by Timothy V. Gatto
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CHAPTER 25 It wasn't long after Fred bit the captain when Murph had his problem. It was well known that Murphy liked the ladies. Any ladies. Fat, skinny, pretty or ugly, old or young, Murphy liked them all. They seemed to like Murphy too. Patty had seen from going out with Murphy that he knew every whore house or blowjob palace in the area. The girls knew him too. They would actually fight over who's bed he would sleep in. Patty asked Murph what the secret of his success was and Murph would invariably grab his crotch. Murphy was grabbing his crotch again in the shower. Patty and he were the only guys showering and Murphy walked over to Patty with his dick in his hand. "Murph, I don't want to see your dick." Patty said with annoyance. "What a minute, I want you to check something out." He said. Patty was ready to come down on Murphy, but he caught the concern in Murphy's voice. That was really odd, because Murphy was never concerned about anything. Still Patty decided to act cautiously.. "O.K. Murph, I'll bite, but you better be serious, what's wrong?" "Its my pecker. I got something wrong with it. I noticed a sore on it a couple of weeks ago, and I ignored it. Now it won't go away, and it's getting worse. I'm worried." Patty looked at Murphy, he looked scared. "Let me see." Patty said. Murphy showed Patty his pecker. "I don't see anything." Patty said. "Look." Murphy said and he turned it over and showed Patty the underside. There Patty saw a shanker sore the size of a dime. It really looked terrible. He tried not to, but he made a sound of disgust anyway. "Jesus Murph! That looks like shit! If you don't get that fixed your dick going to rot right off!" Patty exclaimed. "Oh shit! I knew it. My dicks gonna fall off. I knew it, I just knew it. I'm gonna kill myself." Murphy was serious. "What a minute Murph. Don't do anything rash. You probably got the syph, If you get to the hospital they'll be able to clear it up. But you gotta go." Patty tried to be reassuring, but he knew that Murphy wouldn't do anything if he thought the consequences would be anything less than having his dick fall off. "Yeah, O.K., I'll go tomorrow and get it checked out." Murphy said nervously, "Yeah, you better do that. Who'd you get it from anyway?" Patty wanted to know who was carrying syphilis. "Beats me." Murphy replied. "Who did you bang lately?" "About twenty or thirty girls in the last month. How do I know who gave it to me?" he said. "Do you think I got the Black Syph? Do you think they'll put me on that island off the coast of Japan for the rest of my life? Oh God Patty! I don't want to go there! I swear to god, if they don't put me there I'll promise to never fuck anyone again! I'll swear to God, I really will!" Patty could see that Murph was about to come unglued. "Murph, that's a rumor. That story about that island is bullshit! They can cure you if you just get to the hospital." He added, "If you don't go though, it'll kill you sooner or later." "I'll go. I'll go tomorrow. I promise." All that day on the hill Murphy was quiet and moody. As far as Patty could tell, Murphy didn't mention his problem to anyone else. After chow, Murphy volunteered to take Big O's guard duty. Nobody thought anything about it, Murph liked it out in the guard shack. Usually, that was where the party was at night anyway. It was no different this evening. Half the crew crowded around the space heater. If pot were plentiful, the usual custom was to throw a fistful on top of the cherry-red space heater and just breathe. That's what everyone was doing. Breathing pot and telling stories. Sometimes the stories could get interesting. They ranged from confessions of past sins, to stories of the supernatural. Some of the tales revolved around Foxtrot. Some were about women. Most were entertaining. Still, more often that not, most were pure bullshit. Reeger was telling a story about how he caught his old girlfriend cheating on him. Everyone was engrossed in this intimate tale of betrayal. Patty was leaning against the guard shack door, hanging on every word that Rope said. The story was about to climax when Murphy tapped Patty on the shoulder. Patty turned around and saw Murphy peering intently out of the guard shack window. "Here, take these and my weapon, and let me out the gate." He whispered to Patty, handing him the keys to the gate and his M-16. Patty did what he was told. Nobody really noticed them leaving the guard shack.. It was cold, dark, and windy on the hill tonight. The only light on the hill was coming from the mercury lamps that ringed the perimeter. In reality, they were tactically useless because the only lit up the inside of the fence. The guys used to laugh and say that the enemy could see in, but they couldn't see out. A whole battalion of North Koreans could be outside, and nobody would see them on a moonless night. Patty took the padlock on the gate and slipped the key into it. He slowly opened the gate and Murphy slipped outside an soon as the space was wide enough for his body to clear. He turned and put his finger to his lips, signaling Patty to be silent. All Patty could think of was what the fuck was Murphy up to? Murphy slithered around the perimeter to Patty's left in a crouch. Patty could barely make him out in the darkness. The only light illuminating him came from the few stars that weren't covered by clouds. He saw Murphy look down at one of the bunkers, coming up at it from the rear. Patty was surprised to see Murphy suddenly take a flying leap into the sandbagged foxhole. Patty had no idea what was happening. All he knew was that Murphy had to have a reason to do what he did. Instinctively he brought the rifle down from his shoulder and locked a round into the chamber. He pointed it at the hunker and saw Murphy come up to view through the sights. But it wasn't just Murphy. Somebody was there with him, and Murph had him around the throat with one arm, the other had the person's arm in a hammer lock. "I got you covered Murph!" Patty yelled. "Don't shoot me-asshole!" Murphy yelled. "I got him!" The guys came out of the guard shack to see what the yelling was about. They saw Murphy bring his prisoner through the gate. "What you got Murph?" Wagner yelled from the guard shack. "I got me a spy!" Murph yelled back. The guys swarmed around Murphy. The man from the bunker was dressed in camouflage fatigues and had a pair of binoculars around his neck. "Better get the Duty Officer." Patty said. The Duty Officer, Lieutenant Moore came out and told Murphy and Patty to bring him to the ready room. They frisked him there and found a pad and a pencil, but that was all, no wallet, no I.D. The Duty Officer called the Battery Commander, who in turn called the MP's from ASCOM. The MP's from ASCOM turned out to be CID, who in turn brought along their Korean counterparts. They exchanged no pleasantries with the guys on the hill, instead going directly to the ready room, and forbidding entrance to anyone while they interrogated the prisoner. Patty and Rope decided that they would peek through the windows of the Quonset hut and see what was going on. Standing on a box, Patty peeked through the corner of the Plexiglas window, and had full view of the sleeping area. They had the Korean in a chair with his hands bound behind him. A Korean CID man would ask him something in Korean. The prisoner would just look straight ahead in silence. The CID man would then strike him along the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. This continued a couple of times until Patty decided that he'd seen enough. Rope climbed up on the box and took his turn at the window. He too didn't stay up there long. They both headed back to the guard shack, where the rest of the crew waited for their report. The CID people used the ready room for about two hours. They left with the prisoner, and the crew started six-hour checks on the equipment. The XO called to let us know that the man had been identified as a North Korean and they believed he was an intelligence officer, The guys congratulated Murphy on capturing him, but Murphy didn't seem to care one way or the other. To him, it might just as well happened last year. The rest of the evening was uneventful. Morning came, checks were pulled again and they went down the mountain after briefing the other crew about what had happened. The guys were pretty much silent about the spy they had caught. Patty couldn't believe the brutality he had witnesses in the ready room. The other guys had seen the mans face when he came out, and it wasn't a pretty sight. They didn't talk about it much. Murphy actually went on sick call,. Reeger went with him for moral support, Reeger came back just before lunch and told the crew that Murphy got admitted to the hospital. Everyone decided to go up there and pay him a visit. They could also eat dinner in the NCO Club there and use the Class Six Store. They took the bus to the Inchon bus station and got on another bus to Bupyoung. The Bupyoung bus was an express. It had white linen on the seats and a stewardess, The windows were large and clean. In reality, it was pure luxury. As they rode, Patty looked at the countryside. It was close to winter outside, and the rice paddies were brown and frozen. Smoke came from the small chimneys of each hootch, and the land looked very peaceful. The bus dropped them off at the ASCOM gates. They were soon at the hospital. Patty was amazed that the other guys didn't know how to use the buses. They had wanted to take cabs out of Inchon which to Patty was a complete waste of money. Patty realized that he had become the a kind of guide for them. That was interesting, because he was the newest in country. Tim had taught him a lot. The hospital was old, left over from the war. There was a newer hospital in Yongsan, and this place was slated for demolition soon, but it was still in use. They had Murphy in the hospital bay, he looked all alone in the center. The bay was made for perhaps twenty five patients, but today there were only three or four. They walked over to Murphy's bed and he turned and smiled. "How ya doin' Murph?" asked Wagner. "Great, Kool. They're really takin good care of me here. They said I'd be out of here in a couple of days." Murphy said happily. "What's in the I.V.''" Big O asked, pointing to the I.V. on Murphy's left. "Pure penicillin. High test. Gotta take it for awhile. They said I had one of the worst cases of syph they ever saw." Murphy said proudly. "Lucky they didn't cut it off." Patty said. "Yeah, right." Murphy said with relief. "Check this out." Murphy threw back the blanket and showed them his pecker. It was covered with bandages wrapped from top to bottom like a wounded snake. On top the bandage was tied off in a bow. "See guys, one of the nurses put a bow in it far me. Looks great don't it." " Yeah Murph, now you got the fanciest dick in Korea." Rope said. Everyone laughed. Just at that moment someone yelled "At Ease!" from the entrance of the bay. They all turned and looked. Down the center of the aisle came General Emerson and an assortment of aides, and people with cameras following him like baby ducks following their mother. "Which one of you men is Murphy!" He bellowed. "I am Sir!" Murphy yelled. General Emerson walked over to the side of Murphy's bed. "So you are the soldier that captured the North Korean spy last night?" It was more like a statement than a question. "Yes Sir." Murphy answered. "Fine job son. Real fine job. We need more dedicated men like you. You are certainly a credit to us all. I can only hope that the other men in my command can follow your shining example." With that he extended his hand to Murphy. "I want to shake your hand son, and congratulate you for a job well done! Murphy had been cradling his injured pecker with the bow on it with his right hand, and so he reached out for the General's hand with his left. Halfway there he realized that he was reaching out with the wrong hand and brought his left hand to his family jewels and reached out again with his right. The General seemed a little flustered by Murphy drawing his hand back the first time, but recovered, and now was pumping Murphy's outstretched had and smiling at the camera. The photographer snapped a few pictures of the General and Murphy shaking hands. The General continued to pump Murphy's hand as he turned his face toward him. "By the way son, what are you in here for?" He asked casually. "Syphilis." Murphy answered simply. The General looked down at Murphy and saw his bow-wrapped pecker in Murphy's left hand. He must have realized at that point why Murphy had switched hands at the beginning of the handshake. He quickly dropped Muphy's hand as if it were radioactive. The entire crew and all the people that had come in with the General looked at the floor. Patty felt himself trying to stifle a laugh that started from the center of his guts. He couldn't look at any of the others, afraid that he wouldn't be able to control himself if he even saw the slightest hint of a smile. Thankfully, the General turned on his heels and quickly walked down the center of the bay and out the door. Everyone broke into laughter. Soon they all had laughed themselves to tears. "Real fine Son, real fine. You certainly are a great example to the rest of the men in Korea." Phillips mocked. "A fuckin' shining example!" Rope screamed though laughter. "Yeah, we really should have more like you!" Wagner added. Murphy was neither embarrassed nor ashamed, he was hysterical.
CHAPTER 26 Captain Williston had posters all over the compound. They were simple and to the point. He wanted Fred, dead or alive. He even offered a reward of a three-day pass and one hundred dollars. So far two dead dogs had been brought to him by the guys from the launching area, but they weren't Fred, and the BC wanted Fred. The crews up on the hill wouldn't turn Fred in. Some of them pleaded with the Captain to grant him a pardon, hut he wouldn't. He was determined to see the dog dead. He even took to wearing a forty five, vowing that he would shoot Fred on sight. Looking at the captains face made you believe him. He wanted to see that canine's corpse. This entertained the guys on the hill. It made for great conversation. Wagner wanted to turn him in. He saw it as a way to get rid of Fred and his pecker tracks. The others told him that they would never forgive him if he turned him in. Patty wanted to find another dog that looked like Fred and give it to the BC, but the others thought that it wouldn't work because the BC would see Fred sooner or later and figure it out. Phillips wanted to take Fred to Delta Battery and let him stay there until the heat was off. They had thought that this was a good idea, and they had even made a phone call to the IFC section over there. Arrangements had been made and the plan was about to be executed, when Rope had found out, by overhearing the Captain at the club, that the BC over at Delta, war one of his best friends. Murphy had come back from the hospital. The experience hadn't changed him. He had a project he was working on in the maintenance shed that he wouldn't let anyone know about. Murphy was always into something. Patty had been put in for promotion. He was now a qualified tracking supervisor, and SSG Brown thought that he deserved to be a Sergeant. He still had to go to K-6 and stand in front of a promotion board, and he was looking forward to it. Christmas came to the hill. I wasn't much different from other days except that the messhall sent up turkey loaf, cranberry sauce and stuffing. The Army played Christmas carols on Armed Forces Korean Network. The North Koreans played race to the border again. We won. The other crew had a pretty good dinner in the messhall, and they had a USO show. The Red Cross donut dollies were supposed to come up on the hill and play games with the crew, but they never made it. It snowed a little, but not much. The other crew went to see the BC to try to get a pardon for Fred, but he didn't seem to be in the Christmas spirit. The next day was not Christmas and Patty was relieved. He had gotten homesick, and a little depressed. Three days later it snowed a lot. The hill looked almost like the Alps in "The Sound of Music." Looking at the mountain from a distance, it was hard to believe that in reality it was a craggy mess of rocks and boulders. The sides looked smooth and soft, with it's covering of two foot snow. Murphy was excited this morning. For two weeks, he had been busy at work in the maintenance shed with his "project". He told everyone on the way up the mountain that it was done, and that they would all get to see it after dailies. The deuce and a half couldn't make it up the hill that morning. The dirt road was too chocked with snow. Halfway up the hill the crew dismounted and finished the trip up by foot. By the time they reached the top they were exhausted. The other- crew bitched and moaned at the prospect of walking down the mountain. Meanwhile, while the crew was getting ready to begin their trek, Murphy, Wagner, Rope and Big O were on top of a small cliff overlooking the nearest turn from the guard shack. At their feet were piles of snowballs. They crouched down in the snow until the other crew was directly below them, and let loose with a flurry of hard packed snowballs. They didn't have a chance. The attackers kept up the volley until the last member of the other crew was out of sight. Laughing at their victory, they proceeded up the hill. When the checks were called into battalion as complete, Murphy took off for the maintenance shed. The others followed soon after. Murphy was waiting for them at the door. He motioned for them to come in. In the middle of the floor, elevated by two handmade wooden horses, was what could only be a toboggan, complete with ropes tied to both sides. It was about six feet long and curled in the front. "What do you think?" asked Murphy. "It's fantastic!" Rope exclaimed. "Yeah, it's great." Phillips said. "When do we get to try it?" "Right now!" And with that Murphy motioned to the others to give him a hand. "Wait a minute." Wagner said. "Where do you think you're going to ride that thing?" "Down the hill, where do you think?" "Our hill?" Patty asked. "Of course." Murphy said. "You'll get killed." Wagner said. The rest of the crew looked at Wagner. Murphy let go of the toboggan and walked over in front of him and put his hands on his hips in a defiant stance. "Since when did you turn into a candy assed pussy?" He asked Wagner. "Don't be an asshole Murph. This hill is full of rocks and boulders from the top all the way to the bottom. You don't even know if you can steer that thing." Wanger stated. "Bullshit." Murphy said. "I designed that thing. It'll steer. Trust me. "Trust you?" Patty said. "I wouldn't trust you with shit, let alone my life!" "Fuck you, dickhead." Murphy said to Patty. "Fuck you Murph, I'm with Fallica." Wagner told Murphy. "Who's going with me?" Murphy asked the rest of the crew. The rest of the guys looked at each other. Phillips said he would. So did Rope, Big O and Carson. They didn't talk after that, they just walked over to the toboggan and carried it out the door. "They're gonna get killed." Wagner said under his breath. "Better them than us." Patty said. They pulled the toboggan through the gate and toward the north slope of the mountain. Patty and Wagner followed. The area below looked smooth enough, but under the snow were small gullies, and boulders. There seemed to be a path that looked almost navigable, if the thing would steer well enough. Patty thought that they just might pull this off. He almost wanted to join them, but the thing was only large enough for four. "You know Patty, they just might pull this off." Wagner said. "I was thinking the same thing." Patty replied. "Maybe next trip we can do it." The men were all sitting on the toboggan. Murphy was in the front, with Reeger, Rope and at the end was Carson. Murphy had the ropes in his hands as if he were holding the reigns of a horse. He had the look of a madman on his face. The others, sitting behind him, looked like small boys putting their hands in a cookie jar. Murphy didn't hesitate long. He shouted "Push!" and they pushed out with their legs. Patty had to admit, it looked pretty impressive. They actually looked like they knew what they were doing. The toboggan took off like a shot, heading down the hill at a breakneck pace. Patty and Wagner watched as it headed toward destiny. The route they were on looked straight enough, but the toboggan was starting to drift right. Murphy started pulling on the ropes but it didn't seem to matter. They heard him yell "Lean to the left!" but that didn't work either. A huge boulder stood in their path. "Jump!" Murphy yelled. It was too late. The boulder refused to jump. The toboggan hit with such force that it catapulted the men off the toboggan like Raggedy Ann's being shot out of a cannon. Murphy was the first to leave and also the first to land. It was Carson who took the longest trip. Sitting all the way in the back, he shot at least twenty feet. It was very impressive, He actually flew over the others. Carson, the human rocket. Looking down the slope, Wagner and Patty looked at the carnage spread out below them. For a brief moment, it looked like a battlefield. The guys were spread out on the snow, crumpled up in crazy positions, as if the were all hit by a well placed mortar round. Rope was the first up. Murph and Big O managed to lift their heads. Carson didn't move. Rope ran over to Carson. "Call the medic!" He screamed up to Wagner and Patty. They ran into the corridor and called the medic. He came, picked Carson up in the ambulance, and disappeared with him off to ASCOM. SSG Brown was pissed. They had lost Carson for at least two months. The call from ASCOM revealed that he had suffered a compound fracture in his right leg.
CHAPTER 27 Two games were popular on the hill. Spades, played with partners was definitely the major time killer. The guys on the hill had their own way of playing. They had their own way of cheating too. Code words were the favorite way of letting your partner know what you had in your hand. The guys had their favorite partners, and it was tough to separate them. This type of cheating was acceptable, because everyone on the hill did if. Open cheating was deplored. The arguments usually ended up with the offending party admitting in a good natured way, that they were wrong. It was a very rare thing for an argument to become heated during a card game. The other game was different. More fights broke out on the hill from playing RISK!! than for any other reason. The guys that were regulars in the game were treacherous. The beginning of the game went quickly, weaker players were eliminated in the first hour, as a rule. Usually five or six men would start the game, two would be eliminated quickly, and the remaining four would play until dawn. RISK! was a game of world military strategy. It was acceptable for treaties to be made between each other, and for alliances to be made. This is what caused the arguments. When a player would get too strong, the other players would gang up on him to make sure he was removed as a threat. Sometimes the play would be logical. if everyone were playing to win, you could predict who was going to be attacked, and when. But this was Foxtrot Battery in Korea, and nothing here was really logical. Did resentments from days or weeks before could be resolved on the playing board. Sometimes treaties were made or broken with no regard to logic. The most common complaint was that the person breaking a treaty did not give the other person a one or two turn notice that the treaty war, over. Surprise attacks occurred constantly. The person on the receiving end of the attack would be outraged, it never failed to provoke moral indignation. The most famous line was "How could you do this to me? We were supposed to be allies!" This tickled Patty. He couldn't believe how naive some of the guys could be. They actually believed that they could trust each other. Patty never forgot that this was a war game, and all that mattered was who was left at the end of the game. He loved breaking treaties. He loved looking into a face that had been betrayed and hearing the whining complaints, He loved getting the confidence of somebody and ripping it apart when it suited him, all of Patty's aggressions came out in RISK!. There was one other on the hill that Patty feared. He was a shade slicker than he was. This man could act as innocently and gain the trust of all the other players. He would play like he really didn't give a shit who won or lost. This man acted as if he were just playing to kill time. He would remind everyone how untrustworthy Patty was, and how, on numerous occasions, Patty would turn on anyone and everyone. It drove Patty crazy when the others would not realize that this person did exactly the same thing! His tactics were not as good as Patty's, but his manipulation of people were. He was Patty's mortal enemy on the gaming table. His name was Wagner. Patty always knew what Wagner was up too. His basic strategy was to stay away from him during the game. Wagner did the same with Patty. They were always circling each other, watching and waiting. They made treaties with everyone, but each other. The game, more often than not, turned into a six hour battle of wits between the two men. The other players usually acted as pawns, and the most amazing thing about that was they never even knew it. All they knew was that it was always Wagner or Patty that won. After the game, the two would talk about the things that happened during the game. To Patty, it was the best part of playing RISK!. Wagner and Patty were partners at spades. They had not lost a game since they teamed up with each other. It was getting increasingly difficult to get anyone to play with them. All the other guys knew that they cheated, but nobody could figure out how. The pair ran the crew. SSG Brown knew this too. No major decision was made without Brown explaining things to Wagner and Patty. The only crew member that didn't go along with everything they proposed was Murphy. He decided everything on his own. Brown would want something done, and the crew was made to think it was their own idea by Wagner and Patty. It was a marvelous way of netting things done with little or no resentments. This made the crew on the hill one big happy family. The other crew was different. They were generally older and the camaraderie wasn't the same. The Section Chief was SSG Dixon. He was a hard bitten Southerner that believed in authoritarian rule. He was six foot three inches tall, and he had size twelve boot. He never tired of telling people that he could very easily put that boot up somebody's ass. Because of this, he was known as "Paddlefoot". He hated the nickname. Paddlefoot's crew was much more experienced on the equipment, but they acted more like individuals than like a team. The older men on the crew had huge egos and were hard to take. It was common for a new man to ask for a transfer to Brown's crew. No one could blame them. Brown's crew was more fun. The crew stayed pretty much together on their off days as well. The mornings were usually spent in bed. Patty never slept. He would go to the village while the others were sleeping and see mamasan. If he weren't black-marketing that day, he would be at the drugstore making his weekly purchases or visiting Miss Im. The only other crew member awake in the morning was Murphy. Patty always wondered where he went, but he never pried. He didn't want anyone prying on his life either. Patty led almost two lives off duty. His daytime life was full of wheeling and dealing, but unlike his tutor, he enjoyed the company of the crew in the evenings. He would show up at the compound around four in the afternoon, and meet up with everyone at the NCO club. He never ate anything but breakfast in the messhall. He claimed that it gave him the shits. The evening would start either at the Frog or the Seaman's service in Inchon. If they didn't eat at the NCO Club, they would eat at the Seaman's Service. By six or seven they would all have a buzz on. The rest of the evening was usually spent in Inchon at one of the clubs. Patty enjoyed going to the Olympus and getting a steam bath and a massage. For ten bucks he would spend thirty minutes in the steam bath, and thirty minutes on a table having his body kneaded by a young masseuse. Sometimes he could convince her to give him some head, or at least a hand job. It always invigorated him, and he liked the feeling of being fresh and clean when he began the evening. The time spent at the clubs was always fun. The crew could tell whether or not they would spend the night there before they left the hill. If there was alot of traffic in the harbor, they knew that the girls would be busy with the sailors. Inchon was a seaport, and the red light district catered to sailors. The girls loved the G.I's, but the sailors paid a lot more. A sailor would think nothing of dropping a hundred bucks on a girl, but the G.I's would never pay more than ten. It was a matter of simple economics. Although the girls would rather sleep with sailors, they liked the Americans better. Inchon had almost no American presence like many other Korean cities. The only Americans stationed there were a small detachment of MP's that did customs work, and Foxtrot Battery. This was nice because the Korean people in Inchon didn't feel overrun by drunken G.I's. It was great for the soldiers because the Koreans treated them well, and the city retained it's national flavor. The bars were not set up to fawn on Americans as they were in the towns outside military bases. The police were real Korean police instead of M.P's. In Inchon they tended to look the other way if the some of the men acted out, as long as they weren't hurting anyone. The girl's also liked the Americans because they were there all the time. It was common far a soldier to have a girlfriend that worked in the bars. During the day, he would spend time with her at her place, or they would go out sight seeing. During the evening, she would see sailors. There were many nights no sailors were in port. In the event no sailors were around, her G.I. boyfriend would go home with her and spend the night for free. The arrangements worked out well. The girls, would not only appreciate the Americans for the things they brought them from the P.X., they also liked going to the Seaman's Club for dinner, or to the movies at ASCOM, or some of the places Americans went to, that a Korean girl who worked the bars of Inchon could never expect to see. Patty had a girlfriend in Inchon. Her name was Lydia. She was a big boned girl that drank too much. Patty thought she was a lot of fun. She also knew how to read and write English. Lydia had a college degree in psychology, She told Patty that she could make more money as a hooker. Patty liked her for her intelligence, he also liked her because she had a great body. She didn't have the typical slight oriental body, she was stacked. Lydia was tall too, with great hips and a firm round ass. The girl stood five seven and weighed in at one hundred thirty five. She was great in the sack too. Patty learned a great deal from Lydia. It hadn't been easy for Patty. He knew a great deal about sex, but the knowledge had all been gained from books and magazines. The little he knew about first hand was all basic stuff. Spending time with Lydia was an education in itself. The first time he had met her was at the Top Hat Club. Unlike the Top Hat Club at E-6, this club was your basic whisky bar with a small pool table. Patty had been hot that night, beating sailors of varying nationalities. He hadn't particularly cared when she started playing, until she leaned over the table to take her shot, and her ample breasts caught Patty's attention. It had been awhile since he had seen breasts like this. Korean girls were not noted for their mammary development. In the drugged and drunken state Patty was in, he took this basic loin stirring lust as love. He started a conversation with her and they drank bourbon for the rest of the evening. She was taken with Patty too. She liked his way of talking, and his youth. They found themselves touching each other before they left the bar. She invited him over her house . This was a surprise to Patty, not because he ended up going home with her, but because he hadn't propositioned her first. They walked up two flights of stairs and entered the apartment. The place was a mess by Korean standards. It didn't look at all like a Korean apartment. The first thing Patty noticed was that Lydia didn't take off her shoes when she went in. The second thing he noticed, besides the unkempt appearance of the place, was that it had regular chairs and a sofa in the living room, and on the floor, instead of the usual wood or linoleum, was a rug. Lydia led Patty into the bedroom and he was again surprised to see a four poster, Victorian style bed, complete with a frilled canopy. If he didn't know better, the apartment could be in England, not Inchon, Korea. As far as Lydia's lovemaking skills, they were direct and to the point. When she was drunk, all conversation stopped as soon as the first kiss took place. She was like a machine. Even her eyes glazed over and became almost vacant. Orgasms were not an issue for her. She clearly lost herself in sex. Attempts at any type of intimacy other than the physical kind were completely rejected. This would go on until early morning when she would pass out from sheer sexual exertion. Even a sexually naive person, such as Patty was, could understand why she was attracted to him. He knew that it wasn't his looks or intelligence that mattered to her, it was his youth and sexual stamina. Pure and simple. Patty awoke the first morning feeling very aroused. He was in a dreamlike stupor and feeling some very strong sensations in his private area. He opened his eyes and saw that Lydia's head made a small hill in the blanket above his crotch. He smiled to himself. She never stops, he thought. Slowly, Patty lifted the blanket to get a look at the ministrations she was employing. Sure enough, she was using her mouth in a way that Patty thought she used it best. This erotic scene turned Patty on immensely. He watched her as she went about her gentle sucking. It reminded Patty of an infant with it's thumb in it's mouth. That's when Patty realized that Lydia was fast asleep. Fast asleep with him in her mouth. He felt like a pacifier. It didn't stop Patty from enjoying it though. He started getting close to climaxing and this woke Lydia up. She didn't let up though, and Patty, for the first time, let someone know what he tasted like. After it was over he wanted to disappear. He didn't realize, or couldn't realize that this girl knew exactly what she was doing. He felt like a pervert, and even after he went back to the compound and went to work, the feeling stayed with him. It was strong, this feeling of perversity, but not strong enough to stop him from running back to her the very next day he was off. The things she showed him didn't end with that. He learned things such as how to employ beads, ice, hot oils and other inanimate objects into lovemaking. Every time he would leave her, he would come back to the compound with the same feeling of self loathing. This went on for most of the winter. He didn't dare tell anyone about it, he was too embarrassed. He felt like a whore. Lydia's whore. He was being corrupted, and he knew it. Still, he couldn't stop. He was addicted. He finally told SSG Brown about it. He was very, very, interested. He not only asked him the details, but he also wanted to know who this girl was, and where she lived. Later on, Lydia told Patty that SSG Brown had offered her fifty dollars to spend the night with her. She refused him. Patty knew this was true, because Brown admitted as much when Patty confronted him. He told Patty that she was just a hot ticket and that he shouldn't worry about what they were doing. He told him something about consenting adults and how it pertained to sex. Patty felt enormously relieved, but she refused to see him again. He had a big mouth she said. He was crushed. She stayed away from him for almost a month. He would go down to Inchon and linger in the same clubs that she frequented. It would kill him to see her walk off with a sailor. She never failed to wink or smile at him as she left. He wanted to beg, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. He thought she was being a real bitch, which she was. Patty was surprised to notice that not only did he miss the sex they had, he also missed her company. They had a lot of fun drinking and playing pool. She had a good sense of humor, and he missed it. He was also surprised to find out that she would not go home with a G.I. Sometimes he wished that she would so that he could find out if she did the same things in bed that she did with him. Patty found himself at Whisky Mary's during a snowstorm. He wasn't paying much attention to the weather, finding drinking and bullshitting with Jimmy more interesting. By the time Patty decided to leave, no taxi's were running, the snow on the roads was just too bad to permit travel. Jimmy called one of the girl's over. She looked good to Patty, and he decided to spend the night with her. They went to her place, which was not far from the bar. They were just settling down to business when the door burst open. Lydia stormed in, shoes on, no coat with her hair down around her face. She went over to the girl, lifted her up, and literally threw her out of the bed. She told Patty to get dressed. He did and they left. Patty following her through the storm, feeling like an errant schoolboy. When they got to her place, she simply told Patty that girls in Inchon were off-limits to him if he didn't want his dick cut off. She didn't say anything about ignoring him, she just took him to bed and made love to him. He felt like a hostage, but Patty didn't mind. He was happy again.
CHAPTER 28 Patty went to the promotion board at K-6. His uniform was refitted by the tailor at the compound and SSG Brown helped him set it up. He helped him study for the board too. Patty relearned his drill and ceremonies, first aid, and studied things they might ask him about his job. The night Patty got to K-6, he went out and got drunk. He again hooked up with his old friend Mr. Kim, but this time he didn't lose his pants to a slikie girl. He did wake up late and with a hangover however. A super hangover. He looked at his watch and saw that it was nine fifteen. He was supposed to be at the board at nine hundred hours. He jumped out of bed and ran towards the latrine with his shaving kit in hand. He shaved and ran a comb through his hair. He didn't notice that he had cut himself shaving, and blood ran down the side of his neck. He put his uniform shirt on and succeeded in smearing the blood all over his neck. Patty in his hurry, still didn't still didn't notice. He took his spit shined low quarters out of the shoe box, and finished dressing on the run. The board was being held across the street from the transit barracks at battalion headquarters. He was still adjusting his tie when he entered the building. Looking around, Patty saw other soldiers standing in the hallway, waiting to enter the room where the board was in session. They looked as nervous as he felt. He wondered if they had hangovers as bad as he had. Taking a closer look, he noticed that some of the guys didn't look too good. Patty asked some of them if they had called his name. Nobody knew. Patty was afraid of asking the sergeant that called out the next person in to stand in front of the board. He didn't want to bring attention to the fact of his lateness. So he waited, as one by one, nervous soldiers stood in front of senior officers and sergeants, trying to impress them enough to get a promotion. Patty tried to find a way to talk to one of the guys coming out. They must have been told not to talk to anyone in the hall. He had a brilliant idea. He walked up to the Sergeant that called the next name. "Excuse me Sergeant, I have to use the latrine. I just wanted to know if I'm next." "What's the name?" He asked. "Fallica, Sergeant. "No Fallica", he smiled, "You're not next." Patty thanked him and when he walked back into the board room, he went out the front door and ran after the man that had just left. "Hey man!" Patty yelled after him. He turned around and saw Patty running up to him. "What did they ask you?" Patty asked. "Why should I tell you? Find out for yourself." The other fellow replied testily. "Why shouldn't you tell me?" Patty was on the defensive. "Because they told me not to tell anyone what went on. "So you won't." Patty stated with contempt. "No I won't." Now the other fellow was on the defensive. "Yeah, Patty said, "They dangle a stripe in front of you and you turn your back on everyone. I imagine that if you get promoted, you won't hang out with any of your old friends because you're too good for them." With that Patty turned and started to walk away. "Wait a minute man "What?" Patty asked. "What do you want to know?" The other fellow asked. "Just what they asked you." Patty said. "O. K.'.' He thought for a moment. "First they asked what special significance today has." "Well?" Patty waited. "How the hell do I know?" The other fellow complained. "What else did they ask?" "Well they asked some drill and ceremony questions. Then they asked how many soldiers we have in Vietnam." "How many do we have'" Patty asked. "I didn't know that either, but they told me afterward that we have five hundred and forty thousand. "What else did they ask?" "They asked me what I thought about marijuana" He said. "What did you say "I told them that anybody that smokes that shit should be shot. I mean it too!" Patty could see that he meant it. "Anything else?" Patty was in a hurry to get back. "No, except a couple of MOS questions." "What's your MOS?" Patty hoped he was a 16C. "I'm a 95B, M.P." He said simply. "That won't help me. I'm a 16C., but thanks a lot for all you've told me. I hope you made it." Patty said in his most sincere tone. He started to walk away. "Wait a minute, there's something else I forgot to tell you." Patty turned around. "What?" "Well, after you report, your supposed to look behind you and take three steps backward, and sit down. Don't make them long steps because the chair is real close. Take half steps. I backed into the chair." He said, with a red face. "Thanks" Patty said. "I'll remember that. Patty ran back to the building where the hoard was still in progress. Patty noticed that there were still the same amount of men standing around waiting for their turn. He felt jumpy, and wished that he had a cup of coffee. He was thirsty as hell from the drinking and he made frequent trips to the water bottle. He walked up and down the narrow hallway, looking at the pictures hanging on the wall. A few were the typical Army pictures. This or that division or regiment fighting at this or that place. All were pretty boring. He had seen most of them before. The only thing worth reading was a framed sheet, depicting the honors and lineage of the battalion. He read it. Patty would read anything if he were bored. Standing around waiting for his name to be called was agony. He wished he never said he'd do this. Getting promoted wasn't one of Patty's priorities. The only reason he said O.K. was because SSG Brown had seemed so desperate. Another good reason was because nobody on the crew wanted one of the Sergeants from Paddlefoot's crew reassigned to Browns crew. This was discussed, because SSG Brown was getting short. Everyone wanted Wagner as a Section Chief. If a sergeant came from another crew, he would have more time in grade than Kool. Nobody wanted that to happen. If Patty were to get promoted, the crew would remain intact, with no personnel changes. The time dragged on. Patty walked down the hall again. He kept going over the reporting procedure in his head. "Specialist Fallica reports to the President of the Board." He was supposed to salute and look over his right shoulder, and take three steps to the rear, and sit down at attention. He remembered what the other fellow had told him. Take three small steps. He went over the questions they would ask him over and over again. Five hundred and forty thousand troops in Vietnam. Marijuana. What could he say about that? He smoked it every day. What could he say about it, except that he thought it should be legal? He knew they wouldn't go for that. He wondered what significance today had. He stood in the hallway reading the battalions lineage and honors again. There it was! High in front of him. The battalion was formed on March 21, 1942. March 21 was today! Today was the battalion's birthday! What a stroke of luck. He'd freak them out. He'd probably be the only guy to know that. This was going to be a breeze. The door kept opening and the sergeant would call out somebody's name, but it wasn't Patty's. it wasn't until he was the last one left in the hallway that they finally called him. He had thought that he wasn't too nervous, but as soon as he heard his name, his heart, started to pound, and he developed a slight ringing in his ears. "Don't be nervous, they're not so bad." The sergeant whispered in his ear as they walked into the room. Patty saw the Battalion Commander, and the Sergeant Major sitting at the long table. The others on the board he didn't really know. He walked briskly to the center of the table and stood at attention in front of the Colonel. He saluted. "President Fallica reports to the specialist of the board." The Colonel looked at him and returned his salute. He shook his head and smiled. "Take a seat Mr. President." Patty realized what he had done. His face turned crimson. He wished that he were back at Foxtrot. This was going to get rough. He turned his head, and looked over his shoulder. He couldn't really see the chair behind him, and he didn't want to turn around to find it. He remembered what the man had told him and took three small steps to the rear and sat down. He landed on the floor. The board members didn't laugh. The Sergeant Major looked at the ceiling. The Captain looked at his hands. and the other members just looked embarrassed. The Colonel broke the silence as Patty stood up. This time he did turn around, and he saw the chair was at least three feet from where he thought it would be. He went over and sat down at attention. His ass hurt. "Well come Specialist Fallica. " the Colonel began. "You have been recommended for promotion to the grade of sergeant E-5. This board has convened for the purpose of either endorsing that recommendation, or not deciding to endorse that recommendation. We will ask you a series of questions to determine your suitability to perform at the higher grade. Do understand?" "Yes Sir." Patty answered. The questions started. Each member of the board would asked him a question. Patty found that he could answer almost all their questions, especially the ones pertaining to his job, and he started to become comfortable. The Sergeant Major was the next. "How many troops do we currently have in North Vietnam?" he asked. "Five hundred and forty thousand, Sergeant Major." Patty replied. The Sergeant Major shook his head. The next one to ask a question was the Battalion XO, Maj. Pratt. "What is your feeling on the use of marijuana?" Patty panicked. He didn't know what to say. The only thing he knew was that they disapproved of it. He couldn't defend it because it was illegal. He didn't care. Patty was going to take a stand and tell them that it should be legalized. He had already blown this board, and he wasn't about to compromise his convictions and tell them what they wanted to hear. He figured that he would start his defense of the practice by stating a simple fact, and go on from there. "I know it's illegal Sir," He began. "That's the best answer I've heard yet. " The Major said beaming. "I wish that other soldiers could be more like you Fallica. It doesn't really matter what we think. The fact of the matter is that it's illegal." Patty figured he would just shut his mouth. They didn't want to hear anything more. He wouldn't say anything more. He was secretly pleased it had gone this way. Maybe, Patty hoped, he might just pull this off after all. "What is the significance of today?" The Colonel asked. Patty was waiting for this. It was his ace in the hole. "Today is the Battalions birthday Sir!" Patty said smartly. The Colonel looked at the Sergeant Major. "Is it Top?" He asked him. "Beats me Sir." The Sergeant Major replied. "How the hell do you know that?" The Colonel asked Patty. "I read it outside in the hallway." Patty confessed. The Colonel chuckled, as did the other board members. "Today is also the first day of spring." He explained to Patty. "Do you know why you were the last one to appear before the board?" "No Sir." Patty answered. "Because we couldn't find you this morning.
CHAPTER 29 The BC, still carrying his .45, was as determined to get Fred as Fred was to get him. This was war on a personal level. Man Vs Canine. To the BC it was a matter of principle. He was the Commander. He would not be intimidated by a flea bitten dog. To Fred it was a matter of just being pissed off. To the men on the hill, it was a matter of being completely disregarded by their commander. It didn't matter how they pleaded their case, he didn't want to hear it. The crisis was heating up. Something had to be done. Fred was coming onto the compound less frequently these days, and he was looking thin and weak. This was too much for the guys to take, because as far as they were concerned, Fred was as much a member of the crew as they were. To them, he was another American. A clandestine meeting was held between the crews. Even though Paddlefoot's crew was older and more conservative than Brown's crew, they were also fond of Fred. Not everyone attended, certainly not the two section chiefs, but most did. The consensus was that no Combat Readiness Evaluation would be successful until the BC stopped harassing Fred. The word was put out. It consisted of telling Granny, the company clerk. He wasn't an informer for the BC, he was more of a barometer of attitudes within Foxtrot. He liked Fred too. He let the BC know in a round about way that Foxtrot probably wouldn't be combat ready until, the situation was resolved. It wasn't long after the meeting that they had an evaluation. The guys were just finishing evening chow when the battalion evaluation team drove through the gate. The walked into the corridor with a stop watch, and declared "Blazing Skies!". The crew had fifteen minutes to complete pre-firing checks and another five minutes to lock onto a target; and simulate firing a missile. It didn't happen. Half the guys on the hill went suddenly dumb. Adjustments were done with heavy hands, and as far as the locking onto targets, an outsider would swear that the crew was blind. The CRE team left the corridor shaking their heads. They would be back within forty eight hours according to the regulation they promised, until then they were non-combat ready, and therefore they in an out of action status. The men put on an incredible show of feigning disgust with themselves. The BC didn't know whether to buy it or not. His military mind couldn't really conceive of soldiers actually shirking their duty because of a dog. He didn't say much after the drill, but his face told the crew what they wanted to know. Two or three failures would get him relieved. The crews would suffer with constant training drills and such, but this was important, and they were willing to sacrifice. They wouldn't get relieved. It wasn't their careers. Captain Williston had this on his mind this morning. He was preoccupied with the situation, that he forgot to strap on his pistol. Today was not the day to forget to carry his sidearm. Today was the day for revenge. The door to the B0Q opened and out stepped the Captain. It was early in the morning the compound was deserted. Moat of the soldiers were either in the messhall, or in their sections changing crews. The Captain wanted to get up to the hill, early and supervise the training. The CHE team should be hack sometime today, and he wanted to make sure the crew were on their toes. Fred wanted to make sure that the Captain was on his toes. As the BC walked around the corner of the barracks, Fred took off like a lightning bolt. The Captain never had a chance. One minute he was lost in his own thoughts, the next minute he was facing a large snarling dog, hell bent on revenge. The Captain reached for his forty five. It wasn't there. Fred looked up at the Captain and saw the fear on his face. That was all Fred wanted to see. He sat down on his haunches and just stared. Captain Williston didn't know what to make of all this. Fred made no move at him or away from him. This was a stalemate. "They just stared at each other. After a few minutes of this, Fred got up and walked away. The encounter was over. The BC was confused. On the hill, the crews were catching hell. The First Sergeant had gotten there early. A formation was called, and the men resented it. Formations, in their mind, were for the admin area. No formations were ever called on the Hill. SSG Brown called the men to attention, and the men listened as the First Sergeant addressed them. "Gentlemen, I suppose you are wondering why I'm here. I'm here because I want to make some things absolutely clear. First of all, we know that you men are trying to subvert authority. Well, I want you to know that we know, and that it wont work. You men are shamming. That's right, shamming'" Murphy poked Wagner and whispered... "What the fuck is shamming?" The First Sergeant went on... "We know that you have sabotaged the combat readiness of this unit. We won't tolerate it. From this day, until we are declared combat ready, no man will leave the compound. You are all restricted." A groan went up from the formation. "I hope that you men see the light and work with us instead of against us. Remember, no more shamming!" A voice, just loud enough to be heard inside of the formation could be heard. "What the fuck is shamming?" It was Murphy again. The formation was dismissed and the men headed off to the corridor. Murphy asked Wagner again what the fuck shamming was. Wagner told him that it meant goofing off. Murphy wanted to know why he didn't say that in the first place. All that day the men made fun of the First Sergeant. Conversations would start out with "I want you to know that we know, that you know..." and everyone would laugh. Nobody said much about the restriction. Nobody except Murphy. Murphy had something to say about everything. The CRE team came that afternoon. They failed again. The team promised to come back within another forty eight hours, The Battery was still out of action. Captain Williston came up to the hill that evening.. He had the First Sergeant with him. He called a meeting with the crew in the ready room. To his credit, the First Sergeant was asked to wait in the corridor. "Would somebody please tell me what the problem is up here? He asked. The guys just looked at each other. "We can't get anything accomplished without some kind of dialogue." He complained. The men stayed silent. "Murphy, you've always got something to say, what's the problem?" "The problem sir, is that you've got it in for a member of this crew." Murphy replied. The Captain looked perplexed. He looked at the crew and tried to recall if he had been particularly hard on any of them lately. Normally he wouldn't really care if he was or not, but his command was on the line. "The Colonel had called earlier and had let him know that he was on the verge of being relieved. "Three strikes and you're out were the words he had used. He couldn't figure out which one of the crew had the beef. "Who?" He asked. The men shuffled around in their chairs, glancing at each other. Most of the men looked at Wagner. Wagner looked at Patty, and the rest of the crew, noticing the direction of Wagner's gaze, did the same. Patty guessed that he had been elected. "Fred, Sir." Patty said simply. "This is about a fuckin' dog?" The BC asked. "A fucking dog is responsible for putting the security of a whole country at stake? A lousy, nasty, flea bitten dog is responsible for ruining my career? I can't believe this. You can't be serious." "We're serious." Patty said flatly. "I can have you people charged with mutiny. This is the most serious breach of discipline I have ever experienced in my career." He remarked. "It's pretty hard on us too. We've never flunked two CRE's in a row, sir." Wagner added. The BC just sat there thinking. He could either charge the men with something like dereliction of duty, or submit to their demands, and take the damn dog off the hook. If he made a case out of this rebellion, the Colonel would think that he were running some kind of circus. He had no choice. He could make them pay for this later. Especially that wise ass Fallica. The one with the brass halls and the big mouth. "O.K." He said quietly. "You win. Fred gets a second chance, but if he bites me again, I'll kill him. Go to work." The crew did their best not to shove their victory up the Captain's ass. They somberly rose from their seats and walked toward the corridor. They practiced crew drills and post-firing checks for the rest of the evening. As they were walking into the corridor, the First Sergeant called out to Fallica. Patty turned and answered up. "How do you think you did the other day at the promotion board Fallica?" He asked. "I have no idea First Sergeant." Ho answered. "The Major called me from K-6 the other day." He said. "He wanted to know how the hell you ever made Spec Four. He told me to give the President his regards. He also wanted to know if you still have a sore ass. Patty glared at the First Sergeant. The First Sergeant glared back at Patty. There was no love lost between them. Patty didn't know it then, but he had more to worry about than the First Sergeant. The Battery Commander didn't have him high on his all time favorite list either. The CRE team came back again in the morning. They passed with a superior in both crew performance and equipment readiness. The crew had mixed feelings about it. They were glad that they had gotten Fred out of trouble, and they were happy to have rehabilitated their reputation. They were also a little sad because they really did want the BC relieved.
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