the Hill (1995)

by Scott, Leonard B

  The officers shifted in their seats exchanging smiles and confident nods. The general tapped the table for their attention. “Today, we begin moving our units toward Dak To to occupy the defensive positions. Our double agents have already been notified and are helping American intelligence by feeding them the information we want them to have. The Americans will believe our intention is to wipe out the Dak To base camp, and they will react by sending many units to stop us.

  “Comrades, the battles before us will be watched by the entire world. We must maul the proud tiger. He will growl loudly and claw at us, but we must not be caught in his powerful jaws. We will strike his flanks, his belly, his tail, and when he is weak, we will strike his throat. The fight will last many days, and he will lose much blood. The tiger will limp away with scars for the whole world to see.

  “My brothers, the tiger is coming. Go now and prepare to bring the beast to his knees.”

  Lieutenant Salias clenched his teeth as the familiar scar-faced soldier approached. He knew the bastard was taunting him by wearing the dirty uniform, floppy hat, and NVA pistol. Even the dog looked unmilitary. It was a big, floppy-eared, ugly crossbreed, not the pure-bred shepherd like most Scout dogs. The company commander had called twenty minutes before to say a dog team was being attached to him, but he was not prepared to see Nance again.

  Ty held his new CAR-15 submachine gun in one hand and the leash in the other. He nodded instead of saluting. “Sir, I reckon I’m back for a while.”

  Salias wanted to tell him to go back to the captain, but he knew that wouldn’t be a very wise move. The captain had been riding him hard lately because he was having so many discipline problems and he wasn’t finding any of the enemy. He had no choice but to use the filthy soldier and mangy mutt. “Specialist, you and your mongrel report to first squad and be ready to move out in one hour.”

  Ty smiled. “Yes, sir. Glad to see you again, too.”

  Hammonds looked up and grinned as Ty walked down the trail with a dog at his side. “Well, I’ll be damned!”

  Silk sat up from his rucksack. “Dig it, dudes. The Cat is back with Rin Tin Tin.”

  The squad quickly surrounded him with backslaps and warm handshakes. Cowboy looked even skinnier, and Bugs was just as ugly as always. Book Man and Surf looked more like veterans, now that they had lost their fat cheeks and their faces had tanned.

  But Ty didn’t see his old friend. “Where’s Caddy?”

  Hammonds laughed. “He’s bangin’ his balls off on R and R in Bangkok.”

  Silk retorted quickly, “He better not, man. The dude promised!”

  Ty looked to Hammonds for an explanation, but the sergeant only checked his watch and smiled more broadly.

  Forty-five minutes later, Ty stepped onto the trail and unleashed Saber. Normal procedure was to keep the dog leashed, but Ty had learned over the past weeks that Saber worked better without restraints. Saber would walk only a few feet in front and zigzag back and forth, sniffing for a trace of Vietnamese.

  Bugs watched as the dog moved lazily into his routine. He stepped up to Ty and whispered, “Saber ain’t in a big hurry, is he?”

  Ty looked at the buck-toothed soldier with a smile and held his finger to his lips. “He’s gettin’ in the groove. ”

  Ty and Saber led the platoon for three hours without finding any sign of recent VC activity. Hammonds kept checking his map and his compass azimuth, but the terrain didn’t match. He walked back to Salias three times to confirm the compass azimuth he had been given, and each time the lieutenant had told him he knew what he was doing and to continue. Hammonds finally stopped after another hour and passed the word back for the L-tee to come forward.

  Salias stomped up the trail with his RTO. “Why are you stopping?” he asked angrily.

  “You may know where we are, but I sure as hell don’t,” Hammonds said. He held up his map. “Nothing has made sense since we left the perimeter. Are you sure the compass heading you gave me is right?”

  “We are right here,” Salias said, pointing at a spot on the map. “Now let’s move it!”

  Hammonds looked at where the lieutenant was pointing and then at the surrounding terrain. “No, sir, we’re not. If we were there, we would have small hills to our right. The hills are four klicks to our rear.”

  Salias quickly checked the map and pulled out his compass. He checked twice more before looking up. “Ah … well, I had us deviate a little to … we’re doing fine. Just keep on this heading until we hit the highway to confirm our location.”

  Hammonds sighed, knowing the officer had screwed up again. He looked at the map, and shook his head. “We can’t do that. I think we’re here, which means we’re two klicks outside our boundary. You gotta call the old man and tell him, so we don’t get fired up by First Batt. This is their area.”

  Salias’s eyes widened in fear. He couldn’t call the company commander to tell him he had been lost and had wandered into another battalion’s area of operation. To do so would be to commit career suicide. He nervously shifted his stance as he looked at the map again. “That’s not necessary. We’ll just turn around and go back the way we came.”

  Ty, who had reconned ahead while the discussion was going on, now walked back to the group. “Sarge, I think we’re outside our boundary. Up ahead is a knoll, and five hundred meters down I saw a small village with GIs all around it. They …”

  “We know exactly where we are!” Salias retorted hotly. “We don’t need you telling us anything.”

  Ty shrugged. “Then I guess you know about the platoon coming this way.”

  Salias’s face turned beet red. “What?”

  Ty looked over his shoulder. “Saber picked up their scent, then I saw them. I waved at their point team so’s they wouldn’t shoot. They’re right behind me.”

  Salias looked down the ridge and saw paratroopers walking up the slope with huge smiles on their faces. His body seemed to melt. He had no choice but to call his commander and tell him he had been lost.

  Ty sat up and patted Saber, wondering what was happening, as the squad began to gather around him. Salias had been told by the company commander to stay the night with the First Battalion soldiers, who turned out to be from Charlie Company. They had a small base camp outside the village. Hammonds and the men sat down around Ty and looked at their watches.

  He couldn’t take it any longer. “Come on, Sarge, what’s up?”

  Hammonds grinned. “We’re having a little party we arranged with Caddy before he left for R and R. He promised he was gonna begin bangin’ a broad at exactly twenty hundred hours, our time, and think of us.”

  Silk looked up from his watch. “Yeah, man, can you dig it? He’s taking his clothes off right now.”

  Ty’s mouth dropped open. “You gotta be kiddin.”

  Bugs patted his back. “Ain’t it cool?” Bugs said. “Caddy told me he was gonna take pictures and give ’em to us to prove he done it on time.”

  Surf was grinning like a mad hatter. “This is most definitely cool. I’m gonna remember this one for when I get back to the world. The dudes ain’t gonna believe it, man!”

  Book Man raised his wrist. “Fellow mental voyeurs, the time is less than one minute away before our hero begins ravishing the young maiden.”

  Silk looked at Bugs with a confused expression. “What da’ Book call us, man?”

  Bugs shrugged. “Voyagers or somethin’.”

  Cowboy leaned forward. “You reckon that lady will mind him wantin’ to do it right at eight?”

  Ty leaned back as the men began counting down. He couldn’t believe they were so engrossed in the mental fantasy. Book Man held up his wrist again. “Fifteen seconds until lift-off. ”

  “Naw, fifteen seconds till ‘put in,’ ” Bugs chuckled.

  Their faces were all glued to their watches.

  “Three … two … one,” they all said together. “YEAH! Git it, Caddy!”

  “Go, man!”

  “I can hear her mo
aning! She’s diggin’ it!”

  “OHHHHH, Caddy! Stroke! Stroke! Stroke one for ol’ Silk!”

  Ty couldn’t help but smile. The “party” was, to say the least, unusual, but somehow they had figured out a way to share Caddy’s freedom from the war. The squad would forget about it tomorrow when they were humping, but when Caddy came back, they would laugh again and recount the party many times.

  He shut his eyes and felt a cold nose touch his neck. “What the … aw damn, dog.” Saber had settled down and rested his head on Ty’s shoulder. Since the first day they had been together, the dog had slept with his head on Ty’s shoulder as if protecting him.

  Ty pushed the animal away, but in a few minutes he felt Saber again. He gave up and patted the dog’s head. “I thought once we got to the field you’d stop this. Okay, but only for tonight. You’re a damn scaredy-cat, ya know it?”

  Jason read the report and turned to Major Hanlon, who was updating his wall map. “Sir, this doesn’t look good. The Fourth Division LRRPs confirmed boocoo dinks moving into the Dak To area. This confirms agent reports that the NVA are planning to attack the base. The Fourth Division is going to move its First Brigade headquarters into Dak To tomorrow, and our brigade has been put on alert to stand by to follow.”

  The major took the report and quickly read it himself. “Shit! The one thing we don’t want is to be attached to the damn funny Fourth legs. I hope this is just another intelligence foul-up and we don’t have to go.”

  Jason pulled out a folder. “Sir, here are the intelligence reports from the Dak To area for the past ten days. I’ve been reading them, and all the pieces are beginning to fit. The airborne personnel detector has been picking up strong concentrations since the twenty-fifth.”

  “Snoopy can’t tell monkeys from people. Hell, it’s probably a migration of apes. ”

  Jason knew the major was trying to wish the evidence away. Nobody wanted to go back to Dak To. He began to put the folder away when the major put out his hand. “I’d better read those. You go ahead and notify all the companies to bring their platoons in. I’ll brief the old man as soon as he gets back from the field and start planning a load out. It might not happen but … Shit! Why now, for God’s sake? We just got settled in.”

  Ty held on to Saber as the chopper lifted off. The dog was panting heavily and couldn’t keep his head up. Ty stroked Saber’s head, wishing the bird would fly faster. He had awakened that morning to find Saber’s stomach covered with leeches. The bloated parasites were gorged with blood and had sucked almost all of the life from the unsuspecting animal. Ty had burned most of them off, but the damage was done. Saber’s only chance was a blood transfusion. The medevac arrived only a few minutes after the company commander called. A Scout dog rated the same treatment as a wounded paratrooper.

  He hugged the dog to him. “Hang in there, buddy. We’ve only got a little ways to go.” Saber had gotten to him. Ty had tried to keep the dog from taking a piece of his heart, but the animal, like a child, was desperate for affection. Saber never left his side. He depended on him for almost everything: food, water, and love.

  The crew chief yelled over the engine noise, “The vet is standing by!”

  Ty felt relieved as soon as the blood began dripping down the tube and into the vein. The captain took off his rubber gloves. “Saber doesn’t look much like a Scout dog, does he?”

  Ty gave the vet a plastic smile. “You’d have to know Saber to know why he ain’t like most Scout dogs. He probably shouldn’t even be here. I think he was given to the Army by a prison. He was used to tracking escapees.”

  “Well, whatever he is, he’s going to be fine in a couple of days. You can report back to your unit and pick him up tomorrow.”

  Ty took off his rucksack and tossed it to the floor. “Ol’ Saber and me have gotten pretty used to each other. I’d feel better stayin’ with him.”

  The captain nodded. “Sure, I should have known better. I’ll call your unit and tell them where you are and the status of Saber. By the way, did you hear the brigade is on alert to get back to Dak To? The NVA have moved into the highlands, and they’re about to strike.”

  Ty patted the dog’s side and spoke in a whisper. “They’ll be waiting for us … it won’t be like last time.”

  “How do you know?”

  Ty turned slowly and looked at the officer. “I know.”

  30

  Jason read the intelligence update and handed it back to the major. “That’s bullshit. No NVA sergeant would know that much.”

  Hanlon handed the message to the battalion commander. “Sir, you can see my lieutenant doesn’t put much stock in our intelligence. I think he’s right. According to the message, an NVA sergeant from Sixty-sixth Regiment’s reconnaissance unit turned himself in at Dak Ri, just a few miles west of Dak To. He said he was tired of the war and spilled his guts on the entire First NVA Division’s plans to attack the Dak To base camp. He said his unit and the Thirty-second Regiment were going to attack from the southwest, and the 174th Regiment would attack from the northeast. The Fortieth Artillery Regiment was split and supporting all three infantry units. The attack was planned for the twenty-ninth of October but was delayed due to the arrival of the Fourth Division at Dak To.”

  The lieutenant colonel furrowed his brow. “How many sergeants in our battalion could tell us what the other battalions are doing in this brigade?”

  The major shook his head. “Not very damn many, and they sure as hell wouldn’t know a division’s battle plans. This sergeant is a plant if I ever saw one, but the intell spooks are pissin’ all over themselves with delight. They think they’ve broken the secret code of the whole fuckin’ NVA army … and the top brass believe them!”

  “What orders have been given to other battalions?”

  “Sir, us and First Batt are still on standby alert, but Fourth Batt is moving right now to Dak To. The Fourth Division already has one brigade there and is about to send in a second. The dinks obviously want our forces to go to Dak To, but we have to ask,‘why?’ Are they trying to con us into believing they’re going to attack so we’ll move troops, or are they really planning an attack?”

  The colonel put on his helmet. “Beats the hell out of me.”

  Ty stared at the mountains to the south, where Alpha, Charlie, and Delta companies were taking different routes up the ridges to converge on Hill 823. The three companies had left the day before and had reached the foot of the first hills. They had found several old NVA camps and new trails. Their mission was to search for and destroy suspected concentrations of enemy from the Sixty-sixth regiment that were reported in the area. The three companies were to link up with Ty’s company, Bravo, which was to air assault onto 823 that afternoon. Bravo’s mission was to secure the hilltop so that engineers could clear back the rain forest and build a firebase for a howitzer battery.

  The Bravo company commander had given the plan the night before to all the platoon leaders and attachments. The 173d Airborne Brigade was going to search the mountains one step at a time. One battery from the 319th Artillery was located at Ben Het, supporting the move to Hill 823, and another battery would move to the new firebase and support the next step.

  Ty scratched Saber’s neck. He was glad the brigade commander was being cautious, especially after what had happened to the two battalions from the funny Fourth three days before. Although the commander was being cautious, most of the men thought the operation was going to be a bust. They remembered the last time they were there and had humped for months, finding nothing but empty positions. They didn’t believe the NVA would fight because of the large number of American units coming in.

  The company commander saw his scout-dog handler sitting on a bunker and walked over. “Cat, sorry I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since you got here. Saber looks a lot better since the last time I saw him.”

  Ty smiled and patted the dog’s head. “If it wasn’t for you calling that medevac so quick, sir, he wouldn’t have ma
de it. I sure appreciate what you did.”

  “No sweat,” the captain said. He sat down beside Ty. “Listen, I want you on the first bird that goes in this afternoon. It might be a hot LZ, so don’t be in any hurry jumping off if the bird receives fire. The artillery is going to blow the shit out of the hilltop before we get there, but you never know. If it’s a cold LZ, make a quick recon over the hilltop and try to figure out if the dinks have been there.”

  Ty patted Saber again. “Sir, if they’ve been there, my buddy will know. He looks like a bird dog when he smells them. His hair stands up and he slobbers like he was crazy.”

  The captain looked at the dog. “You know, Cat, he’s so damn ugly he’s almost cute.”

  The helicopter approached the small hole in the rain forest and began losing altitude. Ty held his breath, waiting for the bullets to hit. The chopper was an easy, hanging target. The bird dropped suddenly and came to an abrupt hover four feet from the ground. Ty jumped, dragging Saber with him. They hit the ground and ran between blown-down trees and limbs to a large jagged stump. The Huey lifted off, blowing the pulverized ground into a choking dust cloud. Ty felt elated. Not a single shot had been fired at them. He looked around for the others that were on the chopper and saw two men lying on the edge of the LZ to his left. To his right was a huge crater made by a delayed-action thousand-pound bomb. The artillery had little effect, but the bomb had been devastating. The twenty-meter-wide crater was devoid of life, and surrounding the depression were only the battered wooden skeletons and jagged stumps of trees. Beyond the shattered trees, however, the green wall of rain forest and bamboo stood unaffected.

  He heard the second Slick coming in and ran for the rain forest to secure the far side of the LZ. He and Saber crossed the crater’s fine dust and fell into the tree line. Blinded by the dirt, Ty lowered his head to wipe his eyes. Suddenly, his arm was tugged and he looked up to find the dark hole of a bunker firing port. Saber was at the end of his leash digging into the side of the bunker, his hair standing on end and his muzzle frothing with foam. Ty shut his eyes, knowing he was going to die.