We
continued down the river and then, all of a sudden our boat came under
intense enemy fire from the river bank. About that time, I heard an
explosion and looked toward the boat in front of me and saw that it had
been hit with something big and smoke was coming from it. I remember
seeing several guys on their boat frantically running around trying to
take care of their situation.
Meanwhile,
the Vietnamese operator of our boat was shot and fell down from his
position, and was no longer at the controls. Our boat seemed to be
momentarily out of control.
As
soon as the enemy fire hit our boat, instinctively I, along with some
others, ducked our heads down and lifted our rifles over the top of the
boat side and began firing back. True, this was not the textbook method
of engaging the enemy, but at the moment I suppose instinct took over,
I just don’t know. We
were firing in that manner for mere seconds, when an officer - it may
have been Lt. Sprole, I don't recall for sure, who was calling in air
support on the radio, yelled for everyone to stand up and “fight like
soldiers!”
So,
with that motivation and inspiration - and command, I stood up and
began unloading my M-16 as our boat began to once again move down the
river. I continued firing clip after clip, spraying my fire along the
riverbank, which appeared higher than the boat. I remember seeing huts,
and livestock and other things along the bank go by in front of my eyes
as we fired away, but I honestly can’t recall if I actually saw anyone
get hit by our fire. I remember bullets flying into the sides of our
boat and thinking that this is going to be sheer luck if I don’t get
killed.
Prior
to arriving in Vietnam, I was a pretty well trained soldier. Eight
weeks in basic training, nine more grueling weeks of jungle training at
“Tiger Land,” three additional months of infantry training at Fort
Benning’s NCO Academy, and final training at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Yet, it was coming down to standing up and dodging flying bullets. It
didn’t seem like good strategy at the time, but I suppose our options
were limited... |
As we
went down the river, I was standing along the left side of the boat,
which as I recall was about waist to chest high. I believe I was on the
second boat. Several of us were standing around, just making small
talk, when we began to hear the faint sound of gunfire. We instantly
became quiet and serious, realizing that we were probably hearing the
platoon that was engaged with the enemy. Until that day I don't recall
having been involved in any significant firefights, so at that point I
remember a sobering feeling come across me, like this is the real
thing, get ready. I remember calmly and carefully checking my M-16,
ammo and other supplies. I recall the distant gunfire lasting only
briefly and faintly. We continued down the river for a while without
incident...
