12/17/2007

UP RIVER

...There were those six that I know about for sure.
...Close enough to blow their last breath in my face.
.


Shit... Charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets in the Indy 500.
.
I took the mission. What the hell else was I gonna do?
.


..I was being ferried down the coast in a Navy PBR,
..a type of plastic patrol boat, pretty common sight
..on the rivers. They said it was a good way to pick up
..information without drawing a lot of attention.
.
........That was OK, I needed the air and the time.
...................Only problem was, I wouldn't be alone.
aThe crew was mostly just kids.
..Rock and rollers with one foot in their graves.
.

The machinist, the one they called Chef, was from
New Orleans. He was wrapped too tight for Vietnam. Probably wrapped too tight for New Orleans.
Lance on the forward 50's was a famous surfer from the beaches south of LA. You look at him and you wouldn't believe he ever fired a weapon in his whole life.Clean, Mr. Clean, was from some South Bronx shithole.
I think the light and space of Vietnam have really put
the zap on his head.
Then there was Phillips, the Chief. It might have been my mission, but it sure as shit was the Chief's boat."There are about two points where we can draw enough water
to get into the Nung river. They're both hot, belong to Charlie."

"Don't worry about it."

"You know, I've pulled a few special ops in here. About six months ago, I took a man who was going up past the bridge at Do Lung.
He was regular Army too. Heard he shot himself in the head..."
a
a
aa...aaaIt's about 82 degrees in downtown Saigon
aa...aaaaaand right now very humid..."......"We have an important message for all GI's
......aaaliving off-base from the mayor of Saigon.
.........He'd like you to hang your laundry indoors,
......instead of on the windows. The mayor wants you
............to keep Saigon beautiful...""And now here's another blast from the past coming out to Big Cind, all alone in the mantle room out there with the First Battalion Thirty-fifth Infantry, and dedicated by the
Fire Team at An Khe to their groupie CO Fred the Head:
.......The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction."