Recon

RECON We push noisily through the brush and then hear the challenging voices; two grenades should pave our way to make a charge while firing rifles. Dusk preludes and we see the strobe flashing of far too many muzzles; Nguyen takes his hard slapping hit I trip and fall weapon beneath me. With no other choice the team retreats, when too small to fight we tend to flee, eight rifles won’t give much voice; with these odds running is healthy. Voices roam as NVA begin their search chatting as they hunt for our bodies; so very tense I try not to breathe feeling their footsteps brush by me. Poor Nguyen’s body they quickly find, but they will need to search for more, two grenades means more bodies; with darkness their search turns futile. Footsteps surround as I slip along sliding silently on my stomach; all through the night this is my flight as I avoid becoming another statistic. A bad walk like this in Vietnam means I most likely would vanish; unless I continued to strive and slide suppress fear and commit to survive.