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At the end of the re-supply period, Private Williams and I met up with other members of our unit in the convoy and drove north to rejoin the Battery. We must have been lagging the main convoy because an Infantry commander in a helicopter landed and yelled at us because the road was closed and unsafe for further travel. We had no other option so we continued on our own back to the battery without incident.

Sometimes, my work had the feel of a Tom Clancy novel. I spent two strange nights assigned to provide artillery support to what I was told was a CIA operation dealing with remote listening posts and clandestine kidnappings combined with mercenary troops and many helicopters. I did not do much but I was there if needed. It was a very surreal experience made stranger by the passage of time.

In late December, after these remote activities, I joined Alpha Battery and assumed the responsibilities of the fire direction officer. Sgt Reilly was “chief of smoke” and Chico Rojas was the team leader in the Fire Direction Center. We fired H & I fire at night for various units and fire missions for infantry units engaged in operations. When we were not firing, we spent time reinforcing our fortifications, training and taking field trips into the surrounding country- side with our howitzers or guns.