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Page 3 At the break of dawn we were up making breakfast, waiting for our orders from the Captain in headquarters. When he finally called, they were not what we had hoped for. Another company was supposedly bogged down and we were supposed to flank them. The Sergeant reluctantly gave orders to gear up. We started to cross a large field with high grass and within minuets were fired on by enemy machine guns. The corporal went down with bullet wounds to both legs. I ran to his aid and applied pressure bandages to his wounds. They were not serious but it was obvious that he could not walk.
I had been so busy doing my work that I failed to notice that the Sarge had retreated with the men, not knowing we were still in the field. A crossfire battle broke out over our heads and all we could do is lay as flat as possible. When the Sarge realized that we were caught in the middle, he ordered the men to cease-fire. They did as well as the enemy and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You okay, Doc?” the Sergeant shouted.
“Yes, I am but I need some help getting the Corporal out.”
“Hold on, we’ll be there in as soon as we get some air support in.” he replied.
Several minutes passed and I was prepared for the big bombs to come in but nothing happened. “Hey Doc, change of plans, we are going to lob some smoke grenades behind you and than we’re coming in, so get ready to go.”
As smoke filled the air, two men came running in and we grabbed hold of the patient. As we were lifting him up, an enemy mortar hit close by, knocking us all to the ground. When I recovered, my face was bleeding and there was sharp pain in my left eye. My glasses were broken and glass fragments had embedded themselves in my eye and face. I had difficulty opening my eyes to see. More assistance came and we all pulled back to the security of a large groove of trees. The Corporal had also been hit again in the side but not seriously. The wounds to his legs however were beginning to bleed again.
“Mayday! Mayday! I have two men down and we are unable to advance! I need a medivac now!” the Staff Sergeant shouted into the radio. “Mayday! Mayday! Does anyone copy?”
“Mallard Duck? Hell! We’re more like Sitting Duck!” the Sergeant swore as he threw down the receiver of the field radio. “We’ve been set up guys,” he said almost tearfully, “promise me, if any of you guys survive this, that you will tell someone about what happened here today!”
“Sir!” the radioman shouted, “we got a pilot that says he is coming in, but we gotta load em fast.”
“Doc, you go with the helicopter. You’ll be no good to us here,” The Staff Sergeant ordered. Than as he started to leave, he added, “Remember what I said.”
They threw the Corporal on the helicopter a few minutes later and I jumped on and sat across from him. I was told to sit on my helmet and as we lifted off, I understood why. Several rounds from enemy gunfire ripped their way threw the bottom of the chopper, one hitting the Corporal in the stomach. The chopper medic took care of the superficial wound, but had a concerned look on his face.
The smell of oily smoke filled my lungs and flames were shooting out from the cockpit. The last thing I remember was someone shouting, “Brace yourselves! We’re going down!”
I don’t remember the crash, but I later found out that as they were carrying me from the wreckage of the helicopter, the Staff Sergeant and those of Alpha Company who we left behind were being overrun by enemy troops, their position revealed by the touch down of our rescue chopper. To my knowledge, none of them survived.
It has taken me many years to fulfill my Sergeant’s last request, and history has shown that he most likely was right. Alpha Company, and others like it, may have been sacrificed by the American Government, in the belief that more American casualties would help boost the wars support from Americans in the States. In looking back, it may have done just the opposite, in which case they did not die in vain.
There have been many stories told just like mine, since the Viet Nam war ended. My only reason for telling you this now is to fulfill my Sergeants request, in the hope that he and the other ordinary men of Alpha Company are not forgotten. For with every new day, every new relationship, every new joy and even every new sorrow I experience in this life, the GREATER I realize, was the sacrifice they made.
In 1968 while recovering from wounds at Bethesda Naval Hospital I wrote this simple poem and I will share it with you now as I end this chapter.
THE ENEMY By Wayne Dale Matthysse
The Sun settled slowly After a long and costly fight, And I with the rest of the men who remained, Pulled back and dug in for the night.
In front of us in an open field, Lay those we could not save, Their mangled bodies stiff and cold, Their life for Freedom gave.
I sat alone on listening post, But nothing could I see, Yet across the field at another post, I knew one sat like me.
I wondered if by chance he too, Was trying not to cry, Remembering all the friends he’d lost, Asking why they had to die?
Than suddenly my feelings changed, No hatred could I find, How strange that this my enemy, Could have feelings just like mine.
I wanted than to meet him, But would he understand, If I stood in Peace before him, And offered him my hand?
Just than I heard a shot ring out, And I knew it could never be, For the young man across the field, He was my Enemy.
And so I put away my thoughts, And forgot about my friend, For in the morning we’d probably meet, And for one it would be the End.
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