"boots"
Posted by
r.poor
i remember looking down and noticing how shiny my boots were.it was
strange because i had them for over four months now and they still
looked brand new.
the sun glared off the toes of them as i stepped off the c-111 onto
the tar-mat.i was in "country".i was in viet-nam.the air was scented
with jet fuel,spices and something else.something i had smelled
before,death.
i can tell you,here was heaven and hell.
my squad was given it's assigngment and soon we were huddled onto a
chopper and heading out to the jungle.our talk was mostly nervous
chatter,mostly of home,promises of being there for each other,and
getting out alive,getting back home.we were dropped at our new base
and settled in.
here i was, a city kid in the jungle.it was so unreal!so green, so,
uckin wet!
the "old" guys would rag us calling us 'punk-meat".they also filled
us in on what it's like here.i would look at each one's eyes as he
spoke,so i could see i9f he was saying true or just bs'n.most seemed
to be speaking true,and from what they said it was a madhouse,where
the only rule was to SURVIVE.
the next morning
it was a chopper ride to our drop point,and as i jumped to the ground
my boots sank into about two feet of mud,"there goes the shine",i
thought.and that was the last time i thought about simple things like
that for a while.
we came upon the enemy about 5 clicks from our drop.it was something
boot-camp just can't train you for.
all of a sudden, an explosion rocks the quiet noiise of the
jungle.sarge is yelling "every-one down",believe me, he doesn't have
to say it twice.then you peer, you try to see thru a mass of green.to
see who, where.then the gun-fire starts.the air is filled with
lead.tracer bullets like red hot bees zing over your head.there is no
thought that i can remember thinking then but to kill.to kill who-
ever is trying to kill me.i promised my mom i would come back!
my weapon is spitting death at my enemy, and singing of life to me.
then a flash and a roar,about ten feet away from me,right where ken
was.only now he wasn't.there was just a hole,thats all,a hole.
something in me snapped.i saw what i had to do. working my way thru
the brush i managed to flank the sobs.there was 6 of em.two on a
mortar and 4 on light arms.they didn't know i was there.not until i
was running at them screaming every curse word i knew.the looks on
their faces were of suprise and fear.for here i was, a god-damn
killing machine,a united states marine, and i WAS god!and they, they
were dead.my weapon sang true to me.
i leaned against a tree and just kinda spaced out for
awhile,numb,until sarge came up and asked if i was all right."yea, i
was fine".tho' i could not figure out what just happened or how i did
it.the rest of the guys were calling me "duke" because of my john
wayne like actions and the name stuck with me for the rest of my tour.
and as i promised mom,i did come back. only now when i see a pair of
shiny boots,i think......
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