, and I was dismissed. I returned to Commo and informed my boss of what was coming.

That evening when I reached home, it was evident that Tweed was already home. Suenee greeted me more warmly than usual, and Phesila's daughter, Dang, was there playing with Lesia.

"Sergeant Tweed is back!" Suenee said sweetly as soon as she released me.

"Yes, I saw him this morning. I take it that he and Phesila are busy," I said looking at their daughter.

"Yes, she asked me to watch Dang for a time," Suenee said with a big smile. "She really missed Tweed while he was gone."

"When will we be leaving, my Bill?" Suenee asked sadly, as she came back into my arms.

"Wow, Sweetie! I know that I should have realized that your amulet would have already told you about me going out with this new A Team, but what is this 'when will WE be leaving'?" I asked.

"It will be dangerous. I will go with you," she stated quite certainly.

"Yes, it will be dangerous. We have a daughter now, and you are pregnant. That is why YOU WILL NOT GO with me," I told her. "I have my amulet and it will protect me. Don't worry about me."