A Donkey, A Jeep and a Barrel of Rice Wine

Negotiations and Surrender

The plea went about as you would expect. There were a lot of tears on the part of the women. They rejected Tank's claim that he could not guarantee their boy's safety in custody; countering it with the argument that any place would be safer than the front lines.

After several minutes of this, Tank made a tactical error, or maybe he was just weakening. "All four of the men will have to surrender to us. It can't be just the groom."

"Oh, they will", the mommas assured him, sensing a crack in his resolve. The groom's mother spoke into the darkness and the four young men appeared, followed by Titan, who had stayed back to watch them. Without saying a word, they lined up in front of Tank dropped to their knees, and cupped their hands behind their heads.

"Well, shit!" Tank repeated himself.

The elder stepped forward and, with Linn translating, told Tank that these were good boys, that they did not have much to do with the communists, that they had been conscripted and were supposed to report to a nearby village tomorrow to join their unit. He further said that the boys had been raised in these hills and could easily provide intelligence to help the Americans get rid of the Communists.

Tank didn't want to tell him that this area was not a particularly appealing military target but nodded respectfully and let the old man have his say. Finally, against his better judgment, he agreed to the arrangement. Tank did say no to the bride's request that he take her, too. He was adamant they leave her behind. No amount of weeping would sway him on that.

~~~

"So we staged a raid and made a show of tying up the draftees and marching them out. I don't think it fooled anyone but at least it gave the villagers a story they could tell the authorities."

"That damn donkey..." Tank shook his head.