The heat could be unbearable at times, the delta of Vietnam was like a natural sauna. It would rain almost every day during the summer, keeping everything lush but the humidity was almost 100% without the rain. The mud was always there, red, sticky and everywhere. The vegetation was like nothing we had ever seen before, tall, cutting and scary. It smelled, always that same musty smell.
Moc Hoa was a camp in the rice bowl region on the banks of the Song Vam river, but far from anywhere interesting. There were a total of 12 men assigned to this camp, two officers and 10 enlisted men. Just a short distance from the camp was the remains of a French Foreign Legion camp, now rotted and in ruins. We were not the first reluctant warriors to the area. Just to the north of the camp lay Cambodia, the Viet Cong's R&R center.
The nights were filled with flares and gunfire, some much closer than they should have been. During the day some of these people were doing business with the Army, but at night, some had a different business. They all dressed and looked alike, making us forever suspicious. There were signs at Moc Hoa saying, "Kill Them All, Let God Sort Them Out". This seemed to permeate the thinking of the 12 men assigned at the camp.
When there are only 12 men assigned to a team, you got to know each very well. Your very life depended upon your comrades. You got to know about their families, just as though you had actually met them. Yet, as always there would be secrets, sometimes these secrets were never divulged. All of these men had endured the year of training that you had, each with their own area of specialization. Rank was fast in the unit, this was the elite of the Army, so they rewarded all of us with fast rank.
Most of the men were very masculine, confident and skilled. The engineering assistant was a little different, more artistic, interested in literature and classical music. I think we all felt that he was slightly effeminate because of his preferences. He did his job well, so there were never any questions.
There was no privacy in the camp, everything was open, communal. The heavy weapons NCO was all of maybe 23 and every time he took a shower he would jack off. This was no easy feat, even though the sun baked the water tank all day, it was still like taking a cold shower. No one seemed to pay any attention to him, it was just something that happened. Most just waited until night, laid in bed and made time with their own cock. The women in the immediate area were not attractive, most were older, attached and seemed to chew beetle nut, which made their teeth black and rotted. Even for a horny soldier, mounting someone with a black tooth smile was not inviting.
We had to make a trip into the regional headquarters in Can Tho one hot, sunny day. This was always done by chopper, it was not safe to travel on the area roads in a vehicle. A jeep or ¾ ton truck was a moving target in the area, always taking fire. It was a little after noon when we arrived in Can Tho and made our way over to the headquarters. The meeting seemed to last longer than normal, but there was a change in mission for the team, now a hatchet team. The team was now going to be more on the offensive than we had with our original mission.
