One Night in Con Thien
Hawkeye 2, this is Roadrunner3, over.
Go ahead Roadrunner. This is Hawkeye, over.
Hawk, move to foxtrot in three zero for
piggyback to my location, over.
Roger 3, on our way, Hawkeye out.
Change 22, always seemed to be the way.
Creepin’ and crawlin’, earnin’ combat pay.
Man sez, “Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door.”
Snoopin’ and poopin’, always for the Corps.
Birdman comes, and it’s up, up away.
Hanoi Hannah won’t find us, not this day.
NVA’s a-movin’ and Giap's in his tree.
It’s getting’ kinda hinky in the DMZ.
There’s poop of a base going up at Khe Sanh.
Nam’s getting busy, Jodie’s pumpin’ Dear John.
The NVA didn’t know that they couldn’t win.
Toi hoi! Tonight we zzz on a hill at Con Thien.
Chopper unloads and we hoof through the dust.
3a greets the team, but says nothing of the fuss.
CO’s a seasoned vet, lays out his needs to know.
Sez find a hole, catch some zzz’s, then be good to go.
We dig in by the bunker in the rear with the gear.
There’s safety in 1000, so we dial down the fear.
The hole’s like a Hilton, with service in a can.
Didn’t know we’d soon be meetin’ the new Charlie man.
I laid out the nanna’s, my trusty carbine's chow.
Curled up in the hole, wiped the sand from my brow.
Slept for three solid hours ‘fore Charlie’s strange snore.
Bamboo knock, knock, knocking on everybody’s door.
Nodded off a little, when silence squelched the horror.
But jerked awake again when they knocked on wood some more.
Over and over, till the nerves began to wear.
Mortars lit the sky with darkness’ daylight flare.
Then they yelled and they charged, front, rear, and side.
This is crazy shit, I wanted off this lousy ride.
“Gooks in the line,” rang out the bloody cry.
The standing order’s clear, if it stands, make it die.
I saw him running at me ‘bout thirty yards away.
I could see the blade on the tip of his silent AK.
My clip was empty. I needed to pull it free.
My God! There’s no time. He’s gonna stick me!
He lunged and I pulled him right on top of me.
The heel of my hand set his dead soul free.
For the rest of that night, with every floating flare,
His no nose froze me, with his lifeless stare.
Daylight and body count totaled up the score.
Not too bad, another victory for the Corps.
The bird returned, took us deep inside the hills.
But I knew that day that I wanted no more kills.
© Tom Huddleston
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