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Instant Essay

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Instant

I'll always remember Instant. That was the nickname the men had tacked onto the muscled giant that wielded the M60 in my unit. "Instant" was short for
"Instant Death." And I'll always remember the first time I saw Instant in action. I was a new Lieutenant assigned to Vietnam. Back then, the Army didn't try to develop any "team spirit" within the corps; men were rotated frequently before any friendships developed. Consequently, my men were a group of strangers united only by the need to survive. They were eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds with the eyes of old men. My first real assignment was to check a tiny hamlet, Dien Hoa.
Army Intelligence believed the Viet Cong were operating from Dien Hoa. Our job was to …show more content…

It took nearly an hour to walk through the grassland and occasional wooded section of the valley to the heavy jungle area at the foot of the hills. Our speed slowed while we went up the slight incline and wove through the ever thickening vegetation. At the ridge which overlooked Dien Hoa, we halted while I inspected the village below them with my binoculars.
I searched for a warning sign, some hint of danger. Old men, women, and children, with a few water buffalo, milled around; everything appeared normal.
But I knew that just because an area "looked" business-as-usual it meant nothing in Vietnam.
"Call headquarters," I told my radio man as I lowered my binoculars. Moments later, he had reached headquarters with his radio. I took the phone piece and let my commander know what the situation was. As expected, we were ordered to continue toward the village. I gave the radio phone-piece to the radioman, put my helmet back onto my head, and stood.
"Sergeant," I said.
"Yes, Sir," Sergeant Nelson answered. The burley, middle-aged trooper squinted at me. His face was wrinkles, sunburn, and peeling skin.
"We got bunched up on our way up," I said. "Be sure they keep spaced apart."
Sergeant Nelson nodded. I didn't have to tell him that it would be essential to keep spaced in case of an ambush. I hoped the new guys would take his orders

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