The World Played Chess: A Novel by Robert Dugoni

Author:Robert Dugoni [Dugoni, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2021-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

May 6, 1968

I’m in my bunker, getting my pack ready to go outside the wire. We expect to be out several weeks.

Cruz gave me a list of what to take, and it’s a lot of shit. A poncho, poncho liner, two pairs of socks, two towels, and toiletries. I’ll be wearing a war belt, which is like a belt with suspenders. You can hang your canteen off the back and your fourteen-inch Ka-Bar off the left strap. I have an entrenching tool for digging my foxhole at night, and gun oil, bore cleaner, and a cleaning kit for my rifle; I have bug juice without any scent, iodine packets, a smoke grenade to mark positions for air support or firepower. The mortar unit can’t carry everything, so mortars are spread out among the platoon. Cruz handed me a 60 mm that weighed about two and a half pounds. The 81s are almost four pounds. I will also be carrying a claymore mine filled with BBs and a communication wire to put a charge in it. Cruz gave me a bag of Willie Peter (white phosphorus used in mortar shells). The bag is waterproof, which will come in handy. He also handed me packs of black condoms. I looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Waterproof,” he said. “You put one over the barrel of your rifle and use another to keep the extra socks dry.”

I also have four star cluster flares, two quarter-pound blocks of C-4 explosive, rope, a mosquito net, an abbreviated first aid kit, a canteen cup and utensils, one trip flare, extra M-16 ammo, nine C ration meals, eight quarts of water, four grenades, and a steel helmet. I had packed underwear, but Cruz took it out. Said it was a surefire way to get crotch rot, that the foot rot would be bad enough.

He handed me parachute cord and a bag of marbles. “You can unwind the cord and use the fine strands to tie up cans along your perimeter.”

“What are the marbles for? In case I lose mine?” I laughed. Cruz did not.

“You put the marbles in the can. Guys use rocks, but the Vietnamese have small hands and can get the rocks out without making noise. Not possible with the marbles. They rattle and roll.”

I had difficulty swallowing.

I’m guessing my pack is fifty to sixty pounds before I add my film. My camera, I’ll wear around my neck. Cruz said, “If you can stand up with the pack on your back, you’re not carrying enough.”

I’ll also be carrying extra ammo for the M-60 machine gun and the LAWs (light anti-armor weapons).

I turned and startled at the sight of someone standing beside me, surprised because I didn’t hear anybody come in the bunker. I looked again, more closely, and I realized I was looking at a mirror, only I didn’t recognize the person I was looking at. The face was gaunt and wrinkled. The hair was long and unkempt. But it was the eyes that made me walk closer to the reflection.

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