Vietnam Diary
Chapter Two

We rebuilt our bunkers in the ground. When our cots were replaced with metal bunkbeds, somehow I ended up down on the opposite end of the barracks, away from our bunker. I sometimes would go to the other barracks bunker.

Once a month we had to pull perimeter guard duty. They had guys who did it everyday. We were just fill-ins. The bunkers had big rats in them on occasions. As fill-ins, we always had the worse shifts. Three things that stick in my mind the most, was the time the sniper was shooting at me on this guard duty. I heard three zings go pass my head but didn't catch onto what they were until I saw the muzzle flashes in the tree line. Another was the time I was asleep in the top bunk and blown to the ground by a rocket that hit nearby.One night they brought out an extra guy to every bunker because they had suspected a ground attack on our perimeter. They hit another one instead. The guy they brought out was all smoked up and thinking one of the guys with us was somebody else who he didn't like. He said "I"m going to kill you Jim" ( not meaning me ). We were in the bunker and when he entered, one of the guys grabbed the M-14 from him and tossed to me. The safety was off with a round in the chamber.

One night there was an attack on the perimeter that I usually pull duty. I watched from our barracks roof as they brought in "Puff the Magic Dragon". What an awesome sight to behold.

I went to Japan on R&R for a week and did some touring. On the street I was approached by a Russian agent trying to get information about our unit in Viet Nam. They had warned us about this happening.