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Ken Smits

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Ken Smits

Ken Smits grew up in Northern New Jersey, married his high school sweetheart, Sharon, and headed off to Vietnam via the U.S. Air Force at the age of 18. Ken is the author of the book series, Without Glory. A harsh and in depth look at life on the battlefield

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Chapter 11 – The Clearing

“Humankind wuz here” War is brutal for everyone, including mother earth. The two USAF Kaman HH-43 Huskie helicopters sweep down into a large clearing. As we jump out, I can see the landing zone has been man-made—the effects of a tremendous explosion. The jungle is a completely cleared circle one

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Chapter 9 – Aftermath

The members of A-Team sit around our open-bay barracks. Everyone but Billings is drinking. The mood is tense. It’s so thick that the air could be cut with a knife. No one has spoken more than a word or two in the last hour. We suffer within ourselves, unable to

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Chapter 7 – Training to Kill the Enemy While Bonding

The missions between classes enable us to sharpen our skills further and reinforce our training. We’re hit by sniper fire, which always startles us. It’s frightening to be shot at by an enemy you can’t see. It’s weird not being protected by a classroom environment. We’ve been fortunate so far.

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Chapter 6 – Ways to Kill a Man

The men of the A-Team sit around the makeshift classroom/supply room. Half of us had our heads on the tables when the door swung open, and Billings and a green beret soldier walked in. He speaks without any intro from Billings, “Gentlemen, my name is Staff Sergeant McMillian. I’m attached

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Chapter 5 – The Birth Of A-Team

After finishing my NCO leadership course, I was assigned the position of assistant team leader for Sergeant Billings’ “A-Team.” Smitty, Gator, and other men chosen for the Commandoes joined us for several weeks of intensive training. The instruction is not as easily paced as the leadership course was. There are

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Chapter 4 – The Frog and Captain America

Written by Ken Smits The Frog Most of the airmen in the squadron are assembled in the orderly room. A handful of the day shift personnel remain at the bomb dump, loading trailers with explosives to be delivered to the flight line. The war goes on. Colonel Farris, the Squadron

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Chapter 3 – Foxhole

Written by Ken Smits A slight breeze sweeps across the valley of swaying grass in a relaxing tempo. The rhythm broken only by the sounds of crickets chirping and the lizards that sound like they’re screaming, “Fuck you!” back and forth at each other. My foxhole companion is a quiet

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Chapter 2 – The Pipeline

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.

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