(Any criticism will be appreciated)
R rating-Some swearing and a very graphic description. This story is about a US marine and a VPA soldier during the battle of Hue.
Hue,Vietnam
1968
Battle of Hue
US marine Offensive
My name is Joseph Sullivan, At the age of 19 I was drafted into the US marines and after 3 weeks of training, I was assigned to the 7th marines battalion and sent to Vietnam. I arrived just in time for the battle of Hue. The next few days would be the worst of my life, not just because of what I went through, but also what I had to do.
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The building shook as artillery exploded nearby. Dust covered my face and uniform as we made our way through what was once a police station. The building shook again as the shells rained down on hue city. I crawled through the ruins, followed by my squad mates. At the front, our leader Sgt.Murphy put up his hand and we stopped. He crawled over to the window,looked out and then turned to the rest of the squad.
He looked at us and said,"Ok we 16 VPA soldiers outside. Private Bartowski, Cover us from the second floor. Rest of you, come with me."
He then stood up and made his way to a nearby door. We followed him. He opened the door a slight bit and looked outside. He then opened the door and walked into a side alley. He moved closer to the patrol which had just passed by and threw a grenade into them. Most of them cried out and the squad dissolved. Some hit the floor and others ran. The grenade exploded, killing 2 men that had hit the floor or tripped. Our squad ran out of the building and into the street. I fired my M16, not hitting anything but it didn't give the enemy a chance to fire. I heard the expelled casings clattering on the floor.
I then was pushed to the ground. I looked up to see a Vietnamese soldier with his rifle aimed at me. I closed my eyes and I fired my M16 upwards, not stopping until my clip was empty. Looking back on it I know it was excessive but I was a frightened 19 year old. I dropped my assault rifle and then felt something fall on top of me. I opened my eyes to find my self staring a the bullet ridden face. It was the soldier who was about to kill me. His body was littered with red holes and his face was torn apart, bone sticking out and limp muscle hanging where the bullets had hit, his last expression distorted and mangled by the damage done to it.
His face was no longer recognisable, the bullets destroying anything that was once human about him. I remained silent, not able to anything as I looked at the corpse. Sweat trickled down my face as I stared at the dead man and I tried to scream but my mouth felt like it had been glued together and all I could manage was a whimper of fear. The man seemd to be screaming, his mouth hanging open. In my head I could hear a scream so loud I thought my ears would bleed. My trousers felt damp and warm and for a mintue I thought I had wet myself from fear but as I looked down, I saw patches of red. I then a liquid surging up through my throat.
Just then Sgt. Murphy spotted me and ran over to me, pulling away the corpse and picking me up. I then jerked forward as I threw up.
Sgt. Murphy said,"Shit, hes gone into shock. Private, put him up against the wall for a minute."
A man in his early twenties came over me and set me down against the wall. After of a few minutes Murphy came up to me and said,"Come on, we're done here."
I saw what was left of the VPA squad. Dead bodies were being thrown onto a pile. A marine handed me my M16. I looked a the pile of corpses. Their bodies were tangled and a dark pool at forming at the bottom. The sight of it almost caused me to vomit again. We formed up into a squad.
And then we started moving towards our objective.
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Thats all I have done right now. I will do the VPA part next.
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