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FDC -- Scene XIX
This is the final scene of my play on the Vietnam War -- FDC. It takes place entirely in a Fire Direction Control hut, as the men in the field come and go from battle in the jungle.
Scene XIX
(The setting is a bare stage. Enter a file of dead soldiers, including Landsberg, Jenkins, Meyers, Winslow, Williams, Baines, and others. Baines steps forward.)
BAINES:
I guess you heard what happened to me. I got shot!
(Laughs a little.)
No, it wasn't Clinton who shot me, if that's what you're thinking. It was a North Vietnamese soldier. I got a good look at him. He was very young and handsome, with a fierce, battle-hardened face... I wonder what became of him...?
I was leading my men through the area, when, all of a sudden, an enemy soldier popped up in front of me!
Some of you might want to know how it happened... We sprung an ambush on an enemy platoon. After the firefight, several of the men in my squad and I were checking out the area of contact. This is dangerous work, but I couldn't expect the men in my squad to do it, if I wouldn't, could I...? No, of course not... So I was leading my men through the area, when, all of a sudden, an enemy soldier popped up in front of me! It was just a running dual. I really tried to kill him, but he got me first.
I fell down face first when the round hit me, but I was still alive. I heard him walk up close to me and I heard the blast of the round he fired into my back. That round shattered my heart. Though I was dead, he shot me several more times. I guess he just wanted to be sure.
(Laughs a little.)
Oh, well, that's war. I suppose I would've done the same thing to him.
I only had three weeks left in-country. In a week I would've been pulled out of the field. Oh, well... I only wanted to be a soldier.
I had a lot to live for, you know. I would've had a wonderful wife, kids, a home, a good job... We had plans later to build a cabin on a lake. We'd go to the cabin every weekend in the summer. I like to fish, you see, and just sit in the sun, reading a book and sipping ice tea, with lots of lemon in it... I’m so sorry, Kat.
Oh, how I wanted to live! But... that's war...
Ah, these wars... We can't handle them. We just can't handle them.
(All exit.)
Biographical Details
Submitted From: Inver Grove Heights, MN
Primary Location During Vietnam: Xuan Loc, Vietnam 
Story Subject: Military Service
Military Branch: U.S. Army
Dates of Service: 1969 - 1970
Unit: 199th Light Infantry Brigade
Specialty: Infantry
We Four, as Old Men: Three of the four are in other photos here.
Story Themes: 1969, 1970, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Army, Art, Combat, Death and Loss, Inver Grove Heights, Pat O'Regan, Patrick O'Regan, Read, Reflection, Relationships, Theater, Xuan Loc
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