Chapter 3: Down the river side
Hoang brought the sleeping filly back to the tent, which was undamaged, tucking her in. “Sweet dreams.”
The others joined him, smiling sadly at the sleeping filly. “Poor child, she has already seen more than she should.” King whispered not to wake her.
“Yes. I don’t want to imagine how worried her parents must be.” Jesper added.
“I can watch her if you want. Dan offered.
“Thank you.”
For the rest of the day, they repaired the damage reinforcing fighting positions for future defense as they had no Intel how the NVA could attack them so easily.
Around noon, they were mostly done, so they checked on Petunia. She was still asleep, her chest slowly raising and lowering.
Dan checked and cleaned his weapon, to make sure it wouldn’t jam on him or go off and hurt or kill their young guest.
“How is she?” Hoang asked and the Marine looked up, smiling.
“Fine. She looks like an angel when she’s asleep.”
“Indeed, she does. She had really bad luck to land here. I suggest we bring her out as soon as possible.” Jesper was worried for her safety.
“King suggested that already. Although she would be safer in the USA than here, I don’t want her to end up in a lab.” Hoang shivered at the thought of it.
Ethan put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t you worry, when I get on leave, I’ll make sure she will be alright.”
Hoang knew he could trust his friend.
“Thanks man.”
“No problem.”
The filly yawned, waking from her sleep. “Hoang!” She hugged him, happy to see him safe and sound. “I’m sorry, I…It was too much for me!” She cried.
The young Asian responded by patting her back. “Shh, calm down. It’s alright.”
It took some time until she calmed down, looking up, sniffing. “Thanks. I appreciate your care for me. I just miss my parents and friends.”
“I’m sure they will find you. I still believe that I will see my brothers someday, even after all those years.”
“You’re right, I must have faith in it!” She exclaimed, raising her hoof into the air.
“That’s the spirit!” Dan smiled.
“Why did you join the Marines?” Petunia asked, curious.
“Well, as you know, I’m an Afro-American. In the USA, treatment of us is not very good. I joined the Marines as they treat me equally and I got a better deployment opportunity.”
“I see. Poor you. In Equestria, we all live happy together, racism does not exist.” The filly had sympathy for him.
“Don’t be, I’m used to it. I promise you with my honor, I will keep you safe. Semper fi!”
“Uhh, what?” She asked confused, tilting her head.
“That means 'always faithful.' It’s the motto of the US Marine Corps. So...” he curled his right hand up, “Semper fi?”
“SEMPER FI!” Petunia made a brohoof with him.
It pleased the others to see her happy, warming their hearts.
Jesper left the tent for a moment to make sure they wouldn’t get surprised by an officer giving out new orders or by other soldiers.
In the meantime, King got lunch for Petunia, potatoes, she enjoyed them as Jesper returned.
“Bad news, guys, we got a patrol missing. We’ve been put together as one unit to search for the missing patrol.”
“Great.” King groaned, “Where was their last transmission?”
“Somewhere near the river.”
“Okay. What about Petunia?" Hoang asked, "We can’t leave her alone here.”
“I’m afraid, taking her with us is the only option. You okay with that, Petunia?”
“I don’t mind it, I enjoy your company. And I want to help, I can carry supplies for you.”
“Good thought, my dear. Let’s go.” Hoang felt a little bit unsure about it.
She climbed into his backpack and the new squad moved to a Huey that brought them to the landing zone, where the South forces had small camp.
The filly saw red smoke in the distance which marked said landing zone.
Once the Huey touched the ground, the soldiers got out, Petunia saw a small tent where wounded were treated by medics and saw also how US Marines watched three men in Blue & Tan clothes, one of them was wearing a Pith helmet, the second wore what appeared to be a straw hat, while the third one had a scarf around his head. They were sitting on the ground.
The foal quickly got it that they were prisoners. She also noticed that they were wearing sandals instead of boots like the soldiers did.
Must be Viet Cong as Hoang and King told me.
“That's our ride, let's go!” Jesper tore her out as a Marine stopped a boat, a Patrol Boat River, commonly abbreviated to PBR, at the dock.
As the four soldiers got onboard, the young man asked Jesper, “S.O.G, right? Right?”
The four experienced soldiers saw that the Marine was very young, eighteen or nineteen years old, having brown hair with matching eyes. On his helmet was written, “Don’t shoot, I’m too short!” which meant he was a rookie.
The S.O.G. operative sighed, “They couldn't make it. Man the gun, don't get killed.” He pointed to the dual M2 Brownings at the front.
“Sir.” The young soldier did as told.
“Hoang, you’re driving, King you take the M60 at the rear.”
“Got it.”
As Hoang walked to the driver seat, Petunia got out, standing next to him, while Dan stood to the right of the cabin, Jesper to the left.
Hoang turned the knob on a radio. “...goes out to Sergeant Blundell, and all our boys at the RPO. Go get 'em.”
The radio played “Sympathy For the Devil" by the Rolling Stones, as the boat moved out of the harbor. The filly found the song a little bit strange, but enjoyed it still.
Petunia saw several US soldiers along with trucks moving up the road, two Huey’s flew overheard, firing their M60s at enemies in the distance.
"Heads up, enemy camp, on the left. RPG's!” Jesper warned as a missile flew past, missing the boat, the filly shrieked, cowering, body pressed into the ground as the crew returned fire. A few bullets hit the PBR but the cabin offered protection against it, so Petunia was unharmed. As the camp got destroyed, it exploded from the heavy fire, probably ammunition was stored in it.
A watch tower got also destroyed. “She's coming down!” Jesper cheered.
“Mortar fire! Mobile missile launchers up ahead, three of them.” He shouted as they came to a dead end at the right side, the left side was blocked by a barricade.
Hoang drove in slaloms to avoid getting hit, the trucks drove forth and back on the coast to evade the MG fire but it was in vain a the first exploded from a hit by the young Marine. “Nice hit!” Hoang praised him, despite feeling bad as they fought his fellow countrymen.
“Bulls-eye!” King managed to destroy the second truck.
Petunia slowly peered out of the cabin, seeing the last truck, trying to turn around before it got destroyed by the recruit.
“That's the last of them! All right! Now, head for that barricade blocking the river, our boys will take care of it!” Jesper ordered.
Petunia looked up, seeing how the Hueys fired missiles on the barricade, destroying and allowing the boat to proceed.
“Watch out, more RPGs!” Petunia shouted as another missile flew past the boat, she did not know what RPG meant but knew she should use that name for this kind of weapons.
The boat destroyed three more towers, Dan, Jesper and King fired on Viet Cong fighters that were shooting on the boat from the shore, while the young man took care of any tower he spotted or got pointed out by the filly.
She spotted another truck on the coast, instead of missiles, he fired bullets at a very fast rate, so she kept her head down. She couldn’t see what it was exactly from that distance.
“ZSU quad-50 to the left. He'll tear us to shreds!” The S.O.G soldier yelled but the MG gunner quickly took care of it, the truck exploding.
The team moved forward taking some more towers and another ZSU out.
Then, the young pony noticed three boats coming towards them, all made out of wood. A missile was fired from one of the boats, missing them by inches.
“Sampans! Don't let them get close.” Dan advised as he took one of the RPG gunners out. The Browning tore the Sampans to shreds in seconds, Petunia was impressed and terrified at the same time.
The boat crew took another ZSU out and moved to a small camp.
“Something big is on its way. This is it, boys.” Jesper said.
The filly saw a boat sailing in view, it looked similar to the PBR.
“PT boat! Aim for the back, the engine's in the rear!” Jesper advised the gunner, Hoang drove around the buildings to avoid the PT boat’s fire and to flank it.
The tactic seemed to work as the engine of the NVA vessel smoked after a few hits.
“It’s heavily damaged!” Dan pointed out as they drove around a building.
Somehow, the enemy vessel managed to get behind them but King’s M60 gave it the rest, it exploded and sung to the bottom. “We got 'em! We got 'em!”
“Medic!” Petunia yelled as the blood ran down the young Marine’s head and he fell backwards.
Jesper examined the marine gunner, a bullet had went through his helmet, his eyes pale.
King and Dan made a Christian gesture in respect. “No…” Petunia cried over their loss, Hoang patting her.
Looking at Jesper, he could swear that he tried his best not to cry as the young kid hadn’t made it.
“He was so young! He still had his life ahead of him!”
“Shh, calm down.”
Another PBR arrived and took care of the body, so the team could continue its mission. The Hueys flew ahead.
As they drove through the river, Jesper used Binoculars. "Nothing so far... Wait, something in the trees.” He spotted a downed Huey in the trees, still burning.
“Whatever happened, we just missed it.” Dan commented.
“We got a downed bird here... Talk to me.” He spoke into his radio to one of the Huey pilots.
“There's nothing out here.”
They continued to drive through the river.
“They found something, just ahead. Patching you through.” One of the pilots reported.
“I have visual confirmation, green smoke, I say again, I have visual confirmation.” The other one confirmed.
“Hoang, head for the shore.”
“Copy that, Jesper.”
“Wolf 10, this is Centurion 3. Follow me, you can land over here.”
“I have limited ground support, dropping now.” The Hueys landed, letting a Squad of Marines out as the team left the boat.
“We're all yours, sir. Where do you want us?” The squad leader asked.
“Have one of your guys guard the boat. The rest of your men, follow my lead.” Jesper ordered, the squad leader gave a sign to one of his men.
Petunia also got out, a first aid kit in her mouth, ready to help.
The Marines gave her a confused look. “Before you ask, she is real and don’t let her get hurt, you got that?” Jesper ordered and they nodded before moving out.
At the source of the green smoke, they found the missing patrol, all covered in blood, dead, one soldier held the flare in his hand, he was still alive, lying with his back on the ground, bleeding pretty badly from his chest.
Jesper knelt down to him as Petunia gave him the first aid kit. “Don’t worry soldier, you will be alright!” The others secured the area and collected the dog tags from the dead comrades.
“We…ambushed…haven’t… seen…” The wounded soldier tried to say.
“Shh, save your strength.” Looking up for a second, Jesper could swear he saw a glint coming from a tree. In a blink of an eye, the glint turned into a flash and he dove out of the way.
The shot missed him but killed the wounded soldier as the bullet hit his head.
“Ambush! Snipers in the trees!” Hoang pushed Petunia behind a rock as cover, returning fire. Other Viet Cong guerrillas joined the fight, pinning the South forces down.
The Huey’s came to their aid, but got shot down by RPGs.
Realizing that they couldn’t win this battle, worried about Petunia’s safety, Jesper shouted, “Retreat! Fall back, fall back!” He quickly collected the comrade’s dog tag before they retreated back to the boat.
Petunia followed him, feeling a sting in her chest, slowing down, the sting more intensive.
She reached her for chest, staring at it, shocked.
Her chest and hoof were covered in blood, a bullet had hit her.
She gritted her teeth, trying to overcome the pain and keeping up with the others but it was too much, she collapsed, holding her wound.
Tears left her eyes.
“Ow…ow…Mo-mommy….” She called out before her vision slowly faded to black.