The Siege of Firebase Gloria

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1

Looks abandoned.

Or worse.

Let's go, Shortwave.

It was Chinese New Year.

The Tet holiday.

The communists had

called a 36-hour truce.

It should've

been a routine patrol.

But we weren't

taking any chances.

Get DiNardo up here.

DiNardo was my right hand.

Go!

The kind of gung-ho fighting machine

that Marines are famous for.

We'd been to this village before

and a lot of smiling,

shaking hands

and bowing

to show that we

were the good guys.

The people were friendly.

We like them

and they liked us.

DiNardo knew enough Vietnamese

to be a big hit.

So it really hurts

to see their heads on stakes.

This rotten war was

getting to us.

We'd stay too long,

we seen too much.

Jesus Christ. . .

Sonofabitch!

DiNardo!

Got more in the wells.

Jesus. . .

No amount of training

could prepare you for an experience like this.

Shortwave said he'd seen worse

on the streets of Detroit.

But that's the kind of bullshit

you use to keep from going crazy.

Murphy was the one

that's hit the hardest.

He was a green college

kid from Indiana.

The closest he'd been to death

was his grand dad's funeral.

Sergeant Hafner!

Yo!

This is insanity.

This is effective.

Charlie's got this valley

by the balls.

Won't nobody step outta

line around here.

Sergeant Major!

Yo!

We got a boy, Sergeant Major.

He's alive!

Please, kid.

Calm down.

C'mon, Juicy?

Wanna Juicy?

Juicy, Juicy, Juicy.

There ain't no

ceasefire around here

that's for damn sure.

Somethin' comin' down.

Somethin' heavy.

Oh, we gotta find out

what it is.

We gonna leave

the village like this?

Torch it.

We radioed headquarters,

but they didn't read the signs

like we did.

Just another bunch

of dead gooks

What else is new?

DiNardo was pretty

steamed up inside

so I put him on point.

Best therapy

I could think of.

As point men go,

DiNardo had few equals.

He had a sharp eye

and a good nose for trouble.

Hold on.

It's DiNardo, sir.

What do you got?

Two VC by a cave.

I'm gonna pop 'em.

We got contact.

Murphy, I want you to check

out the area.

Need to know how many

dinks we're dealing with here.

You sure you wanna do this alone?

Yeah.

My turn.

Besides, I had needed a bath.

Okay Nard, you got the ball.

if I ain't back in ten,

use your imagination.

Sure..

Stay on 'em.

Jesus Christ.

You look like a f***ing ghost.

Whose were these?

I lost. . .

Lost my whole patrol.

What's your unit, son?

There were thousands.

We saw. . .

We saw thousands of 'em.

What's your name, son?

I don't. . .

I don't know.

No. . . No. . .

I'm whip-bounding.

Two clicks back. . .

Abandoned camps.

Looked about company size.

Well, there's a company,

there's a battalion.

- Come.

Tell DiNardo to get everybody

ready to pull out.

-Right.

C-4's in place, Sergeant Major.

Might be a pretty good

idea to blow it up.

Yes, sir.

Dinks up ahead!

Twenty, maybe thirty.

You know the program,

DiNardo.

Do your thing.

I want you bunched up

around the casualty.

Let's move.

DiNardo was like a brother

I never had.

He's always getting into trouble.

And I was always gettin' him out.

But when the times got tough,

he was the one

I knew I could count on.

For a while, there had been

some tension between us.

And it needed to be resolved.

But now was not the time.

Now, I needed the best

rifleman in the squad

covering my back.

Any VC in your area?

No VC here.

Only fish made in bottles.

-Yeah, I bet.

Where the boy come from?

We found the boy in An Lap village.

An Lap village?

I don't like it.

Let's move.

Let's get outta here.

I don't like the looks

of this at all.

Get on the horn.

There's not a swinging dink here

that ain't recruiting age.

Tell DiNardo to lock and load.

Watch the one

with the hairy face.

Lock and load, DiNardo.

It don't look good.

Sergeant Major's saying: watch

the one with the beard.

Shortwave, get your dumb black

John Wayne ass down!

Get down!

Get that Fifty on the boat!

Ceasefire! Hold your fire!

I want these boats

under water.

Don't use our frags.

There's plenty of dink

grenades up here.

I'd like to know where these needle-dick

dinks are getting new AK-f***in'-47s at.

What the hell's goin' on here, Spider?

You on Rand R?

Get down here and

help Hawk sink those boats.

Shortwave, you get in touch

with the damn chopper yet?

No, sir. Sergeant Major.

Keep trying.

Hey, DiNardo!

Yo!

I want an accurate body count.

I got it!

Twenty males. Nine females.

Three goddamn tots.

You'll love this sh*t.

VC regulars.

Just beautiful.

Happy Chinese New Year.

Murphy, are you ready yet?

I want that chopper in

here, right now.

Doin' my best, Sergeant Major.

Yeah, well. That's not

quite good enough.

Try harder.

Golden Eagle,

this is Shortwave.

What the hell am

I gonna name you, huh?

How 'bout, Pee Wee, huh?

Can you say, Pee Wee?

Pee Wee.

Pee Wee.

- Pee Wee

Pee Wee, I named you

Pee Wee.

Pee Wee Reese.

The greatest baseball player

for the Brooklyn Dodgers

that ever lived.

Don't get too goddamn

attached to that boy.

You know, what?

He sure as hell

doesn't look like Jimmy.

But he's got the

same spark in his eye.

You know what I mean?

Look at him.

It doesn't get any

goddamn easier.

Does it Nard?

Nope.

So, Sergeant Major. Where

the hell are we going now?

A little goddamn firebase.

Gloria's the name of it.

What?

Gloria!

Ain't too far from here.

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