Booby Trap Boys

"Booby Trap Boys" is a true account of 13 months in the life of a Marine Machine Gunner in Vietnam, and his struggle upon coming home to understand and finally deal with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Unlike many "shoot-em-up" stories from the war, "Booby Trap Boys" focuses mainly on the feelings of combat; fear, joy, sadness, etc. The vignettes, written in memoir form, describe life in the bush with highly vibrant accounts of the combat, the marches, the fatigue, etc., that are all a part of war. "My throat started to dry up. My stomach tightened and I had this out-of-body feeling that I get sometimes in the bush. I shook it off. I looked left then right and was surprised that I could suddenly see the whole company, spread out across the slope. Strangely, we were still in a jagged line, like a snake, moving up the hill. But almost immediately, the scene faded as the hot wind blew and the elephant grass started to obscure us slowly, from east to west. Then I was alone, unable to see Nash or Montoya, who were so close to me that I could hear them grunting and swearing. And so it went. We kept marching up that hill, sometimes able to see each other, sometimes totally engulfed by the grass. Our mission was vague. All we knew is that we had to get to the top of this hill, which was actually part of a series of mountains. I started to hallucinate and my thoughts were of Boston, Massachusetts, Thanksgiving dinners, but mainly water, ice cold water. I shook my head. Montoya was looking at me strangely. He of all of us did not have to be here on this mission or in the bush. His father was a State Senator or Representative in New York. With one phone call, Tony could be in the "rear with gear". But he chose to be a grunt. We thought he was crazy, but also respected him. He dropped back and walked behind me, pushing up on my back. My pack now felt like feather. Then the fire started on the side of the hill. I could see the flames and smoke. We had nowhere to go but up. Montoya had to leave, to get back in line. I gave him a look gratitude and stupidity, since I had no idea what was going to happen next. However, it didn't take long for things to develop