Chapter One

The black Staff NCO, standing in the doorway of the Civil Affairs hootch, eyed the new Lieutenant coming across the compound road suspiciously. Instinctively he knew this white college kid would be his new boss and he resented it. Another butterbar he thought. Well, I’ve broken them in before. We’ll see what this one is made of. Place has run fine for ten months without no damn boot Lieutenant.

Second Lieutenant John William Brady had a quizzical look on his face as he approached.

“Sergeant Jackson,” Brady said unsure of whether to salute or shake hands with the burly-built Sergeant.

“Yes sa,” Jackson replied in a casual tone shaking the Lieutenant’s hand with a firm grip.

“Colonel Marcus just assigned me to the S-5 Civil Affairs billet.”

“Welcome aboard sa. This way.” Brady couldn’t see the sly smile on Jackson’s face as he turned and went in. The Civil Affairs hootch looked like an empty garage except for the desk, the chairs on either side, and a file cabinet set against the plywood wall. An acetate-covered board, with grease-pencil writing on it, hung lopsided on a single nail above the desk. The two men sat down opposite each other; Brady taking off his cover, Jackson leaning back in the chair, his thick arms folded casually across his chest, sweat glistening on his face.

“The Colonel informed me that I’m responsible for thirty to forty Vietnamese civilians working in the compound here and two villages out in the countryside. He said I was to win the hearts and minds of the rice farmers out there.”

“Yes sa.” A broken silence followed. Brady’s teeth grind behind his smile.

“So Sergeant Jackson, tell me, what am I getting into?”

“Well sa, we’ve got the most thankless