A Hard Place
A Sergeant's Tale
by
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Saigon in the evening is an updated version of Sodom and Gomorrah combined, with black marketing and neon lights. Tu Do Street is the main attraction but not where the real action is. The main event is played out in back alleys, canal Streets and walled courtyards begining at the bridge where the PA&E (Pacific Architects and Engineers) village is located on the east side, running West and South through the high dollar area down to the Trans. Command docks on the river, then West into Cho Lon, by the International Hotel and back East along the canals to the Rice Mill. Anything you have ever wanted, fantasized or dreamed of can be had for a price, every drug known to man; every sexual appetite ever dreamed of is easily obtained. Every exotic food or weird fetish, are all can-do GI, and if you have green dollars instead of usual MPC (military payment certificates or script) you can find some shit you’ve never even heard of before. Many an American cherry boy left here a bona fide sexual connoisseur. Me, well I’m just a choirboy. So I drive down into the Cho Lon area, the traditional Ethnic Chinese district of Saigon, and find my way over to the Dong-Khan hotel on the corner where you turn left to go to the Rice Mill (which is probably the strangest military compound in all of Nam). Stopping out front of the Dong-Khan I lock the jeeps steering wheel with a padlock through a length of trace chain that is welded to the floor, and notice with satisfaction that the gas cap has a lock on it. One of Charlie’s nasty little surprises, is to pull the pin on a grenade put a big fat rubber band around it to hold the spoon in place and drop it in your gas tank, the rubber band weakens in the gasoline and the grenade explodes inside of a metal tank containing up to 10 gallons of gas, which you are sitting literally on top of. Good-bye, sin-loi, minh-oi (so sorry ‘bout that!). Anyway, I grab my ditty bag with clean drawers, socks, shaving gear and four baseball grenades (you never know?) and saunter inside. The Dong Khan is at best a second-rate hotel, with virtually no amenities. But, the rooms are clean, the linen is white, the ceiling fans work, the shower is hot, the rates are cheap and the place is owned and operated by the Saigon Tong Society (white dragon or something like that) and nobody in their right fucking mind messes with the tong or this hotel. MPs don’t come in here, or the Vietnamese police. So it is a cool place to come when you are in Saigon and relax a little, order in lady of the evening, and then go up to the fourth floor, to the best Chinese restaurant this side of Shanghai. Last time I was here, I’d just come in from the bush and I was carrying a grease gun and an M-79, I left both of them lying on the bed and went out. I got back about 3 a.m. and the bed had been turned down and the weapons were stacked in the corner, loaded and on safe. I slept like a baby. That, my friends, is fucking security.
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About the Book
The story of combat in South Vietnam,Republic of, with the men of a small unit known as a Mobile Reaction or "Mike Force". Operating out of the Chu Lai base camp on the coast of South Vietnam,between Danang to the north and Cam Rhon Bay to the south. Home to the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal) the 75th Rangers and other support units. Their missions took place in the northern provinces, which were dubbed by the military as the 1st Combat Tactical Zone (1CTZ).From Rosemary's Point at Chu Lai, to Da Nang, to the Tuy Lon River and the White Mountains, across the Hai Van Pass to Phu Bai, Quang Tri City and on to the DMZ They were both recon and striker unit, sometimes just looking for intell, sometimes attacking and sometimes being attacked. Often deployed to reinforce a small camp or firebase. Sometimes workng as convoy security.Mostly it was just HOT! Life for them was either base camp boring, or "boonie rat" intense in full "battle rattle" sweat soaked, sneakin in the bush. Living on salt pills,nasty tasting water and even worse tasting rations. Often assigned missions to locate or capture specific targets. All of their missions were both classified and clandestine. Even their existence was denied. As much as possible their movements were hidden or camouflaged within larger unit operations and movements. Their operations were conducted with out back-up,or support readily available. They were required to move and survive on their bush skills, to adapt, over come, improvise, and if that failed, E&E (escape and evade) back to a pick-up or rendezvous point for extraction. This story is about serving in Vietnam as professional soldiers in a "No Such Unit Exists" status. Part of the "other" Army, the one not circumscribed by line unit regimentation, order of battle movement, or rules of engagement, in - South Vietnam, Republic of "A HARD PLACE." .
About the Author
Jacamo is from Galveston, and retired US Army. In his career he spent 13 years overseas in Asia and Europe. In addition to Combat Arms Operations he worked in Physical Security, Logistics, Data Processing, Operations, Procurement and Recruiting. After retiring,he worked as a Law Enforcement Officer, Security Manager, Private Investigator, Firefighter Lieutenant, Veterans Counselor, Personnel Director, Security Consultant. Jacamo is a Freemason and Shriner, an active political advocate for Veterans Affairs and Rights. He is a graduate of Columbia College. An avid reader himself, He believes that reading is fundamental. Jacamo enjoys writing on many levels and about many subjects. He has published three books "A Hard Place/A Sergeants Tale" A Vietnam War story about small unit Special Operations. "Blademaster of Norda" a Dragons,Swords and Sorcery Fantasy. "Archaeology 501/The Field Trip" a Horror Novella about an expedition to the jungle gone wrong. All three of these works are available here on Amazon, in both paperback and e-book format. Jacamo is currently writing the sequels to "Blademaster of Norda" and "A Hard Place".