few drops up each nostril; burns like hell but it
covers the smell and I fall asleep.

Early AM.
The world explodes. Heavy incoming automatic
weapons fire, numerous explosions everywhere and
trip flares igniting all around the perimeter.

I look for a hole and see a bunch of guys trying
to get into one nearby—it’s like a clown show,
asses and elbows everywhere. I think it was
Glemser and Erevia plus others but in any case
when I ask if they had room, the answer is a solid
“NO”. Then I realize that SGT T, who had cleared
out seconds before, took my steel pot and Claymore
bag of ammunition. Out in the open, no pot, no
ammo, no hole, NVA fire intensifying and the whole
area is as bright as day from the trip flares—not
good.

I’m trapped on a bare patch of hill, in
plain view and decide my only chance is to lie
there and play dead. I’m between the NVA and the
CP which judging from the intense fire going in
that direction, has been specifically targeted.