My brother in law was a combat officer in the Marines in Vietnam, he didn't used to talk about it much, has opened up more in recent years. A couple years ago he told probably his most harrowing story. His unit was on a 7 day patrol in the A Shau valley. Their comm went down and they had no intel on enemy movement as night fell well into enemy controlled area. They had to hunker down for the night rather than blunder into an ambush in the dark. He prayed to God for safety for the men in his charge. They stumbled into a small hilltop surrounded by a low ditch when a flock of white birds startled to their right and the area was reconned to see what made the birds fly. It was an ideal defensive position with a small dip in the center so they could camp in defilade. As perfect a spot as they could ask for. Sentries posted and shifts assigned, they bedrolled down for the night. Before he nodded off he prayed again for safety through the night and the enemy not find them. As lthe sun rose and light filtered back into the jungle the hilltop was covered in beautiful white lilies that had opened and bloomed in the night. He had slept directly on top of a mine that didn't go off even though the trigger was tripped. Further recon that day revealed an enemy ambush position 400 meters in the direction they had been traveling. It was set with claymores and 2 machine gun positions with crossing fire. It would have been a slaughter. They all made it through the patrol to safety, in fact his entire unit made it out of Vietnam with only 2 men suffering minor injuries.
Last edited: