Jay

Prince Norodom Sihanouk was living the life. He had ruled his fairy tale kingdom of Cambodia for twenty-nine years, first as an eighteen-year-old puppet-king, now as a forty-seven-year-old father-king. He was an adept, occasionally ruthless sovereign, a professional sax player, filmmaker, and actor. He spoke Khmer, French and English, kept a harem and entertained lavishly, infusing a Cambodian sensibility into all he did.

The prince played both sides of the Ho Chi Minh Trail—North Vietnam could build it and the U.S. could bomb it.

In March, 1970, while on a world tour, this cool cat was overthrown by a conservative faction led by Prime Minister Lon Nol and the military. They wanted the Vietnamese out—others weren't so sure—and just like that, Cambodia was on fire.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the grunts of Charlie Company were speculating on their next assignment. Capt. Jackson removed the contents of the manila envelope and flipped the switch on the tape player:

Good morning, gentlemen. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, involves the construction of firebase Jay, six miles from the Cambodian border which may result in certain death. As always, should any of you be caught or killed, the army will disavow any knowledge of you. This tape will self-destruct in ten seconds. Good luck.

Our first firebase! Jay would be one of ten temporary artillery camps hopscotched astride the Cambodian border infiltration routes—sure provocations and tempting targets for the 95-C North Vietnam Army Regiment now moving into the Dog Head.

It was a bit worrying. Our foes were experienced and capable, cunning as foxes and tough as nails. They could roar like the devil. Was the U.S. high command dangling live bait to entice the NVA into revealing their dispositions and strength? Goading them into unprofitable, suicidal attacks? Simply putting a thumb on them?

We packed for a combat assault and they lifted us to a scratch patch of virgin prairie in the jungle, a big open space the size of two or three football fields, seventy miles northwest of Saigon. The usual half dozen to a dozen 105/155 mm high explosive rounds had softened our LZ (landing zone), but what if the bush was hot?

We had a lot to do before nightfall.

What if they attacked before Jay was hardened?

Chinook

Shortly, a giant twin-rotor Chinook helicopter buzzed in, dangling a bulldozer from a heavy chain. The dozer dropped and the fun began—an oval perimeter fashioned from a dirt berm three to four feet high; a fire pit scooped out of the center; a trench for an ammo dump dug four to five feet deep at the far end of the enclosure, in the general area of the CP. The iron bull did all this while the Chinook came and went like an enormous bird building a nest, dropping a Mule (motorized cart), coils of concertina wire, mortars, five artillery pieces and beaucoup ammo.

The jungle heat came at us hard. Shirts came off in the hundred-degree heat and humidity. We filled sandbags and collected empty ammo crates for our bunkers. The air was hot and so was the ground. The sweat dripping down from our head and torsos soaked our pants. We dug foxholes—a steel sheet placed on top made a roof. The 23^rd artillery group arrived to man the mortars and the five-gun battery in the pit. Our M60 machine guns lay moored on the berm, their seasoned barrels pointed at the wood line.

The four-wheel mule dragged shiny coils of concertina razor wire outside the perimeter, releasing them in strategic locations between the berm and the forest; grunts unrolled these barbed Slinkys into seamless entanglements.

The brass arrived. No big deal. We followed instructions and took care of business.

After the last-light patrol sallied forth, battalion CO Lt. Col. Hannas, who was overseeing most of the activity, walked the perimeter of our rude fortress, to check everyone's night readiness.

Like a good neighbor, he would approach an infantryman,

Do you need anything?

Are you ready to go? 

Notice anything in the bush?

He had some guys fire their weapon. No jams allowed. When Hannas got to me, he pointed to a four-inch, fifteen-foot tree, a hundred yards away.

See that tree out there by the wood line. Try to get as close as you can.

M79 Grenade Launcher

I had removed the M79 grenade launcher’s sight system long ago because it was cumbersome and sure to get tangled in the jungle. Using nothing but dead reckoning, I calmly aimed and pulled the trigger. A direct hit ripped out a chunk of the tree, sending bark and wood high into the air.

Applause from the back row.

I guess you can't get any closer than that!

Or luckier.

Later, it was business as usual. As night cloaked the camp, we seeded trip flares and Claymore mines into the wire—at least 95-C  couldn’t be taking notes.

Next came the christening wild west show: big guns and little guns firing randomly at the trees; flares lighting up the night. Jay was alive!

As the cool night air crept in, we set out air mattresses by our bunker, pulled poncho liners over us, lay back and shot the shit. Hannas slept in a cot on the sheet metal roof over the CP. Weather nice, no rain on our private island in the middle of nowhere.

Our squad pulled guard throughout the night, rotating every hour. It was time to use our night vision training. When something moved, we radioed the mortar platoon to pop a flare.

At the break of day, our squad went on first-light patrol, beyond the wire into the tree line, tracing the same path as the last-light patrol had. Bob and I stirred up a hornet’s nest. And I don’t mean that in the metaphorical sense—we both got stung in the eye and they swelled shut. Using our good eye, we made our way back and tracked down the medic. His treatment took two or three days.

We earned the purple eye.

The following week, we had beaucoup down time between patrols and day to day activities. No humping. A chance to write letters home, listen to music and read books. Bob composed poems; I taped the mad minute. We had grown accustomed to Jay, but don’t get me wrong; Vietnam is not Disneyland. Most of us had no use for the army. We were just putting in time to get the hell out.

Still, what was next was straight out of somewhere.

First, Capt. Jackson woke up with heart attack symptoms. Before he left to be checked out, he shook hands with each of us. Nobody was happy that our beloved leader was leaving—Charlie Company had only two KIA during his entire five months.

Next, Alpha Company arrived—the poor souls man-handling a .50 caliber machine gun through the jungle—and our job here was over. After chow on 28 March, Charlie Company squeezed through a gap in the wire to an assembly spot and hiked into the woods under our new CO, Capt. Rice. 

Two Armies, One Firebase

We had gone only a few clicks when it was time to look for a RON (remain overnight position) and camp-out for the evening. Then, an hour before daylight, faint sounds of gunfire disturbed the relaxing sounds of the nighttime jungle air. Dark red clouds rolled over Jay, the baby built with our sweat equity.

At the onset of the assault, a mortar probably intended for the ammo dump landed right between Hannas’ legs. "Lost everything," according to the air waves. Quick work by the medics saved his life—not his legs.

The same round also took out the CP and fire control antennas, disabling Jay’s communications and artillery except for direct fire. Consequently, support from Cobra gunships, tactical air and supporting artillery were delayed until FSB Illingsworth noticed the red glow and contacted Brigade and Division.

Jay was under heavy attack. Rockets, mortars, recoilless rifles and RPGs rained down. Six hundred NVA swarmed out of the woods, blew gaps in the wire and threw themselves at the perimeter.

We prayed that we would not be sent to the rescue, which would mean walking back to Jay through pitch-black jungle, blind and vulnerable to ambush. I didn't know any guys there, but I hoped desperately that they would fight off the invaders and we would be left alone. The call never came. The brass probably figured Jay could handle the fight.

Jay defended with beehives, small arms, and grenades. Some of the insurgents managed to get inside, but all the raiders withdrew at first-light, leaving a whopping 74 unburied, three captured, at the charred and bloody scene. Jay's casualties were 14 killed, 52 wounded. The bunker we built took a direct hit from an RPG, killing two—that could have been us.

A strange mixture of relief and regret surged through me. A thousand eyes had been taking the measure of Jay that day, watching our eight-man squad patrolling out by the tree line, silently holding their fire.

Alpha Company was devastated, but our our Lucky Charms were still working.

Happy Easter.