The Book of Teller

Prologue - (John's POV)

KHE SANH JUNGLE 1967

Explosions and gunfire never woke me in my tent, that became normal to me after 2 years in the shit, but my Sergeants voice always seemed louder than any explosion. "Teller! lets go, time to move out." Said Sergeant Miller. "Yes sir." I reply as I strap on my backpack, grabbing my M16 and my Ka-bar knife sheathing it and putting on my helmet which has the words "War is Hell" written on the front of it. Leaving my tent always felt as if I were crossing over into my own personal hell...once I set foot outside of it I'm brought back to the reality of death and destruction all around me. Piney and Jury are already waiting for me once I step out. Piney Winston, Jury White, and Lenny Janowitz were the brothers I never had, if any of us were in a jam we'd always help each other to get out of it, nobody in my unit had my back like my brothers did, we weren't related but the way we looked out for each other we may as well have been. I met Piney in High School and since then we've been inseparable, Jury and I met on my first tour in Khe Sanh, we didn't see eye to eye at all for weeks until one fateful day when several Vietcong attacked one of our units outposts. Jury's M16 jammed as he was about to kill one of the Gooks, the Gook was seconds away from blowing Jury's head off until I tackled him
and slit his throat with my Ka-bar, and since then Jury and I have grown closer than ever. "Jesus Christ John, if you'd taken any longer I'd have thought you were fucking dead." Said Jury jokingly smoking a weed cigarette. "The way I sleep its almost like I am fucking dead." I reply to Jury smiling as Jury and I hug each other. "How you doin J.T.?" Asked Piney as we both hug and embrace each other also. "I'm good brother, can't wait to get out of this shit hole." I said. "I hear that...today's the last day for all of us, then it's nothing but booze and cooze heh heh." Said Piney. We all chuckle in sync as we begin our patrol through the muddy, mosquito-ridden jungle, but I notice that someone is missing. "Hey, where's Lenny?" I ask. "Last I heard, he was transferred out to Hanoi not sure if we'll cross paths again." Said Jury. Lenny was a bodybuilder I met on my 2nd tour, I can't count on 2 hands how many Vietcong he's killed, he's a real badass, the type of guy to take a bullet for you without question, and the type to steal your old lady without question. "I hope we see him again, I saw something in him ya know." Said Piney. "Hey guys! wait up!" a voice behind us said. Piney looks behind him to see who it is. "Fuck, it's Dez I thought he was still in the infirmary. Said Piney. "Take it easy brother, he's cool." I said. Dez was a scrawny black kid from Texas, and is our medic, he was very good at his job but as far as shooting a gun, he couldn't shoot straight to save his life. "Wassup fellas, y'all ready to kill some Gooks or what?" Said Dez. "If we do come across some of em, you'd probably shoot one of us instead of them." Said Piney removing Dez's helmet and smacking him with it. "Cool it Piney, you're always fucking with m-" Suddenly a bullet from ahead strikes Dez in the head knocking him down into the mud. "SHIT! EVERYBODY GET IN THE DIRT!" I yelled. Me, Piney, and Jury all hit the floor in the prone position as multiple gunshots ring out, Dez's body lay motionless in front of me I'll never forget how shocked he looked...he never saw it coming. Bullets are whizzing just inches above our heads. I grab my binoculars from my satchel to scout ahead. "There's only four of them! Cover me I'm gonna flank!" I said yelling over the loud gunfire. Jury and Piney rise from the dirt and mud in a kneeling position firing their M16 rifles at the Vietcong soldiers. The 4 Vietcong take cover avoiding the incoming bullets. I get into a kneeling position and creep behind Piney and Jury with my M16 in hand, bullet casings from their rifles gunfire bounce off of my helmet as I sneak up behind the Vietcong soldiers. The soldiers are oblivious of me, I raise my M16 aiming it at them, emptying my magazine into their heads and torso killing all 4 of them. "It's clear!" I yell. I set up several well hidden claymores around the dead Vietcong just in case there were more coming. Me and the guys carry Dez's corpse back to camp, blood and brain matter pouring from his head. We arrive back at camp and carry Dez to the infirmary tent, laying his cold body on a hospital bed. Piney and Jury leave the tent, but I stay with Dez. The way he was killed always got to me, he was all smiles and laughs but that all changed in the blink of an eye, he wasn't even old enough to buy a case of booze and they killed him like a dog. "I'm sorry kid." I say as I leave the tent. "Kid didn't deserve to go out like that, these fucking Gooks are heartless." I said angrily. "He's at peace now, there was nothing we could've done for him brother." Said Piney "The last day is always the hardest, I never would've thought in a million years he'd get killed like that." I said. "I know brother...neither did I, all of this is completely fucked." Said Jury. "I feel like shit for always teasing the little guy, yeah he was a pain in the ass but I never wanted this." Said Piney. From that point on, I promised myself that I'd never let a friend die on my watch again, a promise that would be immensely difficult to keep on my journey down this bumpy road of death, and tragedy.