If you are military, especially the old-style USAF Security Police, and were in “Desert Storm”, then I have a book that I would like for you to read. I think you will enjoy it.
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Chapter One
June 24, 1985:
All night long, North Korean armor, along with infantry and support vehicles, pushed through the city of Chuncheon and down the highway south, and when the sun finally came up, the Jake and all the Reapers had a good, clear view.
Jake had been watching the steady stream of enemy personnel as they continued to roll down the highway below him, heading south. To everyone’s surprise, the North Koreans had pushed fifty miles and did it in just two days, meaning that the Reapers are now behind enemy lines. Jake knew that even traveling at night, they could have been at least twenty miles further south and at least have had a chance of getting out of harm’s way, but not now.
He could still hear the distant thunder of explosions as the enemy and Allied troops engaged in battle. From what they had heard on the radio, Seoul, the capital of South Korea, was surrounded and on the verge of surrender. Army and Air Force troops around the Osan air base were engaged in battle, and the base was at risk of being overrun. This has turned out exactly as the North Korean Great Leader had said.
As Jake stared down at the enemy, he remembered when he first arrived at Rebel Station on 31 May. He had full expectations of going to war. It was coming; he knew it, and the memory of these past four days played repeatedly in his mind. The first attack, Rebel Station, killed one-half of the 90 men, and the ambush that followed killed all but the nine remaining men who now watched the same armor he was watching – if Jake didn’t have his hands full before, they are full now. He thought about ‘Murphy’s law’ which says that if anything could go wrong, it would, and it did.
Pete came up beside him and, seeing the look on Jake’s face, he asked, “What-cha thinking?”
“Oh, not much, just about the mess we are in and how we are not getting out of it,” Jake grunted, “I mean, we had every chance to get as far south as we could, but…”
“Well, one thing is for sure, that Captain is out to get us all killed,” Pete said in a whisper.
“It would seem so,” Jake responded.
“What made him decide to stay until this morning anyway, is he’s afraid,” Pete said, stating the obvious fact.
“That he is,” Jake said, agreeing, but he couldn’t do anything about it. The captain was the captain, and even as incompetent and afraid as he is, he’s still in command. Jake was about to get up when he thought about what was coming next. Then he heard a group of fighters fly overhead, probably North Korean.
“And if we stay here any longer, I’m afraid we’ll be here permanently,” Jake said. He waited for another second. “We need to get ready to move.” He got up and left.
The men were positioned in a tight defensive circle with Kidd and the Captain in the middle. Kidd was working the radio.
When Jake approached each man, he asked how he was doing, and each one responded positively. Nevertheless, he knew their tension. He knew that everyone had thoughts about how they were going to get out of this one, or maybe something about the captain. They didn’t say it, but he knew they felt like doing something to him for his decision.
Jake approached the captain.
“Sounds like it’s just about settled down,” Captain Beckman said.
Jake looked at his watch, “Sir, it is now 08:00, armor is pouring through, and we are deep in enemy-occupied territory, and the longer we stay, the deeper we get.”
Beckman stood up and appeared to be deep in thought, or maybe he was trying to avoid the conversation.
Jake said, “Sir…”
“Captain,” Pete said, coming up beside him, “we need to get outta here, and I think I know where we can start. It’s that passage between these two mountains; it’s about 20 miles long, and we’ll be well hidden from enemy view. We need to get to it and head south.
The captain didn’t look at him.
“Captain,” Jake said.
After a long pause, the captain said, “Good, Sergeant, contact Griffin and tell him we are on the way, for him to get the Duck ready.”
“Yes, sir.” Jake grabbed the radio and made contact.
Happy to be finally getting out of here, Jake walked over to Howard. “Howard, we’re moving out, so make sure we don’t lose anyone,” and slapped him on the shoulder.
“It’s about cotton-pickin’ time.”
“Let’s go.”
“What happened? Did the Captain finally get tired of being where he was?” Hammer said sarcastically.
“I think he is just tired,” Hathaway said.
“Well, alright, let’s do it.”
Pete followed Jake as he hurriedly led the way back up the road to where the Duck was located.
As Jake walked ahead, he thought about the emotional and physical strain this was putting on everyone. It’s situations like this that can hurt the mind and body, especially when they get caught behind enemy lines. These men were never trained for this scenario, so it remains to be seen how they will handle it.
Hathaway always thought of himself as gung-ho, and to top it off, he was the sixty-gunner. As a five-foot-eleven-inch-tall young man, he held the M-60 up in the ready position and smiled. He thought he looked like a warrior, and he felt like one with the long links of M-60 ammo crossing his chest. He thought about all they had already been through and some possible scenarios they might soon be involved in. “Man,” he said softly. “We’ve been through the battle on the hill, the ambush.” he paused for a second. “And now here we are behind enemy lines, we are combat veterans – that’s what it makes us. We can handle anything. Sergeant Steel said we would learn a hard lesson; well, we did.
The Kidd was listening as Hathaway rattled on. “Man, are we in trouble or what?”
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Kunsan Air Base,
June 6, 1985,
1900 hours
Sunset would be at 1951 hours. The weather report showed the moon at ninety-five percent full, offering some light. What they didn’t say was when the moon would actually be seen.
Lieutenant James was the Bravo Flight commander. With the activities up North and the high probability of terrorists operating in this area, he wanted to make sure this base had the best possible chance. So, for the previous couple of weeks he had been doing a little extra surveillance of the small villages around the installation. And because of his extra attention, he was becoming very apprehensive of the constant movement he was seeing outside the base perimeter – especially near Tango 13. His suspicions increased when he observed the activities around a two-story farmhouse located some three or four hundred meters out. It seemed as if a few of the farmers had a particular interest in a specific part of the fence line. The part of the fence line where a two-meter-wide single footpath led up to a section directly behind the Tango area. He had a bad feeling. He knew a little about wartime operations, and, having studied the different wars, he remembered the Battle of the Bulge, particularly when the Germans sent a special team behind the lines to disrupt communication. What he was seeing reminded him of that. And even though there were manned bunkers all
along the perimeter, he wanted to make sure the security patrols stayed close by. He told the flight chief to post the fire team on the ramp near spot Tango 44. -
“Alright, gentlemen, gather around.” When they were in place, he said,” I brought you out here so we can talk without the possibility of other ears listening in. I don’t want anyone overhearing our plans. Now, as everyone knows, the captain has made it emphatically clear that we are covert, so we will be covert, including covert
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patrolling. Does everyone understand?” He looked at each man, and each one nodded. “Howard.”
“Yes, sir,” Howard said, not knowing what Jake was about to tell him.
“Tomorrow morning, you and your team will be the first team out.” -
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Chapter Five (Part One)
January 4, 1985: Death of Kem Kyung Long’s father:
CNN continued to report the news about the death of Kem Kyung Long’s father. It was being reported as a confirmed assassination, and Kem Kyung Long’s uncle being put to death as well. It seemed, according to Kem, that he was accused of attempting to overthrow the North Korean government, and Kem couldn’t have that. Kem claimed that the new party would be further solidified. The ranks would be stronger, and unity would be maximized.
“I am the new ‘Great Leader’,” he said, and as the new leader, his first order of business was the order to begin the deployment of new troops along the DMZ and repositioning those already there. The ruthlessness of his act and the military order brought the current political situation to an even more dangerous level of instability. Analysts reported, according to the intelligence they were able to obtain, that “Kem Kyung Long” was indeed proving to be eviler than his father, a cold-blooded and unpredictable terrorist who would continue to operate a terroristic regime. Kem made it plain that his father was spineless, but he was not. And a new twist was thrown in, something the U.S. suspected but not confirmed. He revealed that he had nuclear weapons and would use them. He further added that Japan, Guam, and the U.S. were their targets. With this latest report, Kem fully
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expected the U.S. to begin deploying more troops into the region, and especially into South Korea.
In the White House Situation Room:
“Mr. President, if it could get worse,” said the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General James Wilkinson. “Nukes change the game, and if he is really intent on using them, then we need to be ready to strike first or we need to send a team in and neutralize him.”
President Rogers listened to all the thoughts and recommendations. Starting a war with North Korea would have disastrous results, and he didn’t want to do that.
“First of all, what is our current military strength in South Korea?” The President asked.
“Sir, at present we are about 28,000 strong, and that in my opinion won’t last a day if he decides to attack,” said General Wilkinson. “We need to get more troops into the area and do it now.”
The President thought about that. War was something he did not want, and he knew the people of the United States didn’t want one either, but he could not let Kem go unanswered. “Two things, I need proof of Kem’s intentions, just because he says he’s going to use nukes does not mean he is, and a preemptive strike package just in case he does. Also, issue orders to the bases in Japan and Guam to put all troops on alert for deployment. But we don’t, I say again, we don’t, pull the trigger unless there is no other option, and I mean no other. But let’s get his attention by firing a shot across his bow.”
The Joint Chiefs all looked at each other and smiled. They have been waiting to do something about North
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Korea for a long while, and now they were hoping this was going to be their chance.
“Yes, Sir,” The Chairman said.
The President turned and left the room.
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