The Girl Who Ran With Black Tigers©

excerpt of Chapter 5 "Who Are You?"

‘What happened to her..? What have you done?’

Done? You must be kidding…   DeWitt thought taken aback.

Over the past few months he had learned to lead and be among battle-hardened men but now he stood there for a moment somewhat indecisive, thrown off balance by this blonde girl’s sudden cutting questioning. In an awkward fashion he tried to explain that the teenage girl in his arms had been attacked and raped. He made a vague gesture with his head to indicate the spot in the forest just behind him. ‘In there.’

Of course she had heard the shots being fired in there. Whether the young woman acted out of courage or ignorance wasn’t clear, but before they could object or stop her, she barged passed the two soldiers into the underbrush. She then stopped dead in her track in the small clearing. In spite of the fading light and with some shock she became aware of the twisted dead body lying on the ground. His pants were still just above his knees leaving his genitals exposed, his upper body showed several small but bloody bullet holes and his eyes were still staring vacantly into the canopy of foliage.

Oh my god… and it’s a white guy… The young woman stood there for a few seconds taking in the disturbing sight, then her right hand started to tremble very slightly. With a jolt she turned round and came back out of the shrub into the fading sunlight. She just looked into DeWitt’s eyes unsure what to say or do.

By now however the two men had recovered from their surprise. ‘Satisfied now?’ Le Chan snapped tersely.

She did not answer. Instead, she looked from the two soldiers to the Vietnamese girl and back trying to make sense of what had happened in there.

DeWitt stared back at the young woman not quite sure what to make of her. One look at her eyes however and he was quite sure that she was a bit shaken. It was time to take the lead again. As far he was concerned, she was not in a position to ask questions.

‘Who are you?’ he asked calmly.

‘I’m… My name is Marlyne…’ she answered in a hesitant voice.

‘Marilyn?’

‘No Marlyne!’

He had never heard that name before.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘I hitched a ride,’ Marlyne answered quickly, but her voice betrayed that she had lost some of her self-assurance.

‘Hitched a ride..?’ Of course, DeWitt was well aware that many war correspondents and photographers jumped onto helicopters as if they were their executive battlefield taxis, but nurses now too? But that wasn’t really his business and it was irrelevant; what was relevant was to give her something to do.

He noticed that when she said her name she had not mentioned any kind of rank or position or even her family name, just her first name.

‘OK Marilyn, do you have anything to do?’

‘Marlyne,’ she corrected. ‘Uh no, I don’t think so… I don’t know what to do.’ She looked around somewhat indecisively.

‘Right Marlyne… Are you a medic?’

‘Well no, not really… I’m a nurse…’

‘Fine, that’s good,’ DeWitt nodded his head approvingly.

‘How about you take this girl here and, uh… just take care of her for a moment and then go find her parents somewhere out there on the LZ where the choppers will land again.’ He vaguely pointed with a movement of his chin in the direction of the open field where many of the villagers had congregated awaiting transport.

‘The  “El Zee”?’

‘Yeah, the landing zone... the field where you stepped off the helicopter.’

Marlyne gave him a slightly embarrassed look while still keeping up the appearance that she knew it all.

‘Oh yeah... sure. Um, how will I find her parents?’

He gave her a bemused smile. ‘You won’t... don’t worry about it, they’ll find you.’

Le Chan was watching DeWitt with a growing smile, showing off a row of gleaming white teeth.

‘What?’ he queried awkwardly.

Le Chan now began to laugh openly. ‘You should see the way you looked at her… I think you like that girl already. I can see a dinner date coming up in the Floating Restaurant.’

‘I was looking at her? Like how?’ DeWitt asked innocently.

‘Oh you didn’t notice the heaving of her chest or what?’ Le Chan made a descriptive gesture with both his hand.

DeWitt looked slightly flustered. That was too much for the old sergeant and he roared with laughter. Le Chan was having a field day with this. He was obviously very pleased with his perceptive observations.

DeWitt realised that the sergeant was probably right but he stood there, a bit lost, with contradictory feelings flowing over him. Just a moment ago, they had shot a man. Minutes later, he had carried the young teenage girl out of the shrub. She had calmed down considerably in the comfort of his arms. In a strange way, it also had had a calming effect on him as well, but it had all happened too quickly. The sudden appearance of the blonde woman was puzzling. He stared at her. Confusing thoughts invaded his head as she walked away hand in hand with the Vietnamese girl. He would probably never see the girl again. As for the blonde, who the hell was she and where did she come from?

‘Yeah, I suppose she’s uh… quite pretty that blonde…’ he said, lost in thought.

Approximately 20 minutes earlier, they had noticed the heavy Chinook helicopter fly by with a piece of artillery hanging in a sling underneath its belly. It must have delivered its cargo. The howitzer was no longer there when the big twin-rotor aircraft came back, settling down with a roar onto the landing zone, kicking up dust and debris like a vicious storm. The ramp in the back of the aircraft was fully open and the soldiers now started to herd the first villagers into the Chinook for transport.

Meanwhile, the blonde nurse didn’t have to look very far for the girl’s family. Her distraught and almost hysterical parents had indeed spotted them quickly. They came running out and literally snatched the youngster out of her hands. Marlyne felt quite helpless. She didn’t speak a word of Vietnamese and was unable to explain to the parents what had happened to their daughter. All she could do was silently hand over the girl. When they walked away quickly to join the other villagers at the waiting Chinook, the young girl kept looking back with a vague smile, maybe it was meant to mean ‘thank you’. A feeling of helplessness and distress overcame Marlyne. When she felt the tears welling up in her eyes she quickly rubbed them away with the back of her hand before anyone noticed.

For days, Marlyne had wondered how to get into the field and be allowed to do something useful. Once she had dared to ask, she was amazed how easily and quickly she had been transported from a world of relative calm to a world of chaos and conflict.

No one had batted an eyelid when she turned up, no one cared; nor would they care whether she came back alive or in a body bag. From here on she was just a number on the roulette table. “Go with them” they’d said, “It will be alright, they’re just going to clear a village – there’s some action in the sector but it should be OK – there again, maybe not. It’s up to you mademoiselle. Do as you’re told and don’t get in the way.”

Apart from the long wait in Bien Hoa, she had gone from the city to the countryside in no time. The helicopter ride at low level had been exhilarating, beautiful even. From above she had watched the lead helicopter land quickly and then just as quickly it had taken off again. Mesmerised she had watched a group of soldiers work their way to the hamlet. “Rangers!” A sergeant had yelled in her ear above the noise, pointing down. “Stay away from them.” He warned. With his finger he had made two small circles near his temple that she interpreted as “Crazy, the whole lot”. A few minutes later it had been their turn to come in for landing. When they swooped in, it had felt like a joy ride on a very exciting roller coaster. But the anxious expressions on the young faces about to jump out told a different story. Then reality had swooped in just as fast. Someone had yelled in Vietnamese and given her a hard shove in her back. Everything happened very fast. Together with the soldiers she had jumped out and apprehension had set in. From that moment on she had witnessed nothing but violence and destruction, a case of rape, swift justice and death.

Standing here now, alone, wondering what to do, she watched young men carrying menacing guns running all round the place, there seemed to be pandemonium wherever she looked. It was hard to concentrate and get focussed. On the open field, the El Zee as the Western soldier had called it, people in distress were shouting and crying in panic. Above, the air was once more filled with the whoop, whoop sound the helicopter blades made beating through the air. To her right she heard the sinister crackle of burning houses and she now also began to feel the heat of the raging fires as the flames were licking the top of the trees. In addition to the cacophony of noise, in the not too far distance she could also clearly hear the frequent rattle of automatic weapons testimony of a vicious fire fight in progress.

What would she do if, or when, the ongoing fire fight was to reach her? Like Marlyne, some soldiers with worried expressions on their faces had also looked up north, maybe nervously wondering if the tumult of combat would soon reach them. Others seemed oblivious to the danger and had looked at her instead with amused wonder as if she was an apparition from Mars. Inquisitive looks did not really frighten her. To the average Vietnamese, Marlyne probably looked quite intimidating. She too had a weapon.  She was tall; she had broad shoulders and walked with a kind of superior attitude. She might even be stronger than them. Her military clothes and appearance hid her feminine curves. She looked like someone in charge. But she wasn’t in charge of anything; not even of her own emotions.

So far, the only useful thing she had done was patch up a soldier’s leg, at least it had earned her his gratitude and a few smiles. He had managed to injure himself on a sharp stake while jumping out of a helicopter. She had taken care of a few kids; at times she had even tried to cheer them up, but she had come unprepared for the degree of misery around her. Worse, it made her feel she was in a way actively participating in the total destruction of their village.

This is awful, why are we doing this? She recalled Steven’s words of warning: “Isn’t the occasional boom or bang enough for you?”

Now the air was filled with it and coming closer. Don’t just stand there Marlyne, do something! She told herself. The first thing that came into her mind was to find the western soldier; he had clearly told her not to wander off… among the scenes of mayhem there had been something calming in his eyes. Their uniforms were also different, camouflaged now that she came to think of it. Could these be the men she had been warned to stay away from? Surely not. She sensed that he cared; he might even guide and protect her in this madhouse. But where was he? Then she noticed movement very close to a burning hovel. Two kids walking around crying, maybe lost or forgotten among all the commotion? Marlyne gathered up all her courage and against her better judgement ran towards them… and the heat of the flames.

Daylight was slowly fading. It was time they got out of the place before darkness set in. Time was running short. Further up north, DeWitt heard more explosions. Maybe from the Howitzer? He anxiously looked around for the blonde girl. Where the hell has she gone? I said come back... I didn’t say wander off bloody sightseeing... He checked his watch. In the distance he could already hear the Hueys returning. Good, our ride out of this place. Now where the hell is she? He pushed through a multitude of distressed and screaming people, working his way towards the Chinook. She wasn’t there. What the hell? She’s striking enough; I should be able to spot her from a mile away… And he did.

Suddenly to his relief, he noticed Marlyne on the open field, walking along with several soldiers and civilians towards the Chinook. The blonde girl appeared tall in comparison to the people walking with her. She certainly wasn’t difficult to spot. She was carrying one child on her shoulders and holding another by the hand. Against the backdrop of the burning houses, the forest line appeared dark and menacing. The sun threw long ghostly orange-coloured shadows over the open space as the rest of the Hueys thundered back into the landing zone to retrieve the soldiers. The red dust kicked up by the helicopters illuminated by the last sun rays, only emphasised the dramatic atmosphere. Marlyne took the little boy off her shoulders and placed him on the cargo ramp of the aircraft. Anxious hands from within the Chinook grabbed the stray children.

DeWitt ran and caught the nurse, or whatever she was, just when she was about to board the Chinook. The heat of the turbines, a smell of jet fuel and dust engulfed the rear end of the aircraft.

‘Where’re you going to?’ he yelled above the noise of the engines.

Strands of long blonde hair flew wildly about in the rotor’s downwash. With her face close to his ear, she shouted, ‘I don’t know. We are going home now, aren’t we?’

He shook his head saying, ‘No, you can’t go in there…’

‘Where are they taking them?’ Marlyne yelled above the noise.

‘Refugee camp or resettlement area north of Ham Tan along the road… you don’t want to go there. Come with me,’ he ordered. She hesitated momentarily and had a last quick look at the worried faces inside the Chinook. Marlyne then turned on her heels without looking back. They ran out to the waiting helicopter that would only transport the Rangers and then clambered on board.

The door gunner looked nervously towards the rapidly darkening tree line. As Marlyne scrambled in, DeWitt tried to guess her weight. She wouldn’t be particularly heavy but he figured she might still weigh a little more than the average Vietnamese soldier.

‘Sit with your back against the pilot’s seat,’ he told her.

‘Okay,’ she said. She didn’t realise why the position she sat in was important, but DeWitt did. He was fully aware of the weight-and-balance of the aircraft. He wanted Marlyne as close to the centre of gravity as possible. He was also aware that they may be approaching the maximum gross weight of the helicopter. He’d rather not mention that little detail. Instead, he pulled one of the tie-down rings out of cargo floor and with a strap attached Marlyne to her belt.

‘Wouldn’t want you to fall out now, would we?’

She never heard him among the noise. Two more Rangers jumped in and with every man accounted for, the door gunner keyed the mike button and confirmed the “all clear” to the pilot. ‘Clear left, clear right!’

The pilot nodded. He rolled the throttle increasing the rpm, gently pulled the collective up and pushed the stick forward just enough to pitch the nose down. The old Huey H-1 shuddered slightly under the added weight from an extra passenger. The co-pilot watched the torque gauge. To check it indicated correctly, he tapped it with his finger. The needle was approaching the red line. He glanced at the pilot who confirmed that he had seen it. Then the aircraft began to lift, hovered briefly a few feet off the ground and then slowly built up speed. Once the aircraft had reached an acceptable airspeed, the pilot initiated a climb to 1,500 feet. The helicopter banked to the left and then set course for the coast with the sun setting behind, in the west.