Operation Clean Blanket

Good evening Mom, or guess it’s probably still morning for you.

Good news today. Both Captain Pointer and Sarge Grym were back in action with the squad, so I got to focus on the radio and trying not to get shot. We’re back on the SAR rotation, which means a lot of time trying to get on with things at base that won’t spoil if you have to drop them the hot second the siren starts and we have to run for the helicopter. This morning I was helping liaise with the Army personnel stationed here regarding a planned brisket dinner, which was actually more fun than it sounds. Sadly though, so flyers got shot down and we were off north to a river confluence controlled by a hostile held town. We had to hold for a while in friendly territory, as we’d got there so quick that the pilots were still in their chutes and they didn’t want to send anyone in until he knew exactly where they were going to land.

We found a Chelt foot patrol almost as soon as we got on the ground, and dealing with them slowed us down in getting across the river to the pilots we needed to rescue. A few stragglers continues to harass us as we swam though, so I called in Captain Scatter to bomb the river bank as soon as we were all across.I’m not sure what Dad would think if I said it to him, but there is something satisfying, deep down, about telling someone where there are people trying to kill you, and then seeing a line of explosions, or gunfirs, on that position. As marines we’re obliged to continually remind the other services how much better they’d b e if they just joined us, but it is good to know the air force boys are up there keeping an eye out for us.

Then there were some explosions and such in the other direction but further away. I’d managed to lose track of the squad by that point, cos I’d stayed to watch the airstrike but when the explosions were followed by gunfire I figured that's where they were and headed over to help. We met up with the parajumper, the pilots, and a bunch of Chelt infantry who didn’t want us leaving. Air tried to help, but their marker smoke kept hitting the slope on the opposite side of a ridge that I really didn’t want to stick my head over, so I couldn’t tell if they were in the right palace or not. In the end I used some of mine, it’s much harder for them to spot, but they managed it and then polished off the Chelt that Bacon and I hadn’t killed in the meantime.

We used that respite to try and move to an extract point, but other Chelt started throwing artillery at us and the whole world started shaking. Running through the jungle with explosions going off around you isn’t much fun, and I’ve never been a quick runner, but we made it, only for the helicopter to decide it wanted to land back the way we came. We managed to use some small river cliffs and rock outcrops for cover as we moved, as we had more hostile infantry trying to reach us by that point. Fortunately, the flyboys found a pair of cobra gunships from somewhere and I helped set them up for an attack run on the ridge they were pouring over. The attack got delayed as it turns out we had casualties there, but we managed to wave the cobras off on time,and sent them in as soon as everyone was clear. I love the cobras, they’re great, point them at a problem and the problem goes away.

We were starting to worry about getting home, but then the Jolly Green flew over us and we just ran towards it and piled in. The cobras escorted us part of the way home and then it was back to base tasks until the next alert came in. This one wasn’t so far away, but we were delayed in going because our Seabee forgot her kit and we had to wait for her to go get it: Marines 1 - Navy 0. Tell that to Dad, see if he bursts a blood vessel!

Anyway, I digress. We were off to San Bay Ban (I might have spelt that wrong), which is just across the water from Maxwell. It’s a dirt airfield, currently hostile, and there were chutes in the air just south of it. Broadly speaking, the plan was simple, land in a beachy cove and find the pilot, while the aircover ran strafing and bombing runs between us and the airfield to stop anyone trying to stop us. It started out really well too, it was even me that found the pilot so then the parajumper had to come to us rather than the other way round. We were all together and headed back to the LZ when one of the skyraiders got shot down, so we had to go find him, but also the Chelt made it through as the bombing runs ceased, so we had to run south along the coastline until we could find somewhere else for our helicopter to land.

Mr Kent found an empty village, with some nice open fields for an LZ, so we vectored the squad to there, but that involved trying to get the original rescued pilot across a single log bridge. Honestly, I’m not sure what the Air Force do in Basic, but that was one of the hardest parts of the entire mission. We now have two rescued pilots and the helo taking fire on the ground as we run towards it. Turns out the lovely scenic hill by the village had an anti-air position on top of it, and they fucked up the helo to the point it couldn’t take off, then shot down the second skyraider, so now we have the initial rescued pilot, the first rescued skyraider pilot, the two pilots and two crew of the Jolly Green, and the second skyraider pilot in the burning wreckage of his plane at the top of a hill swarming with hostiles.

You’ve probably guessed it, but we went uphill. I had to pause halfway up, to make sure any air still on station didn’t hit the hilltop as we stormed it, not because I needed a breather. By the time I got to the top all the action was over, but I helped with the final clearance as the medics worked on the pilot, then provided cover as they carried him down the hill to the helicopter. With all the additional flyers onboard it was a lot fuller helo than when we lifted off, but it turns out that during the firefight, the pilot I found got hit through a window as he was sat in his seat, which put a bit of a downer on things on the flight back.

We made it home though, and it’s poker night, so I’ve got to go and loose all the money I don’t have.

Love you Mom

Morse

Cocktail for tonight: Smoky Old Bastard. Stir a lapsang souchong teabag in 60ml of bourbon for a couple of minutes, remove the teabag and add a spoonfull of maple syrup and a couple of dashes of bokers bitters. Serve over ice.