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We were already in Chu Lai for over a month. I know we were there for awhile because when we first arrived we were sleeping in tents located in an open sandy field and eating C Rations that were heated in garbage cans. There was a huge lake of sewage that bubbled up out of a pipe that separated us from the Marine fighter units. The Marines were happy to keep their distance from us until one of our helicopters picked up two of their pilots that had to bail out when their phantom went down.
After the rescue the Marine CO came down to visit us and was shocked by the deplorable conditions that we were living under. He opened everything , mess halls, clubs, px, clubs, showers, clubs, everything to us. The only problem was that in order to get to the Marine facilities you had to walk almost two miles around this huge lake of sewage in very fine sand. Then some ingenious GI figured that if we could build a bridge across the "lake" it was only about 200 yards from our tents to the closest mess hall and shower facility.
Someone brought in a ¾ ton truck loaded with metal milk cases and started to lay them upside down, one to three feet apart across this constantly bubbling lake. The milk cases worked great because the lake wasn’t very deep so approximately 6 inches of the milk case was above the water, if you wanted to call water. It was constantly dangerous negotiating the walkway, especially at night but it beat the hell of trudging two miles through finely granulated sand.
After spending a few nights and quite a few dollars in the NCO club, several of us B Troopers made good friends with the Marine NCOs. One was a Mexican National that was serving in the Marines and spoke broken English.
This one night in particular, he received a care package from his mother, who still lived in Mexico and he brought it to the NCO club to share it with his new found friends that lived in the tents. One of the choice goodies was Mexican peppers that came in cans that were similar to sardine cans. Man they were the hottest peppers I had ever eaten. We were sitting there getting crocked and sweating like crazy from eating those damned peppers.
After wolfing down several cans of peppers and quite a few drinks the club had last call. There was and opened can with several peppers left on the table. The Marine told me that since I really enjoyed the peppers, I was welcome to take those with me.
I had to make a stop at the tubes before negotiating the milk cases, so everyone else was well ahead of me. I began negotiating the man made crossing, extra carefully because I had way too much to drink and I was carrying my prized possession in my right hand and I didn’t want to loose any.
About half way across the "lake" I heard a loud THWACK. Then another. After being in Vietnam for awhile, there is no mistake as to the noise that a 122 rocket makes when it explodes. I looked over my shoulder and it appeared that the rounds, which started to come in across the Marine flight line, were following me as I hopped from milk case to milk case.
I finally hit the sand at the end of the stepping stones and broke into a full run. I was really proud of myself because I did not loose one pepper or drop of juice. I heard another THWACK and turned around to see how close it was, when all of a sudden a sandbag wall hit me across the knees. I went upside down and landed flat on my back at the entrance to one of our bunkers. The can of hot peppers went straight up in the air and when I came down, smacked me in the middle of the forehead. The lid cut my forehead and all the juice went in my eyes. I couldn’t see and thought I would be blind for the rest of my life.
After the initial shock and the rocket attack was over, I flushed out my eyes with cold water which seemed to ease some of the burning. The next day I went to see the medic and got some salve to put on the chemical burns on my face. The cut on my forehead was only a scratch and never left a scar and the only ill effect was that I had blurred vision for a few days.
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