GRUNT TALES

"Picnic"

       For at least a month after "TET" we couldn't find an enemy troop
   anywhere, not a recently abandoned base camp, not a Ho Chi Minh sandal
   footprint, not even a booby trap.
	 We spent much of a week climbing one mountain range, sliding
   back down the other side, only to start climbing the next one. As we
   neared the top of one mountain the huge trees began to thin out and we
   felt a cool breeze of fresh air. Another hundred meters and we broke
   out into a high plateau, an honest to goodness tall grass prairie.
    There was sunshine and butterflies and songbirds. I wish I had had the
   wit to turn to the troop behind me and say "Toto, I think we are back 
   in Kansas now".
    We moved well out into the prairie to where some rock outcrops
   afforded us a commanding view for miles around. We sent out patrols 
   for a kilometer in each direction. They could find no sign of enemy
   activity, no indication that there had ever even been a human being
   there before.
    The next day we got a re supply, new ordinance, clean fatigues,
   new boots, hot chow, mail with CARE packages, enough water to scrub
   down, and a backlog of cold beer.
	That evening we kicked back and watched a fine sunset. My Squad
   Leader, Cliff the Mormon, looked around, laughed and said "I would 
   bring my Grandmother for a picnic out here".

               By

                                       Wayne Walker