• The day is June the second 1967. As I wake up I hope I have a good birthday, mostly since it is my first one in this hell hole of a place Vietnam. I rub my face, roll off my cot, gather my gear double checking it and getting my good friend, Jim, to check it again. I do the same for him. As we walk out to go on patrol Gunny says, "Gegner you take point." "Yes Sergeant," I reply then mumble curse words under my breath as I head out first. We were given the area that has not been patrolled since April, so we were told to use extreme caution. At the head of the squad I hum "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix and think of my girlfriend, Sandy, back in Boulder, Colorado; while looking for possible booby traps, heh that always sounded funny to me......booby traps hehehe, and possible enemies and.......BBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! "Holy s**t!!" I scream as my helmet flies off and my legs are sweep out from under me. "(EDITIED), damn it, DAMN IT!" I yell as looking at my legs, the right is extremely mangled and the left is riddled with shrapnel and twigs/bark. While still in a daze I manage to lift my M16, not broken odd..., and scan the area for Charlie....what the (EDITIED) was that...RATATATATATATATATATA........oh just a bird. "CORPSMAN!!........never mind..." My squad is sprawled across the jungle floor like leaves. I try to stand using my weapon as a crutch but collapse under pain and a feeling of guilt. I crawl, using my arms since my legs are hurting like the devil cursed them, to check on the squad the results: 7 KIA, 2 WIA.....me included......I gag a little looking at the destruction around me and cursing myself for not paying attention......but I don't have much money so it's hard to pay attention...hehehe. I crawl over to Kelly, the radioman, to radio CP and realize the thing is FUBAR because the hole in it is so big I can see the back of Kelly's ribs........ I vomit wipe my mouth with my right hand and realize I'm missing my trigger and middle finger...(EDITIED)... I'll have to shoot lefty. Happy birthday Ben, I think to myself which I just remembered, this is the best birthday EVER....not really. I start to crawl back to base.....ZWANG...BBBOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!! I cover my head with my arms and hands because my helmet flew of in the first blast and into 3 pieces...wow and I'm still alive. "I walk through the valley fear no ev...." ZING ZING BANG! BANG! ZING BANG! I open my eyes, but my right one is swollen shut from the blast and my right arm has minor shrapnel wounds and a good bit of small cuts, this day can't get any....... wait.........what is that noise.......(EDITIED) Vietnamese voices. I quickly move so it looks like I'm dead.....snap,snap..........crunch. BANG! BANG!......BANG!....... now I really am the only one left, I squint open my right eye and they are about 5 feet from me..... I don't move at all........they talk among themselves and they walk off............


    ...................... I don't know how it has been since they left but it is dark now so move a little...... oh Jesus am I ever so (EDITIED) sore and in so much damned pain..... it's really to dark do anything right now so I start to count the stars in the sky. This war may be hell, and I hate the people, but now that I think of it, it is not that bad of a place, beautiful sights and clear skies at night........ it starts to rain.......damn it....... the one thing I hate more than the NVA and VietCong is the (EDITIED) rain...........



    BOOOM! Water and blood splashes onto me as a grenade goes off about 15 feet from me right on top of my friend Jim....."oh my GOD, it is so cold" I whisper to sergeant next to me, I open my mouth to drink some water..... I start to shiver a little bit........."Ben be careful over there" "I will Sandy just for you."kiss/hug...........



    ...........huh..........what happened.........damn were am I?............damn and I sore and does it smell bad around here..........what happened......oh yea......that.......... I wish I were dead too I think to myself as I look into sarges' dead blue eyes'.......... I close my eyes while I listen for noises.......................



    ......................as I slowly wake up I say to myself (EDITIED) this country,(EDITIED) the people, and (EDITIED) getting rescued, because I'm going to rescue myself. As I start to crawl I pray to God to get me the(EDITIED) outta here, I also say goodbye to my squad and the flies swarming around them. The crawling is extremely painful because all four of my limbs have some type of wound to them.........wow the fact that I haven't died of blood loss just dawned on me wow.... interesting.... I start to hum "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix and think of Sandy my.....BOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!!