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Chapter 11
The Bee Attack
Our platoon was on patrol deep in the mountains near Qui Nhon—we were tired and thirsty and running out of water. Our mission was to patrol the mountainous region assigned to us to prevent possible enemy infiltration into that high country overlooking the Qui Nhon supply base. We had been on the move for a couple of days and finally were traversing a ridge line. We noticed that there did indeed appear to have been some heavy foot traffic on that trail we were on. Villagers tended to stay in the lowlands—tending their crops, etc.—they had very little reason to be moving on that ridge line so we believed the VC were indeed operating up there to avoid the patrols in the valleys below. The platoon was exhausted from climbing the high terrain and we were low on water ( two canteens per Marine when we started )—we had not been resupplied since leaving Co. HQ the day before and it wasn’t likely we would be in position to be resupplied for another couple of days since our mission was to operate as clandestine as possible—helicopters bringing in water would be a dead giveaway that we were in enemy territory and the VC would know exactly where we were— so finding a fresh water supply was a priority on our mind. I directed the platoon into a secure perimeter to take a rest break. A secure perimeter meant that 50% of the platoon were ‘on guard’ and the other 50% were resting. I met with my squad leaders and the platoon Sgt. ( S/Sgt. Wenger ) and informed them that I
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