bunker duty, xuan loc 1970

[m151mp]

i was on bunker guard one night in xuan loc, where the 199th inf bde had a forward tactical operation center. in those days it was 2 hours and 2 hours off. we were up on top of the bunker because it was too hot to be inside it and try to sleep. as i finished my turn, i turned around to take the prone and try and catch a few Z's, when i saw some one making quick short runs between the hootches. so my partner called it in, and i proned out facing in, while he did the same facing out. keep in mind, now, that xuan loc was very quiet---nothing hardly ever happened there. so i watch this guy slipping from hootch to hootch, working his way toward the bunker line where i am on top of the one he's closest to. also, i'm not a combat soldier---so i'm paying pretty close attention, i'm not accustomed to what i think is about to happen. in a few minutes i see him head for us and then he grabs our ladder and starts climbing up it. by now i've got an M16 pointed right at the top of the ladder, so the first thing i see is going to get shot. all that saved the guy was the silver cross on his baseball cap---it was a chaplain making the rounds, even more green than i was, and wanting to be sure "charlie" didn't see him from outside the wire and take a shot at him. seems kind of funny now, but at the time, not so much. small episodes like this have served to highlight in my own mind the well earned respect i have toward line troops, who spent their tour in the field, and who undoubtedly will laugh, should they read this.