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Ken Smits served in both the U.S. Air Force and the Army and was medically discharged from service after a vicious attack on his team during a mission in an undisclosed area. Ken’s military career took him from the jungles of Vietnam as a member of a Special Observations Group, Recon Team, to highly classified locations as a U.S. Army Special Operator. After a decade of service, Ken spent 1979 and 1980 as a resident of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, recovering from combat injuries that ultimately robbed him of his sight.
Ken’s book series, Without Glory, is a doorway into the lives of young service members as they face the terrors of war and the horrors of loss and create the unbreakable bonds known only to service men and women.
Smitty and I move cautiously along the pipeline toward the laughing. The knee-deep water and muddy bottom make our movement laborious. We can see what appears to be two men not more than twenty-five feet ahead. One figure crawls over the large pipe delivering fuel to Phu Cat Air Base. The other is holding a rifle, an antiquated bolt action weapon that looks like a pre-World War II model.
I watch the lone shadowy figure clad in black garments cross the third fence. He’s less than thirtyfive feet from our position. He has now entered our kill zone according to the guidelines from Control. “Waste him,” Sergeant Adams whispers. “What?” I flinch, turning towards him. “Why me?” I freeze, my mind suddenly blank. Sergeant Adam’s sarcastic whisper rings in my ears, “Cause it’s your turn, Newbee.”
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