Free Court Martial by Donald E. Zlotnik Page B

Lee San Ko, Kirkpatrick, and Clancy Brown will never
     be remembered. I owe it to my team.”
    Sinclair nodded in agreement. “As long as you live and have a mouth, they’ll never be forgotten.”
    Spencer nodded and turned to look out the window. He felt like crying again, but that would be too much. Once in a lifetime
     was enough for white trash out of South Carolina.
    Mary looked up from the note she had written for the colonel with the address of their summer home on it. “Colonel, I don’t
     know why you’re doing this for Spencer, but it’s the best thing that could happen to him right now. Thank you.”
    Colonel Sinclair smiled. “No thanks necessary. Spencer Barnett doesn’t know it, but he saved my son’s life.”

CHAPTER FOUR
Montagnards
    Heat seemed to radiate off everything in the jungle in the form of steam. The rain had just stopped and as soon as the clouds
     disappeared the tropical sun beat down on the wet vegetation.
    Sergeant Woods stopped and turned around to face back down the trail. He was acting as the recon team’s rear guard. He listened
     for a good minute and then moved on. Warner was acting as the point man. The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, soldier’s mother
     would literally have had a heart attack if she had known that her son was performing such dangerous duty and especially on
     a reconnaissance team. She thought he was serving in Saigon under a general officer whose family lived near their Georgetown
     townhouse in Washington, D.C.
    Sergeant Arnason clicked his tongue and the patrol came to an instant halt. Only Woods moved along the trail until he caught
     up to the team, and then he stopped. Arnason listened to the jungle. The whole team knew that they were in Laos, a neutral
     country, and their capture or exposure would embarrass the United States government, especially since President Nixon had
     told the whole world that there were no American troops in Cambodia or Laos.
    Arnason signaled with his hand for the team to circle around him. Woods slipped next to the team leader and waited until Warner
     had joined them off the point. Koski, the big Polish man, kept his back to the team and watched the jungle to the north, while
     Sanchez watched to the south. RT BAD NEWS was the best recon team in the First Cavalry Division and their reputation was legendary.
     The black-dyed Marine fatigue caps they wore brought free drinks in any bar in I Corps, and that included free drinks from
     Marines and Navy types alike. Once, a couple of Marines tried taking the caps away from the Army team and a riot nearly broke
     out until a Marine who recognized the silver skulls on the caps pulled the other Marines aside and whispered into their ears.
     A series of apologies followed, along with a half-dozen drinks. RT Bad News had bailed out a couple of Marine Force Recon
     Teams from a very bad situation along the border a couple of months earlier and a great deal of respect was held for that
     team.
    Arnason leaned over and whispered to Warner, “How close do you think we are to the rendezvous site?”
    Warner didn’t hesitate and pointed a little to the left of the trail. “Two hundred meters.”
    Arnason nodded. “Good… Everyone be on the lookout for an ambush.” He looked over at the single Montagnard who had accompanied
     the team as an interpreter. “Are you all right?”
    The small Vietnamese Indian smiled. He was in his element.
    “Good. Let’s move out.... David, cover our rear; Koski, stick close with that M-60.”
    The big Pole nodded.
    Warner took the lead again and started moving through the jungle. He had been following the natural contour of the hill along
     an overgrown deer path and veered slightly to his left. Warner needed to look at a map only
once
of a small area such as a ten-square-click recon zone and he recalled everything in his head. Once he was oriented on the
     ground, it was impossible for him to get lost, day or night. He was phenomenal.
    The jungle opened