Page 262 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

looked.stunned.Thesoldierswhoshoutedathirntostopneverhad
a chance to finish their warnings' Nearby halfway between the house
and the pagoda, 15 rneters away, the lieutenant was cut down by bursts
of .n.t ty Jubrt achinegun f ire. Some so!'diers turned their heads away
o.r.r"orrl. by ernotions.Others atternpted to dash out to recover hi6
body but none could budge an inch' The bursts-of enerny autornatic
fire were heavy enough io pin thern all down' I heard Lt' Tong shout
over the rad.io : rrI never told anyone to charge ahead yet' I told
evexyone to wait until the occupation of the pagodatr' Then I heard hirn
t.po.t over the radio to his cornrnanding officer about the loss of rra
big childtr and hi.s rnenr s inability to recover his body as yet' He re-

ported so in an obviously ernotional voice'

tt Frorn the toP of the pagodars central altar Lord Buddha
detachedly and quietly witnessed the c ontinuing hurnan tragedy right
frorn the very beginning' The gunfire increased in pace and intensity
on both sides. The M.l6s of the Marines almost drowned out ihe
whistling enerny AK s. A few Marines, under covering fire' rnanaged
to bring the boiy of ThirdLieutenant Nhut back into the pagoda' The
..rr"o"Iion operati'on lasted fifteen rninutes' The lieutenantrs body was
quickly plt."d ot a waiting stretcher' He was-f atally hit in his heart'
tfr" t,.,it.t piercing througir the left soft side of his flak jacket' Laid to
rest on the stretcher, tris head turned a bit on one side' his eyes
tightly closed, his lirnbs spread wide and loose' hib face just looked
as if nothing had happened to hirn' Sornebody had wrapped his body.
with a poncho. A soldier said Lt Nhut had proven very courageous In
actions. He had led the way in several assaults on enerny
positions, narnely in the Cai Lay battle shortly before Hue' In Cai
".rr..al
Luy l-tNhut and his fellow soldiers in-flicted heavy casualties on the
.rr.t ry and seized as lnany as 95 weapons' That was all of the story
of the dead li'eutenant, the soldier could recount' Brief and sirnple
as it was, the soldierts speech sounded to rne rnuch rnore significant
than, say, a long eulogy' Ernptily and also reverantly I followed the
stretcher, whictr was c-arri'ed out of the pagoda by four soldiers' One
of the soldiers was carrying the dead rnants M' 16 riJle'

Right on the blood-stained little piece of lawn where
"
LtNhutrnetdeathsorneonehadleftahelrnetupsidedown.Idid
notknowforsurewhetheritwasLtNhutls.Iguesseditwas.It
was covered by a piece of old, almost threadbare fabric wi'th sorne
unprofessionai dra*ings and sketgie-s.as well as sorrle signatures'
rrLive
I plcked it up and t*o lines of haiidwriting beside you'
""*

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