Vietnam Soldier

He laid there, panting, hands barely grasping his pistol. He had just gone through the bloodiest, the toughest, and the longest fighting he had ever seen, the only survivor from his platoon, he would learn soon enough. Hands shaking, he ejected the magazine in his pistol, knowing the few rounds left in it wouldn’t do him good, and wearily slid another magazine in.

Looking and walking around like a drunk, he spotted an M16A1, in the hands of the guy who got shot first. He holstered the pistol and picked up the M16 and all the magazines like a rusted machine. Then he removed the two M61 Grenades and added them to his own inventory. Not knowing what to do next, he staggered around the field. Eyes glazed over, mouth agape.

He tripped. The shock of the fall cleared his head and snapped him back into reality. He immediately got back up and looked behind him. Laying there was the body of the radioman. He rolled the body over to see if the radio was still working, only to find several bullet holes in a smoldering metal box. Knowing there was another way to contact friendlies, he searched around.

He found what he was looking for; on the body of one of his platoon mates were two pop-up flares. He put both in his belt, and was about to look for a walkie talkie, when he heard a faint rustling sound. He immediately dropped down as if shot. The sound grew louder. He carefully looked to see the source of the noise, to see a lone Vietnamese soldier walking around the field.

He watched as the Vietnam soldier searched the area; the Vietnam soldier turned his back and started to search a few bodies. He continued to watch, then pulled out his pistol and started to aim. The Vietnam soldier stopped, and turned. Only to see what he saw before: bodies scattered everywhere, and one was holding a pistol. He took another look, turned around, and continued to search.

He took aim with his pistol, slower than before, and held his breath... and heard the click as he pulled the trigger.




Several years later at a Veteran's Meeting, he would recall the story, of how he survived an ambush, and how, after his pistol jammed, he beat the Vietnam soldier up.