Beneath the Bamboo: A Vietnam War Story by Stan Taylor

Author:Stan Taylor [Taylor, Stan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Jonathon Jones
Published: 2012-12-16T16:00:00+00:00

Instincts

Once I heard my assignment, I looked down and saw that Lifer was at my heels. The Old Man told me to take her with me and that she wouldn’t bark. It was kind of risky, but I went along with it. I just couldn’t believe that he was letting her out of his sight.

As I moved through the jungle, she and I weren’t ten minutes in the bush when I noticed that her tongue was really hanging out due to all of this heat. So I stopped and got my canteen out and kept pouring water into my hand until her thirst was quenched. After another ten minutes passed out of the blue she stopped dead in her tracks. Her fur went straight up and she started to growl this vicious sounding growl.

Proceeding with the utmost of caution, I eventually noticed a Cong lying on his back. He was covered with blood and his AK-47 was right beside him. Lifer circled him like a lion eyeing its prey, and continued to growl. Still alive, he quickly spots me. In slow motion he reaches for his weapon. I unload three or four rounds on him, and he was instantly dead.

It was obvious that I was no longer the boy who was trained to be a man by his stepfather. Instead, I was a man who was fighting for survival because of it. On one hand, I was stunned at what I had just done so easily. But I felt no remorse, because if I wouldn’t have done it he would’ve easily done it to me.

I picked up Lifer and gave her a hug, because I truly believe to this day that she had saved my life by alerting me that he was there. After being coated by dog saliva for three minutes, the company was there in a flash. They had feared the worst after hearing those shots. When they arrived Top had a big old smile on his face and the rest were chanting, “Short Round.” Sgt. Pete quickly told them to shut up.

The Old Man asked what happened, and I told him that Lifer may have just saved my life. He picked her up and said, “Well, that’s what I recruited her for.” Between the door gunner of the chopper doing his job and Lifer, I was still in an upright position. I was very thankful to still be alive.

Due to my accomplishment, I didn’t pull point the rest of the day. We only walked about a mile more, and then we set up camp in a pretty remote area. From the looks of things, American soldiers were there a few days or maybe even a week before us.

During this time it looked as though we were trying to figure out what our next move was. The CO was always talking on the telephone that the RTO had on his person. I can’t see how they carry that unit around all day. I’ve picked up those gadgets and

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