The Storm

"It all went surprisingly smooth. They bought the story, that no evac of the bodies was possible after we had torched the area. A landin' would have put us in danger of another firefight from reinforcements by the Vietcong seein' the firestorm. Remember, that bein' captured was not an option. They seemed satisfied, and we all went about our merry way." "We never flew another kill mission, and I heard that they called off any further kill missions by the other teams that were in country, because of Gunny’s team being compromised and that the Vietcong was then on high alert. Too risky they said.” Gunny looked inquisitively at Henry and said, "I never knew what happened to you, Captain, after you drove off that base. I was shipped stateside after a while and my team disbanded and went back home as well. I stayed on active duty for a year in country and then was released from duty. I came here to Louisiana and searched for a place to stay and get away from any military attachments." "And I have never seen my boys after that. They all had families and they all just wanted to go back home and begin their lives all over again with their wives and kids, and I assumed that it was just what they did. I was glad for them. We never communicated again. Baton Rouge was my first place but got too crowded for me. So I took my savings and bought some swamp-land here for a song and built this place. It kept me busy for years and kept my mind off of the war. Fill me in, Sir. What happened to you?”

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