5 O-clock fog

[39mto39g]

Around 5am there would be this cold mist that would form on just about everything. I guess it was because the air was cold and the ground was warmer. You could see your breath so you tried not to breath. The shivers would set in and your fingers would feel stiff. Every time you moved the cold would touch your skin somewhere so you tried real hard not to move. The quiet was so loud that you were sure everyone could hear you (breath). The moon light would play tricks on you as it made different shapes appear and disappear as the moon moved across the sky. As the moon disappeared it would get dark, like going into a closet and turning off the light. Then a faint sign of light, and more light and those objects were moving again. Finally a glimmer of sunlight, it felt so warm and good and not only that but you made it threw another night and one day closer to going home.

Ron

[frisco-kid]

Great post, Ron. It put me right back in The Highlands.

You do great descriptive posts when you put yourself back into it. You should think about puting together a collection of just random anectdotes; pretty much what you do here from time to time now. It seems that you've held on to enough photos from your tour to enhance it with.

Something to think about, my friend.

[DMZ-LT]

agree with Tom. You get me right there again, but I ain't far away anyway.












5

[39mto39g]

Tom, LT
Its easy writing about somthing like this, all you have to do is close your eyes and remember.
Kinda like standing in a chow line at Chu Lai in the rain, Mash potato soup, MMMMMMM good.

Thanks
Ron

[splummer]

I never forgot that eather. It would get cold just before sunrise and so black and dark that you couldn't see anything in front of you. I hate to admit it, but I always was a little scared then and I feel it now.

[39mto39g]

Splum
When that dark time set in, I would guess there were very few people that were not scared, Your normal. If your not scared and you can't see your hand in front of your face and there are people trying to kill you, well , your lieing or your not normal.
Being scared is normal, being able to think and work while being scared is a big plus for you and the people around you.

I seen our Machine gunner piss his pants just before he stood and fired off 200 rounds. He was scared, but did what he needed to do. No one said anything or cared about the wet spot in his pants either.
Ron

[splummer]

It seems to me that the dark time usually lasted about a half hour. It was so weird not being able to see your hand in front of your face.

[splummer]

Gie Lie Combat Base was built in a huge cemetary and there were scartered graves with little rock walls around them all over the place. Just before dark each unit would send out four guys with a 60 and claymores to the bunkers on the perimeter. One afternoon this druggie from another plattoon carried the 60. He had less then a week left in-country. I'm standing on top of the bunker just after we got there and noticed that he's setting the 60 up in a grave just behind the bunker. I asked him what are you doing? He say's he's too short to be near the bunker because if there's a ground attack tonight the first thing Charlie will do is RPG it. So "John Wayne splummer "says, Do ya at least have the saftey on? He pulled the trigger to show me that it was on. Only it wasn't and a burst of the m-60 missed my head by an inch or so. No one talked or said anything the rest of the night. After that, I learned never to stand up on top of a bunker, even in the day light.

[39mto39g]

Splum
I sleep on top many a bunker in many a firebase/base camp. Didn't care for the rats inside and I don't like being an RPG target either, the sand bags got to be kinda comfortable after awhile, and I could see all around. A drug person on guard? not good. That guy wouldn't have faired very well in most units. In 67 or 68 , that is.
And yes, the dark time didn't last very long, but the time it was dark, it was DDDDAAARRRKKK. The weird thing I found when it got like that was my equilibrium, I had a real hard time walking.

Ron

[splummer]

In reading the other posts on here over the years, I think everyone says the same thing about sleeping on top of bunkers instead of inside. Some of the rats were huge.