Chapter 6 Chapter Six

The evening was long and uncomfortable.We couldn't escape by plane, so the Vietnamese army bombarded us most of the night.There's a saddle between the two ridges, and we're on the top here, they're there, and the saddle is where the fighting is going--only I don't see why anyone would want to fight over that muddy field.But Sergeant Kranz has told us over and over that we're not sent here to learn about the war, but to do what we're told. Not long.Sergeant Kranz climbed up to give the order.He said that we had to move the machine gun about fifty meters around to the left of the big tree protruding from the center of the saddle, and find a safe place to set up the machine gun, so as not to kill all the soldiers.From what I've heard and seen, it's not safe anywhere, including where we are, but getting down to the saddle is ridiculous.However, I try to get it right.

Me and "Bones," the machine gunner, and another Doyle with ammo, and two other guys, crawled out of our hide and started moving down the little slope.Halfway up, the Vietnamese army found us and immediately fired with their machine guns.However, before any misfortune happened, we followed three steps and two steps and slid down the slope and fell into the jungle.I can't remember exactly how long a meter is, but it should be about a yard, so when we got near the big tree, I said to Duyer, "Let's move to the left!" He stared at me and said in a muffled voice. : "Shut up, Forrest Gump, the Vietnamese army is here. "Sure enough, six or seven Vietnamese soldiers were crouching under the tree, eating lunch. Doyle took out a grenade, pulled the safety, and threw a slow, high-fly ball at the tree. The grenade exploded before it hit the ground. , there was a noise from the Vietnam Army—then "ribs"

With machine gun fire, me and two other guys threw a few more grenades to make sure nothing slipped through.It was over in just a minute, and by the time the explosions died down, we were on our way. We found a place to set up the machine guns, and stayed there until dark—all night, but nothing happened. We could hear all sorts of things going on in other places, but here we were quiet and undisturbed.At sunrise, we were hungry and tired, but we were struggling.Afterwards, Chief Kranz sent "an orderly, saying that "Charlie Company" would immediately move into the saddle as long as our planes cleared the saddle of the Vietnamese army, and the operation would start in a few minutes. Sure enough. , The plane came and dropped the eggs, and the explosions came and went, clearing out all the Vietnamese troops.

We could see Charlie Company moving down the ridge and into the saddle, but they just went over the ridge and they were just starting to move down the slope when all the weapons fired, incendiary bombs and all, were fired at Charlie Company, There was a terrible confusion.We couldn't see any Viet Cong from our position because the jungle was as dense as a beacon, but there must have been someone in the jungle attacking Charlie Company.Maybe a Dutchman - or even a Norwegian - who knows? While all this was happening, the machine gunner "Bones" looked extremely nervous, because he had already seen that the attack was coming from our front, in other words, the Vietnamese army was between our army and our position.In other words, we are singled out.He said that if the Viet Cong hadn't knocked out Charlie Company, they'd come back to us sooner or later, and they wouldn't be happy if they found us.The point is: we have to run away.

We took our weapons and began to slowly climb back up the ridge, but at that moment Doyer suddenly looked under our lower right saddle and saw a whole truckload of reinforcements of Viet Minh, fully armed, heading up the hill toward Charlie Company advance.At the time it was best we tried to make friends with them and forget about the other way around the holidays, but it was impossible.So we simply squatted in a large bush and waited for them to climb to the top of the hill.At this time, "ribs" turned on the machine gun and fired, probably killing ten to fifteen Vietnamese soldiers on the spot.

Doyer and I and two other guys were throwing grenades, and just as the odds were turning in our favor, Ribs ran out of ammo and needed a new belt.I put one on for him, but he was about to pull the trigger when a Viet bullet hit him in the head and exploded.He fell to the ground, still clutching the gun desperately, but he was dead. Oh man, it's been dire -- and it's getting worse.No one knows what the Vietnamese army will do to us if they catch us.I called Dooyer to come to my place, but no reply.I yanked the machine gun out of Ribs' fingers and crawled over to Doyer, but he and the other two guys were already shot and down.Everyone else was dead, but Doyle was alive, so I grabbed him and slung him over my shoulder like a flour sack, and started running through the bushes to Charlie Company because I was so freaked out.I ran for about twenty yards, and the bullets whizzed from behind me, and I thought I was going to get hit.But then I rushed through a clump of bamboo and came to an area of ​​low grass. To my surprise, the area was full of Viet Cong, all lying on their stomachs and looking in the other direction, attacking "Charlie Company"-I guess.

What should I do now?There is a Vietnamese army in front of me, a Vietnamese army behind me, and a Vietnamese army under my feet.Not knowing what else to do, I charged at full speed, roaring at the same time.I guess I'm kind of crazy because I don't remember what happened next, I just keep running and screaming at the top of my voice.It was a mess, and then, all of a sudden, I was in Charlie Company and everybody was patting me on the back like I scored a touchdown. It seemed that I frightened the Viet Cong and fled back to their hiding place.I put Doyer on the ground, and the medical officer came over to treat him, and after a while, the commander of "Charlie Company" came and slapped my hand and said I was a good guy.Then he said, "How the hell did you do it, Gump?" He waited for my answer, but I didn't know how, so I said, "I gotta pee."— This is the truth.The company commander looked at me funny, and then at Sergeant Kranz who had also settled over.Sergeant Kranz said, "Oh man, Gump, come with me," and he led me behind a tree.

Bob and I met up that night, and we shared a foxhole and had rations for dinner.After that, I took out the harmonica that Bob had given me, and we played a few tunes.Playing "Oh Suzanne" and "Ranch House" in the jungle sounds grotesque indeed.Bob got a box of candy from his mother—nuts and fudge—and we both ate some.Let me tell you, friend: that fudge does bring back some memories. Afterwards, Sergeant Kranz came over and asked me where the ten-gallon bucket was.I told him I was going to carry Doyer and the machine gun and I left the bucket in the jungle.For a moment, I thought he was going to order me to go back and get it, but no.He just nodded and said now that Doyer was wounded and Ribs was dead, now I had to be the machine gunner.I asked him who was going to carry the tripod and the ammunition and he said I had to carry it myself because there was no one else to do it.That's when Babu said he'd like it if he could get transferred to our company.Sergeant Kranz thought about it for a long time, and then said that maybe it could be arranged, anyway, there were not enough people left in "Charlie Company" to clean the toilets.And just like that, Bob and I were reunited.

The days go by like a cow, and I almost think that time is passing by.Uphill, downhill.Sometimes there are Vietnamese troops on the mountain, sometimes not.But Sergeant Kranz said don't worry about anything, because we're going back to America.He said we would go out of Vietnam, through Laos, then up through China and the Soviet Union, to the North Pole, and across the ice to Alaska, where our mothers could pick us up from the country.Babu says to ignore him because he's an idiot. Jungle life is very primitive - no place to unwind, sleeping on the ground like a beast, and clothes are all rotten.I get letters from my mom every week.She said everything was fine back home, but our high school hadn't won a championship since I left school.I write her back whenever I have time, but what can I say that won't make her cry again?So I'll just say we had a great time and everyone was very nice to us.But I did do one thing.I wrote a letter to Jenny.Asked my mom if she could find Jenny's family to forward the letter to - no matter where she was.But I didn't hear a single word back.

Meanwhile, Bob and I made plans for our lives after leaving the military.We're going back home and getting ourselves a shrimp boat and going into the shrimp business.Bab is from Bat River and grew up working on a shrimp boat.He said maybe we could get a loan and we could take turns captaining the ship and so on.We can also live on the boat and we will have things to do.Bob had it all figured out.How many pounds of fish can pay off the loan to buy the boat, how much it costs for oil, how much it costs to eat, etc., and the rest can be spent by us.I always have that scene in my head, standing at the helm of a shrimp boat - or better yet, sitting in the back of the boat and eating shrimp!But when I told Bubba, he said, "Shit, Gump, you're going to eat our house and our family. We ain't gonna eat a shrimp until we get paid." Reason - I have absolutely no objection.

It rained one day, and it lasted for two months.We have experienced all kinds of rain, probably all except sleet and hail.Sometimes it's a drizzle, sometimes it's a downpour.Sometimes it falls obliquely, sometimes it falls straight, and sometimes it seems to fall from the ground.In short, what should be done still has to be done, that is, go up and down the mountain to find the Vietnamese army. One day we found them.They must have been having a Vietnam Army meeting or something, because it was like stepping on a mosquito nest and all the ants swarmed in.We couldn't launch an aircraft attack in this situation, so in about two minutes, we were in trouble again. This time they caught us off guard.We were passing a rice field when suddenly they attacked us from all directions.Everyone was yelling and screaming and getting shot, and someone said, "Back off!" Well, I took my machine gun and started running along everybody's side to the palm trees, which at least looked like they would shelter us from the rain.We formed a circle and were getting ready for another long night when I looked around for Bubba but there was no sign of him. Somebody said Bubba was in the paddy and hurt, and I said, "Damn it." Sergeant Kranz heard me, and said, "Gump, you can't go in the field!" But, fuck it— I dropped the machine gun, because it would be a load to carry, and ran like hell to where I last saw Bubba.But in the middle of the run, I almost stepped on a guy in the second row, and he was badly injured, and he was sticking his finger out and looking at me; so I thought, shit, what can I do?I grabbed him and ran back as fast as I could.Bullets rained down.It's something I just can't understand—why on earth are we fighting?Playing ball is one thing.But in war, I don't understand why.Oh shit. I sent the guy back, ran out again, and ended up with another fucking guy.I picked him up to send him back, but as soon as I picked him up, his brains fell on the field because the back of his head had exploded.Oh shit. So I drop him and keep going, and sure enough, there's Bob, he's been shot twice in the chest, and I say, "Bub, it's going to be alright, you hear, because, we got that shrimp Boat or something." I carried him back to our temporary position and put him on the ground.When I got my breath, I looked down and saw that my shirt was completely covered with blood and blue-yellow juice from Bubba's wound; Bubba looked up at me and said, "Fuck, Ah Ti, why did this happen? kind of thing?" Uh, what should I say? Bubba asked me again: "Forrest Gump, can you play a song for me with the harmonica?" So I took out the harmonica and started to play the tune—I didn't know what I was playing, so Bubba said, "Forrest Gump , would you play 'On the Swan River', please?" I said, "Okay, Bob." I had to wipe the mouthpiece of my harmonica and start playing, and the gunfire was still going on, and I knew I was supposed to guard the machine guns, but, Fuck it, I'm playing that tune. " I kept paying attention, the rain stopped and the sky turned a horrible pink.The color made everyone's faces look dead, and, for some reason, the Viet Cong stopped firing for a while, and so did we.I knelt beside Babu and played "On the Swan River" repeatedly. The medical officer gave him an injection and tried his best to heal his wounds and relieve the pain.Bubba was holding on to one of my legs, his eyes were clouded, and the horrible pink sky seemed to suck his blood dry. He wanted to say something, so I leaned closer to listen.However, I still can't understand.So I asked the medical officer, "Did you hear what he said?" The medical officer said, "Go home. He said, home." Babu, he's dead, and that's all I can say about it. I've never had such a horrible night.They couldn't send help because the thunderstorm started again.The Viet Cong were so close, we could hear them talking to each other, and the first platoon fought them hand to hand.At daybreak, they and I came to a plane to throw incendiary bombs, but, almost dropped the damn thing on us, and our own people were blackened and ran into the open field, with eyes as big as biscuits, everyone cursed and scared Out of courage, the forest caught fire and almost stopped the rain! In the midst of all this chaos, I somehow got shot, but luckily I got shot in the ass.I can't even remember what happened.At that time, everyone panicked and I didn't know what happened.It was a mess.I simply dropped the machine gun.I don't care anymore.I went behind a tree, huddled up and cried.Bob's gone, and the shrimp boat gone; and he's the only friend I've ever had—and maybe Jenny, but I screwed up that friendship, too.If it wasn't for my mother, I might as well have died there"—old age, sickness, whatever—I didn't care. After a while, they started bringing reinforcements in by helicopter, and, I guess, those incendiary bombs scared the Vietnamese away.They must have thought to themselves, if we are willing to burn and kill our own people like this, what can we not do to them? They were taking the wounded away when Sergeant Kranz arrived, his hair all singed and his clothes torn, and he looked like he had just been hit by a cannonball.He said, "Forrest, you did a great job yesterday, kid." Then he asked me if I wanted a cigarette. I said I don't smoke and he nodded. "Gump," he said, "you're not the smartest guy I have, but you're a great soldier. I wish I had a hundred soldiers like you." He asked me if I was hurt and I said no, but that's not true. "Gump," he said, "you're going home, and I think you know it." I asked him where Babu was, and Sergeant Kranz looked at me a little funny. "He'll be right back," he said.I asked if I could go on the same helicopter flight as Bob, and he said no, Bob had to wait until the last batch because he died. They gave me a shot with a fat syringe filled with some shit potion that would make me feel better.But, I remember.I put my hand up and grabbed Sergeant Kranz's arm and said, "I never asked for help, but would you please put Bubba on the helicopter yourself and make sure he gets home?" "Okay, Forrest," he said, "whatever it is—we'll even fly him first class."