Letters from Vietnam [Watty Awards 2012]

Chapter 9

Saturday, April 5, 1975

            “Ah, shit man, where do these guys keep coming from?” Chris screamed over all the explosions and gun fire.

            Jason had his back to a rock as a bullet buzzed passed his head. “Tunnels in the side of the mountains,” he turned and took a few shots before finishing his statement. “Those sneaky bastards.”

            It had been days seen any guy in his unit has gotten sleep. To top it all off, they have been fighting off a sneak attack by the Vietcong.

            “Alright men, cover and fire. We’re advancing to the next tunnel.”

            “What the hell is he trying to do? Kill us all?” Chris screamed as a grenade exploded several yards in front of them. Rocks and dirt flew everywhere. Rocks repelled off of Jason’s helmet as he fired off a few more shots.

            “Come on, Chris.” He said, getting ready to start following the guys. “It’s useless, we have to keep moving. We can’t afford to be left behind.”

            Chris got to his feet in a crouched position and started following the guys. Jason quickly started walking backwards so he could see if anything or anyone was coming. Before he had time to react, Chris screamed, “Grenade!”

            Jason looked and just several yards away, a grenade lay on the jungle floor, ready to blow. He dove to the ground, just not soon enough. He lay in the dirt as more grenades went off around him, just not as close as the last one was. Jason’s ears were ringing and his eyes couldn’t focus.

            “Hang in there buddy.” Chris said to him. “We’re going to get you help.”

            Jason didn’t respond. He just laid there looking up at the smoke filled sky praying. As he closed his eyes he heard Chris yell, “Medic!”

            After that, everything went black.

            Jason’s eyes slowly opened. He felt like he was horribly hung over. His head was pounding and his whole body was sore. He looked around the tent startled. It was filled with other wounded soldiers. He definitely wasn’t in the jungle anymore.

            “Oh, you’re awake.” A fairly young girl who must’ve been a nurse said smiling.

            Jason just looked at her and nodded his head. “Where’s Chris?”

            The girl furrowed her eyebrows. “You were the only one brought back.” She got up and called for a doctor. “Doctor, he’s awake.” She said and the man nodded.

            “Hello Jason, how are you feeling?” The doctor asked.

            Jason just stared blankly at him before answering, “Sore.”

            “That’s normal. Can you hear okay? See okay?”

            “Yeah,”

            The doctor looked at Jason. He looked detached, distracted. “Alright, I’m going to have a nurse come in a check your vitals. I think you’ll be happy to hear that you’ll be going home as soon as the first plane gets here.”

            Jason stirred to life. “Wait, what do you mean?”

            The doctor looked at him concerned. “Surely you don’t believe you are well enough to go out to the front line. I’m sorry, but that’s what your commanding officer ordered.”