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It was raining
and somewhat windy, but shortly after going on guard duty when the
urge to smoke came upon me. Although smoking cigarettes while on
guard duty at night was not tolerated, I took out my pack of Kool
cigarettes and, with my poncho liner over my head to shield the
glare, I prepared to strike a match. I was ready to fire it up
when I heard this voice say, "No!" I now realize that it was the
Lord speaking to me.
I took the
liner off my head and fearfully looked in front of me. The
darkness and rain made it hard to see. Bushes were approximately
ten to fifteen meters ahead, but I thought I saw something other
than bushes move. Then I began hearing sounds like voices and I
thought that my mind was playing tricks with me. Were they actual
voices of the enemy I was hearing? "Had they crept upon us
undetected?" I asked myself. All these things suddenly raced
through my mind as I reached for my weapon, but realized I had
left it in my sleeping position that was approximately ten meters
from my guard position. What am I to do, I thought. My adrenaline
began to flow quickly as fear gripped my heart. I reasoned that I
had to maintain a calm composure if I was to survive. I began
humming a song while sliding toward the area where I had left my
rifle. Finally I was there, but what was I to do? After getting my
weapon, I moved back to the guard position and contemplated which
course of action would be the most logical and practical to take.
Minutes later I could hear the enemy's voice and knew that I had
to act quickly before they began firing on my position. I wanted
to get in the foxhole where the detonator for the claymore was,
but changed my mind because I knew water was in the foxhole. I did
not know what to do. I knew I had to do something before they did.
We were
trained not to use the rifle in such cases because the muzzle
flash would give away our position. It is proper to use a grenade,
but I responded contrary to the training I received. I opened fire
with the M16 rifle and because of my seated position the recoil
laid me down. An enemy soldier was apparently hit and dropped
within a few feet of my position. While in that position the enemy
soldiers fired a rocket from a launcher and it blew up the boxes I
was sitting on. It felt like my whole body went numb. I pulled
myself back up to a sitting position and fired a second burst of
M16 rounds. The recoil laid me back on my back as the enemy fired
a second rocket that took my weapon out of my hand. I felt
something cool running down my arm and realized I had been
wounded.
I began
retreating to higher ground as I heard this voice saying, "Sarge,
I don't have any arms or legs." I recognized the voice of Calvin
"The Bull" Charles calling me. He had been hit in the neck and was bleeding
badly. The concussion had numbed our limbs and both of us thought
we had lost them. As we struggled to climb up the mountain to join
the rest of our company, the enemy opened fire with all they had
and the bullets began hitting all around my head.
I was certain
that one of the enemy's bullets would find its way into my body
and end my life. As we ascended the hill to find help we came
across one of our medics, and cried, "Doc!" I will never
forget the medic who truly impacted my life. His name was Doc
W, a Christian man who truly demonstrated the character of Christ
in his daily work. Anyway, the first thing he did in offering us
assistance was to pray and then began caring for our wounds. |
