“Gunny, go find that radio you brought last time,” Red commanded. “Roger that,” I went. I had put it in the living quarters, figuring we might need it again some time. It was still there. I took it and went back to where we gathered. There was a stack of sandbag that we used as like a table and I put it down there. “You understand how to work that thing, right? You had one of those back in Haier,” Victor asked Mason, who was by this time inspecting the telecommunications apparatus. “I did, but it’s different from what I had back then,” he said, tilting his head left and right to see the bits of the device. “The buttons are a bit differently placed, but it’s fine,” “You handled one of these before?” I asked Mason, “I mean, this thing is really heavy,” “Yeah, two months ago in Haier. I had to replace the original operator, who was killed,” “Alright, then. Go easy on it, though, it’s quite an old lady,” “Roger that,” “How do you feel meeting Quinn again?” Victor asked me. “What

Out of anger, a few of the officers and NCOs ran off to catch those three men. They had already gone into the tall grass towards the South at this point, and a few gunshots can be heard. An eager officer later, a handful of men had already run outside, carrying only rifles and what little ammunition they could immediately take with them. It soon erupted into a firefight, as they had been walking—or running, rather—straight into an ambush. They soon pull back, with the rest of us standing by near the outer fence providing cover. I left Red and Harrison with Stubs to try and assist those who pulled back. It turned out, they somehow managed to capture Price, which was surprising. A corporal said he tumbled over a rather large rock and fell. He took a fair case of beating, but was brought in relatively awake. He was relatively calm; he didn’t try to fight back or escape—probably because he was beaten up first out on the field. His hands were tied, and he was then handed over to Major Patt

By 12.15, we were already out front, lining up for the vehicle we were boarding to head closer towards our objective. “I thought you said we’re walking,” I said to Stubs, who was getting his driver ready. “I thought so, too,” he answered, “But Major said we could use the vehicles halfway through. Don’t want to tire this little lady over here,” he added, looking at Q. she grinned. These trucks are big, and it could be a bullet magnet if we drive all the way up to the front. Besides, we’re supposed to be a surprise element. It makes sense if we were to be dropped halfway. “Oh, yeah. Tell your radio guy to leave his pack. I got one with me,” “Alright,” I said, “Mason!” I called him. “This is it, folks,” Red announced up front. “Go for equipment check,” We did as we were told, and found nothing wrong. We carried enough ammunition and explosives—even Q carried 8 magazines—and brought water and several food items we can fit inside our vest. Because we were going far from base, we didn’

We then occupied the building, which turned out to be a bakery, with Bloomberg and Vic clearing the other rooms. I instructed Q to stay away from the windows and Mason to guard the entrance to the rear. I then took a good look of the dead enemies laying around. They have similar weapons as we do, again, but they are now in uniform. It’s the ANB again. “Red,” I called out, “These are Broenis again,” “No, shit,” she exclaimed. “Where the hell are the Marines?” Yeah. Where the hell are the Marines? We’re sitting ducks here waiting for them to break through and relieve us. it’s five past two, and the Marines are supposed to be here. Bloomberg and Vic were already done clearing the room and joined us downstairs. From our position, we could see the rest of the platoon lining up along the rubble I mentioned. “Mason, get on the radio and—where the hell is your radio?!” Red asked. “Lieutenant Stubs told me to leave it at the base, Sergeant,” Mason replied, to Red's disbelief. “Bloomberg!

2IC: Second in Command, i.e., assistant leader. ACOG: Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, a type of telescopic sighting equipment used on rifles and machine guns. AK: Automatic Kalashnikov. Introduced in 1947, its design evolved into a wide variety of firearms. Bandolier: ammunition pouches sewn into belts or sling. Boobied: slang for booby-trapped Booby Trap: traps set up to maim or kill enemy soldiers. The term came from how it fools the enemy thinking it was safe, hence the term booby (=fool). C2: Command and Control center Cal.: slang/short for Caliber Company: a unit of soldiers consisting of roughly three to four platoons plus their commander Compound: a military encampment Detcord: A type of explosive charge, shaped like a cord (hence the name, detonating cord) DMR: Designated Marksman’s Rifle Friendly Fire: incidents where soldiers opened fire on their own comrades, whether or not the shots hit FN: Fabrique Nationale, Belgian arms manufacturer GPMG: General Purpose