Guard Duty at Vinh Long

[timelegend]

Guard duty 4 men, 2 awake and 2 asleep, every two hrs we would reverse roles. The night in question the 4 of us were assigned our bunker on the air field perimeter. We climbed up to the top and threw our gear down and settled in for the long night ahead. The light from the telephone pole next to the bunker lit us up that a blind VC could see enough to put us in his sites. Well it was not my night because the other 3 men were higher than a kite.....(good ole Cambodian grass). They were all asleep by 2400hrs leaving me alone to handle the responsibilities of answering the field phone when the OIC called to check on us. By 0400 my eyes were so heavy I fought to stay awake. The jungle was pitch black and I thought I saw movement, shadows in the night. I jerked awake ahhhh I was just dreaming. The head nodded again eyes closing and once again I jerked awake but this time I was staring into two big black eyes. I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomache I thought I was a dead man my finger squeezed the trigger of my M16 and its rat-tat sounded into the silent night as I sweeped across the field of fire in front of me. The eyes disappeared. The entire perimeter open fired. The sleepy ones with me jumped and took position and started to fire into the dark jungle tree line. Finally the helicopters were air borne and strafying the tree lines like a laser show. The field phone rang. The OIC wanted to know the situation and he would be on his way down. By the time he arrived the firing had subsided and all was quiet. I climbed down off the bunker and searched the area in front where I had seen that damn VC. Someone yelled here it is. We rushed over to see a 6 foot Cobra, with its head missing, lying in the grass. Now I knew what those big black eyes were; the back of a Cobra's hood. I must have scared him as much as he scared me but I was better equipped to resolve the issue. That story spread around base the night I fought one on one with ole Charlie hahaha not to mention all the letters home that told of how we were attacked by a VC Bn.

Dennis Vinh Long Air Field 1970