Gate: Thus the Gung Hos Fought Back

Invasion on the Homeland

This war is a lie, Steve thought.

After a few years in Vietnam, Lt. Steve Anderson finally comes home. Still, it is tough on him for what happened before leave.

Steve was once a national renowned indie comic book illustrator, writing about magic fantasy worlds where elves, orcs, dwarves, and any fictional and mythical beings live.

However in 1968, when the war in Vietnam escalated, most of his friends who he worked for his comic books were drafted in the military; it really took a toll on him. Taking on two dead-end jobs as a college assistant and a office clerk, he decided to take it in his hands to end all the suffering the war has caused him and his fellow countrymen by enlisting in the military.

He joined the USMC and enlisted himself as a fighter pilot, since it was his dream to fly planes. After a brutal months of basic training from his platoons' phyco drill instructor-which caused one of his fellow trainees to almost shoot up the platoon barracks and kill his own instructor and in the end himself- he finally got his wings.

He was later relocated to an air force base to finally begin his flight training, learning the rules of engagement in the air, flight skills, maneuvering in face of the enemy, air strikes, combat, etc. After two months into training, he got his license to fly. 

By the time he was deployed in Vietnam, half of his service in the war was part of infantry since the invasion of Khe Sanh began. That's where his glory shined the most: he has gotten at least 50 kills from long range to short range attacks, from attacking the enemy at high above buildings to striking them with a bayonet charge. Most call him a legend, he calls it luck. Either way, it was how he got promoted from Private First Class quickly to sergeant.

His other half of service was during the counter-invasion of Hue City and the jungle attacks he gladly didn't go through, he flew air strikes to provide cover for his fellow men on the ground. However, the mission said there weren't any enemy air support coming to aid the NVA. But either way, he immediately became an ace: 7 kills and splash downs. And luckily, it was at the time the air force started to put guns on the F-4 Phantoms, so when he ran out of missiles, he would use his 20mm cannon on the Russian MiG's the commies from up north sent to aid Ho Chi Minh.

After the battle, which failed miserably, he was offered a mission he couldn't refuse: the Bombing of Hanoi- which he accepted.

He flew escort with few of his men he knew, not his comic book buddies, to protect a bomber squad of F-105 Thunderchiefs whom are targeting bridges and government buildings that supported the communist-led military. It was a total success, but came at a cost: the men Steve knew died in combat, including his radar man, from enemy MiG-21s.

Out of detestation, he spent the next four years trying to find his comic book buds to make sure that they weren't killed in action, or worse captured. At the last minute of his service in Vietnam, he finally got his answers. The commander of the base he was station at gave him the full report of the men he listed, turns out they were alright. One of them were injured during combat but was able to continue fighting and he got and a promotion to full Lt. while the rest got the promotion of sergeant. Steve couldn't be more astonished and relived. As just when he was about to board his plane out of the jungles of Nam, the commander gave a last minute promotion to Steve as Lieutenant for the mission of the Bombing of Hanoi, saying it was an "overdue promotion". The people on the plane called him the "Last-Minute Lieutenant".

As the plane flew over the Atlantic, he thought of back when he started. Why were we fighting this war? What's the resolve? Was it to free half of the country from communism? Freedom? Why were we drafted? Just to die?

He also heard of the mistreatment of his fellow men when they rotated back in America, saying that those hippies kept harassing then and sometimes physically. He thought of that thinking it was going to happen to him as well.