European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Log 8 the stats and strips Mondoy survive by Ilav. Worry at. N 1 heporter9s View at the b Alvon b. Webb or. Saigon ? Pip hi-5. a and he a Little More he ? h be Tiow. ? of or. A. For he of Uit exr of e nov vhf to . Off of his it. He sees a Grer vie Tumble Mirou a the air ?.rd explode and hears the terrible t e a or. Of the Youn Marine Sirris and of by. In the Corner of his Eye. He catches a Griir Nave of another Marine Prav my and bleeding from a Jat de Hole in his wrist. He moves quickly from behind the Little Wall. It is a Little dangerous because the sniper Sornev Here out there about 50 Yards away. But he must get closer and a Little to the front Foj snap a few Quick pictures. He scurries Back to cover an pulls out a pen and a few tattered pieces of paper and jots Down notes As if he could Ever forget the horror of the Battle raging around him. This is a combat correspondent on the front in Vietnam. Some times the yellow Wall a Tomb Stone or a Palm tree or a Rice Paddy Dike and sometimes the marines Are soldiers or Para troopers or cavalrymen an sometimes the sniper is a Rno Tarman with an ak47 assault Rifle or a b-40 rocket or the leading to a hidden Nam Tell Story the battlefields change an the fighting men Corne and go but the correspondent s Job re Mains the same to it to the Story and to Tell it. He does it by living Vith the men who do the fighting by getting to the front where the taste is of blood and the smell is of death. But for every minute of cover ing the drama of a combat situation there Are hours of the Drudgery of preparation of wait ing in blistering hot or biting cold weather along airstrips or at the fringes of windblown Heli copter pads of muscle numbing rides in jeeps or armoured personnel carriers or truck con Voys of the frustrations of try ing to get a Telephone Call through on circuits that Are too antiquated or too crowded or too prone to failure at what always seen like critical times. Filler up an hike Jolly Green giant pulls up to the refuelling Drogue of an hc130p time of trials aircraft to receive a full Load of fuel thus extending the helicopter s Range. Of photo Monsoon added enemy the Vietnam combat correspondent particularly care Ful about preparations because he generally will be treated like any Soldier and life an Soldier he will be expected to take care of himself. He knows that a Man fighting a War has Little time or patience for someone particularly a civilian who shows up in his unit Short of water or food or sleeping gear or As has happened too frequently All three. So when i head for the Field i Wear combat fatigues because they Are comfortable and the Roomy pockets Are big enough for pens and note pads. A steel helmet on my head and a Flack jacket around my Chest. The ammunition l it around my stomach holds two canteens of water a knife and a Cartridge contain filled with film and an extra Jens. On my Back Here is a pack with a Waterproof poncho and Nylon liner and p a p c r Blanket because a night on the streets of Hue or in the Nee paddies South of l u Nang can e the coldest of a Man s life. There also Are at least two c ratio meals several extra pairs of socks a sweater a Small flask by John t. Dai Loc Vietnam a for the Vietnam Ese the Start of the Monsoon is a mystical time when the gods Send Rains to flood Rice paddies and begin anew the life Cycle of the peasants. For american troops in the Northern prov inces the Winter Monsoon is a time of Maxi mum misery and danger. Pneumonia Jungle rot cold and ambushes Are commonplace. Even death is sadder in the mud. Lying in Muddy ponchos waiting to be lifted out of the Battle Field by helicopter the dead somehow represent the Vietnam War at ugliest. During the dry season when temperature soar past 120 degrees the Sun can and does kill As surely As a North vietnamese Bullet but it the rare Rifleman who looks Forward to the Winter deluge and temperatures that plunge into the Low 30s on occasion. A Monsoon storm is somewhat startling to those who have not seen one. A solid Blackwall with Gray and dirty White scud below moves in slow majesty Low in the sky. A few warning drops Are followed by a thundering downpour. The Low lying Clouds can prevent jets and helicopters from flying to the Rescue of heavily engaged units a fact the communist capitalize on in planning ambushes. When a tropical storm pushes into the Mon soon Belt the resulting Rains sometimes continue virtually unabated for More than a week. Flesh on fingers and toes shrivel and turns pasty White. Mud on boots and the water held by clothing and Field gear add cruel pounds to eachols already heavy Load in the Field. After the first Day of a hard storm gis often View Trio Rains with a sullen acceptance. Many ignore shelter when they have a few minutes Chance to get out of the rain. The attitude is Why bother Many men sit in the open spoon ing Down cold a rations when a move of 10 feet would give them comparative Protection under Broad leaves of a banana tree or the porch of a vietnamese hut. Stain gear often stays strapped to packs when the downpour comes. Wheeler you get wet either Way. You sweat your Way through your clothes in the rain gear one i explained. On cold mornings men often put on ram gear even in fair weather to Warmup. When a firefight starts the gis Flop on their bellies in Rice paddies and snuggle Down in themed and slime sorry it in t deeper. The flee test trying to race for cover across a flooded Paddy appear to be moving in slow motion As calf deep mud sucks at their boots mortar and artillery shells Burrow into the mud which soaks up much of the shrapnel holding Down casualties on both sides. One of the most used pieces of equipment during the Monsoon cold months is the medic s fever thermometer. Colds quickly slip into wrack ing coughs and then flu or pneumonia. Bathing in Muddy rain swollen streams brings a questionable cleanness to the skin fungus spores abound in the streams. And since the cold water closes the pores the deep Down dirt stays put until that time perhaps Many weeks in the future when the i gets a Chance at Ahot water Shower. Those who have lived in the mud for weeks and months usually Don t bother with More than washing their socks and feet. Filthy clothes stink and cause skin rashes. But unhampered feet quickly succumb to fungus and similar Dis cond of Brandy and several tic bag filled with me Tab sugar % to Al Otere h now pounds or better Pany commander Dow neck because he has an hand to worry although Vietnam is a tropical country bes known for sweltering heat the dump cold of the Winter Monsoon is fur harder on morale soggy uniforms and sweaters Don t help much in the predawn hours when Jis Roll out of their fhe my i qually Vav 1 pm Nyno lieu is to begin but even the cold has uses. It firm tin the hip deep mud in such places us the Marino positions along the demilitarised zone making walking und moving supplies easier "u1� k when roads Are washed away and the Clouds hug the ground troops stuck fur out sometimes go for Days without resupply of food because helicopters cannot get ready for combat it one thing. Getting to it is on other. Now the corresponds has to decide where to go a a i he Calls on his own experience. J his knowledge of the area and i of past communist activity i and moves in the Region on a better than average a b i i i t y a i read maps on his own Realiza Tion of his needs. The first inclination and the right one is to get where the action is the foxhole but there also is a time Ween Iii Wiser to forsake the foxhole a favor of the command Post the Battle for Hue was a Dif Ferent Story the account of us Block by Block recapture of a City and of the people whose lives crumbled around them with every mortar Shell and Bullet and rocket that smashed the once Beautiful Imperial capital. This was a Story of the men themselves. The Only Way to Tell it was to live it with them. That was the Way i chose to do i for 17 Days. Share alike to write about these men you had to get to know them. And so i waited through the Long hours with them and exchanged c ration recipes with them an shared a few candles and per haps a Glass or two of appropriated Brandy with them in what Ever tiny room i could find where i could Black out the windows and spend the Long and thunderous nights. And when we math the push in the Day i went along be cause i had Learned How they moved and How i could move with them. In Battle All sensible men Are scared to one degree or another and a sensible combat correspondent is no exception. In the Back of your head there is the nagging knowledge that one Bullet or one mortar round or one rocket is All thai it takes to kill you As you around plus Corner or Zag across that Street and the horrible conclusion that in All likelihood. A would not hear the one that killed you. But a combat correspondent like a Soldier Harns a few tricks of survival of stayin glow and moving in a broken Field pattern and Neur stand ing in one place for More thana few seconds. He Laius not to crowd up because that in Sens an inviting target. He i1 the Jungle to follow exactly in the footsteps of the Man ahead because it at least Minim the chances or trea cling on a mine or Boob trap. These conn1 natural after a while. Rut mostly a correspondent in combat is too Busy working to Nisy surviving to Hase Tulliu worry. The worrying comes at my Hon he writes histones olives the Day
