Fordham Veteran's Writing Project - Trouble in F Troop

Trouble in F Troop

I spotted trouble when he climbed out of the supply helicopter that had just landed on the road next to our encampment that night.  In contrast to the rest of us, his uniform was clean, his boots were shined, his hair was freshly cut and there was a hint of a swagger in his gait as he cleared the rotary of the helicopter.  Stepping high over the foliage separating us from the helicopter, this burley new trooper made his way in our direction.

Our troop commander had informed me that a soldier from our headquarters in Xian, would be joining our troop.  Apparently, he had been in a fight with an officer, or some such offense, and for his punishment was sent out into the field to be with a fighting unit.   Frankly I was pissed that he had been assigned to my troop as punishment.  You should understand that it was critical to our survival that each member of the troop work closely together, and over time we had managed to become a cohesive, effective team.  The idea that jerks back at the headquarters would send us their spit-and-shine trouble was demeaning to our daily sacrifices and perpetuated the dangers we faced. 

As expected, the new troop member was nothing but trouble.  He was always unhappy with his surroundings, not seeming to notice that the rest of us had been there for months without a break.  When we had a troop assignment, he was vocal about how stupid it was and always seemed to be lagging.  He was very slow to take orders from me and in general made everything we had to do harder.  For example, if I gave an order to mount our vehicles to move, he would display a sour look on his face and always was the last trooper to climb aboard, delaying just long enough to get my attention.  Without doubt, he was the most difficult solder in F Troop to deal with.  With a scowl or a smirk, he always managed to undermine what we had to do.  I constantly struggled to get him to follow any direction.

Although many members of the troop tolerated him, some members found him disruptive and found it hard to deal with his constant complaints.  They noticed that he wouldn’t take direction and it unsettled them, knowing that he was someone that could not be trusted to do his part when there was an emergency, as frequently was the case.  I was becoming concerned that another trooper might try to harm him, just to get him sent back to the rear area.  Although I had hoped he might adjust, I concluded that I was going to have to confront him about his attitude and his uncooperativeness for our sake, and his.

The next afternoon I called him over and we walked a short distance from the encampment and I asked him to sit next to me on a fallen tree.  Not being sure how to approach him, I jumped in and simply asked him what was wrong.  Why was he being so difficult to work with, why wouldn’t he cooperate with me or anyone else?  Could he explain to me why he resisted everything he was asked to do? Surely, he understood how important it was that all of us work together.  To my shock and surprise, he started crying…no, sobbing.  After he got himself under control, he explained to me that he was terrified.  He felt that having been sent out from the headquarters to our unit in the field had been a death sentence.  It turned out that he had only 2 weeks left in-country and he was afraid he would die before he got home.   After his explanation, my feelings about the situation with him shifted.  I was caught off guard, but in understanding this trooper was troubled, I felt sympathy and empathy for him and felt somewhat protective of him.  

We talked a bit more and I assured him that he was not the only one terrified.   I then made him a promise.  If he did everything I asked him to do without complaint or opposition for the next two weeks, I would do my very best to get him home in one piece.   Starting at that moment “trouble” went from being the 50^th least cooperative trooper in my unit to the most cooperative.   He followed me everywhere, constantly asking what he could do to help.

I can’t quite remember the last time I saw “trouble” before his two weeks were up and his chopper ride was there, but I know that I had witnessed the making of a proud new member of F Troop.

Without any way of knowing, I suspect that “trouble” might have reverted to his old ways of fighting, arguing and being uncooperative.  I can say for certain that he probably faced his first real challenge as he came back to the U.S. mainland.  We were warned that when we landed in San Francisco there was a good likelihood that protesters of the war would be there to greet us at the gate.  We were told that regardless of what happened, we were not to stop, or to escalate a challenge from the group.  As happened upon my arrival, they heckled us as we came through the gate and a protester hocked a louie at me…I kept walking.  However, I rather suspect that “trouble” having once again landed, predictably got into a brawl.

My real hope for him is that he arrived home to a nice family, felt like a war hero and patriot, and is now regaling his grandchildren with stories about his close calls and heroic deeds while in Vietnam.  There is part of me, however, that would love to see him as an old biker, with a long white ponytail, wearing a black leather jacket, with all sorts of military and patriotic paraphernalia attached to it, riding a big shiny hog in a 4^th of July parade.  Acting the part of a tough guy but being just a regular guy underneath.