How much time did soldiers spend in Vietnam before they were dead?


 My observation is that of a ground pounder in the Mekong Delta in 1969. The most dangerous position in the platoon was that of the point man. When you were moving through the jungle on small trails, or walking on paddy dikes, somebody had to be first (point).


But since the logic was that experienced guys with their departure date upcoming should not be walking point, it almost always fell to the newest, least experienced soldier to walk point. I saw some tragic results as a consequence.


One handsome young soldier, David A., was assigned to lead the platoon along a series of dikes, we were on our way back to the hootch for stand down. When David reached a turn in the dike marked “Tu dia” he continued straight onto an overgrown, uncared for dike. “Tu dia” was a warning to civilians to stay away, and we always avoided such marked areas.


David immediately stepped on a mine and was killed instantly, shrapnel to the chest, but otherwise unmarked.


Other new guys had to learn that the first crack of rifle fire meant immediately hit the ground, don’t look around or ponder the situation. I’ll avoid further war stories, but suffice it to I saw other newbies learn the hard(est) way that life in combat zone is often measured in fractions of seconds and inattention often fatal... Continue reading 

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