Thursday, February 3, 2011

Finished (kinda)



A Killer Instinct
My name is Mickey Duhon and I was born and raised in Hill City, Kansas. I am currently a host in one of the 104 rooms in Menninger Clinic. Menninger Clinic is a psychiatric hospital based in Houston, Texas and I have lived the last one hundred and sixty three days here. I don’t consider myself insane, but for the crimes I have committed, most fail to see me as anything but a monster. I am here awaiting my execution for the murder of 137 innocent Vietnamese, 16 marines, rape, and smuggling a thousand pounds of heroin into Cambodia and Laos. During my time in the service I became a notorious drug lord, completely disregarding my duty as a United States Marine Officer. I was a fucking genius, but also a selfish bastard. I regret everything about my life. I am a wasted life form.
            As I have grown into an old man, I have learned a lot more about myself. With my last fifteen hours slowly ticking down, I feel the need to express that I have suddenly learned more about myself in the last five days than I have in my entire life. Self-knowledge some call it. Maybe I am seeking forgiveness for the crimes I have committed. Maybe I fear God's judgment. Whatever it is, I am not proud of the murder, the rape, or the drug addiction. Like I said, I am a waste of human life.
I was not always an insensitive killer. When the United States entered the Vietnam War in 1963 I was only 20 and in my third year at Texas A&M. I was desperate to join the Marines and join my two older brothers in the United States Military. However, my father was an educated man, and refused to give me permission to join the military while I was so young. He required that I finish my degree in engineering before I make a decision. I entered Texas A&M a young virgin boy with an education in basic math, english, and science. I graduated a man with an education in women, booze, and drugs. They immediately made their way to my three most prized possessions. I was a rebel at heart, but I had the resume of a responsible, well-educated man with a bright future ahead of himself.
After graduating I still felt the urge to join the military, and sure enough within six months my mother was kissing and crying ferociously as the bus picked up the recruits from the local greyhound station. After the completion of boot camp, I would be headed to officer training because the Marines labeled me as an “educated man.” I laughed and accepted the responsibility. At the time it hadn’t dawned on me that I would be responsible for the men that were killed under my command. If I had thought about it then, I wouldn’t have accepted such a great responsibility with a brush of my hand.
Boot camp was a piece of cake; at least for the semi-athletic bunch. There were numerous men that were overweight that came into boot camp with the mindset that it actually was a piece of cake. They expected something completely different, so whenever Drill Sargent Harrison started kicking their faces in the dirt, the fatties didn’t last long. Sargent Harrison was a giant black man with a heavy build. His chest was the size of a wooden barrel, and he had legs the size of fence posts. His head was disproportional to his entire body, but no one dared to tell him. If anyone challenged the Sargent they usually learned their lesson in a matter of short seconds.
I quickly became the top of my platoon and was assigned platoon leader.  I was one arrogant son of a bitch, and I liked to show people that. I was a showboater. Three times a week we were called out to the obstacle course. I tiptoed down the logs that were suspended fifteen feet above the ground without a second thought. At the end of each log I would turn around, check my balance, and tease my fellow teammates as they struggled across the beams. Drill Sargent Harrison would yell at me: “You know you would make one hell of an officer if you would just support your god damn teammates Private Duhon!” he’d yell.
There was one time in particular I was thrown into a blind rage after such an incident. A rage that showed itself later in Vietnam. I had left my entire squad behind only to set a new company record on the obstacle course. I was boasting of the achievement when Harrison grabbed the back of my head and placed his knee into my stomach with the force of a thousand stampeding elephants. I curled into the fetal position and threw up violently. I gasped for breath as Harrison stood over me and yelled: “Ah God damn it Duhon. A platoon leader never leaves his men behind! What the fuck do you not understand about that Private? Are you a fucking retarded Private?” He then leaned so close to my face that I could smell the menthol from his cheap cigarettes, and said. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again Private, I will literally take your spinal cord and remove it from your rectum.” With that my body burned with blind rage, and I answered his anger with my own. “Fuck you Sarge! Within three weeks of completion I will be a rank that is far from attainable for a worthless piece of shit like you. You mindless ape.” Harrison gave me a left that put my lights out.
We were being flown into the la Drang, which was a small valley along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We had been flown into the country more than three months ago and were just now being deployed after we had enough time to adapt to this shit hole. Vietnam was something I had never imagined it to be. I expected Vietnam to be a tropical, mystical place of many wonders. Vietnam was a place of many wonders, but none of which were expected. The place was littered with disease and psychotic soldiers that had spent too much time in the brush. It was March 4th and on that flight into the la Drang I witnessed my first glimpse of heroin in the military. Another platoon leader, a Capt. Sokolowski relieved himself of the present reality, and inserted the syringe into his ankle. He explained that it was the only way to conceal the use of the drugs from the uppers.
Learning the ropes of Vietnam was not easy. Yes, I was an officer in the United States Marine Corp, but because I was green I was treated like a piece of dog shit. I had to earn respect, and that’s exactly what I did on my first patrol through the la Drang. My orders were given by Col. Jacob Miller, to take a patrol into the la Drang jungle until we cleared a perimeter around headquarters. After we patrolled a fifty miles perimeter around the US headquarters we would be permitted to return back.  We were carried by a convoy for several miles throughout the thick terrain until the jungle became too thick to continue. We unloaded there, collected our gear, and enjoyed our last meal before heading into the brush. My platoon was comprised of three rifle squads of thirteen men each. Squad one was led by Sgt. Jefferson, squad two by Sgt. Eichelberger, and squad three by 1st Sgt. Duvnjak. Ssgt. Nowak was the platoon sergeant, and I, Capt. Duhon, was the platoon commander. We were comprised of forty one men.
It was approximately twenty-one hundred hours when rain started to pour down on us. The rain was thick and heavy, humid enough to make a man suffocate. We carried on throughout the jungle until twenty-four hundred hours. The men were weary, and as the night continued with its uneventful manner, Ssgt. Nowak pleaded with me to allow the men to rest. Making camp was a difficult task under the present conditions; in the middle of night with such hellish rain. I had given the order for no man to start a fire, or cook meat so the men were munching their cold rations down unhappily. There had been no major battles for the United States in early 1965, so whenever the first illumination flare was launched into the air the entire platoon stared at it like it was some sort of mythical creature. My men failed to see the numerous NVA troops closely encircling us until they opened fire.
Pvt. Jackson and Pfc. O’Sullivan were killed within the first seconds of the flare. One took a bullet to the brain, the other a bayonet to the back that punctured through his left lung. The first gunshot startled the men, but they quickly realized the grave danger we were in. Sgt. Eichelberger was the first to open up on the NVA with his M-14, dropping two instantly. I quickly snapped out of my trance and began firing off orders to my Sargent’s. The illumination flare had sizzled out by now, so I quickly ordered another into the air, and to keep them up until we “slayed the savage bastards.” The loud cracks of automatic rifles continuous filled the night and several of our men were quickly mopped up. There was an opening in the enemies’ defenses on the southwest corner of our perimeter. I rang up my sergeants on the PRC-25: “Eichelberger, Duvnjack, Jefferson? I need you and your men to the southwest corner of our position now!” I received no response, but I saw three squads of men making haste to the southwest.
Once my men were in position, less than two minutes after I had given the order, we started to mow the Charlie down. The automatic machine guns, the M-60s, were in place and letting lead flight through the dark night. Another flare was put into the air, and from there Charlie was cut down in a matter of minutes. Within minutes the night resumed its normal course; dark, silent, mysterious. As I shouted the order to hold position, the rain began falling harder now. I anticipated another attack from the enemy, and sure enough within an hour another flare was thrown into the air. Our M-60s, M-16s, and M-14s popped off throughout the rest of the morning, cutting any piece of shit that stepped into our line of sight to be cut in half with lead. At zero six hundred hours the suicidal attacks came to a halt.
As we searched for our wounded and dead we marveled at the amount of NVA we had downed. However, it was also most discouraging to see how many of our men had been killed, and injured beyond repair. Pvt. Jackson was found wheezing after taking a bayonet through his left lung. Somehow he had managed to live on one lung and losing pints of blood. We pleaded for medevac, but we were denied repeatedly. I became enraged. I did not understand why the United States Military would leave its fighting men out in a rotten jungle to die. We gave Jackson enough morphine to pass easily. We had lost eight men, and we now carried six injured; one of which that would be carried by stretcher. I collected their tags, and told the men to prepare to move within the hour. To my estimation we had killed at least one hundred NVA troops.
We stayed on that patrol for over two weeks, and the sun shown twice. I no longer found any excitement in the military. I lost over half my men on that first patrol, but I was still rewarded with metals and a battlefield commission. Three of my men were sent to the psychotic ward including Ssgt. Nowak. The jungle had a grasp on a man’s mind, and could take control of it in a matter of days.
It was now 1968. We had been in the A Shau Valley for what seemed like years, and we were making slow progress towards Khe Sanh. All of my Sargent’s had been replaced except for Eichelberger who was now my platoon Sargent. Eichelberger was a good friend of mine, and we both had begun to dapple with heroin in late 1967. It was a better high then the LSD, which gave horrific vibrations and hallucinations of Charlie peering through the jungle. A man could go insane on such strong hallucinations, and I saw many that did. Heroin was readily available wherever a patrol would venture. For the last three months Eichelberger and I had been moving heroin from Charlie’s poppy huts to the Marine’s HQ. We were usually in the brush for two weeks out of each month, so whenever on patrol we would gather what we found. As we sold the heroin, we began making quite the reputation for ourselves. An officer that sold and accepted the powder was a rare thing indeed.
We had lost focus on the war. We had gathered focus on making money and getting high. On patrol we usually stayed sober, but after so much use my veins started itching for the drug. Pleading “only one more Mick, only one more.” Eichelberger was worst. He had less responsibility, so he was using almost constantly. As if we were zombies walking through the jungle if there were nothing to fear. The drug came to control us, and it began to use us.
On a patrol through the A Shau Valley we ran across a Charlie poppy field. The Vietnamese were unarmed and were not hostile. We searched each individual building to find hundreds of pounds of the yellow powder, already wrapped and ready for distribution. I ordered my men to confiscate the drug, and to pack the bags with it. The majority of the men already knew that I was smuggling into HQ, so when ordered, the men “woopt” knowing that they would get a cut of my profits. The greenhorns were on their first patrol so they were caught by surprise.
A new Sargent in our platoon confronted me. “Sir, Col. Jacob Miller did not order us to confiscate any materials of this kind.” I was annoyed and responded by saying. “Sargent, you will listen to my orders whether the fuck you want to or not. I personally don’t give a damn about Colonel Miller, and I guarantee he doesn’t give two shits about us. This war has turned into a pointless political blood bath, and I’m not gonna sit on the side line and be used as a damn pawn.” He informed me that he was going to call HQ on the PRC-25, and I warned him not to. He continued on his path to the radio, so I did what was necessary. I shot Sgt. Anderson in the back of the head while he was walking away. Two of my Marines raised their assault rifles directly at me. The Corporal began to yell something when Eichelberger raised his pistol and stopped the two with a bullet to each brain. They fell limp. I ordered each of the forty three Vietnamese to be assassinated. Not one of the Marines questioned me.
When we were three miles outside of HQ I stopped all of my men and lined them up. We were going to be carrying over seven hundred pounds of pure heroin into the United States Marine Headquarters, and that was a nerve-racking task. Then once in, I needed a way into Laos to sell and distribute. I was going across the border because the US troops bought the shit for so cheap that it was not worth the risk. I faced every single one of my thirty-seven men and asked if they could be trusted. I assured each and every one of them a very large pension for their troubles. If they answered no, I shot them on the spot. Five men were killed then and there.
Once in HQ, I was very paranoid. I kept one eye on the uppers, and another on the men I had taken out on patrol. I was a nervous wreck and I needed a way to transport the goods to Laos. A week later, after I was sure things had cooled down about the murder of US Marines, and of the innocent Vietnamese, I confronted my superiors. “Sir, I need to take a small group of Marines back up to la Drang to gather medical supplies.” I said. “Capt. Duhon, sending you up to la Drang is the last thing we need at this particular moment. We need to keep our experienced officers out in the field.” Col. Jacob Miller said. “Yes sir, well when will my next patrol be dispatched? I will lead the next possible patrol out into the field with my platoon.”
The Colonel allowed me to lead my platoon back into the jungle. My troops were anything but thrilled, but they knew in time they would have pockets full of cash. We gathered all of our supplies, including our dope, and loaded into the convoy that would take us far into the jungle only to drop us off. From there, I planned to take the convoy over and transport the dope to Laos myself; with or without the drivers.
I only had to kill three of them. Once my platoon was loaded into the convoy I explained to them our plan: “Ok boys, we are going to be traveling deep through enemy territory towards Ban Cang. Ban Cang is in Laos about one hundred and fifty miles from our present position. In Ban, we will meet up with a Bi’nh. He will offload our cargo and pay us with Vietnamese currency that we will be able to convert to American dollars once we return to HQ. Anyone that is nervous about this trip will die here. Who is with me?” The response from every man; an eager “WHO RA.” We moved out within the next hour.
The first fifty miles were uneventful, but took the majority of the day because of the thick underbrush. All of my men had rifles ready as they leaned over the rail of the halftracks. Everyone that wasn’t green had the same feeling that I did; that Charlie was prowling on our position. The first of the gunshots ricocheted off of my helmet. I was stunned and time seemed to stop. I was amazed that the thin piece of Kevlar had stopped my brain from becoming a slop of mush. Once I came to, I halted the convoy for the conflict. We would begin moving the ACPs and halftracks again once Charlie started dropping mortars on our heads.
Every weapon available opened up into the brush with full force. The fifty caliber machine gun began cutting humans and trees in half as it sprayed back and forth. My men were pouring out of the vehicles to find better cover than the bullet magnets. Zdunczyk, a man I favored on the fifty, was cut down with a burst of gunfire. Pfc. Qualls quickly took his place and continued hammering the jungle with lead. An RPG was launched through the air from the east, clipping the back right of an APC sending it up into the air and back down where it had been; still functional. Cpl. Hawking’s torso was thrown from the explosion, while his legs remained behind. Another RPG from the east flew by harmless finding its mark in a tree fifty feet from our position. “Load up, move out.” I yelled. 
The next three hours last an eternity. Charlie was on both sides of us clapping the Kevlar armor with gunfire for miles. While escaping the ambush we were forced to turn around multiple times. In many places the brush was so thick we would turn around and try a different route. One time in particular, we found what seemed to be a highway. After traveling on the dirt road for over ten minutes we were forced to turn around because the road was unfinished with gaping holes in the way. These delays caused significant damage. We had lost one of our ACPs, ten men were killed, and three were missing. Charlie was swarming around us for three horrifying hours, until finally the firing just stopped. The silence was awkward, almost scary. We had made it to Laos.
After another day of heavy terrain, and broken vehicles we finally rolled into Ben Cang. We were to meet Bi’nh ten miles south of Ben Cang, so once our translator got directions from some locals we headed out. Within twenty minutes we were greeted by a tall black man that led us into a small encampment. I was surprised to learn that Bi’nh was actually a white man that spoke fluent English: “Ah, Captain Duhon the infamous drug smuggler that has corrupted the entire United States Military single handily.” I took offense to his words because I did not have the slightest clue to how much damage I had actually caused the military in Vietnam. However, I did not want to ruin relations with my new counterpart so I grinned at the man and greeted him. “Hello Bi’nh, I must say I did not expect to see a fellow American.”
To be continued…

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Halfway through my short story about Mickey Duhon. Enjoy. Feedback welcome.




Mickey Duhon
My name is Mickey Duhon and I was born and raised in Hill City, Kansas. I am currently a host in one of the 104 rooms in Menninger Clinic. Menninger Clinic is a psychiatric hospital based in Houston, Texas and I have lived the last one hundred and sixty three days here. I am here awaiting my execution for the murder of 137 innocent Vietnamese, 16 marines, rape, and smuggling thousands of pounds of heroin into Cambodia and Laos. During my time in the service I became a notorious drug lord, completely disregarding my duty as a United States Marine Officer. I was a fucking genius, but also a selfish bastard. I regret everything about my life. I am a wasted life form.
            As I have grown into an old man, I have learned a lot more about myself. With my last fifteen hours slowly ticking down, I feel the need to express that I have suddenly learned more about myself in the last five days than I have in my entire life. Self-knowledge some call it. Maybe I am seeking forgiveness for the crimes I have committed. Maybe I fear God's judgment. Whatever it is, I am not proud of the murder, the rape, or the drug addiction. Like I said, I am a waste of human life.
I was not always an insensitive killer. When the United States entered the Vietnam War in 1964 I was only 20 and in my third year at Texas A&M. I was desperate to join the Marines and join the fighting with my two older brothers. However, my father was an educated man, and refused to give me permission to join the military while I was so young. He required that I finish my degree in engineering before I make a decision. I entered Texas A&M a young virgin boy with an education in basic math, English, and science. I graduated a man from with an education in women, booze, and drugs. They immediately made their way to my three most prized possessions. I was a rebel at heart, but I had the resume of a responsible, well-educated man with a bright future ahead of himself.
After graduating I still felt the urge to join the military, and sure enough within six months my mother was kissing and crying ferociously as the bus picked up the recruits from the local greyhound station. After the completion of boot camp, I would be headed to officer training because the Marines labeled me as an “educated man.” I laughed and accepted the responsibility. At the time it hadn’t dawned on me that I would be responsible for the men that were killed under my command. If I had thought about it then, I wouldn’t have accepted such a great responsibility with a brush of my hand.
Boot camp was a piece of cake; at least for the semi-athletic bunch. There were numerous men that were overweight that came into boot camp with the mindset that it actually was a piece of cake. They expected something completely different, so whenever Drill Sargent Harrison started kicking their faces in the dirt the fatties didn’t last long. Sargent Harrison was a giant black man with a very heavy build. His chest was the size of a wooden barrel, and he had legs the size of fence posts. His head was disproportional to his entire body, but no one dared to tell him. If anyone dared to challenge the Sargent they usually learned their lesson in a matter of seconds.
I quickly became the top of my platoon and was assigned platoon leader.  I was one arrogant son of a bitch, and I liked to show people that. I was a showboater. Three times a week we were called out to the obstacle course. I tiptoed down the logs that were suspended fifteen feet above the ground without a second thought. At the end of each log I would turn around, check my balance, and tease my fellow teammates as they struggled across the beams. Drill Sargent Harrison would yell at me: “You know you would make one hell of an officer if you would just support your god damn teammates Private Duhon!” he’d yell.
There was one time in particular I was thrown into a blind rage after such an incident. A rage that would show later in Vietnam. I had left my entire squad behind only to set a new company record on the obstacle course. I was boasting of the achievement when Harrison grabbed the back of my head and placed his knee into my stomach with the force of a thousand stampeding elephants. I curled into the fetal position and threw up violently. I was gasping for breath as Harrison stood over me yelling: “Ah God damn it Duhon. A Platoon leader never leaves his men behind! What the fuck do you not understand about that Private? Are you a fucking retarded Private?” He then leaned so close to my face that I could smell the menthol from his cheap cigarettes, and said. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again Private, I will literally take your spinal cord and remove it from your rectum.” With that my body burned with blind rage, and I answered his anger with my own. “Fuck you Sarge! Within three weeks of completion I will be a rank that is far from attainable for a worthless piece of shit like you. You mindless ape.” Harrison gave me a left that put my lights out.
We were being flown into the A Shau Valley, which was a small valley along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We had been flown into the country more than three months ago and were just now being deployed after we had enough time to adapt to this shit hole. Vietnam was something I had never imagined it to be. I expected Vietnam to be a tropical, mystical place of many wonders. Vietnam was a place of many wonders, but none of which were expected. The place was littered with disease and psychotic soldiers that had spent too much time in the brush. It was March 4th and on that flight into the A Shau Valley I witnessed my first glimpse of heroin in the military. Another platoon leader, a Capt. Sokolowski relieved himself of the present reality, and inserted the syringe into his ankle. He explained that it was the only way to conceal the use of the drug from the uppers.
Learning the ropes of Vietnam was not easy. Yes, I was an officer in the United States Marine Corp, but because I was new I was treated like a piece of dog shit from everyone.