The sun was hot, blazing down on their crisped necks and worn souls. 2nd Platoon made their way up the knoll of dry grass as every American soldier kept their rifle in hand and eye on the nearby bushes.

This seemed like it was the situation that ambushes were made of. A calm marching patrol one minute, gun shots and death the next.

Glen, who marched near the rear, was one of the newer men in the company and he had only two encounters with Charlie. One while strong holding in a foxhole, and the other when his base was attacked. Both were quick and quite soft compared to some of the stories he had heard.

He had heard horrific recounts of overwhelming forces, and about Charlie’s prisoner policy. He couldn’t understand if they were meant to scare him or inspire him to fight that much harder. Either way, he was put in this jungle with a gun… and he had to do whatever it took to live.

It had been a seemingly calm afternoon, with his platoon only being ordered to patrol a simple land route near the Lang Tze River. Everybody in his unit knew that the river provided specific strategic value in the nearby valleys, as the river was the primary landmark that divided two forces from each other.

Glen looked around as his unit was finally leaving the dry hill and entering the thick, sweltering jungle. Glen felt that gulp of pressure and anxiety go down his throat as he tried to put things in perspective.

Either he would make it out of here, or he wouldn’t.

Either he would kill a man, or he wouldn’t.

Either he would eat dinner tonight, or he wouldn’t.

The river wasn’t too far from the entrance to the jungle, maybe half of a kilometer which passed quite quickly. As they approached the river, platoon leader Lt. Pinsky raised a fist, and everybody silently dropped to a knee.

Slowly, he turned around and waved for Private Miller and Private Pavlik, and as they crawled to him, they realized what he was looking at. In the shallow section of the river, Vietnamese troops seemed to be surveying their respective bank and setting up a defense perimeter. American troops had been frequenting this area quite often lately and Charlie seemed occupied with not letting it continue.

Glen turned his head and looked at Lt. Pinsky, and dread filled his heart… he knew that Pinsky had medals in his eyes, commendations in his heart, and promotion on his mind.

They were going to attack.

“Miller, take Monegan and Hinsley a 15 yards upriver. Establish sniper positions and be prepared in five-oh. Pavlik, take Jamijin and set up position a 20 yards down river. Again, be ready in five-oh,” whispered Lt. Pinksy with a commanding tone.

A tone that told Private Glen that his life was in the balance, but Glen did not question the Lieutenant’s order… when you disobey orders, you die.

Glen could tell that Lt. Pinsky’s strategy was simple. He would set up flanking sniper positions and draw in Charlie’s troops across the river.

A sound plan, however, they were in Vietnam.

And they were fighting Charlie.