July 20, 1969
The two 6-man teams of the 2nd Platoon, C Company, 75th Infantry Rangers (Airborne) sat lazily on the sweltering hot tarmac outside the tiny village of Song Mai near the mountains of the Central Highlands. They were waiting to be picked up for their next mission. Each team was to be surreptitiously inserted by helicopter into different valleys where the North Vietnamese Army was known to be operating. Their job: find and engage the enemy, gather intelligence, and get out.
Their platoon leader was listening to a small transistor radio. It was a live worldwide broadcast of the first landing of men on the moon. A few minutes before Neil Armstrong famously said, “One small step for man…, ” the platoon leader called out to his men to let them know that this historic event was about to take place.
But rather than jumping up to gather around the radio to listen, they sat motionless on their rucksacks and gave him a sideways look that he instantly understood: “Why the HELL should I give a rat’s ass about some guy walking on the moon. I’m in this Godforsaken miserable place halfway around the world and there’s a bunch of people out there trying to KILL ME!”
The platoon leader did not argue. He turned the volume down, held the radio to his ear and listened to a crackly voice: “…and one giant leap for mankind.”
That was fifty years ago today.
July 20, 2019
Their platoon leader was listening to a small transistor radio. It was a live worldwide broadcast of the first landing of men on the moon. A few minutes before Neil Armstrong famously said, “One small step for man…, ” the platoon leader called out to his men to let them know that this historic event was about to take place.
But rather than jumping up to gather around the radio to listen, they sat motionless on their rucksacks and gave him a sideways look that he instantly understood: “Why the HELL should I give a rat’s ass about some guy walking on the moon. I’m in this Godforsaken miserable place halfway around the world and there’s a bunch of people out there trying to KILL ME!”
The platoon leader did not argue. He turned the volume down, held the radio to his ear and listened to a crackly voice: “…and one giant leap for mankind.”
That was fifty years ago today.
July 20, 2019