Paint It Black
Excerpt:
5
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The first night there was awkward for Martin and the new arrivals.  They expected combat in some form.  Maybe a mortar arrack?  Maybe cannon fire?  Not that they wanted it, but it was what their minds had built up for them to expect.  But there was none.  The veterans of the unit, men like: Josh Flowers, Colby Hearn, Ray Frederick, and Paul Heckers stayed up late into the night, playing cards and drinking beer.  They were used to the sort of warfare Vietnam presented, and knew that the toughest part of it all was patrol.

"A lot of times guys be walkin' them hills, choppin' through them mountains, and the grenades start gettin' heavy.  And you start throwin' your grenades under bushes and takin' your bandoliers off.  It wasn't questioned if you felt like goin' to get the same thing again next time."-Bloods.

Mosquitoes, leeches and red ants were even more detested than rats.  They seemed to thrive everywhere in Vietnam.  Troops wore bottles of insect repellant on their helmets.  About 75 percent of outbreaks of falciprum malaria broke out among troops, as well.  These men were also the most likely from other diseases such as diarrhea, hepatitis and scrub typhus. 

Snakes were also prevalent in some regions, and especially during monsoon season.

"Ninety-nine out of a hundred snakes in Vietnam are poisonous, and the one hundredth, swallows you whole", Veterans told the new soldiers.  Added to this was the weight of the gear.

GIs carried about 60 pounds of equipment.  Some battalions required more.  When the operation required more the load increased.  "It doesn't take long to get you run down when you're carrying everything on your own back."-infantryman.

Everything was flown into the fire-base.  Food from the rear, beer, magazines and hygienic supplies.  The army did its best to make sure the boys on the front were given all the amenities they needed to help wage a frustrating war.  However, Martin and the others quickly realized this was not Camp Alpha.  There was no air-conditioning, just a few fans hooked up to a generator.  Mosquito nets kept out the non-industrious insects, but the men suffered the bites and stings of their more crafty compatriots.

Morning of Martin's second day at Fire-Base Delta saw him waking early with the others, showering, and eating in the mess-area.  Bacon and eggs and solid biscuits filled the stomachs up, and he took a stroll near the gunposts towards the edge of the base.  Hand on hip he gazed out at the awaiting jungle, whose dark gates stood guard under the shade of the dominating trees.  Helicopters could be heard approaching in the distance, as even more men and supplies arrived from the rear.

Late in 1967, the North Vietnamese moved two divisions into the Khe Sanh Valley.  The Marines had fought there in the spring of that year, and since departed.  The NVA (North Vietnamese Army) 325C Division, who'd fought in that battle, and the 340th, who displayed Dien 
Bien Phu-the French's last stand in Vietnam-on their banner were sent to the region.   Lowell English, of the 3rd Marine Division, opined "When you're at Khe Sanh, you're not really anywhere."   

To the American generalship, Khe Sanh looked to be a hoped for North Vietnamese repeat of Dien Bien Phu.  "The anticipated confrontation was both nerve-raking and welcome to Westmoreland (commander of American forces in Vietnam)."  He hoped to reverse what happened at Dien Bien Phu.  He wanted to bomb and shell them into submission.  "No intelligence means-ground reconnaissance teams, aerial photography, airborne infrared and side-looking radar, communications and signal intercept, electronic sensors sown from aircraft along likely approach routes-was to be spared to pinpoint the NVA troops and their heavy weapons enveloping Khe Sanh." 

Westmoreland didn't want to rely only on planes and artillery.  Patrols sent out from the base revealed increasing NVA resistance.  Another Marine battalion was sent to reinforce the garrison.  The Air Cav was moved in from the coast.  Westmoreland feared that an attack on Khe Sanh would be followed up with an invasion of the DMZ.  40% of American infantry and armor would be in the region as January came to a close.