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equipment. “Here,” he said, dumping everything onto the cot. “The two newest guys in each fire team have to carry a can of machine gun ammo. They weigh about eighteen pounds and are a motherfucker to hump. Everybody in the squad has to carry either a law or a claymore mine. You’ll carry a law. Here’s a gas grenade. Chances are we’ll never use it, but somebody’s got to carry it. Do you know what this is?”
    “A trip flare, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah, when we dig in at night, we set a few of these around our perimeter so Charlie can introduce himself before he falls into somebody’s foxhole. Be careful with it. It can burn the hell out of you.” Chalice nodded his head. “That’s about it. We usually got working parties all day, but Gunny Martin’s so drunk we’ll probably skate for the afternoon.”
    A half hour before dusk, Second Platoon’s hootch was alive with men getting ready to go on watch. Tony was walking around asking everybody if they’d seen Forsythe. When he reached Chalice, he asked, “You got all your gear ready?”
    “What do I need besides my rifle and magazines?”
    “Bring your grenades — just the frags, not the gas. Wear your flak jacket.” Turning to Payne, he yelled, “C’mon, put the radio on and let’s go.”
    “Forsythe ain’t even here yet,” Payne complained.
    “Let me worry about Forsythe.”
    The bunker was at the other end of the hill and well off the road. Its floor was ten by twenty feet and dug out a few feet below ground level. Sandbags protected the plywood walls. There was a large gap between the walls and the corrugated steel roof on all but the rear side. The front wall supported a heavy wooden shooting counter.
    Tony dropped his gear and looked towards Chalice. “Okay Professor, we all stay up till nine, then we each take a two hour fifteen minute watch. You’ve got to call in sid rats, situation reports, every fifteen minutes. Payne’ll show you how to work the radio. If you hear anything, and I mean anything, wake somebody up. Only fire your rifle as a last resort. The muzzle flash’ll give every Gook in sight your address. If you’re sure you’ve got movement out there, the best thing to do is throw a frag. Since it’s your first night, we’ll let you have your choice of watch, but from now on we’ll rotate.”
    “I’ll take first then.”
    “Okay, what do you want, Payne?”
    “Second.”
    “Good, I’ll take last. I’m gonna find Forsythe now. I’ll be back before dusk. Payne’ll tell you anything you want to know and then some. See you later.”
    After Tony left the bunker, Payne said, “They’re always kidding me. Don’t pay attention to ’em.” He then started repeating all the advice Tony had given Chalice. While he was going over everything for the second time, Chalice noticed someone in fighting gear approaching the bunker taking long, bounding strides. As he entered, he gave a friendly nod to Chalice and flung down his equipment by the door.
    “Well no shit. Look who’s here. Glad you could make it, Forsythe.” Forsythe answered with a grin, “You didn’t think I’d leave you alone with a new man, did you? One shitbird in our fire team is enough.” He offered his hand to Chalice. “You must be the Professor. Tony 5 told me about you. Glad to have you in our fire team.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Tony says you graduated college. Where’d you go?”
    “Duke.”
    “No shit? I was accepted there and all ready to go — never quite made it. I’m from Raleigh.”
    “I’m from Silver Springs, Maryland. How come you didn’t go?”
    “It’s a long story. I ended up heading for California.”
    “You went to school out there?”
    “No, I just bummed around. Had a wild time. Maybe I’ll go to Berkeley when I get out of the Crotch. I get my discharge as soon as I finish my tour.”
    “Berkeley’s a cool place. I wouldn’t have minded going there.”
    “You’ve been there?” Forsythe asked with interest.
    “Quite a