SONS OF KOLCHAK: A company commander during the Vietnam Tet Offensive of 1968 tells the story of his men's raw courage and valor. by Michael E. Wikan

Author:Michael E. Wikan [Wikan, Michael E.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2020-04-11T00:00:00+00:00

INTERLUDE - R&R

As the commercial airliner lifted off the Tan-Son-Nhut runway, the soldiers aboard broke into a cheer. We climbed steeply to avoid any possibility of gunfire, and I sat by the window watching Vietnam recede into a patchwork of rice paddies, hamlets, rivers and forests. I could see Cu Chi to the northwest and beyond it Nui-Ba-Den, the Black Virgin Mountain, standing tall. It was difficult to believe that just a few short hours before I had been up in that area with my men. I wondered what they were finding at the site of yesterday's battle. I wondered if they would find the pistol of the Officer. I wondered if I had killed him, and decided I probably had. I closed my eyes and wished my men well… stay safe until I return… please, God, keep them safe.

The plane leveled off and I opened my eyes. The plane's Captain made the normal flight plan announcements and then said that the stewardess would be around with beverages, and drinks if anyone wanted them. There was another cheer from the passengers. Sitting next to me was an Air Force Captain. He and I were the only Officers on the flight. The rest of the plane was filled with non-commissioned Officers and soldiers from various units throughout Vietnam. Most of us were going to visit our wives in Hawaii, although a couple soldiers commented they were meeting their fiancés. Normally, bachelors took their R&R leave in Thailand, Australia, or Hong Kong.

The Air Force Captain and I introduced ourselves and ordered drinks from the stewardess. He ordered scotch and water and I ordered a bourbon and coke. We talked of our R&R plans and our wives and which hotels we would be staying in. He had plans of touring the island with his wife and two children, while I had no such plans and my son was staying with my parents at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Eventually, we got around to asking about each other's jobs, where we were stationed, and the like. He was a fighter pilot flying phantoms out of Tan-Son-Nhut airbase. He said most of his missions were flown in the highlands area. I told him that I had a rifle Company in the Twenty-fifth Division, Cu Chi. The stewardess asked if we’d like another drink and we both said, "Yes, of course… thank you.”

The fighter pilot looked at me and said, I've flown a couple close air support missions in your area. In fact, the hairiest mission I've ever flown I flew for the Twenty-fifth Division. He proceeded to tell me that a unit was being overrun and the Commander kept asking for his twenty millimeter and napalm runs to be closer and closer until, on his last run, the commander asked for napalm on top of his unit. He looked past me, out the window, and said, "I dream about that… I wonder how many of our guys I killed that day.” While he was talking, the hair

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