Guns Up! Read Online Free Page A

again. “Is that an ear pinned to your helmet?”
    “Yeah, man. I used to have more, but they drew too many flies. I saved this one to suck on. Want a lick?”
    I laughed. “No thanks.”
    “Well, I do.” He took his helmet off and unpinned the ear, then stuck it in his mouth and sucked on it like a lollipop. I don’t know what my face looked like, but my mouth had no response. Even Chan was left speechless.
    Sam led us down a narrow path for about two hundred meters when a driving rainstorm hit us with the monsoon fury we’d been told about. When we reached the squad, the men were relaxing in a muddy circle behind the remains of a cement wall and making no effort to stay dry. Faces seemed to light up as they recognizedRed, and the most excited one belonged to a short, rather chunky Marine with “ DON’T SHOOT I’M NOT A GRUNT ” printed on his helmet and flak jacket.
    When Red said he was taking over the gun, the fat little man actually jumped into the air and clicked his heels. “Take this bull’s-eye off my back. I’m going back to mortars, baby!” With that, he threw on his pack and disappeared without so much as a goodbye or good luck.
    My stomach tightened. The situation looked worse every time somebody opened their mouth. Suddenly a machine gun opened up from the city. I hit the ground with a splash. When I opened my eyes I discovered Chan and I were the only ones ducking. The rest of the squad stood looking over the cement wall and laughing.
    I stood up cautiously and peered over the wall. Running down the street directly to my front was a black Marine. He weaved back and forth, trying to present a difficult target, but that wasn’t what was funny. He was pushing a small Honda motorcycle while balancing a television set on the seat. The machine gun opened up again. It sounded bigger, slower, and more powerful than the M60.
    “Chief!” Red shouted. “That’s a fifty! I thought the city was cleaned up?”
    “You thought wrong,” a deep voice answered. It belonged to a tall, dark-skinned corporal with a nose like a Roman’s and a chin that looked like it had been cast from iron. Though the closest I’d ever been to a real Indian was Tonto, even I could tell that this guy was the real thing. He was the only one not laughing. “There’s still a couple of fifties left. They chained ’em to walls so they couldn’t run. They’re too doped up to surrender.” The big Indian looked bored.
    The black Marine reached the cover of the cement wall, gasping for air and grinning an utterly happy grin. He hung on to the TV like it was a kid he had just rescued from a fire. He crumpled to the ground still smiling.No one noticed the lieutenant until he slid in like he was stealing third base. He looked at the black Marine as if he’d never seen him before. His mouth opened to speak, but the words weren’t forming very well.
    “Jackson! Where do you think you are, Marine! This ain’t no riot in Watts!”
    “Spoils of war, Lieutenant.” Jackson’s big smile was catching. Just looking at him made me grin too.
    “The guy who owned the store was dead anyway, Lieutenant. Would you mind keeping this stuff for me till we go back to Phu Bai so I can mail it home?” The lieutenant looked horrified.
    “And look at this!” Jackson lifted his chin, revealing a vicious-looking green rubber snake with bloody teeth that clamped onto Jackson’s shirt like a clothespin.
    “Drop that garbage and saddle up. We’re moving out in ten minutes.”
    “What?” the Indian corporal asked.
    “That’s right, Chief.”
    “Why?”
    “To preserve the honor of the South Vietnamese we’re pulling out so they can mop up. Saddle up! We got choppers on the way.”
    An hour later I jumped off a troop helicopter in Phu Bai. The base looked strangely different this time, no longer dangerous and foreign, but actually safe.
    Early the next morning the whole company was bouncing down Highway 1 away from Hue City. We reached the