Go On, Take The Money And Run

The rescue mission had been approved.  We had a plan, a pile of supplies, and a team of men who wanted to find Major Anthony as much as I did.  We were waiting on the helicopter.  As soon as our ride showed up, we would take off. 

 

Instead, the phone rang.  Major Anthony was alive and well.  And nowhere near Cambodia.  He was in the South Vietnamese port city of Can Tho.  Two hundred and fifty miles south of the battle where we got separated.  Can Tho handles much of the trade from the boats going up and down the Mekong River.

 

He caught a ride back to the base with a fuel convoy.  You could tell, the past few days had not been good to him.  His face was covered with scratches.  He was pale and looked like he’d lost a few pounds.  But he was alive, and in one piece.  And, his sense of humor was intact.

 

Everyone gathered around when he showed up.  We couldn’t wait to hear about his adventure.  He took a deep breath, and got that look on his face.  I knew, before we heard the truth, we were going to hear one of Major Anthony’s special stories.

 

“I don’t want any of you to take this personally, but I had been looking for a way to ditch you so I could fight this war by myself.  The truth is, the rest of you have just been weighing me down.  When the fighting began, I saw my chance and slipped away…”

 

Major Anthony relayed one impossible battle after another, through tunnels, jungles, and cities, until he stole a MiG-17 from an airbase outside of Hanoi, and flew it to Can Tho.  I was pretty sure my friend had no idea how to fly any aircraft, much less a Russian military jet.

 

The look on his face changed, and the room went silent.  “Now I know why you shouldn’t go into battle with a cold and congested sinuses.  When the bullets started flying, the sound was pounding in my ears.  I hit the ground.  I was disoriented and couldn’t think.”

 

“I know I reacted, but I honestly don’t remember much of what happened the first few minutes.  I must have been in reflex mode for a while.  When I snapped out of it, I realized I had become separated.  There were five of them between me and the rest of you.”

 

Eddie killed two of the men quickly.  But the other three knew what they were doing.  They provided cover fire for each other and began advancing towards him.  He realized he had no choice but to retreat.  And the only direction he could go would take him away from his mates.

 

To make it worse, he could tell his pursuers were moving faster than him.  It would not take them long to get close enough for a clear shot.  The jungle would only protect him if he could stay ahead.

 

Eddie realized he had to lighten his load and move faster.  He emptied the clip from his M-16 in their direction, then threw the rifle into the jungle as far as he could.  He pulled off his backpack, tossed it in the other direction, and began moving as fast as he could through the vegetation.

 

The only weapons Major Anthony had were a pistol and knife.  He had a map, a full canteen, and his survival kit.  Also, an English-Khmer dictionary, and a wallet filled with Riels, the Cambodian currency.  That would be all he would need.

 

Without the rifle and backpack, he began to move faster than his pursuers.  A distance opened between them.  He came to a small river, Prek Chhloung.  There was a huge ficus tree at the bank.  Eddie knew he could not run for much longer.  He decided to try a deception.   If that didn’t work, he would make his last stand, hidden in the foliage of the gigantic tree.

 

He found a branch on the ground.  The ficus tree was at a bend in the river and the current had deposited a layer of rocks.  He intentionally made heavy, long steps up to the edge of the water, as if he had been running.  Then he poked the branch into the mud beneath the water, where he would have stepped, if he had gone into the river.

 

He threw the stick in the water, then walked as lightly as he could to the massive tree.  At twenty feet, the trunk split into a tangle of large branches, twisting in every direction.  Eddie climbed up and found a spot where he could see the ground below, but it would be difficult to see him.

 

His pursuers arrived and stopped, right below him.  They looked around.  He could see them pointing at the water.  Several times they looked up at the tree.  Major Anthony had his pistol aimed at them.  There was a chance he could take out all three before one of them filled the air with fire from his AK-47.  He wasn’t in the mood to find out, unless he had no other option.

 

After some discussion, they seemed to have come to the conclusion Eddie had gone into the river and was swimming downstream.  They would have to abandon their rifles if they wanted to swim after him.  Trying to follow the river, along the bank on foot, would be pointless.  A swimmer would have the advantage of the current helping him along.  The vegetation was extremely thick along most of the bank and would make for very slow travel.  The men gave up, and began walking back in the direction they came.