Lefter went to the viewing slit and studied the
terrain in front of him. The machine gun nest down by the barbwire
looked to be in good condition. He studied it for several minutes but he
couldnt see any movement there. He got the field glasses and studied it
some more. He still couldnt tell if the nest was occupied. Beyond the
barbwire, the unused rice paddies showed no activity even with close
inspection through the binoculars. He studied the terrain on the hills
where the outposts were located and saw no movement there either.
Finally, he focused the binoculars on the barren hills where the Chinese
MLR was located and he couldnt see any movement there. "Where the hell
are they?" thought Lefter.
Then his heart jumped. What was that? Something
flashed through the view in the binoculars. He quit looking through the
binoculars just in time to see a Marine Corsair drop a napalm bomb on
the Chinese MLR. Several other Corsairs followed immediately in single
file and dropped napalm. Anti-aircraft shells started exploding far
above the low flying Corsairs and tracer bullets filled the air around
the streaking airplanes.
Lefter went outside the bunker for a better view. He
watched in fascination as the Corsairs dove down one by one and attacked
the Chinese MLR. A small single engine plane called an L-19 circled
slowly high above the attacking Corsairs. The L-19 pilot is telling the
Corsair pilots by radio where to target their next run. It was a strange
contrast to see the Corsairs screaming through the sky while the L-19
spun slowly in its lazy circle. Lefters untimely sense of humor kicked
as it occurred to him that, the L-19 is a real safe plane; "it goes so
slow that it can probably just barely kill you." He briefly wondered why
the L-19 wasnt drawing any anti-aircraft fire but quickly decided that
the Chinese had all they could handle just trying to defend against the
Corsairs. The L-19 was not, in and of itself, doing damage to the
Chinese ground troops.
Although the napalm was being dropped a mile or so
north of Lefters bunker it was frightening to watch. Each drop spread a
wall of flame that appeared to be a hundred yards or more in length. It
made him shiver and shake his head at the horrible sights his
imagination was picturing in his brain. The soldiers being hit with the
napalm must be screaming while their entire body is afire. "Holy crap,"
he said out loud. "Holy crap!"
Now the Corsairs were screaming in single file over
the hills and firing their machine guns. They made several final passes
and then flew southeasterly and crossed the U.S. MLR several hundred
yards to the east of Lefter. The L-19 was nowhere in sight. Lefter
decided that the L-19 must have retreated south under the cover of the
strafing runs by the Corsairs. Clever tactic he thought.
Lefter was still standing beside the bunker when he
heard the familiar whistle of incoming artillery. "Oh shit!" he said as
he ran back into the bunker. The round went overhead and landed
somewhere on the backside of the hill. "You dumb shit," he mumbled to
himself, "you dilly dallied around out there until some Chinese spotter
called one in on you. Youre lucky a sniper didnt pick you off." Then
he heard more incoming rounds. The incoming kept increasing in numbers
until the air was filled with those eerie whistling sounds. Soon the
sound of outgoing artillery rounds combined with the whistles of
incoming rounds.
Looking out of the viewing slit, Lefter could see
exploding artillery rounds landing down the slope in front of him.
Several rounds landed in the barbwire line. The explosions left caused
gaping holes in the barbwire entanglements. So far, the machine gun nest
was intact. Lefter could hear other rounds landing behind the bunker
area and along the MLR on both sides of his bunker. A large explosive
flash temporarily blinded Lefter. A round had landed directly in front
of the bunker. It briefly blinded Lefter but he heard the immediate
thumps of shrapnel hitting the sandbags along the bunker. He jumped back
and shook his head. As his eyesight came slowly back, he retreated to
the wooden table, sat down and buried his head in his hands. Shaking his
head in his hands he thought of how lucky he was that a piece of the
shrapnel didnt come through the viewing slit and hit him in the
head.
Read more about me and my writings at www.authorsden.com/jcharlescheek
John Cheek, Korean War Veteran