"Reeves, James R & Taylor, James Carl - Vietnam 02 - Covert Actions" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reeves James R)

of what he was trying to do in 'Nam.

Not very many guys got letters like that. I didn't.
His wife would always say hi and tell me to take care
of myself, or something like that, when she sent a
tape. I talked a little to his wife and his dad, once,
on the tape recorder. They recorded a little message
back. His dad said, "It sounds like Billy's got a good
friend." Not once did I ever hear them say that the
war was a lot of bullshit. Not once did they ever write
it. They were behind him all the way. They were
strong and proud people, and I guess I wanted to be
pan of that. He had everything going for him, and I
wanted him to have it. That's why I tried to keep him
from seeing a lot of action.

In the last tape he got, his wife told him that in five
more months his name was going to be changed to
Daddy. That really made Billy light up. He had been
in *Nam a little over three months, and he was look-
ing forward to being a father. She went on to say how
much she loved him and how much she cared. She
ended the tape, "You and Jay take care of each other,
and the baby and I will do the same."

The guys were forever telling me about their prob-
lems at home, or with each other, wondering what to
do. Billy just told me about how great everything was
at home. He knew I didn't get any mail from back
there. When he was around, I had someone to listen
to me for a change, and I could get all the shit out of
my head. He couldn't offer any advice; he'd never
had to make a life-or-death decision with someone
else's life, so he couldn't fully understand the hurt
and the guilt that you're left with. But he really cared,
and that was good enough.

COVERT ACTIONS 9

Then we walked into an ambush. They got around
us on three sides and were really pouring it into us. I
thought I'd get Billy out of it, and I sent him back for
help. They got him before he could get very far. We
fought our way out of the ambush, and it was a running
fight all the way back to the river. I carried his body out.
The ironic thing is, the rest of us only got flesh wounds.

That was months before I was shipped stateside, and
when I got back, I still couldn't close my eyes without
seeing the back of his head fly off, or feeling the stick-