Frontline infantry owed thanks, gratitude

This Military Tale is hard to put into words and I don’t know if I will get it right so that readers will really understand.

It refers to frontline infantrymen going on patrol and night ambush set-ups in the jungles of Vietnam. And they did it on a routine basis.

You will not understand what went through their minds, not knowing if all will go well, or if they were walking into an ambush and about to die.

But this story is about the patrol leaders, either an officer or a senior sergeant, what goes through their minds. I didn’t do it on a routine basis at all, but I did do it.

First off, I had the men test their weapons by firing into a hole before we left the perimeter (protected area around base camp). Then off we went into the jungle to set up a night ambush attack situation. The purpose of this was to keep the Viet Cong away from our camp. This was accomplished by day time patrols, and night ambush set ups.

So basically what I am trying to get across is what goes through the patrol leader’s mind. It isn’t that he hopes that he doesn’t get killed; the main thing that goes through most leaders' minds, is not of himself, but of others. “I hope I don’t do something stupid or mess up  and get one or more of my men killed.”

That was the top priority and thoughts going through a leader’s mind. But again, there is the old expression, you had to have been there and done that to really understand that they were life-and-death situations, not just words. I applaud the frontline infantry platoons who did this on a continual basis.

Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran, serving in the 1st Infantry Division, and is business owner in Priest River.