Page 289 - Thorn In The Heart

Chinh Nguyên

Yesterday night a second lieutenant Nguyen-Van-Bao, who
got Tuan's order to guard the high way between Ban-Me-Thuot
city and Buon-Ho district. At 8:00 PM, our troops, were
operating on the high way scale, moving in secret toward Ban-
Me-Thuot in the darkness until we meet our friend's troops, who
operated on the same high way from Ban-Me-Thuot side to join
us. Then we will operate back to Buon-Ho, at 11:30 we met
Vietcong on the 7 miles from Buon-Ho district. While Vietcong
was making the large holes to destroy the high way of breaking
off of the communication, they are placing mines and traps
underground and around the whole area of a short distance. They
hoped to kill our troops if we come in to clean up this marsh.

We were attached by Vietcong in the accident when we
were a distance from them. Tuan listens to the reporter by the
PCR-25 radio. He hurried to command his troops going to the
battlefield. He tried three times to open the enemies cycle since
few our soldiers died and wounded. And then after he broken up
the enemy cycle and got his troops out of the battlefield about
half of mile.

Suddenly, the sound of two shells B-40 exploded on the
high way at a distance from my front. I heard few people
screaming, saw Tuan's jeep tossed up into the air and flame then
I was faint off on the ground.

After I became conscious of fainting, I knew that my son
was die and the cause of his death was me! Yes... I was his
father on the battlefield, and he worried too much about me. He
wished I will be survival. Yes... I survived, but two B-40 of
Vietcong killed him. Poor and foolish of my son...!" In his
sorrow, Tuan's father told.

Nguyen shook his head.

"As you knew. The war liked a dirty game between the two
doctrines of communism and liberalism. The dirty dishonesty of

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