92 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
92 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
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CentAmer: The story of Reagan's war
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in Central America
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Written By The Mathematician
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The chopper picked us up at 0800. They brought those big Chinooks down onto
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the deck, where we was standing in ranks. They marched us up the ramp into
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helicopter, and we sat in rows along the edges of the cargo bay.
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I was suppose to be carryin' the Saw (editor's note- M-249 Squad Automatic
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Weapon, a light machine gun used by American troops in Central America) that
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day, but Johnson said he wanted it. I never could understand the way that guy
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got into guns. I think he was still a kid inside. He use to play a lot of
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cards, which is why I hung around with him.
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We was suppose to be street fightin' in the capital of Nicaragua, where
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they was gonna be try to landin' some tanks. The chopper set us down in the
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middle of some kinda big square in the city, an' we ran out to take positions
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before the spics took to tossin' mortars at us.
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Me an' Gaetano set up a field of fire behind this big statue or monument
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kinda thing, and we waited. We was bored, so Gaetano started to smokin
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somethin'. It smelled real good, but I wanted my head clear 'cause stoned men
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can't shoot straight. The sarge came over and yelled at Gaetano for smokin' pot
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in the middle of a combat maneuver, an' yelled at me for lettin' him do it. I
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told him I thought Gaetano should have the right, but he didn't listen.
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The sarge sent me to stay at Johnson's position while he be up with Gaetano
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in case some shootin' break out. Johnson never smoked nothin'. I don't think I
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ever saw him drink or even chew gum, ever. This army truck drove into the
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square, and Johnson opened up right away with the Saw. I took to keepin' my
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head down and when I looked up there was a couple spics runnin' out to take
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cover behind this car that was parked there. I fired at them, and the one in
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front sorta flipped over sideways like somebody hit him with a big baseball
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bat.
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The other one made it behind the car, and Johnson poured a big burst into
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the rear of the car, next to the gas tank. The car catch on fire, and the sarge
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tell us to cease firin. The army truck meanwhile stays quiet, so the sarge tell
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Howard an' Woodside to check it out. I see them goin' around the back of truck,
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and I hear a burst.
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Later we found out that these two individuals who was drivin' this truck
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had the back full of bales of pot an' we killed them. The sarge had a tough
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time keepin' Gaetano from fillin' his pockets and I don't think he succeeded
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`cause I saw Gaetano later on do a lot of profit sellin' weed.
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Woodside say to me, "We opened up the canvas, and this guy in there sort of
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flops down out of the back like he's asleep. Howard got startled and he shoots
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this guy full of holes. The guy got stoned out of his head riding back there
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with all that weed.
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As we was all standin' around this truck wait for a chopper to come in,
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this old man and this little kid come wallkin' out of one of the buildings
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pushin' this kinda cart or something. Johnson right away hit the ground and
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start to firin' at these people with the Saw.
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I try to stop him, pull the barrel up and he shouts at me like I'm crazy.
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Then the Saw jams 'cause Howard pulled a round out of the belt next to the feed
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clips. The sarge send Woodside go over to check on the kid while he stay and
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try to talk to Johnson.
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Johnson be sayin' somethin' about satchel charges and Latin dedication to
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territory. I don't understand what he mean until later on Woodside explain it
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to me.
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Woodside say Johnson reads a lot about Vietnam to like gain a insight into
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fightin' a jungle war, which is where he hear about satchel charges. This is
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where the people of a particular village, on the side of the VC send out two
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people to meet the American troops. These are people which have been chosen to
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die as not worth much and they be sent out carryin' explosives underneath their
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clothes. Claymore mines or somethin. So when they get near the Americans they
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explode and kill people. Johnson think you got to shoot first, ask questions
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later.
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This old man and this kid were tryin' to buy stuff from us. The kid kept
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sayin' over and over "`Mericanchewing gum? `Mericanchewing gum?" Howard play
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with the kid, givin' him sticks of gum.
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I see the old man, who was killed. A round went in through his mouth and
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his face looks totally normal, except from some blood comin' out the corner of
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his mouth. But the back of his head be totally blown away. Johnson come over
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and talk to me like he's real proud. He say that the bullets stay straight
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until they hit somethin, when they tumble around and do more damage.
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I don't hang around Johnson much anymore.
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